Suy Ngẫm Sách Xám
It is important to remember where we came from so that we don't return. We had to go through what we did to get to where we are now.
Gray Book, p. 42 (Step Four, Lines 4-6)
Most of us have heard the phrase, "no pain, no gain. " The pain in active addiction didn't seem to make any sense, as far as a "gain. " Most of the times it seemed senseless and self-afflicted. Most times the result of this pain was followed by negative circumstances and consequences.
Arriving to Narcotics Anonymous, most of us didn't realize that the worst day of our Lives would turn out to be a positive stepping stone that would actually Help us. The pain drove most of us to our Initial Surrender. We recall the poison from the horrors of our addiction.
The pain motivated us to change; it also helped us Empathize with others. The Second Step states that this pain forces us to seek a Power Greater Than Ourselves.
As we work our Fourth Step, we use that pain to write, as we write we heal. In the beginning of our Journey, many of us used pain as a motivator to change.
Working a Living Program we begin to heal. With each Spiritual Awakening, we are Enlightened and the Principles of Freedom and Joy replace our motives. In Recovery, we move through pain and no longer rely on it to motivate change.
Our Steps and Traditions are Spiritual Principles to Live by. Whenever we go against Spiritual Principles, we begin to feel the pain that our self-will produces. Living a Spiritual Life sometimes conflicts with our Human condition and not to mention our addiction.
Change and pain might be inevitable, but suffering is optional. Today, we welcome Change and Accept the growing pains that sometimes accompany it. Whatever is troubling us at any given moment, becomes our Greatest Teacher.
In This Moment: We initially use pain as a motivator to change. As we grow with the Help of God, our Sponsors and the Program of Narcotics Anonymous, Goodwill replaces pain as the motivator.