THE joy of living is the theme of A.A.’s Twelfth Step, and
	action is its key word. Here we turn outward toward our fellow
	alcoholics who are still in distress. Here we experience the
	kind of giving that asks no rewards. Here we begin to practice
	all Twelve Steps of the program in our daily lives so that we
	and those about us may find emotional sobriety. When the
	Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking
	about the kind of love that has no price tag on it. (Page 106) 

The author gives the longest and perhaps most definitive explanation of the Spiritual Awakening on Pages 106 - 107. It is notable that in this passage the common and essential element in all such experiences is described in entirely psychological terms, with the ambiguous phrase 'source of strength' being the only possible hint of a Higher Power being involved. The new state of "consciousness and being" obtained in this awakening is a gift, and "A.A.’s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program." (Page 107) A summary of the Steps then follows, recapping briefly the progress already made.

The author spends only about two pages out of twenty in the entire chapter on spreading the word to the still-suffering alcoholic, for the sponsor's role is outlined in each of the Steps. To summarize what we have previously seen, the sponsor actively guides the newcomer in Steps One through Five. However, there no mention of a sponsor in Steps Six, Seven, Eight and Eleven, and only the briefest mention in Steps Nine, Ten and Twelve. This is, of course, different from the current A.A. practice that has evolved in the meantime, in which the sponsor offers advice on all twelve Steps. While the Big Book has specific advice on helping a newcomer take Step One, the Twelve and Twelve has more advice on helping someone take Steps Two through Five, after which the latter book envisions a minimal role for the sponsor.

A new aspect of carrying the message is service work in support of the A.A. group. This is no such discussion in the Big Book, as the Fellowship at that time consisted of only three formal groups in the entire nation. "If our turn comes to speak at a meeting, we again try to carry A.A.’s message. Whether our audience is one or many, it is still Twelfth Step work... We can be the ones who take on the unspectacular but important tasks that make good Twelfth Step work possible, perhaps arranging for the coffee and cake after the meetings, where so many skeptical, suspicious newcomers have found confidence and comfort in the laughter and talk." (Page 110) We are advised not to become too disappointed when our Twelfth Step work fails to produce the results we like, nor to become possessive of newcomers when we appear to be successful. We are also advised not to become too possessive and over manage a group we belong to and may even have help found. This is similar to a discussion in Tradition Two here in the Twelve and Twelve concerning "bleeding deacons".

The author then discusses practicing principles in all our affairs. There is a series of questions to this end like those we have seen in the Fourth Step in both books and in the Big Book's Eleventh Step nightly inventory. These questions can be seen as an implied set of goals in our daily lives. There is no mention of the Steps in helping carry them out, but we do see another reference to practicing the Twelve Steps in the conclusion: "The A.A. answer to these questions about living is 'Yes, all of these things are possible.' We see monotony, pain, and even calamity turned to good use by those who keep on trying to practice A.A.’s Twelve Steps." (Page 112) We may fall off the A.A. beam if we neglect some of the Steps, feeling that not all are necessary. In particular, we may fall prey to the "two-stepping" fallacy, in which we admit being powerless over alcohol and carry the message while ignoring the Steps between. We can meet life's contingencies if we switch from "two-stepping" to "twelve-stepping".

The author then discusses at some length the three areas of life involving our instincts mentioned under Step Four in both books: Society, Sex and Security. "Like most people, we have found that we can take our big lumps as they come. But also like others, we often discover a greater challenge in the lesser and more continuous problems of life." (Page 114) We are told that spiritual development will help us realize that satisfaction of our instincts cannot be the sole or primary aim in life, a topic covered earlier in the Step Seven discussion of instincts and humility (Page 71).

A discussion of our role in society follows, centering on our dependence on and domination of other people, recapping in a bit more detail points already made in Steps Three (Page 38) and Four (Page 53). More spiritual development will bring us inner strength and emotional stability as we depend more on God, the only healthy type of dependence endorsed in our literature. "It became clear that if we ever were to feel emotionally secure among grown-up people, we would have to put our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all those around us." (Page 116) The loneliness felt by many alcoholics will slip away as we learn to live with others and cooperate, not dominate.

The author then extends the partnership idea to marriage and the home front, largely echoing themes discussed in greater detail in the Big Book chapters To Wives and The Family Afterward. A few specific issues are mentioned in both books. For example, the man may become like a childlike and the wife may be forced to take on added responsibilities (Twelve and Twelve Page 117-118, Big Book Page 130-131). The wife may be resentful that A.A. has helped get the husband sober when her efforts were of no avail (Coincidentally, Page 118 in both books). The wife may be jealous of the time the husband spends in sobriety helping other alcoholics (Twelve and Twelve Page 118, Big Book, Page 119). Divorce and separation are unusual in A.A., since "[t]he alcoholic, realizing what his wife has endured, and now fully understanding how much he himself did to damage her and his children, nearly always takes up his marriage responsibilities with a willingness to repair what he can and to accept what he can’t. [The last clause of this sentence is a reworking of the Serenity Payer] He persistently tries all of A.A.’s Twelve Steps in his home, often with fine results. At this point he firmly but lovingly commences to behave like a partner instead of like a bad boy." (Page 119)

Single people in A.A. are not neglected. Some marry other A.A.'s, and experience shows that their common interest in spiritual matters often make for compatibility, so long as wishful thinking (rationalization) is not involved. The latter also applies to marriages outside of A.A. Some A.A. members cannot or do not form families. "Free of marital responsibilities, they can participate in enterprises which would be denied to family men and women. We daily see such members render prodigies of service, and receive great joys in return." (Page 120) In context, this appears to refer to A.A. service, as discussed earlier in this chapter as a new form of Twelfth Step work at the group level.

Financial and material security is the next topic in the chapter. While drinking, we alternated between spending large sums on alcohol and becoming miserly between binges, and later on money was needed so it could bring the comfort of oblivion. Now sober in A.A., we sometimes tend to panic over our past irresponsibility, and perhaps became desperate to rebuild our fortunes and save for the future. We might forget that A.A.'s normally have good earning power, that fellow A.A's are eager to help us when we deserve it, and most of all we may forget about God. The following passage reminds us that in the Fourth Step, it is thought that we became afraid because self-reliance failed us. (Big Book, Page 68)

	In money matters we had faith only in ourselves, and not too much of that...
	When a job still looked like a mere means of getting money rather than an
	opportunity for service, when the acquisition of money for financial
	independence looked more important than a right dependence upon God, we 
	were still the victims of unreasonable fears. And these were fears which
	would make a serene and useful existence, at any financial level, quite
	impossible. (Page 121)	 
	 	 
	 	 

We also have an improved outlook in matters of personal importance, power and ambition (In other words, we have increased humility). The average person learns to moderate his childhood dreams of being a "number one man". "He learns that he can be content as long as he plays well whatever cards life deals him" (Page 122) Not so with alcoholics, who were found by doctors to be "childish, emotionally sensitive, and grandiose." (Page 123) We later come to see the truth in this verdict. "We have seen that we were prodded by unreasonable fears or anxieties into making a life business of winning fame, money, and what we thought was leadership. So false pride became the reverse side of that ruinous coin marked 'Fear.'" (Page 123) Boastful or depressed and cowed, we all nearly drowned in a sea of alcohol. But in mature A.A.'s, these distorted drives (Fourth Step defects of excessive instincts, self-will, lack of humility) have been restored to nearly their true purpose and direction. We no longer seek self-importance, fame and honor in order to be praised. "[W]e try to be humbly grateful and exert ourselves the more in a spirit of love and service. True leadership, we find, depends upon able example and not upon vain displays of power or glory." (Page 124) The highlighted phrase may be a reference to Dr. Bob's farewell address, in which he stated: "Our Twelve Steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words 'love' and 'service.'" The author concludes this topic with by far the longest sentence in our literature, one describing aspects of the spiritual awakening, fulfillment of some the Big Book Promises and the Twelve and Twelve's corresponding Step Summaries, and perhaps describing his own personal experience:

	Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, 
	troubles well accepted or solved with God’s help, 
	the knowledge that at home or in the world outside 
	we are partners in a common effort, the well-
	understood fact that in God’s sight all human beings
	are important, the proof that love freely given surely
	brings a full return, the certainty that we are no 
	longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, 
	the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in 
	round holes but can’t and belong in God’s scheme of 
	things— these are the permanent and legitimate satis-
	factions of right living for which no amount of pomp 
	and circum stance, no heap of material possessions, 
	could possibly be substitutes. (Page 124)  

	God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
	Courage to change the things we can,
	And wisdom to know the difference. (Page 125)