Recovery 1st

10/25/2024

Needed to post this here

25 October

Principles before personalities

Page 311

"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."

Tradition Twelve

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"Principles before personalities." Many of us chant these words along with the reader whenever the Twelve Traditions are read. The fact that these words have become a cliche of sorts doesn't make them any less important, either in service or in our lives. These words are an affirmation: "We listen to our conscience and do what's right, no matter who's involved." And that principle serves as one of the cornerstones of recovery as well as our traditions.

What does "principles before personalities" really mean? It means we practice honesty, humility, compassion, tolerance, and patience with everyone, whether we like them or not. Putting principles before personalities teaches us to treat everyone equally. The Twelfth Step asks us to apply principles in all our affairs; the Twelfth Tradition suggests we apply them to our relations with everyone.

Practicing principles doesn't stop with our friends or when we leave a meeting. It's for every day, for everyone... in all areas of our lives.

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Just for Today: I will listen to my conscience and do what's right. My focus will be on principles, not on people's personalities.

08/13/2024

13 August

Difficult people

Page 235

"By giving unconditional love...we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual."

Basic Text, p. 103

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Most of us have one or two exceptionally difficult people in our lives. How do we deal with such a person in our recovery?

First, we take our own inventory. Have we wronged this person? Has some action or attitude of ours served as an invitation for the kind of treatment they have given us? If so, we will want to clear the air, admit we have been wrong, and ask our Higher Power to remove whatever defects may prevent us from being helpful and constructive.

Next, as people seeking to live spiritually oriented lives, we approach the problem from the other person's point of view. They may be faced with any number of challenges we either fail to consider or know nothing about, challenges that cause them to be unpleasant. As it's said, we seek in recovery "to forgive rather than be forgiven; to understand rather than be understood."

Finally, if it is within our power, we seek ways to help others overcome their challenges without injuring their dignity. We pray for their well-being and spiritual growth and for the ability to offer them the unconditional love that has meant so much to us in our recovery.

We cannot change the difficult people in our lives, nor can we please everyone. But by applying the spiritual principles we've learned in NA, we can learn to love them.

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Just for Today: Higher Power, help me serve other people, not demand that they serve me.

08/10/2024

Please understand that mental health conditions are no one’s fault and can be traumatic experiences.

08/03/2024

Copy and pasted-I LOVE THIS ANALOGY:
You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.
Why did you spill the coffee?
"Because someone bumped into me!!!"
Wrong answer.
You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.
Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.
Whatevr is inside the cup is what will spill out.
Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled.
So we have to ask ourselves... “what's in my cup?"
When life gets tough, what spills over?
Joy, gratitude, peace and humility?
Anger, bitterness, victim mentality and quitting tendencies?
Life provids the cup, YOU choose how to fill it.
Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affrmation, resilience, positivity; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.

WHATS IN YOUR CUP?

08/01/2024

We could all use this

01 August

Freedom from guilt

Page 223

"Our addiction enslaved us. We were prisoners of our own mind and were condemned by our own guilt."

Basic Text, p. 7

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Guilt is one of the most commonly encountered stumbling blocks in recovery. One of the more notorious forms of guilt is the self-loathing that results when we try to forgive ourselves but don't feel forgiven.

How can we forgive ourselves so we feel it? First, we remember that guilt and failure are not links in an unbreakable chain. Honestly sharing with a sponsor and with other addicts shows this to be true. Often the result of such sharing is a more sensible awareness of the part we ourselves have played in our affairs. Sometimes we realize that our expectations have been too high. We increase our willingness to participate in the solutions rather than dwelling on the problems.

Somewhere along the way, we discover who we really are. We usually find that we are neither the totally perfect nor the totally imperfect beings we have imagined ourselves to be. We need not live up to or down to our illusions; we need only live in reality.

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Just for Today: I am grateful for my assets and accept my liabilities. Through willingness and humility, I am freed to progress in my recovery and achieve freedom from guilt.

07/14/2024

Our personalities were greatly influenced by our disease of addiction. We wore many masks, and many times compromised our beliefs and principles, just to get the next one. The more and the longer we used, the more we as a person were disappearing. Toward the end it was mostly our disease that was present. In Narcotics Anonymous the Steps and Traditions are designed to repair our broken personalities. Our spirits are awakened, and we find a new way to live, drug free. Our defects, although were useful to us in active addiction, have no use for us in our new way of life. After coming to Narcotics Anonymous, many of us although clean, still refuse to change. Being physically clean and spiritually dirty is a contradiction to recovery. When the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain of changing, we surrender. A deeper level of surrender is what's called for as we go through each Step. The God of our own understanding will supply us with the Power we need to live these spiritual principles. Letting go of our defects and asking the God of our understanding to remove our shortcomings along with action, is what makes our recovery possible. Living the principles of the Steps is how we work and live the Steps. We learn to live the program and share it with others.

05/24/2024

24 May

Risking vulnerability

Page 150

"As we grow, we learn to overcome the tendency to run and hide from ourselves and our feelings."

Basic Text, p. 85

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Rather than risk vulnerability, many of us have developed habits that keep others at a safe distance. These patterns of emotional isolation can give us the feeling we are hopelessly locked behind our masks. We used to take risks with our lives; now we can take risks with our feelings. Through sharing with other addicts, we learn that we are not unique; we do not make ourselves unduly vulnerable simply by letting others know who we are, for we are in good company. And by working the Twelve Steps of the NA program, we grow and change. We no longer want or need to hide our emerging selves. We are offered the opportunity to shed the emotional camouflage we developed to survive our active addiction.

By opening ourselves to others, we risk becoming vulnerable, but that risk is well worth the rewards. With the help of our sponsor and other recovering addicts, we learn how to express our feelings honestly and openly. In turn, we become nourished and encouraged by the unconditional love of our companions. As we practice spiritual principles, we find strength and freedom, both in ourselves and in those around us. We are set free to be ourselves and to enjoy the company of our fellow addicts.

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Just for Today: I will openly and honestly share with another recovering addict. I will risk becoming vulnerable and celebrate my self and my friendship with other NA members. I will grow.

05/05/2024

Heart breaking if you need help it is available

233.6K likes, 7874 comments. “"My son's victim impact statement" 🕊”

05/05/2024

We grew up admiring the artistry and musicianship of The Rolling Stones and to be able to share a stage with them again leaves us beyond words. We’ll see you this summer!

04/21/2024

04/20/2024

20 April

Detachment

Page 114

"Addiction is a family disease, but we could only change ourselves."


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Many of us come from severely damaged families. At times, the insanity that reigns among our relatives feels overwhelming. Sometimes we feel like packing our bags and moving far, far away.

We pray that our family members will join us in recovery but, to our great sadness, this does not always happen. Sometimes, despite our best efforts to carry the message, we find that we cannot help those we hold most dear. Our group experience has taught us that, frequently, we are too close to our relatives to help them. We learn it is better to leave them in our Higher Power's care.

We have found that when we stop trying to settle the problems of family members, we give them the room they need to work things out in their own lives. By reminding them that we are not able to solve their problems for them, we give ourselves the freedom to live our own lives. We have faith that God will help our relatives. Often, the best thing we can give our loved ones is the example of our own ongoing recovery. For the sake of our family's sanity and our own, we must let our relatives find their own ways to recover.

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Just for Today: I will seek to work my own program and leave my family in the care of a Higher Power.

04/18/2024

18 April

"I understand"

Page 112

"We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

Step Seven

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Once we are entirely ready to have our character defects removed, many of us are entirely ready! Ironically, that's when the trouble really starts. The more we struggle to rid ourselves of a particular defect, the stronger that shortcoming seems to become. It is truly humbling to realize that not only are we powerless over our addiction, but even over our own defects of character.

Finally, it clicks. The Seventh Step doesn't suggest that we rid ourselves of our shortcomings, but that we ask our Higher Power to rid us of them. The focus of our daily prayers begins to shift. Admitting our inability to perfect ourselves, we plead with our Higher Power to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. And we wait.

For many days, our program may stay on Step Seven. We may experience no sudden, total relief from defects--but we often do experience a subtle shift in our perceptions of ourselves and others. Through the eyes of the Seventh Step, we begin to see those around us in a less critical way. We know that, just like us, many of them are struggling with shortcomings they would dearly love to be rid of. We know that, just like us, they are powerless over their own defects. We wonder if they, too, humbly pray to have their defects removed.

We begin evaluating others as we have learned to evaluate ourselves, with an empathy born of humility. As we watch others, and as we keep watch on ourselves, we can finally say, "I understand."

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Just for Today: God, help me see through the eyes of Step Seven. Help me understand.