Many of us have been attending Twelve Step meetings for years. And yet, perhaps we have never bothered to look up in any standard dictionary what the word "Recovery" actually means. The definition favored by TSSR is this: "To go back and reclaim that which has been lost or stolen." Which immediately begs the question, just what have we lost or what exactly has been taken away from us since the time of our earliest youth when we were "happy, joyous and free" little children? Therefore, one of the first assignments of the TSSR Twelve Step journey is to go back to the family albums and find that one authentic and true picture of your original self or soul; long before this world and it's spiritually sickened inhabitants got a hold of you and stepped on, squashed, smothered, or in any other way started the process of dimming that initial bright and beauteous and gleeful glow in your eyes.
When you come across your perfect picture, first of all it will "speak to you". As you will likely see right away just what is no longer present within after you gaze into your child's shimmering eyes and then compare it to what you see in the mirror today. And next, we keep that picture close for the entirety of our personal adventure through the Twelve Steps as an aspirational goal we are working towards while using the tools of recovery to sort through, shake loose, and leave behind all of the things we discover during our step work that we are not, but just the opposite, now come to understand as merely external influences delivered to us through other people (sometimes very ill people) that could be significantly holding us back in our overall life's path.
In that spirit, TSSR members have voiced the desire to upload their childhood photos to the TSSR website that best represent everything they possessed inside before their mortal walk through this world affected and altered them. (And not necessarily for the better.) If you too would like to have your little kid's photo posted to inspire newcomers who are just beginning their Twelve Step growth process, please send them to [email protected] A hearty thank you to all of our beloved elders who have blazed the path and done the work before us and now wish to give something back to the troubled and hurting souls just coming in! Enjoy!
(By sending your photo to this email address the user is allowing permission for TSSR to post it solely on this webpage until written notice is provided to please remove it which can be given at anytime.)
