Spiritual Principle a Day for July 6, read by Gigi

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voicesofrecoverypod@gmail.com

July 6

Moving Forward with Passion

"Passion is a lot like desperation: It is a motivating, energizing force that can propel us forward."

—Living Clean, Chapter 1, “Desperation to Passion”

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The gift of desperation doesn’t look the same for all of us. One member quipped, “You can get off at any floor on the way down to hell.” All of us were propelled into NA by despair, pain, and fear. And—over time—we’re able to harness that energy to transform it into enough passion and excitement—even joy—to help us stay clean another day, grow spiritually, and live creatively and with purpose.

Living Clean reminds us: “Making the shift from desperation to passion is a First Step issue.” In desperation, we surrender to being powerless over our addiction, and ultimately surrender to the first steps on our path of a new life and to the purpose of carrying the NA message. The member continued, “After my initial surrender, the changes I saw in myself fueled my passion for recovery! I was energized by the potential of what could come next.” Like that initial surrender, this desperation-to-passion shift isn’t a one-time deal. Despair still happens in recovery. But we can allow it to motivate us, driving us to make needed changes to our program and reigniting our passion to persevere with purpose.

Passion, like desperation, doesn’t manifest in the same ways for all of us. Our personalities absolutely play a part in how our passion is revealed—and our mood also affects how we experience it. What is burning, purposeful, and creative passion on one day—excitement for sponsorship, motivation to serve, strongly held conviction—may look more like quiet fidelity to our program or begrudging perseverance on another. Although the fires may burn differently, they all propel us forward. Our passions don’t always remain fixed, either. We may revisit ones long forgotten and discover new ones. We’re free to passionately pursue the things that bring us joy and nurture our spirits—both in the rooms of NA and out in the world.

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Spiritual Principle:

Passion isn’t just a feeling. It’s an energy I’ll use today to move forward in my program, in my relationships, in my purpose.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Just for Today meditation for July 6, read by Gigi

Donations via PayPal and questions may be directed to:

voicesofrecoverypod@gmail.com

July 6

I'm sorry

"The main thing [the Eighth Step] does for us is to help build awareness that, little by little, we are gaining new attitudes about ourselves and how we deal with other people."

Basic Text, p.38

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To say "I'm sorry" probably isn't such a foreign idea to most of us. In our active addiction, it may have been a very familiar phrase. We were always telling people how sorry we were, and were probably deeply surprised when someone, tired of our meaningless apologies, responded with, "You sure are. In fact, you're the sorriest excuse for..." That may have been our first clue that an "I'm sorry" didn't really make any difference to those we harmed, especially when we both knew that we'd just do the same thing again.

Many of us thought that making amends would be another "I'm sorry". However, the action we take in those steps is entirely different. Making amends means to make changes and, above all, to make the situation right. If we stole money, we don't just say, "I'm sorry. I'll never do it again now that I'm clean". We pay the money back. If we neglected or abused our families, we don't just apologize. We begin to treat them with respect.

Amending our behavior and the way we treat ourselves and others is the whole purpose of working the steps. We're no longer just "sorry", we're responsible.

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Just for today:

I accept responsibility for myself and my recovery. Today, I will amend some particular thing I'm sorry for. Just For Today Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Spiritual Principle a Day for July 5, read by Gigi

Donations via PayPal and questions may be directed to:

voicesofrecoverypod@gmail.com

July 5

Seeking Balance

"So many things compete for our attention, and as addicts we have a tendency to think in extremes: all or nothing, right or wrong. Finding the balance is an ongoing negotiation."

—Living Clean, Chapter 1, Opening Essay

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In recovery, when our lives get “bigger,” our already questionable attention span is pulled in many different directions. We have our NA life, and we balance it with work life, school life, home life, family life, sex life, and more. On top of that, we are now able to address the consequences of our using: improving our health, dealing with legal issues, making amends. And many of us are also pursuing other interests and goals that bring us joy. Through using the tools of the NA program, including prayer and meditation, we can maintain a manageable balance of all the above. We’re living by spiritual principles as much as humanly possible. We’re sincerely grateful more often than we aren’t.

What could possibly go wrong?

Sometimes it’s a truly life-altering event that will throw us off balance. Or maybe we make a mistake we can’t run from, or we don’t achieve something we’ve worked hard for and feel we deserve. Other times, if it’s only that we spill a glass of water, we’ll want to smash the glass and drown ourselves in the water.

Seeking balance—both in terms of our inner life and how we spend our time—is an ongoing negotiation. Reacting in extremes to our mistakes or to what we can’t control will wear us out and make us vulnerable to our disease. Just because we’re clean and doing well doesn’t mean that life will consistently get better and better without fail. We can be vigilant, but we can’t prepare for everything. If we have our program as a base and a constant in our lives, we will have spiritual principles, relationships, and a Higher Power to lean on when life inevitably shows up.

Life is unpredictable and can be chaotic. It’s the seeking of balance within the chaos that will help keep us clean and moving forward.

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Spiritual Principle:

I can commit to pursuing balance among all areas of my life. But it’s just as vital to my recovery that I accept life’s chaos—without adding to it.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom