August 16: Spiritual Principle a Day, read by Fern

Spiritual Principle a Day for August 16, read by Fern

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August 16

Our Commitment to Encouragement

"As a group, it’s our job to be tolerant, listen well, hear the message through the mess, and encourage newer members to grow."

—Guiding Principles, Tradition Ten, “For Groups”

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Practicing encouragement, especially with newer members, is a job not to be taken lightly.

Encouragement breeds hope, which leads to a willingness to change, which leads to courageous action, which leads to growth that can be miraculous to witness. When we consider the importance of encouragement, we realize policing the message, or the messenger, is likely not helpful. We all hope to be met with empathy and encouragement, not an explanation about outside issues. We can overlook when a newcomer misspeaks.

When we’re tempted to correct the way someone shared, maybe we offer a hug instead and our phone number.

The share that hits the marks of solution oriented, message carrying, and utterly authentic—all before the timer goes off—may not happen every day. And is that even our goal? Many of us believe sharing honestly is the solution—and actively listening for the message reflects our empathy and encourages others to speak honestly. We can validate each other—and also model how to connect the dots between what’s happening in our individual lives and the process of recovery we all share. When we provide each other with support and encouragement, we’re more inspired to be part of each other’s growth.

Encouragement is living by example, as much as it is the words we utter. Rather than critique a group member’s way of handling a problem, we share our experience with a similar situation. Through it all, we witness each other’s courage to endure some unimaginable conflict and strife and stay clean through it. “NA members’ encouragement has provided the nudge I needed to take one more step forward,” a member recounted. “I was told not to quit before the miracle. My suggestion is to not quit during or after either!”

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Spiritual Principle:

We’ve all shared a “mess” at some point. Heck, we've all BEEN a mess! But the encouragement I received gave me the courage to learn and grow. I’m committed to doing that for others today.

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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 16th.
Our commitment to encouragement.As a group, it's our job to be
tolerant, listen well and hear the message through the mess and

(00:48):
encourage new members to grow. Guiding principles.
Tradition 10 For groups, practicing encouragement,
especially with newer members, is a job not to be taken
lightly. Encouragement breeds hope, which
leads to a willingness to change, which leads to

(01:11):
courageous action, which leads to growth That can be miraculous
to witness. When we consider the importance
of encouragement, we realize policing the message or the
messenger is likely not helpful.We all hope to be met with
empathy and encouragement, not an explanation about outside

(01:34):
issues we can overlook when a newcomer misspeaks.
When we're tempted to correct the way someone shared, maybe we
offer a hug instead. And our phone number?
The share that hits the marks ofsolution oriented, message
carrying and utterly authentic all before the timer goes off

(01:58):
may not happen every day. And is that even our goal?
Many of us believe sharing honestly is the solution and
actively listening for the message reflects our empathy and
encourages others to speak honestly.
We can validate each other and also model how to connect the

(02:20):
dots between what's happening inour individual lives and the
process of recovery we all share.
When we provide each other with support and encouragement, we're
more inspired to be a part of each other's growth.
Encouragement is living by example as much as it is the
words we utter. Rather than critique a group

(02:42):
member's way of handling a problem, we share our experience
with a similar situation. Through it all will witness each
other's courage to endure some unimaginable conflict and strife
and stay clean through it. NA members encouragement has
provided the nudge I needed to take one more step forward, a

(03:05):
member recounted. I was told not to quit before
the miracle. My suggestion is not to quit
during or after either. Spiritual principle.
We've all shared a mess at some point.
Heck, we've all been a mess. But the encouragement I received

(03:27):
gave me the courage to learn andgrow.
I'm committed to doing that for others today.
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].

(03:48):
This podcast is an independent production and is not affiliated
with, associated with, 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 readduring episodes for the purpose
of supporting recovery, such usedoes not constitute an official
endorsement or representation byNarcotics Anonymous.

(04:11):
In accordance with NA tradition,the NA name is not to be used to
endorse or be 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.