Maybe you're not listening hard enough. This beautiful pic was taken by Barb, our fellow blogger. Isn't that great?
I find that when I don't hear what I need in meetings, it's sometimes because I'm so busy judging the content of the character of the speaker who is sharing. It is so hard to suspend judgment sometimes, isn't it?
But it's terribly important that we put principles before personalities, especially in smaller towns where the same people hit the same meetings again and again. I am blessed to have a lot of clean time and I find that people watch how I act and what I say. If I portray even the slightest negativity toward another NA member, they are quick to pick up on it and add their two cents. So I work at keeping my facial expressions neutral (which is hard for me) and my comments kind.
Last night I walked into a store behind one of our Fellowship's younger members. His pants were bagging and I immediately began to take his inventory. Then I remembered: This young man spent most of his formative years in correctional facilities. He's working hard, he has a young son he loves to death, and he's trying to clean up his language in meetings. Who am I to judge him? I didn't have the same upbringing; I'm not a single parent; my language is far from perfect. Thank God I am learning tolerance and mercy in Narcotics Anonymous.
There's another young couple in NA who have a few months clean but have been in and out for years. They are so busy taking everyone else's inventory regarding how they work their programs, I can't imagine how they find time to take their own. They both have sponsors and hopefully at some point their sponsors will point this out. Until then, I don't have to participate; I can walk away or gently remind them to "take their own inventories."
It's a daily walk toward becoming a better human being, isn't it?
5 comments:
yes, and it's exhausting I say ;)
I like that you added the word mercy in your post...I forget that one sometimes.....and it's very important, isn't it?
It's easy to point the finger at others and not look inward. Thanks for reminding me to take care of my side of the street. That's all that I can do.
Have a great weekend, N. Love to read your NA Convention's posts and then the one which involved M-80!
Thank you for posting my picture. Such a funny thing that listening. Sometimes I think how unfortunate I am to have heard that. I then really its in Gods time not mine. I just have to remember everyone is deserves the privilege of falling on their butts and not have me there waging my finger. All I can do is share my experience, strength, and hope.
Damn, you set a high standard! And put me to shame. I'm going to do more to emulate the attitude you express in this post.
Thansk!
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