• NARANON FAMILY GROUPS • CALGARY • ALBERTA • CANADA •

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STEP TWELVE

NarAnon Step Twelve

Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The sum total of working the Steps is a spiritual awakening. During the process of working the Steps we become aware that meetings provide a safe place to share our common problems without being judged or scrutinized. The meetings provide a place to focus on our relationship with ourselves rather than obsessing on the addict. We become aware we are not alone. A habit is developed to look within objectively and with detachment at the elements of our lives we can change and those we cannot. A spiritual awakening is our way of taking responsibility for our lives rather than trying to control someone else's. We listen to the stories of others and become more aware of our common experiences. We learn a way of relating without becoming enmeshed. We become aware of our spiritual relationship to ourselves, to our Higher Power and to others. We come to realize our place in the world.

Carrying the Step Twelve message to others means sharing what we have found. It may be hard at first to realize that simply attending a meeting, even if we don't say a word, is sharing ourselves and our recovery with others. If we are consciously present, we are sharing. When we share openly at meetings, this is also part of Step Twelve. Our experience, strength and hope will benefit someone. Even our early shares about our pent up frustration, grief and pain of living with an addict, before we are able to focus on ourselves, helps newcomers realize they are not alone. Newcomers' stories remind old timers how grateful we are for how far the Twelve Steps recovery has taken us.

Service at group meetings is a way to carry the message to others. Taking the responsibility to be a secretary who facilitates the meeting, or a treasurer who collects the contributions and distributes them for rent, literature or donations to the District, Area and World Service, allows the meeting to run smoothly. Other ways to contribute to the group are to welcome newcomers, set up the room and put things away, offer a ride or car pool. Taking these responsibilities forces us to be at meetings regularly insuring that recovery will take place. We have found that in giving service to the group we receive much more than we gave. We begin to recover.

Being a sponsor is another way to carry the message to others. We show our gratitude for recovery and continue to grow in a close personal relationship with another. As a sponsor we know another's story more completely than is possible at meetings. We guide each other in the program. Sponsorship is a commitment to another person in recovery benefiting both.

Step Twelve may seem like the last Step, but in fact, with this Step we find that the gifts of the Steps grow with our continued work. As we begin, and then learn to work the Steps, go to meetings, care and be cared for by others in our NarAnon family, our ability to love others and ourselves grows. We carry our new found recovery beyond the group to our families, neighbours, co-workers and everyone we meet not by preaching but by being one more recovering person in the world. We practice these principles in all our affairs. Trust, hope and gratitude replace our fear, hopelessness and the need to blame someone for our troubles. We gain the ability to let go of things outside of our control. We start, gradually, to live life in the present. These positive changes are signs of the spiritual awakening taking place within us. Acknowledging and sharing this awakening is the essence of Step Twelve.
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Having committed our lives to change through these Twelve Steps, we recognize that change is a process and that we will use each of these Steps again and again. Like the slogan, "Progress not perfection!" we are able to gain a deeper understanding of each Step each time we focus on our progress. A member compared the Twelve Steps to a flight of stairs. We use each of them may times until they become a way of life leading us to a life of peace, joy and serenity.

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