Another Look NA

12/21/2025

“The importance of keeping in touch with our thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and behavior cannot be overemphasized. Every day, life presents us with new challenges. Our recovery depends on our willingness to meet those challenges. Our experience tells us that some members relapse, even after long periods of clean time, because they have become complacent in recovery, allowing their resentments to build and refusing to acknowledge their wrongs. Little by little, those small hurts, half-truths, and “justified” grudges turn into deep disappointments, serious self-deceptions, and full-blown resentments.”

Excerpt From
It Works: How and Why
Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous
https://books.apple.com/us/book/it-works-how-and-why/id564200715
This material may be protected by copyright.

12/21/2025

December 21, 2025
A new way to live
Page 371

"When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the same dilemma.... Either go on as best we can to the bitter ends--jails, institutions, or death--or find a new way to live."

Basic Text, p. 87

What was the worst aspect of active addiction? For many of us, it wasn't the chance that we might die some day of our disease. The worst part was the living death we experienced every day, the never-ending meaninglessness of life. We felt like walking ghosts, not living, loving parts of the world around us.

In recovery, we've come to believe that we're here for a reason: to love ourselves and to love others. In working the Twelve Steps, we have learned to accept ourselves. With that self-acceptance has come self-respect. We have seen that everything we do has an effect on others; we are a part of the lives of those around us, and they of ours. We've begun to trust other people and to acknowledge our responsibility to them.

In recovery we've come back to life. We maintain our new lives by contributing to the welfare of others and seeking each day to do that better--that's where the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Steps come in. The days of living like a ghost are past, but only so long as we actively seek to be healthy, loving, contributing parts of our own lives and the lives of others around us.

Just for Today: I have found a new way to live. Today, I will seek to serve others with love and to love myself.

12/20/2025

12/20/2025

“Yet for all its emphasis on keeping things simple, Tradition Nine is not an excuse for dis-organized service work; instead, it recognizes that our fellowship does require a certain degree of organization to fulfill its primary purpose. Rather than recommend that NA groups themselves become organized, the Ninth Tradition suggests that groups organize separate boards and committees to serve their needs.”

Excerpt From
It Works: How and Why
Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous
https://books.apple.com/us/book/it-works-how-and-why/id564200715
This material may be protected by copyright.

12/20/2025

December 20, 2025

Overcoming self-obsession
Page 370

"In living the steps, we begin to let go of our self-obsession."

Basic Text, p. 97

Many of us came to the program convinced that our feelings, our wants, and our needs were of the utmost importance to everyone. We had practiced a lifetime of self-seeking, self-centered behavior and believed it was the only way to live.

That self-centeredness doesn't cease just because we stop using drugs. Perhaps we attend our first NA function and are positive that everyone in the room is watching us, judging us, and condemning us. We may demand that our sponsor be on call to listen to us whenever we want--and they, in turn, may gently suggest that the world does not revolve around us. The more we insist on being the center of the universe, the less satisfied we will be with our friends, our sponsor, and everything else.

Freedom from self-obsession can be found through concentrating more on the needs of others and less on our own. When others have problems, we can offer help. When newcomers need rides to meetings, we can pick them up. When friends are lonely, we can spend time with them. When we find ourselves feeling unloved or ignored, we can offer the love and attention we need to someone else. In giving, we receive much more in return--and that's a promise we can trust.

Just for Today: I will share the world with others, knowing they are just as important as I am. I will nourish my spirit by giving of myself.

12/13/2025

“Because of the humility and selflessness so necessary in making our amends, we may be surprised at the way Step Nine enhances our self-esteem. One of the most paradoxical aspects of our recovery is that by thinking of ourselves less, we learn to love ourselves more. We may not have expected our spiritual journey to lead to a fresh appreciation of ourselves, but it does. Because of the love we extend to others, we realize our own value. We learn that what we contribute makes a difference, not just in NA but in the world at large.”

Excerpt From
It Works: How and Why
Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous
https://books.apple.com/us/book/it-works-how-and-why/id564200715
This material may be protected by copyright.

12/13/2025

December 13, 2025

Membership
Page 363

"There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using."

Basic Text, p. 9

We all know people who could benefit from Narcotics Anonymous. Many people we encounter from all walks of life--our family members, old friends, and co-workers--could really use a program of recovery in their lives. Sadly, those who need us don't always find their way to our rooms.

NA is a program of attraction, not promotion. We are only members when we say we are. We can bring our friends and loved ones to a meeting if they are willing, but we cannot force them to embrace the way of life that has given us freedom from active addiction.

Membership in Narcotics Anonymous is a highly personal decision. The choice to become a member is made in the heart of each individual addict. In the long run, coerced meeting attendance doesn't keep too many addicts in our rooms. Only addicts who are still suffering, if given the opportunity, can decide if they are powerless over their addiction. We can carry the message, but we can't carry the addict.

Just for Today: I am grateful for my decision to become a member of Narcotics Anonymous.

12/13/2025

December 12, 2025

Fear Of Change
Page 362

"By working the steps, we come to accept a Higher Power's will.... We lose our fear of the unknown. We are set free."

Basic Text, p. 16

Life is a series of changes, both large and small. Although we may know and accept this fact intellectually, chances are that our initial emotional reaction to change is fear. For some reason, we assume that each and every change is going to hurt, causing us to be miserable.

If we look back on the changes that have happened in our lives, we'll find that most of them have been for the best. We were probably very frightened at the prospect of life without drugs, yet it's the best thing that's ever happened to us. Perhaps we've lost a job that we thought we'd die without, but later on we found greater challenge and personal fulfillment in a new career. As we venture forth in our recovery, we're likely to experience more changes. We will outgrow old situations and become ready for new ones.

With all sorts of changes taking place, it's only natural to grab hold of something, anything familiar and try to hold on. Solace can be found in a Power greater than ourselves. The more we allow changes to happen at the direction of our Higher Power, the more we'll trust that those changes are for the best. Faith will replace fear, and we'll know in our hearts that all will be well.

Just for Today: When I am afraid of a change in my life, I will take comfort from knowing that God's will for me is good.

12/07/2025

“Tradition Eight is one of the simplest, most straightforward of the Twelve Traditions. Likewise, the principles underlying the Eighth Tradition are eminently practical ones: humility, prudence, anonymity, and integrity.”

Excerpt From
It Works: How and Why
Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous
https://books.apple.com/us/book/it-works-how-and-why/id564200715
This material may be protected by copyright.

12/07/2025

December 07, 2025
Surviving our emotions
Page 357

"We use the tools available to us and develop the ability to survive our emotions."

Basic Text, p. 31

"Survive my emotions?" some of us say. "You've got to be kidding!" When we were using, we never gave ourselves the chance to learn how to survive them. You don't survive your feelings, we thought--you drug them. The problem was, that "cure" for our unsurvivable emotions was killing us. That's when we came to Narcotics Anonymous, started working the Twelve Steps and, as a result, began to mature emotionally.

Many of us found emotional relief right from the start. We were tired of pretending that our addiction and our lives were under control; it actually felt good to finally admit they weren't. After sharing our inventory with our sponsor, we began to feel like we didn't have to deny who we were or what we felt in order to be accepted. When we'd finished making our amends, we knew we didn't have to suffer with guilt; we could own up to it and it wouldn't kill us. The more we worked the NA program, the better we felt about living life as it came to us.

The program works today as well as it ever did. By taking stock of our day, getting honest about our part in it, and surrendering to reality, we can survive the feelings life throws our way. By using the tools available to us, we've developed the ability to survive our emotions.

Just for Today: I will not deny my feelings. I will practice honesty and surrender to life as it is. I will use the tools of this program to survive my emotions.

12/02/2025

December 02, 2025

Recovery: our first priority
Page 352

"We have to keep our recovery first and our priorities in order."

Basic Text p. 82

Before coming to NA, we used many excuses to justify our use of drugs: "He yelled at me." "She said this." "My partner left." "I got fired." We used these same excuses for not seeking help for our drug problem. We had to realize that these things kept happening because we kept using drugs. Only when we made recovery our first priority did these situations begin to change.

We may be subject to the same tendency today, using excuses for not attending meetings and being of service. Our current excuses may be of a different nature: "I can't leave my kids." "My vacation wore me out." "I have to finish this project so I can impress my boss." But still, if we don't make recovery our first priority, chances are that we won't have to worry about these excuses anymore. Kids, vacations, and jobs probably won't be in our lives if we relapse.

Our recovery must come first. Job or no job, relationship or no relationship, we have to attend meetings, work the steps, call our sponsor, and be of service to God and others. These simple actions are what make it possible for us to have vacations, families, and bosses to worry about. Recovery is the foundation of our lives, making everything else possible.

Just for Today: I will keep my priorities in order. Number One on the list is my recovery.

12/02/2025

“Working the previous steps has prepared us for the willingness we need to begin the Eighth Step. We’ve honestly assessed the exact nature of our wrongs and examined how our actions affected others. It was not easy to admit our wrongs. We had to believe in a Power that would supply us with courage and love us through the pain involved in reviewing the results of our addiction. The same honesty and courage we called upon as we wrote our inventory and shared it are just as vital in making our amends list. We’ve been practicing these principles all along and are quite familiar with them. The Eighth Step is simply a continuation of our efforts to find freedom by applying spiritual principles.”

Excerpt From
It Works: How and Why
Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous
https://books.apple.com/us/book/it-works-how-and-why/id564200715
This material may be protected by copyright.