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Emotional Balance

Just for Today - September 16

"Emotional balance is one of the first results of meditation, and our experience bears this out."

Basic Text p.45

Filling the Emptiness

Just for Today - September 15

"..we think that if we can just get enough food, enough sex, or enough money, we'll be satisfied and everything will be alright."

Basic Text p.77

Secrets Are Reservations

Just for today - September 14

"Eventually we are shown that we must get honest, or we will use again." Basic Text p.82

Everyone has secrets, right? Some of us have little secrets, items that would cause only minor embarrassment if found out. Some of us have big secrets, whole areas of our lives cloaked in thick, murky darkness. Big secrets may represent a more obvious, immediate danger to our recovery. But the little secrets do their own kind of damage, the more insidious perhaps because we think they're "harmless!"

Something Different

Just for today - September 13

"We had to have something different, and we thought we had found it in drugs." Basic Text p.13

Many of us have always felt different from other people. We know we're not unique in feeling that way; we hear many addicts share the same thing. We searched all our lives for something to make us all right, to fix that "different" place inside us, to make us whole and acceptable. Drugs seemed to fill that need.

New Horizons

Just for today - September 12

"My life is well-rounded and I am becoming a more comfortable version of myself, not the neurotic, boring person that I thought I'd be without drugs."

Basic Text p.262

Is there really life without drugs? Newcomers are sure that they are destined to lead a humdrum existence once they quit using. That fear is far from reality.

Bend With the Wind

Just for today - September 11

"We learn to become flexible.. As new things are revealed, we feel renewed."

Basic Text p.98

More Powerful Than Words

Just for today - September 10

"We learn that a simple, loving hug can make all the difference in the world."

Basic Text p.88

Perhaps there have been times in our recovery when we were close to someone who was in great pain. We struggled with the question, "What can I do to make them feel better?" We felt anxious and inadequate to relieve their suffering. We wished we had more experience to share. We didn't know what to say.

Feet of Clay

Just for today - September 9

"One of the biggest stumbling blocks to recovery seems to be placing unrealistic expectations on... others." Basic Text p.78

Rebellion

Just for today - September 8

"We need not lose faith when we become rebellious."    Basic Text p.34

Many of us have lived our entire lives in revolt. Our initial response to any type of direction is often negative. Automatic rejection of authority seems to be a troubling character defect for many addicts.

Resentment and Forgiveness

Just for Today - September 7

"Where there has been wrong, the program teaches us the spirit of forgiveness."

Basic Text p.12

In NA, we begin to interact with the world around us. We no longer live in isolation. But freedom from isolation has its price.

The more we interact with people, the more often we'll find someone stepping on our toes. And such are the circumstances in which resentments are often born.

Regular Meeting Attendance

Just for Today - September 6

"We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean."

Basic Text p.9

Not Hopelessly Bad

Just for Today - September 5

"We find that we suffer from a disease, not a moral dilemma. We were critically ill, not hopelessly bad." Basic Text p.16

For many of us, Narcotics Anonymous was the answer to a personal puzzle of long standing. Why did we always feel alone, even in a crowd, we wondered? Why did we do so many crazy, self-destructive things? Why did we feel so badly about ourselves so much of the time? And how had our lives gotten so messed up? We thought we were hopelessly bad, or perhaps hopelessly insane.

Cluttered Spirits

Just for Today - September 4

"We try to remember that when we make amends we are doing it for ourselves."

Basic Text p.40

Humility Expressed By Anonymity

Just for Today - September 3

"Humility is a by-product that allows us to grow and develop in an atmosphere of freedom and removes the fear of becoming known by our employers, families, or friends as addicts." Basic Text p.72-23

Many of us may not have understood the idea that "anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions." We wondered how this could be. What does anonymity have to do with our spiritual life?

Higher Powered

Just for Today - September 2

"Daily practice of our Twelve Step program enables us to change from what we were to people guided by a Higher Power"

Basic Text p.83

Who have we been, and who have we become? There are a couple of ways to answer this question. One is very simple:

We came to Narcotics Anonymous as addicts, our addiction killing us. In NA, we've been freed from our obsession with drugs and our compulsion to use. And our lives have changed.

Real Values

Just for Today - September 1

"We become able to make wise and loving decisions based on principles and ideals that have real value in our lives."

Basic Text, pg. 101

Gratitude

Just for Today - August 31

"Hopeless living problems have become joyously changed. Our disease has been arrested, and now anything is possible."

Basic Text p.102

The NA program has given us more freedom than we ever dreamed possible. Sometimes, though, in the daily routine, we lose track of how much we've been given. How, exactly, have our lives changed in Narcotics Anonymous?

Doing Good, Feeling Good

Just for Today - August 30

"We examine our actions, reactions, and motives. We often find that we've been doing better than we've been feeling."

Basic Text p.42

Don't Look Back

Just for Today - August 29

"The steps offer a big change from a life dominated by guilt and remorse. Our futures are changed because we don't have to avoid those who we have harmed. As a result... we receive a new freedom that can end isolation." Basic Text p.31

The Light of Exposure

Just for Today - August 28

"These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure."

Basic Text p.31

The Fifth Step asks us to share our true nature with God, with ourselves, and with another human being. It doesn't encourage us to tell everyone every little secret about ourselves. It doesn't ask us to disclose to the whole world every shameful or frightening thought we've ever had. Step Five simply suggests that our secrets cause us more harm than good when we keep them completely to ourselves.

Choosing Life

Just for Today - August 27

"Change from self-destructive patterns of life became necessary" Basic Text p.16

Active addiction is a smoldering death-wish. Each of us courted death every time we used. Our lifestyles, too, put us at risk. The life of an addict is sold cheaply with every day and every dose.

Tenth Step Inventory

Just for Today - August 26

"We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it." Step Ten

The Ninth Step - Reclaiming Life

Just for Today - August 25

"We are achieving freedom from the wreckage of our past."

Basic Text p. 45

When we start the Ninth Step, we've reached an exciting stage in our recovery. The damage done in our lives is what led many of us to seek help in the first place. Now, we have a chance to clean up that wreckage, amend our past, and reclaim our lives.

Seeking God's Will

Just for Today - August 24

"We learn to be careful of praying for specific things." Basic Text p. 45

Decision Making

Just for Today - August 23

"Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking." Basic Text p. 87

Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences. When we were using, our decisions were usually driven by our disease, resulting in self-destructive actions and dire consequences. We came to see decision making as a rigged game, one we should play as little as possible.

Contribution

Just for Today - August 22

"We recognize our spiritual growth when we are able to reach out and help others."

Basic Text p. 56

To make a difference in the world, to contribute something special, is perhaps the highest aspiration of the human heart, Each one of us, no matter what our personal makeup, has a unique quality to offer.

Friendships

Just for Today - August 21

"Our friendships become deep, and we experience the warmth and caring which results from addicts sharing recovery and a new life."

IP No.19, "Self-Acceptance"

Facing Death

Just for Today - August 20

"Often we have to face some type of crisis during our recovery, such as the death of a loved one..."

Basic Text, p. 98

Every life has a beginning and an end. However, when someone we love a great deal reaches the end of their life, we may have a very hard time accepting their sudden, final absence. Our grief may be so powerful that we fear it will completely overwhelm us - but it will not. Our sorrow may hurt more than anything we can remember, but it will pass.

First Things First

Just for Today - August 19

"We apply effort to our most obvious problems and let go of the rest. We do the job at hand and, as we progress, new opportunities for improvement present themselves."

Basic Text, p. 54

How Long Do I Have To Go?

Just for Today - August 18

"The way to remain a productive, responsible member of society is to put our recovery first."Basic Text, p. 102

The meetings have been great! Each night we've attended, we've gathered with other addicts to share experience, strength, and hope. And each day, we've used what we've learned in the meetings to continue in our recovery.

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