February 22

Recovery is a continuing process, recycling through the Steps and Traditions we discover new revelations about ourselves and others. No two days are exactly the same, and we seem to be different each day as well. Sometimes we Grow, sometimes we stay the same and sometimes we regress. Narcotics Anonymous is a Twenty-Four hour Program; it's a Just For Today Program.

Each day we are Granted a Daily Reprieve from active addiction. This Reprieve depends on our daily maintenance of our Spirit. The Recovery process is not automatic like the relapse process, it requires our efforts and work.

Working and Living the Steps and Traditions with our Sponsors and Higher Powers, provides us with the ability to change. All of the Steps are Inventory Steps because they allow us to look at ourselves. The Steps transform us, if we Live them. Practical application is what unlocks their Fruits.

Step Ten reminds us of this process. A check up from the neck up reminds us that we'll always be Recovering.

Step Ten is actually the Practice of Steps One through Nine. Daily Inventory allows us to see where we were wrong. As Recovering addicts, we actually have to work this Step to find out if we've been wrong.

The preventive part of this Step is what makes us Grow. When we Practice the Spiritual Principles, our defects lessen. We learn to pause before reacting.

In that pause, we see that others also are going through their own Growing process. Reflecting on our own Assets and liabilities, we are able to Practice Patience, Tolerance and Forgiveness, for others as well as for ourselves. Taking Inventory has to be a constant to be effective.

It's one of the most Loving thing we can do for others and us.