Addiction Wears

02/04/2023

Today we more quickly see the difference between our own thoughts and those of our disease. Through the Program of Narcotics Anonymous, we have learned that there is always more than one solution to a problem. We come to understand that the disease of addiction talks loud and rational, it makes a lot of sense, especially speaking to us in our own voice. God talks quietly and suggestively; “You might not want to do that?” Instead of trying to resolve everything on our own, we ask for help whether it is from our Higher Power or another recovering addict. Sometimes just finding a 'safe place' is all that we need to do to be able to slow down and see the problem for what it is. We turned mole hills into mountains and often can’t see the forest for the trees.

We need to identify our obstacles before we rid ourselves of them. This is why we work the steps. It is the simplest and easiest way to get to the real route of those things that stop us from being who we where meant to be, happy, joyous and free. As the old saying goes; we have met the enemy and they is us! From the beginning, we see that our present circumstances are the result of our reactions to the past experiences of our lives. Our past rules our present more then we can ever imagine. Working an honest fourth step will free us from the bo***ge of our past.

01/05/2023

Narcotics Anonymous is a spiritual program. As our minds opened to an understanding of God, we found that we experienced spiritual growth on many different levels. We went from hopeless to hopeful. Witnessing the miracles of recovery happening around us, our faith grew.

Faith inspires us to apply principles such as love, generosity and forgiveness to our everyday affairs. It also calms our fears and insecurities. We relied on the God of our understanding for courage and we trusted Him with our well_being. We resolved the fearful, ugly issues of the past through the limitless strength of a loving God. As our conscious contact grew, we found less conflict and more peace.

We came to see a grand vision as God's will was revealed to us. Doing God's will for us becomes our personal mission in life. We were cared for and guided in our daily actions. Our will was aligned with God's. Old fears flowed away in a flood of unconditional love. We stand in the forefront of the Fellowship, practicing principles and making ourselves available for those yet to come.

We overcome each new challenge as God provides us with more than we need. Grateful that we are never alone, we step forth to give service and love in all that we do.

12/25/2022

"With the renewed emotional or mental state, positive action or the next right thing is enacted by the addict. If a transforming experience occurs, that is to say, if the addict feels a measure of relief and perhaps even a sense that all will be well, but fails to take the action which originally generated the fear, that addict has not completed Step Three.

Step Three is an action step. We know that the theist NA member lets go of fear and anxiety in this step and the atheists can do it too. It appears to be the letting go which results in relief. This is not necessarily the letting go to a deity. With repeated effort, a spiritual transformation begins for all addicts. This change occurs in the deepest levels of our being. As atheists, we simply ascribe these changes to our application of recovery principles rather than as evidence a supernatural force has been working in our lives. We too, act on our changed emotional or mental state and we do the next right thing.

This is the second part of Step Three. We take positive action. Although we do not turn it over to a God of our understanding, many of us describe turning it over in ways which are non_theistic. Some atheists make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a spiritual concept we know from our non_theistic religion. Other atheists make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Reasonable Action. Some atheists may make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of NA. A sense of connectedness with humanity results from the Third Step."

11/17/2022

11/16/2022

Addiction is rooted in the spirit and we call this the self-centered part of our disease. It is more than simple selfishness. The self-centered aspect of our addiction results in our isolation, loneliness and alienation from our fellow man. It is "feeling alone in the midst of a crowd"…
We feel unloved in the bosom of our families, separated from our fellow human beings and even separated from our Higher Power. We have found ourselves in a pit of despair, feeling that we are truly unique in our misery. We think no one else can possibly understand how we feel because we believe no one else has ever felt this way before…

11/07/2022

3. Can you do any of these things below in last post even once? (Explain)

a) Is there any situation you can think of when doing any of these things would be appropriate or acceptable?

b) Name them and write about "conditions" that might make them "OK."

11/02/2022

2. What things have you done in the past to hurt yourself? (List everything. NOT just the drugs.). Do you still do any of these things? List them. Why do you continue to do these things? Have you ever tried to stop doing these things? What happened? How have these things made your life unmanageable?…

a) Do you want to stop doing these things now? b) What are you willing to do differently this time?…

10/31/2022

We may need to ask ourselves, what are "reservations"? If we hold back isn’t that a little like jumping out of a fire but leaving out foot in the flames? Surrender may have one definition in the dictionary, but it means different things at different times to different people. We keep asking ourselves, what does it mean to me at this point in my recovery?

While members are quick to agree that "social acceptability does not equal recovery", many of us find that our priorities put making money and acquiring ‘stuff’ at the top of the list. It is easy to do. But for the sake of recovery, we may reach a place where we realize that by getting caught up in things, we let our meetings go and have little time to work our program.

We need to embrace the fact that many good things we enjoy come to us from our surrender, getting real about our need for help and doing things that work for other addicts. If we stop doing these things, we cannot expect to continue in recovery. Recovery may just be getting on with life by getting in touch with our humanity, our higher power and our need to feel satisfied with life. At the end of this Step, many of us feel an emptiness. We fill this emptiness with Step Two!

Writing about what ‘control’ and ‘management’ mean to us helps many of us to stay on the clean side of the fence. We know that ‘inner peace’ can't come from other people but we learn that it can come through them. We each act as instruments of God by showing concern for others. This is how we begin to feel long lost ties being re-established. We feel the need to seek new possibilities as we admit our powerlessness. Running away, we only carry our problems with us. True escape requires active change.

10/23/2022

2. What things have you done in the past to hurt yourself? (List everything. NOT just the drugs.). Do you still do any of these things? List them. Why do you continue to do these things? Have you ever tried to stop doing these things? What happened? How have these things made your life unmanageable?

a) Do you want to stop doing these things now? b) What are you willing to do differently this time?

10/21/2022

1. Pray for the awareness to understand this Step and to see how it applies to your life. 2. Look up in a dictionary and define in your own words what each of the words in the Step means. (Including: we, our, that, etc.) 3. Write about what's going on in your life, and problems you are facing today.

a) Write about the three components of the disease of addiction: Physical - compulsion; Mental - obsession; and Spiritual - self-centeredness. b) Write about your fear, doubt, loneliness, isolation, confusion and the sense of being lost. How did you and do you feel different? c) Define ‘‘drug’’ and explain why this Step doesn't read: "We were ..."

10/18/2022

This change allows us to get new outcomes by discovering new ways to do things. In the words of one member, "Today we are grateful for Step One - it means hope, commitment, honesty, release. This list of 26 thoughts, questions and suggestions may help you focus your writing about this step. The major thing about this Step is its difference from those of any other 12 step program. Until we understand that, we will never have a grasp on it and will never have a commitment to NA. Spiritual principles are universal. NA is the only program we know of that allows us this type of universal freedom of understanding.

If you have problems or doubts - just call your sponsor and ask another member for help. Try not to get discouraged or believe you're not doing enough. Don't limit your questions to any individual. Talk to everyone, listen carefully to everything. Know that your understanding of this Step and this Program will be yours. It must be yours for it to work. Make it yours - like an old favorite pair of jeans or a warm comforter. "Though we have written out these suggestions for you to write, realize that the option to share any or all of your writing rests with you. We believe trust grows from Step Two and that it's not until Step Five that we're asked to spill all. These pages are our way of giving you feedback.

10/18/2022

Our sight, hearing and ability to feel are still under the influence of our disease when we first get clean. We hear the slogans: "God is good all the time," "Get God and get going!," "Take it Easy", "Don't leave five minutes before the miracle happens!" and "Keep coming back!," "One is too many, a thousand never enough." These and other sayings help us get out of the self-centered role and allow us to learn ways to re-adjust to life on life's terms…

The recovery environment supports life. It provides for our needs as addicts. Trouble has to do with intruding on the freedoms and rights of others. Most of all we harmed ourselves. Our disease limits our ability to see the connection between our actions and the result of those actions. Recovery is the realignment of our inner reality with our outward environment. Useless struggles fall away and life resumes its movement toward an interesting and productive future. Finally, we can accept happiness because it no longer feels like an illusion. If we are indeed addicts, we can benefit immediately from what has been learned about recovery and living clean in NA…