Narcotics Anonymous Message Board

Dave R · Dave R

"In recovery, our ideas of fun change."Basic Text, p. 107=In retrospect, many of us realize that when we used, our ideas of fun were rather bizarre. Some of us would get dressed up and head for the local club. We would dance, drink, and do drugs until the sun rose. On more than one occasion...

Dave R · Dave R

"When we accept ourselves, we can accept others into our lives, unconditionally, probably for the first time."IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance=From our earliest memories, many of us felt like we never belonged. No matter how big the gathering, we always felt apart from the crowd. We had a...

Dave R · Dave R

"an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us."IP No. 11, Sponsorship, Revised=What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your fir...

Dave R · Dave R

...we have found a loving, personal God to whom we can turn. Basic Text, p. 27 = Some of us come into recovery with the impression that life's hardships are a series of cosmic tests designed to teach us something. This belief is readily apparent when something traumatic happens and we wail, My Highe...

Dave R · Dave R

We had convinced ourselves that we could make it alone and proceeded to live life on that basis. The results were disastrous and, in the end, each of us had to admit that self-sufficiency was a lie. Basic Text, p. 62 = I can't, but we can. This simple but profound truth applies initially to our first n...

Dave R · Dave R

"Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion."Basic Text, p. 9=Addiction closed our minds to anything new or different. We didn't need anyone or anything, we thought. There was nothing of value to be found in anyone from a differe...

Dave R · Dave R

Goodwill is best exemplified in service; proper service is Doing the right thing for the right reason.Basic Text, p. xv=The spiritual core of our disease is self-centeredness. In dealing with others, the only motive our addiction taught us was selfishnesswe wanted what we wanted when we wanted i...

Dave R · Dave R

We felt different.... Only after surrender are we able to overcome the alienation of addiction. Basic Text, p. 22 But you dont understand! we spluttered, trying to cover up. Im different! Ive really got it rough! We used these lines over and over in our active addiction, either trying to escape t...

Dave R · Dave R

Just for today I will have faith in someone in NA who believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery. Basic Text, p. 93 Trust is a risky proposition. Our past experience as using addicts has taught us that our companions could not be trusted. Most of all, we couldnt trust ourselves. Now that were i...

Dave R · Dave R

We must give freely and gratefully that which has been freely and gratefully given to us. Basic Text, p. 49 In recovery, we receive many gifts. Perhaps one of the greatest of these gifts is the spiritual awakening that begins when we stop using, growing stronger each day we apply the steps in our liv...

Dave R · Dave R

Do we understand that we have no real control over drugs? Basic Text, p. 18 = At first, many of us may have thought the First Step required no actionwe just surrender and go on to Step Two. But Step One does require action! The action we take in the First Step will be evident in the way we live, even from...

Bigmaky · Bigmaky

I am part of a sponsorship family that goes on a camp out every year. I haven't been yet but hear it is a wonderful time. The guy who host it has 30+ years clean and there is around 300 people that go to this event. They consist of all the men that he sponsors and that they sponsor on down the line. One of the guys...

Dave R · Dave R

"We learn new ways to live. We are no longer limited to our old ideas."Basic Text, p. 56=We may or may not have been taught right from wrong and other basics of life as children. No matter, by the time we found recovery, most of us had only the vaguest idea of how to live. Our isolation from t...

Dave R · Dave R

"The spiritual part of our disease is our total self-centeredness."Basic Text, p. 20=What is self-centeredness? It is our belief that the world revolves around us. Our wishes, our demands are the only ones worth consideration. Our self-centered minds believe they are capable of...

Dave R · Dave R

"We see it happening among us every day. This miraculous turnabout is evidence of a spiritual awakening."Basic Text, p. 51=We watch them walk in to their first meeting defeated, their spirits broken. Their suffering is obvious, and their desire for help even more apparent. They coll...

Dave R · Dave R

"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, surel...

Dave R · Dave R

"Lack of daily maintenance can show up in many ways."Basic Text, p. 95=Ever had a perfect stranger remark about how great the weather was, only to reply "It stinks"? When this happens, we are probably suffering from a lack of daily maintenance in our program.In recovery, life can get pretty hectic....

Dave R · Dave R

January 23Serenity check"Lack of daily maintenance can show up in many ways."Basic Text, p. 95=Ever had a perfect stranger remark about how great the weather was, only to reply "It stinks"? When this happens, we are probably suffering from a lack of daily maintenance in our...

Dave R · Dave R

"This is a program for learning."Basic Text, p. 16=Learning in recovery is hard work. The things we most need to know are often the hardest to learn. We study recovery to prepare ourselves for the experiences life will give us. As we listen to others share in meetings, we take mental notes we can ref...

Dave R · Dave R

"Narcotics Anonymous offers only one promise, and that is freedom from active addiction..."Basic Text, p. 106=Imagine how it might be if we had arrived at the doors of Narcotics Anonymous, desperate, wanting to stop using drugs, only to be met by a sales pitch: "If you just work the steps and don't u...

Dave R · Dave R

"When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably."Basic Text, p. 99=Some of us seem to make mountains out of molehills with our problems. Even those of us who've found some measure of serenity have probably blown a problem far out of proportion at some time in our r...

Dave R · Dave R

"Continuing to take a personal inventory means that we form a habit of looking at ourselves, our actions, our attitudes, and our relationships on a regular basis."Basic Text, p. 42=The daily inventory is a tool we can use to simplify our lives. The most complicated part of taking a regul...

Dave R · Dave R

"As we realize our need to be forgiven, we tend to be more forgiving. At least we know that we are no longer intentionally making life miserable for people."Basic Text, pp. 39-40=In our addiction we often treated others badly, sometimes deliberately finding ways to make their lives mis...

Dave R · Dave R

"We feared that if we ever revealed ourselves as we were, we would surely be rejected...[But] our fellow members do understand us."Basic Text, p. 32=We need our fellow NA members--their experience, their friendship, their laughter, their guidance, and much, much more. Yet many of us hesitate to...

Dave R · Dave R

"We grow to feel comfortable with our Higher Power as a source of strength. As we learn to trust this Power, we begin to overcome our fear of life."Basic Text, p. 25=Powerless as we are, living on self-will is a frightening, unmanageable experience. In recovery, we have turned our will and our lives...

Dave R · Dave R

"Our understanding of a Higher Power is up to us...The only suggested guidelines are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves."Basic Text, p. 24=We've been told that we can believe in any kind of Higher Power we want as long as it is loving and, of course, greater than ourselves. ...

Dave R · Dave R

"Help for addicts begins only when we are able to admit complete defeat."Basic Text, p. 22=Complete defeat--what a concept! That must mean surrender. Surrender--to give up absolutely. To quit with no reservations. To put up our hands and quit fighting. Maybe to put up our hand at our first...

Dave R · Dave R

"Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps..."Step Twelve="How will I know when I have had a spiritual awakening?" For many of us, a spiritual awakening comes gradually. Perhaps our first spiritual awareness is as simple as a new appreciation for life. Maybe one day we'll sudden...

Dave R · Dave R

"As we develop faith in our daily lives, we find that our Higher Power supplies us with the strength and guidance that we need."Basic Text, p. 94=Some of us come into recovery very frightened and insecure. We feel weak and alone. We are uncertain of our direction and don't know where to go for answe...

Dave R · Dave R

"I'm very grateful to have come to believe."IP No. 21, The Loner=Belief in a Higher Power can make all the difference when the going gets tough! When things don't go our way in recovery, our sponsor may direct us to make a gratitude list. When we do, we should include our faith in a Power greater than o...

Topic		Started By	Replies	Views	Last Post
	JFT FEbruary 10 Fun! (Preview) "In recovery, our ideas of fun change."Basic Text, p. 107=In retrospect, many of us realize that when we used, our ideas of fun were rather bizarre. Some of us would get dressed up and head for the local club. We would dance, drink, and do drugs until the sun rose. On more than one occasion...	Dave R	1	406	Feb 10, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 9 Self-acceptance (Preview) "When we accept ourselves, we can accept others into our lives, unconditionally, probably for the first time."IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance=From our earliest memories, many of us felt like we never belonged. No matter how big the gathering, we always felt apart from the crowd. We had a...	Dave R	1	491	Feb 9, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 8 What is a sponsor? (Preview) "an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us."*IP No. 11, Sponsorship,* Revised**=What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your fir...	Dave R	1	399	Feb 8, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 7 This is not a test (Preview) ...we have found a loving, personal God to whom we can turn. Basic Text, p. 27 = Some of us come into recovery with the impression that life's hardships are a series of cosmic tests designed to teach us something. This belief is readily apparent when something traumatic happens and we wail, My Highe...	Dave R	2	513	Feb 7, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 6 I can't--we can (Preview) We had convinced ourselves that we could make it alone and proceeded to live life on that basis. The results were disastrous and, in the end, each of us had to admit that self-sufficiency was a lie. Basic Text, p. 62 = I can't, but we can. This simple but profound truth applies initially to our first n...	Dave R	2	446	Feb 6, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 3 We need each other (Preview) "Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion."Basic Text, p. 9=Addiction closed our minds to anything new or different. We didn't need anyone or anything, we thought. There was nothing of value to be found in anyone from a differe...	Dave R	2	474	Feb 3, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 2 Goodwill (Preview) Goodwill is best exemplified in service; proper service is Doing the right thing for the right reason.Basic Text, p. xv=The spiritual core of our disease is self-centeredness. In dealing with others, the only motive our addiction taught us was selfishnesswe wanted what we wanted when we wanted i...	Dave R	1	296	Feb 2, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT February 1 Hardship (Preview) We felt different.... Only after surrender are we able to overcome the alienation of addiction. Basic Text, p. 22 But you dont understand! we spluttered, trying to cover up. Im different! Ive really got it rough! We used these lines over and over in our active addiction, either trying to escape t...	Dave R	1	378	Feb 1, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 31 Trust (Preview) Just for today I will have faith in someone in NA who believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery. Basic Text, p. 93 Trust is a risky proposition. Our past experience as using addicts has taught us that our companions could not be trusted. Most of all, we couldnt trust ourselves. Now that were i...	Dave R	1	464	Jan 31, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 30 Giving it away (Preview) We must give freely and gratefully that which has been freely and gratefully given to us. Basic Text, p. 49 In recovery, we receive many gifts. Perhaps one of the greatest of these gifts is the spiritual awakening that begins when we stop using, growing stronger each day we apply the steps in our liv...	Dave R	1	301	Jan 30, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 29 The first step: an action step (Preview) Do we understand that we have no real control over drugs? Basic Text, p. 18 = At first, many of us may have thought the First Step required no actionwe just surrender and go on to Step Two. But Step One does require action! The action we take in the First Step will be evident in the way we live, even from...	Dave R	1	1838	Jan 29, 2018 by Dave R
	Sposorship Family Meetings, Good or Bad? (need help) sponsorship sponsorship family family families meetings outings grand sponsor (Preview) I am part of a sponsorship family that goes on a camp out every year. I haven't been yet but hear it is a wonderful time. The guy who host it has 30+ years clean and there is around 300 people that go to this event. They consist of all the men that he sponsors and that they sponsor on down the line. One of the guys...	Bigmaky	15	4401	Jan 27, 2018 by Jontwelve
	JFT January 27 Learning how to live again (Preview) "We learn new ways to live. We are no longer limited to our old ideas."Basic Text, p. 56=We may or may not have been taught right from wrong and other basics of life as children. No matter, by the time we found recovery, most of us had only the vaguest idea of how to live. Our isolation from t...	Dave R	1	421	Jan 27, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 26 Self-centeredness (Preview) "The spiritual part of our disease is our total self-centeredness."Basic Text, p. 20=What is self-centeredness? It is our belief that the world revolves around us. Our wishes, our demands are the only ones worth consideration. Our self-centered minds believe they are capable of...	Dave R	1	523	Jan 26, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 25 An added gift (Preview) "We see it happening among us every day. This miraculous turnabout is evidence of a spiritual awakening."Basic Text, p. 51=We watch them walk in to their first meeting defeated, their spirits broken. Their suffering is obvious, and their desire for help even more apparent. They coll...	Dave R	2	444	Jan 25, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 24 From isolation to connection (Preview) "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, surel...	Dave R	1	1936	Jan 24, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 23 Serenity check (Preview) "Lack of daily maintenance can show up in many ways."Basic Text, p. 95=Ever had a perfect stranger remark about how great the weather was, only to reply "It stinks"? When this happens, we are probably suffering from a lack of daily maintenance in our program.In recovery, life can get pretty hectic....	Dave R	1	1912	Jan 23, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 23 Serenity check (Preview) January 23Serenity check"Lack of daily maintenance can show up in many ways."Basic Text, p. 95=Ever had a perfect stranger remark about how great the weather was, only to reply "It stinks"? When this happens, we are probably suffering from a lack of daily maintenance in our...	Dave R	1	1699	Jan 22, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 22 The school of recovery (Preview) "This is a program for learning."Basic Text, p. 16=Learning in recovery is hard work. The things we most need to know are often the hardest to learn. We study recovery to prepare ourselves for the experiences life will give us. As we listen to others share in meetings, we take mental notes we can ref...	Dave R	1	1695	Jan 21, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 20 One promise, many gifts (Preview) "Narcotics Anonymous offers only one promise, and that is freedom from active addiction..."Basic Text, p. 106=Imagine how it might be if we had arrived at the doors of Narcotics Anonymous, desperate, wanting to stop using drugs, only to be met by a sales pitch: "If you just work the steps and don't u...	Dave R	1	2411	Jan 20, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 19 Making molehills into mountains (Preview) "When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably."Basic Text, p. 99=Some of us seem to make mountains out of molehills with our problems. Even those of us who've found some measure of serenity have probably blown a problem far out of proportion at some time in our r...	Dave R	1	353	Jan 19, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 18 The simple inventory (Preview) "Continuing to take a personal inventory means that we form a habit of looking at ourselves, our actions, our attitudes, and our relationships on a regular basis."Basic Text, p. 42=The daily inventory is a tool we can use to simplify our lives. The most complicated part of taking a regul...	Dave R	1	2474	Jan 18, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 17 Forgiveness (Preview) "As we realize our need to be forgiven, we tend to be more forgiving. At least we know that we are no longer intentionally making life miserable for people."Basic Text, pp. 39-40=In our addiction we often treated others badly, sometimes deliberately finding ways to make their lives mis...	Dave R	1	2311	Jan 17, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 16 Make that call (Preview) "We feared that if we ever revealed ourselves as we were, we would surely be rejected...[But] our fellow members do understand us."Basic Text, p. 32=We need our fellow NA members--their experience, their friendship, their laughter, their guidance, and much, much more. Yet many of us hesitate to...	Dave R	1	1349	Jan 16, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 15 Fear (Preview) "We grow to feel comfortable with our Higher Power as a source of strength. As we learn to trust this Power, we begin to overcome our fear of life."Basic Text, p. 25=Powerless as we are, living on self-will is a frightening, unmanageable experience. In recovery, we have turned our will and our lives...	Dave R	1	1794	Jan 15, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 14 A loving God (Preview) "Our understanding of a Higher Power is up to us...The only suggested guidelines are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves."Basic Text, p. 24=We've been told that we can believe in any kind of Higher Power we want as long as it is loving and, of course, greater than ourselves. ...	Dave R	1	2014	Jan 14, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 13 Surrender to win (Preview) "Help for addicts begins only when we are able to admit complete defeat."Basic Text, p. 22=Complete defeat--what a concept! That must mean surrender. Surrender--to give up absolutely. To quit with no reservations. To put up our hands and quit fighting. Maybe to put up our hand at our first...	Dave R	1	1813	Jan 13, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 12 Spiritual awakenings (Preview) "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps..."Step Twelve="How will I know when I have had a spiritual awakening?" For many of us, a spiritual awakening comes gradually. Perhaps our first spiritual awareness is as simple as a new appreciation for life. Maybe one day we'll sudden...	Dave R	1	310	Jan 12, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 11 Faith (Preview) "As we develop faith in our daily lives, we find that our Higher Power supplies us with the strength and guidance that we need."Basic Text, p. 94=Some of us come into recovery very frightened and insecure. We feel weak and alone. We are uncertain of our direction and don't know where to go for answe...	Dave R	1	347	Jan 11, 2018 by Dave R
	JFT January 10 Gratitude (Preview) "I'm very grateful to have come to believe."IP No. 21, The Loner=Belief in a Higher Power can make all the difference when the going gets tough! When things don't go our way in recovery, our sponsor may direct us to make a gratitude list. When we do, we should include our faith in a Power greater than o...	Dave R	1	2236	Jan 10, 2018 by Dave R
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