Another Look NA

03/09/2026

March 08, 2026
Responsibility, No Matter Our Cleantime
Page 70

"We sometimes belittle the struggles we face as 'gold-plated problems,' but if we ignore them we may get a 'gold-plated' relapse."

Living Clean, Chapter 6, "Finding Our Place in the World"

In Narcotics Anonymous, our primary purpose is to carry the message to the still-suffering addict. Cleantime doesn't make us immune to pain or problems, so any of us is eligible to be that addict on any given day.

But what if the message seems to apply less to us than it used to? We get some time under our belts and our lives are progressing well. We acquire some of the trappings we associate with being a productive member of society. When our outsides look great and our cleantime anniversaries stack up, are our problems really that bad when we compare them to when we were using? Nah, we're fine.

Quality problems. Luxury problems. Cadillac problems. Gold-plated problems. We've heard them all. But what we've also heard time and again is what happens when we don't deal with our problems. While our struggles today may look different from the ones we had while using or in early recovery, our disease remains the same. Left unchecked, it may lead us to relapse or to the all-too-familiar abstinent but miserable. Having time clean doesn't give us an excuse to avoid our problems, deny they exist, or be too ashamed to do anything about them. Yes, the newcomer is the most important person in the meeting, and there are others seemingly in worse shape than us who need our help. But belittling our own struggles helps no one in the end. Pain is pain, no matter who we are or where we are in our recovery. Just like at the beginning of our journey, we're likely to avoid our pain and our problems because we want to avoid taking responsibility. Change is hard.

Luckily for us, the solution is still the same NA solution. Ultimately, we have to apply what we've learned in the past: We are addicts trying to stay clean a day at a time and worthy of compassion and support from our fellow NA members. Like always, it is our own responsibility to own up to our struggles, to ask for and accept help, to reengage with recovery, and to take action. Those solutions aren't gold-plated; they're solid gold.

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Today I won't minimize my problems to avoid coming up with a solution. I won't put myself in a different category from other members. We are all the same, and we all need help sometimes. The solution is the same no matter how long I've been around here.

03/09/2026

March 08, 2026
Learning to love ourselves
Page 70

"What we want most is to feel good about ourselves."

Basic Text, p. 101

"We'll love you until you can learn to love yourself!" These words, heard so often in our meetings, promise a day we look forward to eagerly--the day when we'll know how to love ourselves.

Self-esteem--we all want this elusive quality as soon as we hear about it. Some of us seem to stumble upon it accidentally, while others embark on a course of action complete with affirmations made to our reflections in the mirror. But fix-it-yourself techniques and trendy psychological cures can only take us so far.

There are some definite, practical steps we can take to show love for ourselves, whether we "feel" that love or not. We can take care of our personal responsibilities. We can do nice things for ourselves, as we would for a lover or a friend. We can start paying attention to our own needs. We can even pay attention to the qualities that we cherish in our friends--qualities like intelligence and humor--and look for those same qualities in ourselves. We're sure to find that we really are lovable people, and once we do that, we're well on our way.

Just for Today: I will do something today that helps me recognize and feel love for myself.

03/01/2026

02/20/2026

February 19, 2026
Being Flexible through Life's Challenges
Page 51

"Just when we think we know all that recovery has to offer, more is revealed--if we are willing to accept the gift."

Living Clean, Chapter 7, "Awakenings"

Recovery allows us to take life by the reins. With a clear head and a clean conscience, we're able to deal with situations that would have mystified us in our previous lives. With time and effort spent on our recovery, we find the balance--often repeatedly--between confidence and humility, patience and action, faith and persistence. Flexibility sits at the intersection of all of these principles, allowing us to adapt and be resilient as recovery reveals its gifts.

When life takes an unexpected turn, sometimes there's magic in what we discover--other times, disappointment. In either case, practicing flexibility helps us to go with the flow. We keep breathing, regardless of the circumstances. A difficult living situation, an unhappy marriage, or a dead-end job may call on us to make decisions and take action. Our problems don't solve themselves just because we're clean. The work we put into our recovery helps us to understand our part in every situation. With that, we figure out what we can accept, what we should change, and when it's time to walk away. We take the reins of our lives, but we leave enough slack for the right pace and direction to reveal itself.

With faith and flexibility as our guideposts, new challenges seem more like serendipity and less like a curse. "I grew up hearing 'We plan, God laughs,'" one member shared. "When something gets in the way of my plans, I take it as divine intervention prompting me to explore other options." We often emerge from our most painful times with gifts we could not have imagined. Recovery helps us let go of some of our fixed ideas and look for the horse when all we see is manure.

——— ——— ——— ——— ———

I can learn new things and discover unique gifts at any phase of life in recovery. I will loosen the reins today and be flexible enough to accept the grace that comes my way.

02/20/2026

February 19, 2026
Reservations
Page 51

"Relapse is never an accident. Relapse is a sign that we have a reservation in our program."

Basic Text, p. 79

A reservation is something we set aside for future use. In our case, a reservation is the expectation that, if such-and-such happens, we will surely relapse. What event do we expect will be too painful to bear? Maybe we think that if a spouse or lover leaves us, we will have to get high. If we lose our job, surely, we think, we will use. Or maybe it's the death of a loved one that we expect to be unbearable. In any case, the reservations we harbor give us permission to use when they come true--as they often do.

We can prepare ourselves for success instead of relapse by examining our expectations and altering them where we can. Most of us carry within us a catalog of anticipated misery closely related to our fears. We can learn how to survive pain by watching other members live through similar pain. We can apply their lessons to our own expectations. Instead of telling ourselves we will have to get high if this happens, we can quietly reassure ourselves that we, too, can stay clean through whatever life brings us today.

Just for Today: I will check for any reservations that may endanger my recovery and share them with another addict.

02/15/2026

February 15, 2026
An awakening of the spirit
Page 47

"The last thing we expected was an awakening of the spirit."

Basic Text, p. 49

Few of us came to our first Narcotics Anonymous meeting aching to take a personal inventory or believing that a spiritual void existed in our souls. We had no inkling that we were about to embark on a journey which would awaken our sleeping spirits.

Like a loud alarm clock, the First Step brings us to semi-consciousness--although at this point, we may not be sure whether we want to climb out of bed or maybe sleep for just five more minutes. The gentle hand shaking our shoulders as we apply the Second and Third Steps causes us to stand up, stretch, and yawn. We need to wipe the sleep from our eyes to write the Fourth Step and share our Fifth. But as we work the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Steps, we begin noticing a spring in our step and the start of a smile on our lips. Our spirits sing in the shower as we take the Tenth and Eleventh Steps. And then we practice the Twelfth, leaving the house in search of others to awaken.

We don't have to spend the rest of our lives in a spiritual coma. We may not like to get up in the morning but, once out of bed, we're almost always glad we did.

Just for Today: To awaken my sleepy spirit, I will use the Twelve Steps.

01/24/2026

January 24, 2026
We Need Willingness Every Day
Page 24

"Through some combination of desperation, courage, anguish, and hope, we find willingness."

Guiding Principles, Tradition Three, Opening Essay

Our willingness to admit to being addicts who are powerless over our addiction in Step One is linked to our willingness to be members of NA in Tradition Three. They are complementary parts of the same surrender. Resistance, doubt, and fear may forestall our initial surrender to seek help by months or years, even decades. But they ultimately are no match for the array of emotions and experiences that drive our decision to let go and allow ourselves to be welcomed into the Fellowship of NA.

All of us have been newcomers to NA; perhaps we're new right now. Regardless of the amount of cleantime we have today, as we read this passage, we have a shared experience of active addiction that compelled us to try something different. We've all had a moment of desperation--or thousands--that brought us to this moment. No doubt we've experienced pain and anguish from using. We've had the courage to walk into an NA meeting for the first time. And whether or not we are feeling it today, we've felt at least a flicker of hope for the future. All of this collective experience gives us the willingness to get through the day clean and to safeguard our NA membership.

It's not uncommon for us to rethink our membership in NA at some point. We may be hurt by or experience abuse from another member. There may be a conflict in our home group or in our region that disheartens us. Our participation in the Fellowship may fade because we're busy with our work, school, and family. Many of us have relapsed, and the reality is that many still will. But we can surrender again--and again and again--and recommit to NA, if we're willing and if we make it back.

To stay clean, experience the fullness of our lives in and out of NA, and keep what we have so we can give it away, we need at least some willingness every day--no matter what emotions are driving it.

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Meeting the only requirement for membership is the easy part. I will summon the willingness to surrender once more and show up for my recovery today.

01/24/2026

January 24, 2026
From isolation to connection
Page 24

"Our disease isolated us... Hostile, resentful, self-centered, and self-seeking, we cut ourselves off from the outside world."

Basic Text, p. 4

Addiction is an isolating disease, closing us off from society, family, and self. We hid. We lied. We scorned the lives we saw others living, surely beyond our grasp. Worst of all, we told ourselves there was nothing wrong with us, even though we knew we were desperately ill. Our connection with the world, and with reality itself, was severed. Our lives lost meaning, and we withdrew further and further from reality.

The NA program is designed especially for people like us. It helps reconnect us to the life we were meant to live, drawing us out of our isolation. We stop lying to ourselves about our condition; we admit our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives. We develop faith that our lives can improve, that recovery is possible, and that happiness is not permanently beyond our grasp. We get honest; we stop hiding; we "show up and tell the truth," no matter what. And as we do, we establish the ties that connect our individual lives to the larger life around us.

We addicts need not live lives of isolation. The Twelve Steps can restore our connection to life and living--if we work them.

Just for Today: I am a part of the life around me. I will practice my program to strengthen my connection to my world.

01/22/2026

January 21, 2026
Exercising Goodwill
Page 21

"When we practice living in harmony with our world, we become wiser about choosing our battles. We learn where we can use our energy to make a difference and where we need to let go."

Living Clean, Chapter 3, "Awakening to Our Spirituality"

Let's start with an uncomfortable truth: We are judgmental because we are human. Human beings assess one another; we compare ourselves. We can be territorial and take sides. We come by this honestly; our survival once depended on it! Add the self-centered nature of addiction to our humanness, and then throw in something we care passionately about (such as the Fellowship of NA)--and our judgment can become a weapon to control outcomes about NA-related issues that other members also care about.

We can, however, turn down the volume on our judgments. With the volume adjusted, we learn that we can approach people and situations without engaging our fight-or-flight instincts. Our first thoughts may still be judgmental, but recovery gives us options about our behavior. It's our actions that matter most.

When we have some cleantime and service experience, it's tempting to tell members, groups, and service committees what's what. But having knowledge and wisdom doesn't give us authority. Group conscience is always more powerful than individual conscience. Sometimes--to our great surprise--newer members don't defer to those of us who have been around for a while, offering insights or suggestions the group had been missing before.

Practicing the principle of goodwill with members doesn't mean we stay silent. Our opinions matter. Exercising goodwill assures those opinions don't matter more or less than anyone else's. We listen to others, don't force the outcome to meet our desires, allow others to make mistakes (yes, even the ones we have already made), and acknowledge that our fellow members want the same things as we do: to stay clean and to carry the message in the most effective way possible.

Goodwill invokes our primary purpose. It serves the greater good of NA, not our egos.

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I'll take a stance of goodwill toward others by sharing my experience, not dictating outcomes--and by demonstrating openness to the suggestions of others.

01/22/2026

January 21, 2026
Unity and uniformity
Page 21

"Unity is a must in Narcotics Anonymous."

Basic Text, p. 63

Unity is not uniformity. Unity springs from the fact that we have unity of purpose--to recover, and to help others stay clean. Even so, we often find that while we strive to fulfill the same purpose, our means and methods may be radically different.

We can't impose our ideas of unity on others or confuse unity with uniformity. In fact, a big attraction of the NA program is the absence of uniformity. Unity springs from our common purpose, not from standards imposed on the group by a few well-meaning members. A group that has the unity which springs from the loving hearts of its members allows each addict to carry the message in his or her own unique way.

In our dealings with each other in NA, we sometimes disagree rather vocally. We must remember that the details of how we get things done isn't always important, so long as we keep our focus on the group's primary purpose. We can watch members who vehemently disagree over trivial things pull together when a newcomer reaches out for help. Someone was there for us when we got to the rooms of NA. Now it is our turn to be there for others. We need unity to help show the newcomer that this way of life works.

Just for Today: I will strive to be a part of unity. I know that unity does not equal uniformity.

01/17/2026

January 17, 2026
Striving for Integrity, Always
Page 17

"Integrity is the consistent application of spiritual principles, no matter what the circumstances."

It Works, Tradition Two, "Applying Spiritual Principles"

We recognize the ultimate authority in NA groups to be a loving Higher Power that's expressed in our group conscience, according to Tradition Two. For better or worse, however, we entrust mere mortals--and addicts, no less--to carry out our decisions. To do right by this Tradition, it's important to choose trusted servants who demonstrate "the full range of personal characteristics associated with a spiritual awakening," according to the Fourth Concept essay. We select such leaders and we evolve into those kinds of people as we live clean and work the Steps.

As trusted servants, we do our best to practice integrity as we fulfill our commitments. Yes, that's a big order, but the Steps prepare us well. Some might even say integrity is the proof in the pudding, the evidence of how working the Twelve Steps transforms us. "By the time Step Twelve told me to 'practice these principles in all my affairs,'" one member said with pride, "I was ready to do just that. I've come a long way, baby!" We become people with character and backbone, the kinds of people who do the right thing even when no one's watching.

Of course, the real effort of character building starts long before we get through all Twelve Steps. It's perhaps most apparent when we're in the thick of Steps Six and Seven, which give us a close look at some of our deeply ingrained bad habits. The price we've paid for living this way was starkly detailed in our inventory. We know what we don't want. Now, we take the opportunity to identify and practice healthier, more spiritual ways to deal with situations as they arise in all our affairs.

And practice we do. Like so much in recovery, thinking and character follow the course set by our actions. We might think of right actions as the seed, which--in time--produces the fruit of good character. We do good works, practice virtuous behavior, and become people with integrity.

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Regardless of the circumstances, who's looking, or what's convenient, I will adhere to my new code of conduct today.