Narcotics Anonymous Message Board

Dave R · Dave R

"If [character defects] contributed to our health and happiness, we would not have come to such a state of desperation."Basic Text, p. 34=Getting started on the Sixth and Seventh Steps isn't always easy. We may feel as though we have so much wrong with us that we are totally defective....

Dave R · Dave R

"We weren't oriented toward fulfillment; we focused on the emptiness and worthlessness of it all."Basic Text, p. 86=There were probably hundreds of times in our active addiction when we wished we could become someone else. We may have wished we could trade places with someone who owne...

Dave R · Dave R

"...the addict would find from the start as much identification as each needed to convince himself that he could stay clean, by the example of others who had recovered for many years."Basic Text, p. 85=Many of us attended our first meeting and, not being entirely sure that NA was for us...

Dave R · Dave R

"The Tenth Step can help us correct our living problems and prevent their recurrence."Basic Text, p. 41=Our identities, how we think and feel, have been shaped by our experiences. Some of our experiences have made us better people; others have caused us shame or embarrassment; all of t...

Dave R · Dave R

"We never have to use again, no matter how we feel. All feelings will eventually pass."Basic Text, p. 82=It hurts like never before. You get out of bed after a sleepless night, talk to God, and still dont feel any better. "It will pass," a little voice tells you. "When?...

Dave R · Dave R

"We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."Basic Text, p. 37=Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people--especially people who were not using--at all costs. After years of isolation, try...

Dave R · Dave R

"Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live."Basic Text, p. 26=How do we begin the process of letting our Higher Power guide our lives? When we seek advice about situations that trouble us, we often find that our Higher Power works through others. When we accept that we don...

Dave R · Dave R

"When we were using, our lives became an exercise in survival. Now we are doing much more living than surviving."Basic Text, p. 52="I'd be better off dead!" A familiar refrain to a practicing addict, and with good reason. All we had to look forward to was more of the same miserable existence. Our ho...

Dave R · Dave R

"We are not going to be perfect. If we were perfect, we would not be human."Basic Text, p. 31=All of us had expectations about life in recovery. Some of us thought recovery would suddenly make us employable or able to do anything in the world we wanted to do. Or maybe we imagined perfect ease in our int...

Dave R · Dave R

When we honestly tell our own story, someone else may identify with us. Basic Text, p. 98 = Many of us have heard truly captivating speakers at Narcotics Anonymous conventions. We remember the audience alternating between tears of identification and joyous hilarity. Someday, we may think, I'...

Dave R · Dave R

We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us." Basic Text, p. 26 Surrender and acceptance are like infatuation and love. Infatuation begins when we encounter someone special. Infatuation requires nothing but the acknowledgment of the object of our infatuati...

Dave R · Dave R

"No matter how far we ran, we always carried fear with us."Basic Text, p. 14=For many of us, fear was a constant factor in our lives before we came to Narcotics Anonymous. We used because we were afraid to feel emotional or physical pain. Our fear of people and situations gave us a convenient excuse t...

poi · poi

Hello everyone, I am a male GSR for a group that has an old-timer (20+ years clean) who has been making women uncomfortable and our meeting has been slowly turning into all men. I was suspicious of what was going on...and then had my suspicions confirmed by a few female members and also an outside group...

Dave R · Dave R

It is our actions that are important. We leave the results to our Higher Power. Basic Text, p. 91 = There's an old saying we sometimes hear in our meetings: If you want to make God laugh, make plans. When we hear this we usually laugh, too, but there's a nervous edge to our laughter. We wonder if all...

Dave R · Dave R

"Do I believe it would be insane to walk up to someone and say, "May I please have a heart attack or a fatal accident?'"Basic Text, p. 24=We've heard it said that unless were in love, we can't remember what love feels like. The same could be said of insanity: Once we're freed of it, we may forget how trul...

Dave R · Dave R

"I sincerely believed that a Higher Power could restore my sanity and that I would stop trying to figure out what God's will was, just accept things for what they were, and be grateful."=The longer we stay clean, the less surely we know what our Higher Powers will for us is--and the less it matters. Kno...

Dave R · Dave R

"Humility is a result of getting honest with ourselves."Basic Text, p. 36=Humility was an idea so foreign to most of us that we ignored it as long as we could. When we first saw the word "humbly" ahead in Step Seven, we may have figured it meant we had quite a bit of humiliation in store. Perhaps we chose...

Dave R · Dave R

"Our Higher Power is accessible to us at all times. We receive guidance when we ask for knowledge of God's will for us."Basic Text, p. 95=It's not always easy to make the right decision. This is especially true for addicts learning to live by spiritual principles for the first time. In addiction, w...

Dave R · Dave R

"...we give love because it was given so freely to us. New frontiers are open to us as we learn how to love. Love can be the flow of life energy from one person to another."Basic Text, p. 105=Love given, and love received, is the essence of life itself. It is the universal common denominator, connecti...

Dave R · Dave R

"We eventually have to stand on our own feet and face life on its own terms, so why not from the start?"Basic Text, p. 88=Some of us feel that we should protect newcomers by telling them that, while everything used to be horrible, now that we're in recovery it's all wonderful. We feel that we might scare...

Dave R · Dave R

"It makes a difference to have friends who care if we hurt."Basic Text, p. 56=For most of our problems, the solution is simple. We call our sponsor, pray, work the steps, or go to a meeting. But what about those situations where the burden is ongoing and there's no end in sight?Most of us know what it'...

Dave R · Dave R

"God helps us as we help each other."Basic Text, p. 52=Our addiction caused us to think almost exclusively of ourselves. Even our prayers--if we prayed at all--were self-centered. We asked God to fix things for us or get us out of trouble. Why? Because we didn't want to live with the problems wed c...

Dave R · Dave R

"Ongoing recovery is dependent on our relationship with a loving God who cares for us and will do for us what we find impossible to do for ourselves."Basic Text, p. 99=Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous gives us a fresh start in life and some guidance for living in the world. But the step...

Dave R · Dave R

"Our newly found faith serves as a firm foundation for courage in the future."Basic Text, p. 96=Narcotics Anonymous is no place for the faint of heart! Facing life on life's terms without the use of drugs isn't always easy. Recovery requires more than hard work; it requires a liberal dose of cour...

Dave R · Dave R

"Living just for today relieves the burden of the past and the fear of the future."Basic Text, pp. 94=Thoughts of how bad it was--or could be--can consume our hopes for recovery. Fantasies of how wonderful it was--or could be--can divert us from taking action in the real world. That's why, in Nar...

Dave R · Dave R

"We can also use the steps to improve our attitudes."Basic Text, p. 55=Ever have a day when everything seems to be working against you? Do you go through periods when you are so busy taking people's inventories you can barely stand yourself? What about when you find yourself snapping at your cowo...

BigV · BigV

Wandering the globe>? no Lost in a maze? almost Comatose? nearly well im still alive thats all i know good to see a few of you still hanging around. Im doing the Hep C harvoni right now its gotten rough and I had the Ablation done on my heart about 3 months ago so its been a roller coaster. I'll be back lat...

Dave R · Dave R

"We want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today."Basic Text, p. 29=For many of us, the past is like a bad dream. Our lives aren't the same any more, but we still have fleeting, highly charged emotional memories of a really uncomfortable past. The...

Dave R · Dave R

"The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery."IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance=Our addiction has been a source of shame to many of us. We have hidden ourselves from others, sure that if anyone got to know who we really were they would reject u...

Dave R · Dave R

"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."Tradition Twelve="Principles before personalities." Many of us chant these words along with the reader whenever the Twelve Traditions are read. The fact that these wo...

Topic		Started By	Replies	Views	Last Post
	JFT November 21 Letting our defects go (Preview) "If [character defects] contributed to our health and happiness, we would not have come to such a state of desperation."Basic Text, p. 34=Getting started on the Sixth and Seventh Steps isn't always easy. We may feel as though we have so much wrong with us that we are totally defective....	Dave R	2	938	Nov 21, 2017 by Davethewave
	JFT November 20 Finding fulfillment (Preview) "We weren't oriented toward fulfillment; we focused on the emptiness and worthlessness of it all."Basic Text, p. 86=There were probably hundreds of times in our active addiction when we wished we could become someone else. We may have wished we could trade places with someone who owne...	Dave R	1	796	Nov 20, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 19 The language of empathy (Preview) "...the addict would find from the start as much identification as each needed to convince himself that he could stay clean, by the example of others who had recovered for many years."Basic Text, p. 85=Many of us attended our first meeting and, not being entirely sure that NA was for us...	Dave R	1	854	Nov 19, 2017 by Dave R
	JFt November 18 Self-discovery (Preview) "The Tenth Step can help us correct our living problems and prevent their recurrence."Basic Text, p. 41=Our identities, how we think and feel, have been shaped by our experiences. Some of our experiences have made us better people; others have caused us shame or embarrassment; all of t...	Dave R	1	825	Nov 18, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 17 Walking through the pain (Preview) "We never have to use again, no matter how we feel. All feelings will eventually pass."Basic Text, p. 82=It hurts like never before. You get out of bed after a sleepless night, talk to God, and still dont feel any better. "It will pass," a little voice tells you. "When?...	Dave R	1	2650	Nov 17, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 16 Alone no more (Preview) "We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."Basic Text, p. 37=Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people--especially people who were not using--at all costs. After years of isolation, try...	Dave R	1	627	Nov 16, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 15 Letting go (Preview) "Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live."Basic Text, p. 26=How do we begin the process of letting our Higher Power guide our lives? When we seek advice about situations that trouble us, we often find that our Higher Power works through others. When we accept that we don...	Dave R	1	619	Nov 15, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 14 Not just surviving (Preview) "When we were using, our lives became an exercise in survival. Now we are doing much more living than surviving."Basic Text, p. 52="I'd be better off dead!" A familiar refrain to a practicing addict, and with good reason. All we had to look forward to was more of the same miserable existence. Our ho...	Dave R	1	732	Nov 14, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 13 Not perfect (Preview) "We are not going to be perfect. If we were perfect, we would not be human."Basic Text, p. 31=All of us had expectations about life in recovery. Some of us thought recovery would suddenly make us employable or able to do anything in the world we wanted to do. Or maybe we imagined perfect ease in our int...	Dave R	1	601	Nov 13, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 12 Our own story (Preview) When we honestly tell our own story, someone else may identify with us. Basic Text, p. 98 = Many of us have heard truly captivating speakers at Narcotics Anonymous conventions. We remember the audience alternating between tears of identification and joyous hilarity. Someday, we may think, I'...	Dave R	2	782	Nov 12, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 11 From surrender to acceptance (Preview) We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us." Basic Text, p. 26 Surrender and acceptance are like infatuation and love. Infatuation begins when we encounter someone special. Infatuation requires nothing but the acknowledgment of the object of our infatuati...	Dave R	2	598	Nov 11, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 10 Fear or faith? (Preview) "No matter how far we ran, we always carried fear with us."Basic Text, p. 14=For many of us, fear was a constant factor in our lives before we came to Narcotics Anonymous. We used because we were afraid to feel emotional or physical pain. Our fear of people and situations gave us a convenient excuse t...	Dave R	1	612	Nov 10, 2017 by Dave R
	How to address a 13th Stepper..?? 13th stepping (Preview) Hello everyone, I am a male GSR for a group that has an old-timer (20+ years clean) who has been making women uncomfortable and our meeting has been slowly turning into all men. I was suspicious of what was going on...and then had my suspicions confirmed by a few female members and also an outside group...	poi	2	644	Nov 9, 2017 by Mike M
	JFT November 9 The best-laid plans (Preview) It is our actions that are important. We leave the results to our Higher Power. Basic Text, p. 91 = There's an old saying we sometimes hear in our meetings: If you want to make God laugh, make plans. When we hear this we usually laugh, too, but there's a nervous edge to our laughter. We wonder if all...	Dave R	2	626	Nov 9, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 8 Freed from insanity (Preview) "Do I believe it would be insane to walk up to someone and say, "May I please have a heart attack or a fatal accident?'"Basic Text, p. 24=We've heard it said that unless were in love, we can't remember what love feels like. The same could be said of insanity: Once we're freed of it, we may forget how trul...	Dave R	1	631	Nov 8, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 7 Feeling God's will (Preview) "I sincerely believed that a Higher Power could restore my sanity and that I would stop trying to figure out what God's will was, just accept things for what they were, and be grateful."=The longer we stay clean, the less surely we know what our Higher Powers will for us is--and the less it matters. Kno...	Dave R	1	637	Nov 7, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 6 Understanding humility (Preview) "Humility is a result of getting honest with ourselves."Basic Text, p. 36=Humility was an idea so foreign to most of us that we ignored it as long as we could. When we first saw the word "humbly" ahead in Step Seven, we may have figured it meant we had quite a bit of humiliation in store. Perhaps we chose...	Dave R	1	685	Nov 6, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 5 God's guidance (Preview) "Our Higher Power is accessible to us at all times. We receive guidance when we ask for knowledge of God's will for us."Basic Text, p. 95=It's not always easy to make the right decision. This is especially true for addicts learning to live by spiritual principles for the first time. In addiction, w...	Dave R	1	550	Nov 5, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 4 Exchaning love (Preview) "...we give love because it was given so freely to us. New frontiers are open to us as we learn how to love. Love can be the flow of life energy from one person to another."Basic Text, p. 105=Love given, and love received, is the essence of life itself. It is the universal common denominator, connecti...	Dave R	1	613	Nov 4, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 3 No matter what (Preview) "We eventually have to stand on our own feet and face life on its own terms, so why not from the start?"Basic Text, p. 88=Some of us feel that we should protect newcomers by telling them that, while everything used to be horrible, now that we're in recovery it's all wonderful. We feel that we might scare...	Dave R	1	605	Nov 3, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 2 Living with unresolved problems (Preview) "It makes a difference to have friends who care if we hurt."Basic Text, p. 56=For most of our problems, the solution is simple. We call our sponsor, pray, work the steps, or go to a meeting. But what about those situations where the burden is ongoing and there's no end in sight?Most of us know what it'...	Dave R	1	612	Nov 2, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT November 1 Awakening (Preview) "God helps us as we help each other."Basic Text, p. 52=Our addiction caused us to think almost exclusively of ourselves. Even our prayers--if we prayed at all--were self-centered. We asked God to fix things for us or get us out of trouble. Why? Because we didn't want to live with the problems wed c...	Dave R	1	580	Nov 1, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT October 31 Our relationship with our higher power (Preview) "Ongoing recovery is dependent on our relationship with a loving God who cares for us and will do for us what we find impossible to do for ourselves."Basic Text, p. 99=Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous gives us a fresh start in life and some guidance for living in the world. But the step...	Dave R	1	564	Oct 31, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT October 30 Courage (Preview) "Our newly found faith serves as a firm foundation for courage in the future."Basic Text, p. 96=Narcotics Anonymous is no place for the faint of heart! Facing life on life's terms without the use of drugs isn't always easy. Recovery requires more than hard work; it requires a liberal dose of cour...	Dave R	1	640	Oct 30, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT October 29 Living in the now (Preview) "Living just for today relieves the burden of the past and the fear of the future."Basic Text, pp. 94=Thoughts of how bad it was--or could be--can consume our hopes for recovery. Fantasies of how wonderful it was--or could be--can divert us from taking action in the real world. That's why, in Nar...	Dave R	1	533	Oct 29, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT October 28 Attitudes (Preview) "We can also use the steps to improve our attitudes."Basic Text, p. 55=Ever have a day when everything seems to be working against you? Do you go through periods when you are so busy taking people's inventories you can barely stand yourself? What about when you find yourself snapping at your cowo...	Dave R	1	541	Oct 28, 2017 by Dave R
	HEY where have i been lol (Preview) Wandering the globe>? no Lost in a maze? almost Comatose? nearly well im still alive thats all i know good to see a few of you still hanging around. Im doing the Hep C harvoni right now its gotten rough and I had the Ablation done on my heart about 3 months ago so its been a roller coaster. I'll be back lat...	BigV	2	503	Oct 27, 2017 by MIKEF
	JFT October 27 Living in the present (Preview) "We want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today."Basic Text, p. 29=For many of us, the past is like a bad dream. Our lives aren't the same any more, but we still have fleeting, highly charged emotional memories of a really uncomfortable past. The...	Dave R	1	566	Oct 27, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT October 26 The path to self-acceptance (Preview) "The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery."IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance=Our addiction has been a source of shame to many of us. We have hidden ourselves from others, sure that if anyone got to know who we really were they would reject u...	Dave R	1	633	Oct 26, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT October 25 Principles before personalities (Preview) "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."Tradition Twelve="Principles before personalities." Many of us chant these words along with the reader whenever the Twelve Traditions are read. The fact that these wo...	Dave R	1	578	Oct 25, 2017 by Dave R
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