This is a topic taught to families who have a family member in a rehabilitation center, where they are told about the third step. We hope you like it and can support us by sharing. Greetings and blessings!! Intro. Min 11:07 PRACTICING the Third Step is like opening a door that still seems to be closed and locked. The only thing we need is the key and the decision to open the door wide. There is only one key, and it is the key of good will. When we remove the lock with good will, the door almost opens by itself, and when we look out, we will see a sign next to a road that says: “This is the way to a faith that works.” Min 26:32 Step Three requires positive action from us, because only by taking action can we eliminate the stubbornness that has always blocked the entrance of God—or, if you prefer, a Higher Power—into our lives. Faith, without a doubt, is necessary, but faith alone is of no use. Min 29:40 In fact, the effectiveness of the entire AA program will depend on how earnestly and diligently we have tried to come to “a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.” Min 43:18 To every worldly, practical beginner, this Step seems difficult, even impossible. As much as he may want to try, how exactly can he turn his will and his own life over to the care of any God he believes exists? Fortunately, those of us who have tried, with equal misgiving, can attest that anyone, no matter who he is, can begin to do so. Min 47:14 Once we have put the key of good will into the lock, and have the door ajar, we find that we can always open it a little wider. Though self-will may slam it shut again, as it often does, it will always open again as soon as we avail ourselves of the key of good will. Min 51:38 Every man and woman who has joined AA with the intention of staying with us has already begun, without realizing it, to practice the Third Step. Is it not true that in all that concerns alcohol, each of them has decided to put his or her life under the care, protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous? 1 hr The more willing we are to depend on a Higher Power, the more independent we really are. Therefore, dependence, as practiced in AA, is really a way of achieving true independence of spirit. 1.4 hrs We will listen politely to those who would advise us, but we alone will make all decisions. In such matters, no one is to limit our personal independence. Moreover, we believe that there is no one who deserves our full confidence. We are convinced that our intelligence, backed by our willpower, can properly control our inner life and ensure our success in the world in which we live. 1.8 hrs We realize that the word “dependency” is as distasteful to many psychiatrists and psychologists as it is to alcoholics. Like our professional friends, we are aware that there are improper forms of dependency. We have experienced them ourselves. 1.10 hrs They were as resilient and courageous as the other soldiers. In Alaska as in the Salerno beachheads, their dependence on a Higher Power helped them. And far from being a weakness, this dependency was their main source of strength. 1.11 hrs We began to make proper use of our will when we tried to subject it to the will of God. For all of us, this was a wonderful revelation. All our difficulties had originated in the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it, instead of trying to make it coincide with God’s designs for us. The goal of the Twelve Steps of AA is to make this increasingly possible, and Step Three opens the door for us. 1:12 hrs Once we agree with these ideas, it is very easy to begin to practice Step Three. In any moment of emotional upheaval or indecision, we can pause, ask for stillness, and in the stillness simply say: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done.”