This is my Tradition 5/7, step 12 

Pancake Marathon

•  Being able to take a step back and look at the whole picture so that I can keep on adding value and leaving it better then I found it, so that I don’t overload that whole thing about life and its moments of, what are simply a “wow moment;” so that I can keep my peace of mind….as it is never more than what is a waste of time: in it’s simplest form when it comes to doing that, yes I will learn something from it and at the same time it is the point that I will be doing that and not the other: leaving it better then I found it.

• You may think that there are a thousand different things being done in recovery, really there's just a thousand different ways of saying a few simple things. 

acronyms and SLOGANS: Organized by Pancake Marathon

• Seeing that I don’t have to live like that any more is something that really is true, I don’t have to hold onto that pain and make life pointless; for in that I know that I have trust in life as todays gift of what is to be life on life's terms.

• Slogans are wisdom written in shorthand and Acronyms are just the sum/the Virtues, of all that wisdom: WISDOM: When In Self, Discover Our Motives 

Slogans (underlined) blog page  Acronyms (bold) blog page  Principles (italic): A.A. files

Step 12/to give where credit is due I got all of these readings from "recovery HQ" _ but I put them in a Living life on life's terms and to Better care of the message  and you can actually find all of them in Daily Readings and Inspirations

Spiritual principle a day: Empathy, Connection, and Identification

Page 191

"Empathy is the ability to connect with others at the level of the heart and the spirit."

Living Clean, Chapter 5, "Friendship"

Many of us have had the experience of hearing someone else tell our story. We love it when we recognize ourselves in the details of how another member went about "getting and using and finding ways and means to get more." Relating to the specifics is far from typical, however, so how is it that we identify with others' experience when, really, it's not our own?

Identification doesn't require that we come from the same place. After all, hitting "rock bottom" often has little to do with our circumstances. Our willingness to give recovery a try can emerge in wildly different contexts. One member shared, "By outward appearances, I had it all. And yet, I felt isolated and alone, filled with fear, resentment, and regret." Another recalled, "The source of my desperation wasn't living on the streets. It came from that hollow ache of hopelessness, shame, and sadness deep inside me." Many of us will relate to both stories--and so many more--because they express the emotional state that precedes the gift of desperation.

We share a few telling particulars in our stories because it keeps us in touch with where we came from and what awaits us should we return to using. We revisit that desperation and touch base with our First Step. And that's where we connect, too. Empathy has the power to bind us together regardless of our stories. One member shared, "The disease will tell me 'you're not like these people,' but my spirit can't help but connect when I focus on the feelings."

As we stay clean and experience the Twelve Steps, our ability to connect with heart and spirit expands. Beyond the using stories that qualify us as drug addicts, we share a common path, a spiritual program in which we learn to practice living principle-centered lives. Recovery gives us access to the range of emotions we'll need to respond to life's ups and downs. When NA groups make it safe for intimate sharing, we can summon the courage to share our feelings--good, bad, and ugly--and make room for empathy to emerge.

———     ———     ———     ———     ———

I will listen empathetically, connecting to others with my heart and my spirit. I will disclose more about my emotional life so that others might connect with me.

Keep It Simple: We are only as sick as the secrets we keep.--- Anonymous

1. It is dangerous for us to keep secrets. Shame builds, and we'll want relief. We may turn to alcohol or  other drugs. True relief comes by talking about our secrets, by sharing who we really are with others. Our  program helps us live a life based on honesty. Our program helps us battle shame. We don't keep secrets  anymore. We start our meetings and share what we tried to keep secret before. 

2. " Hi, my name is____________, and I'm am alcoholic." " Hi my name is_____________, and I'm a drug  addict." We keep telling our secret, and the shame gets less and less. 

3. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I pray to live an honest life. 

4. Action for the Day: I'll list any secrets I've been keeping. I'll talk with my sponsor about them. 

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NA Just For Today: Quiet Time

1. "Many of us have found that setting aside quiet time for ourselves is helpful in making conscious contact with our Higher Power." Basic Text, p.92 

2. Most of us pay lip-service to the value of conscious contact with a Higher Power. Yet how many of us consistently take time to improve that conscious contact? If we've not already established a regular regimen of prayer and meditation, today is the day to start one. 

3. A "quiet time" need not be long. Many of us find that twenty to thirty minutes is enough time to quiet ourselves, focus our attention with a spiritual reading, share our thoughts and concerns in prayer, and take  a few moments to listen for an answer in meditation. Our "quiet time" need not be lengthy to be effective,  provided it is consistent. Twenty minutes taken once a month to pray will probably do little but frustrate us with the poor quality of our conscious contact. Twenty minutes taken regularly each day, however,  renews and reinforces an already lively contact with our Higher Power. 

4. In the hustle and bustle of the recovering addict's day, many of us end up going from morning to night without taking time out to improve our conscious contact with the God we've come to understand.  However, if we set aside a particular time of the day, every day, as "quiet time," we can be sure that our conscious contact will improve. 

5. Just for today: I will set aside a few moments, once I finish reading today's entry, to pray and meditate.  This will be the beginning of a new pattern for my recovery. 

Daily Reflections: EXPERIENCE: THE BEST TEACHER 

1. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS , p. 87 

2. Some say that experience is the best teacher, but I believe that experience is the only teacher. I have been  able to learn of God's love for me only by the experience of my dependence on that love. At first I could  not be sure of 

3. His direction in my life, but now I see that if I am to be bold enough to ask for His guidance, I must act as  if He has provided it. I frequently ask God to help me remember that He has a path for me. 

What is this page about/seems to be as:

•  daily readings and inspirations blog page info

• simple literature Organized by Pancake Marathon: Daily Readings and Inspirations

• Read It to me of the literature of recovery

• pancake marathon: journey of recovery

• Where I talk about my recovery journey