August 23: Spiritual Principle a Day, read by Eddie D.

Spiritual Principle a Day for August 23, read by Eddie D.

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August 23

Striving for Emotional Maturity

"Emotional maturity is our reward for letting go of anger and resentment."

—Living Clean, Chapter 7, “Principles, Practice, and Perspective”

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Perhaps we’ve all encountered circumstances when another member gets on our last nerve.

When that happens, sometimes it takes everything in us not to attack them, mock them, shut them down using whatever tactic we can. We may want to bolt from the room because we see how this person—who may or may not have wronged us in some way—enjoys the respect of other members in the group. We want to expose them as a fraud and a hypocrite, but we don’t. We say nothing because we know our personal feelings about another member should play no role in how, for instance, our area contributes to the region’s Fellowship development efforts.

At other business meetings, we’ll have no problem keeping our mouths shut because we’d much rather roll our eyes—and smugly watch the same two members battle it out like they always do over the finer points of coordinating an effective public relations campaign. In those situations, we have to stop ourselves from sharing the eye roll with everyone else in the room, revealing our displeasure with the proceedings. We’d love to break our silence by audibly groaning at how much time they are taking up. A member shared, “The second I start thinking about how I’m the only adult in the room, I know I’m not coming from a place of emotional maturity.”

With some practice, we can learn to check ourselves in situations where previously the monster that lives in our head would have burst out in full force in an effort to kill the proceedings. Similarly, we find a way to restrain our inner adolescent, who would snark, scoff, and snipe at members merely for being themselves.

Emotional maturity may not sound like a big enough reward for not acting out on our character defects—but doesn’t it make our lives so much more manageable? And peaceful?

And isn’t that a big part of why we came here in the first place?

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Spiritual Principle:

I will practice reining in my reactiveness in situations where my personal feelings about other members serve no relevant purpose. Today emotional maturity is a reasonable reward for those efforts.

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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 Eddie Day.

(00:24):
My clean date is December 17th, 1980.
You're listening to the Voices of Recovery podcast.
This is the spiritual principle of the day for August 23rd.
Striving for emotional maturity.Emotional maturity is our reward

(00:48):
for letting go of anger and resentment.
Living Clean Chapter 7 Principles, Practices, and
Perspective Perhaps we've all encountered circumstances when
another member gets on our last nerve.
When that happens, sometimes it takes everything in us not to

(01:11):
attack them, mock them, shut them down using whatever tactic
we can. We may want to bolt from the
room because we see how this person, who may or may not have
wronged us in some way, enjoys the respect of other members in
the group. We want to expose them as a

(01:32):
fraud and a hypocrite. But we don't.
We say nothing because we know our personal feelings about
another member should play no role in how, for instance, our
area contributes to the region'sfellowship development efforts.
At another business meeting, we'll have no problem keeping

(01:56):
our mouth shut because we'd muchrather roll our eyes and smugly
watch the same two members battle it out like they always
do over the finer points of coordinating an effective public
relations campaign. In those situations, we have to
stop ourselves from sharing the eye rolling and everyone else in

(02:19):
the room revealing our displeasure with the
proceedings. We love to break our silence by
audibly groaning at how much time they are taking up.
A member shared. The second I start thinking
about how I'm the only adult in the room, I know I'm not coming

(02:42):
from a place of emotional maturity.
With some practice, we can learnto check ourselves in situations
where previously the monster that lives in our head would
have burst out in full force in an effort to kill the
proceedings. Similarly, we find a way to

(03:03):
restrain our inner adolescence. Who would snark, scuff and snipe
at members merely for being themselves?
Emotional maturity may not soundlike a big enough reward for not
acting out on our character defects, but doesn't it make our
lives so much more manageable and peaceful?

(03:27):
And isn't it a big part of why we came here in the 1st place?
Spiritual principle. I will practice reining in my
reactiveness in situations wheremy personal feelings about the
other members serve no relevant purpose.

(03:47):
Today's emotional maturity is a reasonable reward for those
efforts. 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

(04:09):
production and is not affiliatedwith, 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 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

(04:31):
tradition, the NA name is not tobe 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.