What are OUR principles?

What, after all, are those principles we say we “…practice …  in all our affairs” in our 12th step?  What is a principle?  As opposed to some sort of truism? …a good idea?  …a general slogan or cliche?  What would look different in my life if I truly were practicing principles as opposed to just having good manners? In another article about the definition of the word principle, we give many possible definitions. The definitions that strike me as most relevant to my experience around my AA program are:

• A basic truth, law, or assumption.
• A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.
• A basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct

We can see even in Bill’s writings that there are many ways the word can be used - each will pick up another meaning.  He refers in some places to the 12 Steps as principles (citations). Our AA principles are also described as general guidance or a new way of looking at life.

AA Principles

Others on the web have attempted to catalog principles from our literature and from their experiences.  I want to acknowledge and appreciate their efforts, but I still feel the over-all discussion is inadequate (in some cases) and is distracted from some religious (primarily Christian) perspectives. I would like to encourage a discussion on 36oprinciples.org those principles which are:

• Common across all those of us (or at least most of us?) who are using the AA program of recovery from alcoholism
• They should be relatively universal (understood by and work for AA members consistently)
• Are distinct enough so as to provide guidance in daily behavior - eg:
  • “Try to be good” - is probably too vague
  • “Visit my mother every Thursday” - is probably well intentioned and based on a valid principle but may be too specific
  • Respect all opinions and perspectives - is probably about “right” for our purposes

I have found little utility in this exercise in attempting to map a particular principle to a particular step, tradition or whatever.  For example, I find that the 1st step and the 7th tradition are deeply seated in and grounded by 3-4 principles at a minimum.  It think it better to mine each and every piece of our AA program for all that it can say about any principles that might be evidenced.

An Arbitrary List

I spent a small amount of time on the web investigating some random pages returned from Google (some of which are mentioned in the others link at the 36Principles.org web site) and came up with the following list.  Please understand that this list is completely arbitrary and I completely disagree with some, have little or no investment in calling a few of these “AA principles”, and feel quite deeply about others.

Abandonment	Health	Responsibility
Abstinence	Helpfulness	Restitution
Acceptance	High-Mindedness	Self-control
Activity	Honesty	Self-discovery
Altruism	Hope	Self-forgetfulness
Amendment	Humility	Self-sacrifice
Anonymity	Integrity	Self -valuation
Being On Time	Justice	Selflessness
Clean Thinking	Kindness	Sensibility
Compassion	Love	Service
Confession	Meditation	Simplicity
Consideration	Moderation	Sobriety
Constructiveness	Modesty	Spirituality
Courage	Open-mindedness	Straightforwardness
Discovery	Optimism	Surrender
Energy	Patience	Tactfulness
Faith	Peace	Tolerance
Forgiveness	Prayer	Trust
Generosity	Perseverance	Truthfulness
Good nature	Positive-Thinking	Understanding
Grace	Promptness	Unity
	Recovery	Willingness
	Reflection

Clearly, these principles are largely based on the outlines of the 12 steps and to a much lesser degree, the 12 traditions. Other principles are better informed by our traditions and concepts:

• rotation
• right of decision
• right of participation
• group conscience
• right of appeal
• responsibility matching authority
• substantial unanimity
• democracy
• financial prudence

Major and Minor Principles?

Reviewing this list, the first thing that jumps out is that there are many relationships between these principles.  For example, confession could be considered a part of the process involved with the principle of surrender.  Honesty and truthfulness are almost synonymous.  Selflessness (no, that one’s not even on the list…) is related to anonymity. Since any list is relatively arbitrary and subject to the attentions and priorities of the list maker alone, how it gets carved up is probably only a matter of convenience for the person doing the carving… So, here it is - Ed’s view of the architecture of AA principles and their relation to one another:

Another View

As I’ve said before, I have found little utility in attempting to map a particular principle to a particular step, tradition or whatever.  However, maybe we can mine out of each of the steps, traditions and concepts specific principles that they either point directly to or can be related to what we do.

The Twelve Steps

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
   1. Primary principle(s): honesty, willingness, open-mindedness, surrender
   2. Other principles: acceptance
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
   1. Primary principle(s): faith, hope, optimism, willingness
   2. Other principles: humility, trust, tolerance, surrender
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
   1. Primary principle(s): willingness, courage,
   2. Other principles: faith, surrender, trust, grace, prayer, understanding
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
   1. Primary principle(s): honesty, truthfulness,
   2. Other principles: courage, simplicity, straightforwardness, activity
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
   1. Primary principle(s): acceptance, honesty, confession,
   2. Other principles: courage, faith,
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
   1. Primary principle(s): willingness, hope, surrender
   2. Other principles: forgiveness,
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
   1. Primary principle(s): humility,
   2. Other principles: trust, understanding,
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
   1. Primary principle(s): honesty, willingness,
   2. Other principles: amendment,
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
   1. Primary principle(s): confession, patience, honesty, truthfulness, willingness
   2. Other principles: courage, faith, forgiveness, generosity, good nature, grace, peace, love
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
    1. Primary principle(s): confession, constructiveness,
    2. Other principles: courage, helpfulness, honesty, humility, self-sacrifice, tolerance, surrender
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.
    1. Primary principle(s): prayer,
    2. Other principles: service, tolerance, peace, generosity, good nature
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
    1. Primary principle(s): service, love, sobriety
    2. Other principles: self-discovery, self-sacrifice, humility, spirituality,  generosity, good nature

The Twelve Traditions

1. (short) Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
   (long) Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of use will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.
   1. Primary principle(s): Unity
   2. Other principles: Self-sacrifice, responsibility, altruism, consideration, tolerance, humility, group conscience, anonyimity
2. (short) 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.
   (long) For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority-a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
   1. Primary principle(s): Group conscience, democracy, substantial unanimity
   2. Other principles: Abandonment,  acceptance, surrender, courage, open mindedness, hope, selflessness, unity, willingness, responsibility, leadership
3. (short) The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
   (long) Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. Group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
   1. Primary principle(s): Inclusiveness, identification
   2. Other principles: Acceptance, anonymity, compassion, confession, consideration, generosity, honesty, humility, integrity, selflessness, surrender, tolerance, trust, truthfulness
4. (short) Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
   (long) With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the Trustees of the General Service Board. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
   1. Primary principle(s): Autonomy
   2. Other principles: group conscience, unanimity, unity, acceptance, consideration, peace, tolerance, understanding
5. (short) Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
   (long) Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose-that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
   1. Primary principle(s): Primary purpose
   2. Other principles: Abstinence, identification, humility, integrity, understanding, self-discovery
6. (short) An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
   (long) Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An A.A. group, as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to A.A., such as clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought to be incorporated and so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups. Hence such facilities ought not to use the A.A. name. Their management should be the sole responsibility of those people who financially support them. For clubs, A.A. managers are usually preferred. But hospitals, as well as other places of recuperation, ought to be well outside A.A.-and medically supervised. While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied. An A.A. group can bind itself to no one.
   1. Primary principle(s): Spirituality, cooperation, non-affiliation
   2. Other principles: deliberate poverty, service, helpfulness, honesty, open mindedness, responsibility, straightforwardness, tolerance, understanding, unity, responsibility matching authority, democracy, financial prudence
7. (short) Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
   (long) The A.A. groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members. We think that each group should soon achieve this ideal; that any public solicitation of funds using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous is highly dangerous, whether by groups, clubs, hospitals, or other outside agencies; that acceptance of large gifts from any source, or of contributions carrying any obligation whatever, is unwise. Then too, we view with much concern those A.A. treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose. Experience has often warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our spiritual heritage as futile disputes over property, money, and authority.
   1. Primary principle(s): self support
   2. Other principles: financial prudence, generosity, good nature, grace, helpfulness, humility, integrity, kindness, moderation, self-sacrifice, trust, willingness, right of participation
8. (short) Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
   (long) Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional. We define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to perform those services for which we may otherwise have to engage nonalcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed. But our usual A.A. “12th Step” work is never to be paid for.
   1. Primary principle(s): non-professional
   2. Other principles: altruism, consideration, generosity, integrity, modesty, selflessness, sacrifice, trust, understanding, rotation, responsibility matching authority, democracy
9. (short) A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
   (long) Each A.A. group needs the least possible organization. Rotating leadership is the best. The small group may elect its Secretary, the large group its Rotating Committee, and the groups of a large Metropolitan area their Central or Intergroup Committee, which often employs a full-time Secretary. The trustees of the General Service Board are, in effect, our A.A. General Service Committee. They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary A.A. contributions by which we maintain our A.A. General Service Office at New York. They are authorized by the groups to handle our over-all public relations and they guarantee the integrity of our principle newspaper, “The A.A. Grapevine.” All such representatives are to be guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced servants of the whole. They derive no real authority from their titles; they do not govern. Universal respect is the key to their usefulness.
   1. Primary principle(s): rotation, leadership, service
   2. Other principles: democracy, respect, usefulness, patience, anonymity, altruism, constructiveness, helpfulness, honesty, humility, justice, moderation, patience, positive thinking, responsibility, tolerance, trust, truthfulness, understanding, willingness, unity, right of decision, group conscience, substantial unanimity
10. (short) Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
    (long) No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues-particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever.
    1. Primary principle(s): autonomous, indifference, non-affiliation, understanding,
    2. Other principles: acceptance, compassion, consideration, generosity, tolerance, tactfulness, trust, spirituality, self-control, group conscience, democracy
11. (short) 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.
    (long) Our relations with the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. We think A.A. ought to avoid sensational advertising. Our names and pictures as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed. Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.
    1. Primary principle(s): anonymity, attraction, humility
    2. Other principles: acceptance, consideration, constructiveness, generosity, high-mindedness, recovery, self-control, self-sacrifice, selflessness, spirituality, surrender, unity, modesty
12. (short) Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
    (long) And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of Anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.
    1. Primary principle(s): humility, anonymity
    2. Other principles: acceptance, consideration, courage, faith, forgiveness, generosity, good nature, grace, helpfulness, honesty, hope, integrity, kindness, love, open-mindedness, patience, compassion, reflection, self-sacrifice, selflessness, surrender, tolerance, trust, understanding, prayer

The Twelve Concepts

1. (short) Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.
   (long) The final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole fellowship.
   1. Primary principle(s): Group conscience, unity, trust
   2. Other principles: responsibility, acceptance, constructiveness, courage, discovery, faith, generosity, good nature, helpfulness, honesty, humility, integrity, kindness, modesty, open-mindedness, patience, perseverance, selflessness, self-sacrifice, simplicity, surrender, understanding, willingness,
2. (short) The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole society in its world affairs.
   (long)When, in 1955, the A.A. groups confirmed the permanent charter for their General Service Conference, they thereby delegated to the Conference complete authority  for the active maintenance of our world services and thereby made the Conference - excepting for any change in the Twelve Traditions or in Article 12 of the Conference Charter - the actual voice and the effective conscience for our whole Society.
   1. Primary principle(s): Group conscience, unity, responsibility, delegated authority
   2. Other principles: trust, patience, faith, forgiveness, generosity, good nature, hope, justice, love, patience, perseverance, positive thinking, selflessness, service, tactfulness, understanding, unity, willingness, democracy
3. (short) To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. - the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives - with a traditional “Right of Decision.”
   (long) As a traditional means of creating and maintaining a clearly defined working relation between the groups, the Conference, the A.A. General Service Board and its several service corporations, staffs, committees and executives, and of thus insuring their effective leadership, it is here suggested that we endow each of these elements of world service with a traditional “Right of Decision”.
   1. Primary principle(s): trust, leadership, right of decision, restraint, responsibility matching  authority
   2. Other principles: acceptance, consideration, faith, forgiveness, generosity, good nature, helpfulness, kindness, open-mindedness, optimism, patience, positive thinking, self-control, selflessness, service, spirituality, tolerance, understanding, unity, rotation, right of appeal, democracy
4. (short) At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
   (long) Throughout our Conference structure, we ought to maintain at all responsible levels a traditional “Right of Participation”, taking care that each classification or group of our world servants shall be allowed a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
   1. Primary principle(s): right of participation
   2. Other principles: responsibility, acceptance, anonymity, consideration, faith, generosity, helpfulness, honesty, humility, patience, surrender, self-sacrifice, trust, understanding, unity, peace
5. (short) Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration.
   (long) Throughout our world service structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, thus assuring us that minority opinion will be heard and that petitions for the redress of personal grievances will be carefully considered.
   1. Primary principle(s): right of appeal
   2. Other principles: acceptance, anonymity, consideration, faith, good nature, helpfulness, honesty, humility, integrity, justice, kindness, love, modesty, peace, unity, surrender, tolerance, trust, understanding, willingness, democracy
6. (short) The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.
   (long) On behalf of A.A. as a whole, our General Service Conference has the principal responsibility for the maintenance of our world services, and it traditionally has the final decision respecting large matters of general policy and finance. But the Conference also recognizes that the chief initiative and the active responsibility in most of these matters should be exercised primarily by the Trustee members of the Conference when they act among themselves as the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous.
   1. Primary principle(s): unity, right of decision, democracy
   2. Other principles: responsibility, acceptance, consideration, constructiveness, faith, forgiveness, generosity, hope, integrity, kindness, understanding, willingness, trust, peace, self-sacrifice, service, tolerance,
7. (short) The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
   (long) The Conference recognizes that the Charter and the Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments: that the Trustees are thereby fully empowered to manage and conduct all of the world service affairs of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is further understood that the Conference Charter itself is not a legal document: that it relies instead upon the force of tradition and the power of the A.A. purse for its final effectiveness.
   1. Primary principle(s): unity, democracy
   2. Other principles: consideration, faith, generosity, good nature, helpfulness, honesty, hope, kindness, love, open-mindedness, patience, understanding, trust, tolerance, simplicity
8. (short) The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of over-all policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.
   (long) The Trustees of the General Service Board act in two primary capacities: (a) With respect to the larger matters of over-all policy and finance, they are the principal planners and administrators. They and their primary committees directly manage these affairs. (b) But with respect to our separately incorporated and constantly active services, the relation of the Trustees is mainly that of full stock ownership and of custodial oversight which they exercise through their ability to elect all directors of these entities.
   1. Primary principle(s): financial prudence, democracy
   2. Other principles: patience, acceptance, constructiveness, faith, forgiveness, good nature, helpfulness, open-mindedness, optimism, patience, peace, spirituality, tolerance, trust, understanding, willingness, rotation, substantial unanimity
9. (short) Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.
   (long) Good service leaders, together with sound and appropriate methods of choosing them, are at all levels indispensable for our future functioning and safety. The primary world service leadership once exercised by the founders of A.A. must necessarily be assumed by the Trustees of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous.
   1. Primary principle(s): leadership, trust
   2. Other principles: consideration, faith, generosity, good nature, helpfulness, honesty, hope, integrity, optimism, patience, perseverance, responsibility, service, surrender, tactfulness, tolerance, understanding, unity, willingness, rotation, group conscience
10. (short) Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well defined.
    (long) Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority - the scope of such authority to be always well defined whether by tradition, by resolution, by specific job description or by appropriate charters and bylaws.
    1. Primary principle(s): responsibility matching authority
    2. Other principles: acceptance, consideration, courage, faith, forgiveness, good nature, generosity, helpfulness, integrity, humility, kindness, open-mindedness, patience, optimism, perseverance, service, spirituality, tolerance, trust, understanding, unity, willingness
11. (short) The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern.
    (long) While the Trustees hold final responsibility for A.A.’s world service administration, they should always have the assistance of the best possible standing committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Therefore the composition of these underlying committees and service boards, the personal qualifications of their members, the manner of their induction into service, the systems of their rotation, the way in which they are related to each other, the special rights and duties of our executives, staffs, and consultants, together with a proper basis for the financial compensation of these special workers, will always be matters for serious care and concern.
    1. Primary principle(s): trust, right of decision, responsibility matching authority,
    2. Other principles: acceptance, willingness, activity, consideration, constructiveness, faith, generosity, good nature, helpfulness, honesty, humility, financial prudence,  patience, perseverance, responsibility, simplicity, straightforwardness, tactfulness, understanding, unity, democracy,
12. (short & long) General Warranties of  the Conference: in all its proceedings, the Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and whenever possible, substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government; that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.
    1. Primary principle(s): trust, generosity
    2. Other principles: faith,

AA Warranties

1. in all its proceedings, the Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power
   1. Primary principle(s): moderation
   2. Other principles: unity, consideration, faith, financial prudence, humility, trust, service, simplicity, self-sacrifice, tolerance
2. that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle
   1. Primary principle(s): financial prudence, responsibility
   2. Other principles: moderation, consideration, constructiveness, humility, self-sacrifice
3. that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others
   1. Primary principle(s):  responsibility matching authority
   2. Other principles: compassion, consideration, faith, generosity, good nature, humility, patience, straightforwardness, tolerance, understanding
4. that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and whenever possible, substantial unanimity;
   1. Primary principle(s): unity, substantial unanimity
   2. Other principles: consideration, good nature, humility, open-mindedness, self-sacrifice, surrender, spirituality, trust, tolerance, understanding, willingness
5. that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy
   1. Primary principle(s): peace, understanding
   2. Other principles: acceptance, forgiveness, generosity, humility, kindness, open-mindedness, patience, tolerance, unity
6. that it never perform acts of government; that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action
   1. Primary principle(s): democracy
   2. Other principles: acceptance, consideration, courage, faith, humility, peace, responsibility, selflessness, surrender, tolerance, understanding, unity, willingness

Where do we go from Here?

It’s interesting to me, on reflection, how bound up I can become on what the principles are vs. a spirit of looking for the principles and their application in my daily life.  I don’t think the answer to my perspectives on the dilemma of healing a sick mind and/or looking toward my continued re-birth as a recovered alcoholic is that I become legalistic and bound up in simply “trying harder”. I have a life of failure and despair where I guarantee you, I’ve tried as hard as I could.  I truly think I can no longer “will” myself to live a spirit-led, principle-based life than I could “will” myself into not drinking. Instead, perhaps some of my favorite principles of grace, surrender and peace come into play… No, I think a better action is that we look for opportunities in our daily lives to:

• Mindfully reflect on what’s in front of us (steps 3,7,10,11; traditions 1, 7, 11; concept 3)
• Take action in light of our current understanding of the principles that apply (citations?)
• Learn from the results of our actions (citations?)

More later…