The Tao – Step 3The Tao – Step 3
Tao of Our understanding Alcohol Recovery Podcast
Conversation about Step 3 of the 12 Steps is linked with Taoist ideas of letting go, surrender, and being guided by a higher power. The group share personal reflections on fear, control, compassion, and learning to live from a calmer centre in sobriety.
48:18•13 Apr 2026
Letting Go in Step 3: Taoist Wisdom for Turning Your Will Over
Episode Overview
- Step 3 is a decision to turn over one’s will and life, not just drinking, and that decision is lived out through the later steps.
- Letting go and being “lived by the Tao” offers a different way of understanding a higher power for people in recovery.
- Staying open-minded and willing to see things differently can reveal guidance in unexpected places and people.
- Fear and the urge to control the future keep people stuck; acceptance and reduced expectations bring calm and fewer disappointments.
- Living compassionately and being helpful to others often brings more peace and joy than focusing on self-interest.
“Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation from the Tao of Our Understanding Alcohol Recovery Podcast centres on Step 3 of the 12 Steps – “Made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understand Him” – and connects it with Taoist teachings about letting go.
Buddy C and the group chat about what Step 3 really asks for: not a dramatic spiritual performance, but a simple decision that’s then backed up by action in the later steps. Buddy points out that many people first read it as “I turned my drinking over”, then realise it actually means “my will and my life” – everything they care about. Taoist ideas are used to bring that to life.
Drew highlights a line from the Tao Te Ching: “Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself,” linking it directly to Step 3 as a willingness to let a higher power work through you rather than trying to control everything. Kate and Libby pick up on images like the wheel with a still centre and the empty space in a pot, showing how calm comes from staying in the centre instead of spinning on the edge.
There’s also a memorable story from Libby about “inattentional blindness” and synchronistic moments, gently reminding anyone in recovery that, “You’re not seeing everything… you need to be open to possibilities and open to the fact that you don’t know everything.” From there, the group talk about surrender, fear, compassion, and how being helpful brings more peace than clinging to control.
If Step 3 feels vague, heavy, or a bit religious for your taste, this chat might help you see it as a daily, practical shift: could letting go just one small thing today make sobriety simpler rather than harder?
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