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Admin's Journal
Forum: Personal Recovery Journaling
Last Post: soloadmin
04-16-2025, 07:08 PM
» Replies: 2
» Views: 41
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12 Steps - Naturalist Ver...
Forum: We Agnostics
Last Post: soloadmin
04-16-2025, 06:29 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 11
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Insight on Free Will
Forum: Safe Spaces For Thoughts, Insights, Wins, & Struggles
Last Post: soloadmin
04-15-2025, 05:39 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 17
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Credit Problems Due To Ad...
Forum: Safe Spaces For Thoughts, Insights, Wins, & Struggles
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 11:06 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 21
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FAQ: "I'm a total agnosti...
Forum: We Agnostics
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 09:43 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 11
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FAQ: "I'm a traditional b...
Forum: A Higher Power *Of Our Own Understanding*
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 09:39 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 13
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20 Common FAQs with answe...
Forum: SoberLogic FAQ
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 09:32 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 11
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A Guide To The Five Vows ...
Forum: Sobriety/Serenity
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 09:20 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 14
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Some of the BEST recovery...
Forum: Mindfulness & Meditation
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 09:13 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 16
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Overview of Effective CBT...
Forum: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Last Post: soloadmin
04-14-2025, 09:03 PM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 12
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Step Three Introduction |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-14-2025, 04:08 PM - Forum: Step Three
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Revised Step 3
"We decided to actively engage in recovery, seeking guidance from our personal Source(s) of inspiration and becoming willing to utilize available resources within the recovery community."
? Meaning and Breakdown
This modern version updates AA’s original Step 3:
"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
Let’s unpack it:
✅ "We decided to actively engage in recovery..."
- Recovery doesn’t happen by accident. This is a conscious, empowered choice.
- “Actively engage” means taking steps — not waiting for change, but moving toward it.
How to do it: Take one action today. Say yes to healing — even if it’s messy.
✅ "...seeking guidance from our personal Source(s) of inspiration..."
- You define your own Source(s): Spirit, nature, intuition, love, ancestral wisdom, your higher self — whatever resonates with you.
How to do it: Ask yourself: What (or who) do I trust when I feel lost or broken? Start listening to that.
✅ "...and becoming willing to utilize available resources within the recovery community."
- You are not alone. Use what’s out there: peer support, therapy, groups, books, apps — it all helps.
How to do it: Join something. Reach out. Try one new tool or connection this week.
? How to Practice This Step
- Commit to Recovery: Say “yes” to healing today — even if you don’t know what it’ll look like yet.
- Identify Your Inspirations: Who or what uplifts you? What aligns with your values?
- Connect to Community: Join a group, talk to a peer, or attend a meeting. You don’t recover in isolation.
- Be Willing: You don’t need perfection — just openness.
- Track Small Wins: Keep a log of every action, no matter how small. It builds momentum.
⚠️ Key Insights- This Step Is Action-Oriented: It’s about doing, not just thinking or believing.
- You’re Still in Charge: You’re aligning with support, not losing autonomy.
- Recovery is Collaborative: Your community, your Source, and your tools are all part of the process.
❤️ Final Thought
This step is your commitment. Your “yes.” You don’t need to know exactly what you believe — you just need to decide that you’re done suffering in silence. You’re showing up. That’s the turning point.
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Step Two Introduction |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-14-2025, 04:04 PM - Forum: Step Two
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Revised Step 2
"We came to believe that aid and guidance from inspirational Source(s) of our own understanding, combined with evidence-based strategies and peer support, could lead to lasting recovery."
? Meaning and Breakdown
This revision reinterprets AA’s original Step 2:
"Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
Let’s break it down:
✅ "We came to believe..."
- Belief is a journey, not a requirement.
- You don’t need to have certainty — just openness.
How to do it: Stay curious. Let hope in, even if it’s small or uncertain.
✅ "...that aid and guidance from inspirational Source(s) of our own understanding..."
- You define what "inspiration" means: nature, spirit, higher self, love, science, ancestors — anything that uplifts and guides you.
How to do it: Ask: What gives me strength? What do I trust when I’m in pain?
✅ "...combined with evidence-based strategies and peer support..."
- You don’t have to choose between science and spirituality — use both.
- Therapy, mutual aid, and tools grounded in real-world results are part of recovery.
How to do it: Seek out groups, resources, and approaches that resonate with you and are proven to help.
✅ "...could lead to lasting recovery."
- No promises — just possibility.
- You’re building a foundation of trust in something greater than your addiction.
How to do it: Visualize a future where you’re free. Let that vision guide you.
? How to Practice This Step
- Define Your Sources: What lifts you when you're down? What do you feel connected to?
- Use Practical Tools: CBT, support groups, mindfulness — recovery is built with actions.
- Join a Community: Healing is relational. Find peers who understand and support you.
- Stay Curious: Doubt is okay. This is about growth, not perfection.
- Track Belief: Notice when something feels right, or helps — that’s your belief forming.
⚠️ Key Insights- Define Your Own Inspiration: No dogma required. You choose what guides you.
- Use Both Spirit and Science: You can be rational and spiritual. Use every tool available.
- Growth Is Gradual: Don’t rush it. Belief develops like trust — over time.
❤️ Final Thought
This step invites you to rediscover hope. It’s not about instant faith — it’s about starting to believe recovery is possible. Whether your Source is divine, earthly, or internal, it can guide you back to wholeness. Just begin.
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Step One Introduction |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-14-2025, 03:56 PM - Forum: Step One
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Revised First Step
"We acknowledged that our substance use had become unmanageable, negatively impacting our health, well-being, and relationships, and that we felt powerless to stop it."
? Meaning and Breakdown
This is a modernized version of AA's original First Step:
"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable."
Let’s break it down:
✅ "We acknowledged..."
- "Acknowledged" implies thoughtful, conscious recognition — not guilt or shame.
- It’s about being honest with yourself, not condemning yourself.
How to do it: Reflect, journal, or talk openly. Don’t sugarcoat or beat yourself up — just face your truth.
✅ "...that our substance use had become unmanageable..."
- "Unmanageable" means it’s out of control — no matter how hard you’ve tried.
- The substance is no longer just a choice; it’s calling the shots.
How to do it: Look at the chaos. Missed work? Health decline? Broken promises? Be real about it.
✅ "...negatively impacting our health, well-being, and relationships..."
- Specifies the damage: physical, emotional, relational.
- Substance use affects every part of your life.
How to do it: Inventory your life. Where has it hurt you or others? Be specific: stress, depression, conflict, guilt, isolation, etc.
✅ "...and that we felt powerless to stop it."
- This key addition addresses the feeling of being stuck.
- You may have tried to stop — and couldn’t. That feeling is real.
How to do it: Own your struggle. You’re not lazy or broken — willpower just isn’t enough anymore.
? Emotional & Psychological Themes- Self-Honesty: Clarity over denial. You’re not confessing — you’re owning your story.
- Acceptance: Struggle doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re ready to grow.
- Compassionate Realism: Be real and kind to yourself. No shame, just truth.
? How to Practice This Step
- Write a Personal History: When did it stop being fun or helpful and start hurting?
- Talk to Someone Safe: A friend, sponsor, or therapist. Someone who listens without judgment.
- Create a "Damage Map": List the ways substance use has affected your life.
- Look for Patterns: What triggers it? What are the consequences? How do you feel before and after?
- Accept Ambivalence: You don’t have to be 100% ready to quit — just honest about what’s happening.
⚠️ Important Insights- Powerlessness ≠ Helplessness: You’re not giving up — you’re letting go of what doesn’t work.
- This Step is a Beginning, Not a Verdict: It opens the door to change, not judgment.
- Avoid Comparing: Your experience is valid even if it doesn’t look like someone else’s.
❤️ Final Thought
This version of Step One is compassionate, honest, and modern. It respects the original spirit but adds clarity and inclusivity. You’re not weak — you’re waking up. And you don’t need to be perfect. You just need to begin.
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Why use 12 Steps? Isn't this just rehashed AA? |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-14-2025, 02:15 PM - Forum: SoberLogic FAQ
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Although it does include a 12-step element, SoberLogic differs from AA/NA and all related programs in several important ways:
- The steps themselves have been revised, updated, and expanded to be more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to the modern recovery community.
- There is no formal element of sponsorship, although peers can form voluntary mentoring relationships if they so choose.
- Tools, strategies, and treatment options are included which are entirely absent in traditional 12-step programs.
- Spirituality is seen as a supplemental aspect of the program, rather than a non-negotiable foundation.
- The program is specifically trauma-informed and avoids alleged "cult-like" practices of shaming, shunning, love-bombing, and so forth.
- It can be used alongside other programs of the participant's choice, and we welcome such usage.
- Meetings will be less structured and more focused on free-flowing peer exchange than traditional 12-step meetings, with less reliance on scripted "readings" and less discouragement of "cross-talk" (while remaining focused on respecting and honoring others' boundaries).
- There is no Christian (or any other religious) foundation, either historically or currently.
- There is no "literature" (other than this forum and our other pages), no particular book or portion of the program is of any exalted significance (no Big Book - we have enough of those already).
- Sober time does not necessarily reset in the event of minor stumbles and slips.
- No counterproductive self-labeling such as "alcoholic" or "addict" is used. Instead, we say something like "I am a grateful person in recovery," or simply say our first names and nothing more.
- There are no group prayers or rituals.
- All addictions are included. Where terminology such as "substance use" is employed, participants can simply substitute their own addictive behavior(s) of choice.
- Medication-assisted therapy, use of appropriate psychiatric meds, and other reasonable medical accomodations are not discouraged.
- Although we do celebrate sobriety anniversaries, sober time is not necessarily equated to understanding of the program.
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The "God" word |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-14-2025, 01:31 AM - Forum: A Higher Power *Of Our Own Understanding*
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"Good Orderly Direction"
"Goodness Over Darkness"
"Group Of Drunks"
"God" can mean anything you choose, as long as it represents "a power greater than yourself."
If the word bothers you, Nature, Universe, Buddha, Tao, Allah, Great Spirit, and many more names can be used to point to the same Source of wisdom, power, and guidance. In the words of John Lennon, "whatever gets you through the night, it's alright, it's alright."
It can even be your dog, the fencepost, or the doorknob, if that somehow makes sense to you. We will never pressure you to adopt any particular view of spirituality.
And, of course, if you are atheist or agnostic, you can ignore this matter entirely and still be successful with the steps, tools, and strategies of SoberLogic.
We welcome people of all points of view. Let's recover together.
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Stumbles, slips, and relapses defined |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-13-2025, 10:03 PM - Forum: Fundamentals Of SoberLogic
- Replies (1)
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In SoberLogic, we use the following definitions for various levels of deviation from our recovery goals:
Stumble: This is a very small "oopsie," such as taking just a single sip of something we shouldn't, buying a single $1 scratch ticket, or the equivalent for whatever our own addictive behavior of choice may be. It doesn't require resetting our sober time, but we should report it to our peer group and other support systems right away.
Slip: This is a bigger incident, such as having 1 or two whole drinks, or using whatever our addictive behavior is to an extent that we get some effect out of it (a "buzz" or dopamine boost) Again, sober time is not necessarily reset, but one may want to voluntarily reset it, and the slip should definitely be reported to your recovery peers and supports ASAP.
Relapse: This means "falling off the wagon." We have a whole bunch of drinks, buy a whole bunch of lottery tickets, do a whole bunch of drugs, or whatever our behavior of choice is. We go full-on and have a bender. This DOES reset our sober time, and we should reach out for help from our recovery peers and supports immediately.
Also keep in mind that an ongoing pattern of stumbling and/or slipping, if it continues for more than a few days, also constitutes a condition of relapse. We can't cheat the system - we can only cheat ourselves.
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Escaping the CAVE - cutting slips and lapses short |
Posted by: soloadmin - 04-13-2025, 09:53 PM - Forum: SAVE - Defeating Urges And Cravings In Real Time
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The CAVE is what happens when we fail to SAVE - when we stumble, slip, or relapse.
It stands for "Committed Abstinence Violation Effect" and it refers to our tendency to think "well, since I've already screwed up, might as well go all the way with it."
This is the wrong answer. The CAVE is no place to stay any longer than we have to - it's cold, dark, and lonely, just like our lives were before we started the recovery process.
If you slip, even a little, don't think "everything is ruined now, so I might as well enjoy myself." That's living in the CAVE. Instead, get right back into your steps and the rest of your recovery toolbox, get rid of the substance of choice (ALL of it) and step back into the sunshine of moving forward.
Remember your Big Vow: Abstinence. That's where the good stuff is at. A slip is no reason to cheat yourself out of it.
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