I was told the 12 steps would cure my addiction

I am amazed at the ability of our minds to alter the way we see the world and everything in it to feed its desire for addictive substances and justify our actions in achieving its goals.

I have never experienced a meth addiction but have had my fair share of relapses and my mind managed to reason myself into all of them.

I believe 12 step programs and AA/NA in particular are an excellent tool in fighting one of addiction's most powerful drivers, which is loneliness.

I do not believe in total abstinence and feel that this may be the "Achilles heel" of most 12 step programs as even though they are supposed to be unconditional support systems, abstinence is a huge condition and there is also a stigmatic undertone when it comes to relapses which are something every addict goes through.

I have not been to a meeting in a long time but am forever thankful to my late friend who brought me to my first meeting in my darkest time.