It is very easy to see Steps 10, 11 and 12 as simply a repetition of the preceding nine Steps. This is particularly so if we listen to other people in meetings rather than reading what our literature says. In meetings, we tend to gloss over the significant change that occurs (according to the Big Book) between Steps 9 and 10. "Entering the world of the spirit" does not sound like a trivial matter, but we tend to downplay it in our discussion meetings.

Perhaps this is because Steps 10, 11 and 12 are in fact very demanding. They require that we abandon our old ways altogether -- or at least start a way of life where that is the goal. And the thing we don't like is that word "start." For when we sincerely turn our attention to these last three Steps, we find ourselves once more at the start of a new way of life -- just as we did when we first came into Program. Once more, we're newcomers. And being a newcomer is something we don't want to repeat.