08/06/2023
Aug 5 ~ Nar-Anon Daily SESH Reading
TRADITION EIGHT
“Nar-Anon Twelfth Step work should remain forever non-professional,” meant to me that I was not walking into a room with people I had paid to ‘fix me.’ I was among equals who wanted to help me because they understood what it was like to be in my situation and how to deal with addiction. I had spent a lot of money on plenty of professionals. They had read the right books and gone to the right schools, but they had never been where I was and, as such, could never ‘fix me.’ That is not what I needed so I stayed broken.
When I started going to Nar-Anon meetings, I began to feel whole. The members that support me in meetings may or may not have read the right books or gone to the right schools. Nevertheless, they have lived the horror of another person’s addiction. From their sharing of experience, strength, and hope, I gain courage and faith. I do not need a degree in communication to lead a meeting, nor do I need to be a journalist to write out my story for a Nar-Anon book. A sponsor does not have to have a degree in psychology. We need only to have lived through the problems of addiction and have the desire to share our experience with others with the same problems.
Nar-Anon, as an organization, may require professionals to deal with the business end of the organization. However, those of us who have been in the trenches, whose only compensation is our own recovery, must do Twelfth Step work – carrying the message, being a sponsor, leading meetings, and working at various levels of service.
Thought for Today: Today, I will carry the message to others with the help and guidance of my Higher Power.
“Nar-Anon Twelfth Step work should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.”
~ Nar-Anon Tradition Eight
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