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JFT June 20 Meditation for beginners
(Preview)
"For some, prayer is asking for God's help; meditation is listening for God's answer.... Quieting the mind through meditation brings an inner peace that brings us into contact with the God within us."Basic Text, pp. 46-47="Be patient when you;re learning to meditate," many of us were told. "It t...
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JFT June 19 A sense of humor
(Preview)
"We find that when we lose self-obsession, we are able to understand what it means to be happy, joyous, and free."Basic Text, p. 107=The laughter in our meetings often surprises the newcomer. As a group, we appreciate the healing that healthy laughter brings. Even if we are deeply troubled, the jo...
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JFT June 18 Indirect amends
(Preview)
"Indirect amends may be necessary where direct ones would be unsafe or endanger other people."Basic Text, p. 41=When we used, we allowed nothing to stand in the way of that next high. As a result, many of us didn't always know precisely whom we had injured, either financially or emotionally. When i...
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JFT June 17 Walls
(Preview)
"Reaching out is the beginning of the struggle that will set us free. It will break down the walls that imprison us."Basic Text, p. 83=Many of us came to NA emotionally shattered. Years of using people and allowing them to use us had taken their toll on our ability to trust anyone, ourselves included...
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JFT June 16 Accepting life
(Preview)
"Some things we must accept, others we can change. The wisdom to know the difference comes with growth in our spiritual program."Basic Text, p. 95=It's relatively easy to accept the things we like--it's the things we don't like that are hard to accept. But remaking the world and everyone in it to...
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JFT June 15 Resistance to change
(Preview)
"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 the unknown."Basic Text, p. 34=We have often heard it said that "when the pain of remaining the same becomes gr...
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JFT June 14 Maintaining our faith
(Preview)
"If we maintain our spiritual condition daily, we find it easier to deal with the pain and confusion."Basic Text, p. 95=When we first began searching for a Power greater than ourselves, many of us got stuck in old beliefs or ideas. These ranged from the fear of a punishing or vengeful God to no belief a...
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Nurses and addiction
(Preview)
I began as a registered nurse 8 years ago. My career took off and was wonderful for about 6 years. The last 2 years I have had chronic headaches and have been looking for one way or another to take away the pain. I also suffer from severe depression, which further complicates things. I have been using...
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JFT June 13 A full life
(Preview)
"The program works a miracle in our lives....We become free to live."Basic Text, p. 11=Most of us--if we've been in recovery for any length of time at all--have heard some member complaining in a meeting about being terribly overworked, too busy for meetings or sponsorship or other activities. I...
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JFT June 12 A vision of hope
(Preview)
"Yes, we are a vision of hope..."Basic Text, p. 53=By the time we reached the end of our road, many of us had lost all hope for a life without the use of drugs. We believed we were destined to die from our disease. What an inspiration it was, then, coming to our first meeting and seeing a room full of addict...
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JFT June 11 Living clean
(Preview)
"As we recover, we gain a new outlook on being clean...Life can become a new adventure for us."Basic Text, p. 91=The using life is not a clean one--no one knows this better than we do. Some of us lived in physical squalor, caring neither for our surroundings nor ourselves. Worse, though, than any ex...
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JFT June 10 Changing motives
(Preview)
"When we finally get our own selfish motives out of the way, we begin to find a peace that we never imagined possible."Basic Text, p. 45=As we examine our beliefs, our actions, and our motives in recovery, we'll find that sometimes we do things for the wrong reasons. In our early recovery, we may have s...
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Trying to find a sponsor
(Preview)
Hi. I'm an addict and my problem is Whitney. I'm 3 months out of treatment and currently am attending local NA meetings, but there aren't many women that show up to them. The ones that do never hang around long and I can't seem to find a reliable sponsor. I'm trying to do this thing right and I feel confiden...
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JFT June 9 Old dreams needn't die
(Preview)
"Lost dreams awaken and new possibilities arise."Basic Text, p. 91Most of us had dreams when we were young. Whether we dreamed of a dynamic career, a large and loving family, or travels abroad, our dreams died when our addiction took hold. Anything we ever wanted for ourselves was cast away in our p...
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JFT June 8 The only requirement
(Preview)
"This program offers hope. All you have to bring with you is the desire to stop using and the willingness to try this new way of life.IP No. 16, For the Newcomer=From time to time we wonder if were doing it right in Narcotics Anonymous. Are we attending enough meetings? Are we using our sponsor, or wo...
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JFT June 7 Someone who believes in me
(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. 100=Not all of us arrive in NA and automatically stay clean. But if we keep coming back, we find in Narcotics Anonymous the support we need for our recovery. Staying clean is easier w...
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JFT June 6 Recovery doesn't happen overnight
(Preview)
"The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous are a progressive recovery process established in our daily living."Basic Text, p. 99=After some time in recovery, we may find we are faced with what seem like overwhelming personal problems, angry feelings, and despair. When we realize what's going on,...
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NA Sponsor
(Preview)
I am new to this site and looking for a sponsor in the Burbank, CA area. Please contact me with any information. Thank you, Brian J.
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JFT June 5 Honest prayer
(Preview)
"Although honesty is difficult to practice, it is most rewarding."Basic Text, p. 96How difficult we find it to be honest! Many of us come to NA so confused about what really happened in our lives that it sometimes takes months and years to sort it all out. The truth of our history is not always as we hav...
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JFT June 4 Build, don't destroy
(Preview)
"Our negative sense of self has been replaced by a positive concern for others."Basic Text, p. 16Spreading gossip feeds a dark hunger in us. Sometimes we think the only way we can feel good about ourselves is to make someone else look bad by comparison. But the kind of self-esteem that can be purchas...
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JFT June 3 Direct and indirect amends
(Preview)
"We make our amends to the best of our ability."Basic Text, p. 40 The Ninth Step tells us to make direct amends wherever possible. Our experience tells us to follow up those direct amends with long-lasting changes in our attitudes and our behavior--that is, with indirect amends.For example, sa...
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JFT June 2 Sick and tired
(Preview)
"We wanted an easy way out...When we did seek help, we were only looking for the absence of pain."Basic Text, p. 5=Something's not working. In fact, somethings been wrong for a long time, causing us pain and complicating our lives. The problem is that, at any given moment, it always appears easier t...
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JFT June 1 Keep coming back
(Preview)
"We don't have to be clean when we get here but, after the first meeting, we suggest that newcomers keep coming back and come back clean. We don't have to wait for an overdose or a jail sentence to get help from Narcotics Anonymous."Basic Text, pp. 10-11Very few of us arrive in NA brimming with willingn...
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JFT May 31 Keep it simple
(Preview)
"We live a day at a time but also from moment to moment. When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably."Basic Text, p. 99Life often seems too complicated to understand, especially for those of us whove dodged it for so long. When we stopped using drugs, many of us...
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Howdy folks!
(Preview)
It's been a while! How is everyone? I celebrated ten years clean in April. It seems so surreal. This message board has been in my life since the beginnng. I'm so grateful for the experience, strength, and hope you've all given me. I know i haven't been active on here in years, but know I think of many of yo...
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JFT May 30 Loneliness vs. being alone
(Preview)
"Sharing with others keeps us from feeling isolated and alone."Basic Text, p. 85There is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Being lonely is a state of the heart, an emptiness that makes us feel sad and sometimes hopeless. Loneliness is not always alleviated when we enter into rela...
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JFT May 29 Carry me
(Preview)
"We believe that our Higher Power will take care of us."Basic Text, p. 58We all have times when it seems as though our lives are falling apart. There are days, or even weeks, when it seems that everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Whether it's the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or the...
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JFT May 28 As we understood
(Preview)
We examined our lives and discovered who we really are. To be truly humble is to accept and honestly try to be ourselves.Basic Text, p. 36 As using addicts, the demands of our disease determined our personality. We could be whoever or whatever we needed to be in order to get our fix. We were survival...
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JFT May 27 Meeting the day's challenge
(Preview)
"...the decision to ask for God's help is our greatest source of strength and courage."Basic Text, p. 26 A challenge is anything that dares us to succeed. Things new and unfamiliar serve as challenges, whether those things appear good or bad to us. We are challenged by obstacles and opposition fr...
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JFT May 26 Power in the group
(Preview)
"Our understanding of a Higher Power is up to us...We can call it the group, the program, or we can call it God."Basic Text, p. 24Many of us have a hard time with the idea of a Higher Power until we fully accept the depth of our own powerlessness over addiction. Once we do, most of us are at least willing to c...
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