August 15: Spiritual Principle a Day, read by Fern

Spiritual Principle a Day for August 15, read by Fern

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August 15

Guided by Conscience

"We come to know our intentions. We get better at hearing our own voice, our own conscience, and listening to our instincts."

—Living Clean, Chapter 5, “Conscious Contact”

––––=––––

Even those of us who were raised by wolves were taught the difference between right and wrong. The code of ethics we inherited may have been a bit twisted, but it gave us a point of reference nonetheless. As a result, many of us suffered from a guilty conscience when we screwed up or caused harm early in our using careers. At some point, though, we made a choice—knowingly or not—to behave in ways that were contrary to the values we had internalized. It’s not that we lacked a moral compass; we’d just put it away for a bit. On those occasions when we still felt bad, we turned to denial, defensiveness, and drugs—lots of drugs—to help us stuff the discomfort of a guilty conscience.

Our awareness of that still, quiet voice within starts to return almost as soon as we put down the drugs. Our first reunion with our conscience can feel pretty distressing. Without drugs to mask our feelings, many of us experience an uncut dose of the shame we’d been stuffing for years. We’re relieved to read that “we are not responsible for our disease” in the Basic Text. People who know their way around the Twelve Steps assure us that the second half of that sentence, “we are responsible for our recovery,” will help us make peace with the past and develop our own conscience.

We begin to tune in to what’s right for us and focus on aligning our actions with spiritual principles and our own values. We learn—sometimes through trial and error—to behave in ways we can be proud of. Not wanting to pay a spiritual price, we’re slower to act out on our most basic urges and selfish desires, so we do so less frequently. We can even observe our impulses without acting on them—who knew? With practice, we recalibrate our value system and develop a code of behavior that reflects our intentions.

––––=––––

Spiritual Principle:

I will listen for the reawakened voice of my conscience knowing that it reflects my beliefs and intentions.

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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

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Voices of Recovery podcast.
This is your Spiritual Principleof the Day episode featuring a
recovering addict. Hi, my name is Fern.

(00:23):
My clean date is January 5th, 1984.
You're listening to the Voices of Recovery podcast.
This is the spiritual principle of the day for August 15th.
Guided by conscience, we come toknow our intentions.
We get better at hearing our ownvoice, our own conscience, and

(00:48):
listening to our instincts. Living clean, chapter 5.
Conscious contact, Even those who were raised by wolves were
taught the difference between right and wrong.
The code of ethics we inherit may have been a bit twisted, but
it gave us a point of reference nonetheless.

(01:10):
As a result, many of us sufferedfrom a guilty conscience when we
screwed up or caused harm early in our using careers.
At some point, though, we made achoice, knowingly or not, to
behave in ways that were contrary to the values we had
internalized. It's not that we lacked A moral
compass, we just put it away fora bit.

(01:33):
On those occasions when we stillfelt bad, we turned to denial,
defensiveness, and drugs. Lots of drugs to help us stuff
the discomfort of a guilty conscience.
Our awareness of that still, quiet voice within starts to
return almost as soon as we put down the drugs.

(01:54):
Our first reunion with our conscience can be pretty
distressing. Without drugs to mask our
feelings, many of us experience an uncut dose of shame.
We've been stuffing for years. We're relieved to read that we
are not responsible for our disease and the basic text

(02:16):
people who know their way aroundthe 12 steps assure us that the
second-half of that sentence we are responsible for our
recovery, will help us make peace with the past and develop
our own conscience. We begin to tune in what's right
for us and focus on aligning ouractions with spiritual

(02:36):
principles and our own values. We learn, sometimes through
trial and error, to behave in ways we can be proud of.
Not wanting to pay a spiritual price was slower to act out on
our most basic urges and selfishdesires, so we do so less
frequently. We can even observe our impulses

(02:59):
without acting on them. Who knew?
With practice, we recalibrate our value system and develop a
code of behavior that reflects our intentions.
Spiritual principle. I will listen for the reawakened
voice of my conscience, knowing that it reflects my beliefs and

(03:21):
intentions. The Voices of Recovery Podcast
is an independent production of the works of Wisdom.
We welcome your questions and donations via PayPal at
[e-mail]. This podcast is an independent
production and is not affiliatedwith, associated with,

(03:41):
authorized by, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected
with Narcotics Anonymous or any of its subsidiaries or
affiliates. While any literature may be read
during episodes for the purpose of supporting recovery, such use
does not constitute an official endorsement or representation by
Narcotics Anonymous. In accordance with any
tradition, the NA name is not tobe used to endorse or be

(04:03):
affiliated with any outside enterprise, and no such
endorsement or affiliation is implied.
Music is by Sage. Thanks for listening to the
Voices of Recovery podcast.