SB Debtors Anonymous
Literature
12 Steps
12 Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over debt—that our lives had become unmanageable.2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive debtors, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
12 Traditions
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon D.A. unity.2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority- a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.3. The only requirement for D.A. membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or D.A. as a whole.5. Each group has but one primary purpose- to carry its message to the debtor who still suffers.6. A D.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the D.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.7. Every D.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.8. Debtors Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.9. D.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.10. Debtors Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the D.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
12 Promises
In the program of Debtors Anonymous, we come together to share our journey in recovering from compulsive debting. There is hope. In working D.A.’s Twelve Steps, we have developed new ways of living. When we work D.A.’s Twelve Steps and use D.A.’s Tools, we begin to receive these gifts of the program:
1. Where once we felt despair, we will experience a newfound hope.2. Clarity will replace vagueness. Confidence and intuition will replace confusion and chaos. We will live engaged lives, make decisions that best meet our needs, and become the people we were meant to be.3. We will live within our means, yet our means will not define us.4. We will begin to live a prosperous life, unencumbered by fear, worry, resentment or debt.5. We will realize that we are enough; we will value ourselves and our contributions.6. Isolation will give way to fellowship; faith will replace fear.7. We will recognize that there is enough; our resources will be generous and we will share them with others and with DA.8. We will cease to compare ourselves to others; jealousy and envy will fade.9. Acceptance and Gratitude will replace regret, self pity and longing.10. We will no longer fear the truth; we will move from hiding in denial to living in reality.11. Honesty will guide our actions towards a rich life filled with meaning and purpose.12. We will recognize a Power Greater than ourselves as the source of our abundance. We will ask for help and guidance and have faith that they will come.
All this and more is possible. When we work this program with integrity and to the best of our ability, one day at a time, a life of prosperity and serenity will be ours.
Copyright © A.A. World Services, Inc. Adapted and reprinted with permission. Registered D.A. groups have permission to copy this page for distribution to its members.