Narcotics Anonymous

Every time I draw a clean breath, I'm like a fish out of water.

Each time we surrender, we find once more that the desperation that drives us to our knees fuels the passion that carries us forward. When hope manifests into reality, our lives change. Our experience affirms what we believe, and belief grows into faith. When our faith grows into knowledge, the program that we once struggled to practice has become part of who we are. We find here what we were looking for all along: connection to others, connection to a Higher Power, connection to the world around us — and, most surprising of all, connection to ourselves.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.

It’s not recovery that is painful; our resistance to it is what hurts.

We can use this Power long before we understand it.

Our disease involved much more than just using drugs, so our recovery must involve much more than simple abstinence.

lest problems of money, property or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

The search for a God of our own understanding is one of the most important efforts we will undertake in our recovery. We have complete personal choice and freedom in how we understand our Higher Power. We can each find a Higher Power that does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Because we are powerless over our addiction, we need a Power greater than ourselves to help us.

by keeping an open mind, sooner or later, we find the help we need.

When we forget the effort and the work that it took us to get a period of freedom in our lives, a lack of gratitude sinks in, and self-destruction begins again. Unless action is taken immediately, we run the risk of a relapse that threatens our very existence. Keeping our illusion of reality, rather than using the tools of the program, will return us to isolation. Loneliness will kill us inside and the drugs that almost always come next may do the job completely. The symptoms and the feelings that we experienced at the end of our using will come back even stronger than before. This impact is sure to destroy us if we don’t surrender ourselves to the NA Program.

we take the time to allow ourselves the privilege of thinking

Social acceptability does not equal recovery.

Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear? Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain. It seems safer to embrace what we know than to let go of it for fear of the unknown.
(Narcotics Anonymous Book/page 33)

We learn that the program won’t work when we try to adapt it to our life. We must learn to adapt our life to the program.

Our negative sense of self has been replaced by a positive concern for others. Answers are provided, and problems are solved. It is a great gift to feel human again.