What This Step Means
Step Two is about hope. After admitting in Step One that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life has become unmanageable, you need something to give you hope that things can get better. This step introduces the idea that something bigger and stronger than you can help restore your life to sanity.
This step says three important things. First, there is a Power greater than yourself that can help you. Second, this Power has the ability to restore you to sanity. Third, you don't have to stay sick and hopeless forever. Recovery is possible, even when it seems impossible.
The beautiful thing about Step Two is that it doesn't require you to have perfect faith or complete understanding. You just need to become willing to believe that help is available from somewhere outside yourself. This is often the first glimmer of hope that people feel after the difficult honesty of Step One.
What "Power Greater Than Ourselves" Means
The Power greater than yourself can be different things for different people. There is no single right answer, and you get to choose what makes sense to you. For some people, this Power is God as they learned about God in childhood. For others, it might be God as they understand God now, which may be very different from what they learned when they were young.
Some people find their Higher Power in the AA group itself. When they see other people who were hopeless like them getting better and staying sober, they realize there is power in people helping each other. The group becomes their Higher Power because it can do for them what they could not do alone.
Other people find their Higher Power in nature. They feel connected to something greater when they watch a sunset, walk in the forest, or look at the stars. Some people think of their Higher Power as love itself, or hope itself, or the universe. Some people call it the Good Orderly Direction in their lives.
The important thing is not what you call your Higher Power, but that you believe something greater than yourself can help you recover from alcoholism. You don't have to figure this out perfectly or have it all make sense right away. Your understanding can grow and change over time.
What "Restore to Sanity" Means
When the step talks about being restored to sanity, it doesn't mean you were crazy or mentally ill. In the context of alcoholism, insanity means doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. It means making choices that hurt you while hoping they will help you somehow.
For example, it's insane to think that having a drink will make you feel better when drinking has caused nothing but problems in your life. It's insane to believe you can control your drinking this time when you've never been able to control it before. It's insane to expect that drinking will solve your problems when it always makes them worse.
Being restored to sanity means starting to think clearly again. It means making choices that actually help you instead of hurt you. It means acting in ways that make sense and support your wellbeing. It means living in a way that is reasonable and healthy instead of chaotic and destructive.
Sanity also means being able to see reality as it really is, not as you wish it were. When you're restored to sanity, you can recognize that alcohol is a problem for you without trying to convince yourself otherwise. You can see that you need help without feeling ashamed about it.
Common Worries About This Step
Many people have concerns about Step Two, especially if they have complicated feelings about religion or God. If you don't believe in God, that's perfectly okay. You can start by believing in the power of the AA group to help you. You can believe in the power of people helping each other. You don't have to figure out all your spiritual beliefs right now.
Some people worry that nothing has ever helped them before, so why should they believe anything can help them now? This is understandable after years of failed attempts to quit drinking. But many people in AA felt hopeless too, and they found that recovery was possible even when it seemed impossible. You don't have to believe completely right away. You just need to be open to the possibility that help might be available.
Others worry that they're too broken or have done too many bad things to ever get better. They feel like their situation is hopeless and they've gone too far to ever come back. But in AA meetings, you'll hear stories from people who felt exactly the same way, and they found that recovery was possible for them too. No one is too far gone to get help.
Some people feel uncomfortable with the idea of needing help from anything outside themselves. They've always tried to be strong and independent. But needing help doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. Everyone needs help with some things in life, and alcoholism is definitely something that requires help from others.
How This Step Works
Working Step Two is a gradual process that happens over time. You don't have to wake up one morning with perfect faith. Instead, you can start by opening your mind just a little bit to the possibility that help might be available.
Begin by looking for small pieces of evidence that recovery is possible. When you go to AA meetings, watch other people who have been sober for months or years. Listen to their stories about what their lives were like when they were drinking, and notice how different they seem now. This is evidence that people can recover from alcoholism.
Pay attention to small improvements in your own life, even if they seem tiny. Maybe you sleep a little better when you don't drink. Maybe you feel less anxious in the morning. Maybe you have more energy. These small changes are evidence that life can get better without alcohol.
Notice moments when you feel hopeful, even if the feeling doesn't last very long. Hope is often the first sign that your Higher Power is working in your life. When you feel hope, even for a few minutes, it means part of you believes that things can change for the better.
Take your time with this step. You don't have to rush or force yourself to believe things that don't make sense to you yet. Beliefs often grow slowly, like plants growing toward the light. Be patient with yourself as your faith develops.
Examples from AA Members
People in AA often share how they came to believe in a Power greater than themselves. Some say things like, "I didn't believe in God, but I believed in the group because I could see that people were getting better." Others share, "I saw other people getting sober, so maybe I could too."
Many people describe moments when they first felt hope. Someone might say, "I started to hope that things could change when I heard someone tell my story and they were smiling." Others share, "I realized I couldn't do it alone when I saw how much better I felt with support from other people."
Some people talk about small signs that made them believe help was available. "I found a parking space right in front of my first AA meeting, and I thought maybe that was a sign." Others say, "I started to notice coincidences that seemed like my Higher Power was looking out for me."
The important thing is not how people came to believe, but that they became willing to believe that help was possible. Everyone's journey to faith is different, and there's no right or wrong way to find your Higher Power.
What Changes
When people begin working Step Two, several things start to change in their lives. First, they feel less alone in the world. Instead of feeling like they have to solve all their problems by themselves, they start to believe that help is available from somewhere.
They also begin to feel more hopeful about the future. Instead of feeling trapped and hopeless, they start to believe that their lives can get better. This hope gives them energy to keep working on their recovery even when things are difficult.
People working Step Two often become more willing to ask for help. When you believe that a Power greater than yourself wants to help you, it becomes easier to reach out to other people for support. You stop feeling like asking for help is a sign of weakness.
They also become more willing to trust the recovery process. Instead of trying to figure everything out by themselves, they become willing to follow suggestions from other people in AA. They start to trust that the program works, even when they don't understand exactly how it works.
The Beginning of Faith
Step Two is the beginning of faith, not the end result. Faith doesn't mean having all the answers or never having doubts. Faith means being willing to trust even when you can't see the whole picture. It means believing that help is available even when you can't prove it.
Faith in recovery means being willing to try something new, even when you're not sure it will work. It means following suggestions from people who have stayed sober, even when their suggestions don't make perfect sense to you. It means believing that your life can get better, even when you can't imagine how.
Many people are surprised to discover that faith grows stronger through practice. The more you act as if you believe help is available, the more you actually start to believe it. The more you trust the recovery process, the easier it becomes to trust.
Faith also means having hope for the future even when the present moment is difficult. It means believing that the work you're doing in recovery today will pay off tomorrow, even when you can't see the results yet.
Remember
You don't have to have perfect faith to work Step Two. Many people start with very little belief and find that their faith grows over time. Doubt is normal and doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. Even people who have been in recovery for years sometimes have moments of doubt.
The important thing is being open to the possibility that help is available. You don't have to believe everything right away. You just need to be willing to consider that maybe, just maybe, things can get better. That small willingness is often enough to get started.
Many people who are now strong in their faith started out as skeptics or non-believers. Your starting point doesn't determine where you'll end up. What matters is your willingness to keep an open mind and pay attention to evidence that recovery is possible.
Remember that this step is about hope, and hope is something everyone deserves to have. No matter how hopeless you feel right now, there are people in AA who felt the same way and found that recovery was possible for them. If it worked for them, it can work for you too.