Steps 1 and 3 of Alcoholics Anonymous both center on the same core idea: letting go. Step 1 asks members to admit powerlessness. Step 3 asks them to turn their will and lives over to the care of a Higher Power. These AA speaker tapes explore what surrender, acceptance, and letting go actually look like in practice — from denial to willingness, from fear to faith.

What You'll Hear in These AA Speaker Talks

• Step 1 experiences: admitting powerlessness over alcohol for the first time
• Step 3 decisions: what "turning it over" actually looks like in daily life
• The acceptance passage from the Big Book and how speakers apply it
• Moving from denial and resistance to willingness and openness
• Fear and anxiety in sobriety: how speakers learned to let go of control
• The relationship between surrender and the beginning of real recovery

Surrender is often the gateway to early sobriety and the first real willingness to change. Once that foundation is set, the action steps — inventory, amends, and daily practice — build on it. Many speakers trace the arc from surrender through step work to the spiritual awakening described in the Big Book.