Topic: Step 2

Topic: Step 2

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This speaker-style meeting focuses on Step 2 of Alcoholics Anonymous, with Donna J from Florida sharing how coming to believe in a power greater than herself changed everything. Across more than two decades of sobriety, Donna has taken people through the Big Book line by line, yet she keeps things very down-to-earth and honest.

She talks about her own “deep first-step experience”, the moment on 5 August 2000 when she realised she didn’t remove her obsession to drink by herself: “I know that in all things, when I stop trying, there’s enough space for grace.” From there, she explains how Step 2 opened the door to a different way of living, one based on willingness, not perfection.

You’ll hear her talk about growing up with a punishing image of God, years of Catholic school, an angry mother, and feeling starved of love. She doesn’t sugar-coat the pain, yet ties it directly to the spiritual awakening she later found in AA. Step 2, as she puts it, is about the “beginning of possibility thinking” – maybe life doesn’t have to stay stuck on “just okay”. The Q&A section keeps things practical.

Donna answers questions on what “dying to self” really means in day-to-day life, how burdens can actually bring someone closer to a Higher Power, and why willingness can start small but still be enough. She also shares concrete tools, like mapping the bedevilments from the Big Book to see how self-will shapes mood, habits, and relationships.

If you’re wrestling with Step 2, struggling with the word “God”, or wondering how faith could ever apply to you, this meeting offers a grounded, relatable take. Are you ready to at least be willing to believe that something greater than you might take you further than your best thinking ever has?