All daily inspiration can be found in the book Sex and Porn Addiction Treatment and Recovery. This article is used with permission from the author.

Beautiful souls don’t just appear out of thin air.

As sex and porn addicts, we tend to hurt the people we love. The biggest step we can take to repair broken relationships is empathy. In case you’re wondering, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another sentient being. This is something most addicts are not naturally good at. The good news is that while most of us don’t easily develop emotional empathy, it can be cultivated with practice. The bad news is that learning to read another’s thoughts and feelings isn’t easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. When our betrayed loved ones know we’re really listening to them, when they hear us say, “I sense that you’re feeling a little anxious right now. Is that true? If so, can you explain why you’re anxious? I really want to understand how you’re feeling.”, they’ll know we’re working on developing empathy.

Today’s Task
Pay attention to what your loved ones are feeling and saying. If you’re not sure how they’re feeling, ask them.