“Knowledge is only rumor until it lives in the bones.”

–African proverb

We receive many words of wisdom in our 12-Step Program. Old-timers in the Program will suggest we follow their advice. We will even see others in recovery following the advice they receive. And yet the advice offered to us will only be words with our own misgivings attached to them until we live that advice. Embracing the wisdom around us and experiencing the difference it makes in our lives moves those words of wisdom from hearsay to knowledge. Change happens when the wisdom of the Program lives in our bones.

What advice have I received but been hesitant to follow? What changes have I experienced when I embraced the wisdom of the Program? What gifts await me as I allow the knowledge of the Program to live in my bones?

-From Gifts of Recovery by Tim Stein, now available on Amazon.