STEP FIVE: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and another human being the exact natures of our wrongs.”
In step five we take our inventory we did and sit down with another person (usually our sponsor. However in the past people have chosen to read it to others as well i.e. clergymen. This is fine provided there is trust in and a working knowledge of the steps in regard to the other person.) We then read our inventory making sure we left out nothing including our deepest darkest secrets. This step separates the people that are serious about getting and staying sober vs. the ones that aren’t serious about getting alcohol addiction help. This might seem like a pointless and scary step. Many might ask what’s the point? Or what if the person I read this too tells my secrets? This step requires a huge amount of trust and faith. If steps one, two, and three were done thoroughly faith and trust shouldn’t be an issue. If you find you are struggling with it you can always go back and do more work on step 3.Many places such as an affordable rehab, AA, or a drug rehab facility in LA can point you in the right direction as far as starting and continuing step work in a safe environment. As far as what the point of this step is or the benefits go there are many. You finally get to be rid of all your secrets and skeletons that have been holding you down. After all your secrets keep you sick. You get a sense of freedom, you get a sense of relief that only the people that have taken this step could imagine, and you can begin to hold your head up high and look people in the eyes again with dignity and grace and you can finally be free.