Narcotics Anonymous Message Board

Dave R · Dave R

"We don't have to settle for the limitations of the past. We can examine and reexamine our old ideas." Basic Text, p. 11 = Most of us come to the program with a multitude of self-imposed limitations that prevent us from realizing our full potential, limitations that impede our attempts...

Dave R · Dave R

"By giving unconditional love...we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual." Basic Text, p.103=Most of us have one or two exceptionally difficult people in our lives. How do we deal with such a person in our recovery?First, we take our own inventory. Have we w...

Dave R · Dave R

"Through active listening, we hear things that work for us." Basic Text, pp. 106-107=Most of us arrived in Narcotics Anonymous with a very poor ability to listen. But to take full advantage of the therapeutic value of one addict helping another, we must learn to listen actively.What is active list...

Dave R · Dave R

Most of us pray when we are hurting. We learn that if we pray regularly, we wont be hurting as often or as intensely. Basic Text, p. 44 = Regular prayer and meditation are two more key elements in our new pattern of living. Our active addiction was more than just a bad habit waiting to be broken by force...

Dave R · Dave R

August 9 The Power of love "We begin to see that God's love has been present all the time, just waiting for us to accept it." Basic Text, p. 46 = God's love is the transforming power that drives our recovery. With that love, we find freedom from the hopeless, desperate cycle of using, self-ha...

Dave R · Dave R

August 8 Responsible recovery...we accept responsibility for our problems and see that were equally responsible for our solutions. Basic Text, p. 94 = Some of us, well accustomed to leaving our personal responsibilities to others, may attempt the same behavior in recovery. We quickly find out i...

Dave R · Dave R

August 7 The gratitude listWe focus on anything that isnt going our way and ignore all the beauty in our lives. Basic Text, p. 77 = Its easy to be grateful when everything runs smoothly. If we get a raise at work, were grateful. If we get married, were grateful. If someone surprises us with a nice prese...

Dave R · Dave R

"Since the beginning of our recovery, we have found that joy doesn't come from material things but from within ourselves."Basic Text, p. 107=Some of us came to Narcotics Anonymous impoverished by our disease. Everything we'd owned had been lost to our addiction. Once we got clean, we put all our e...

Dave R · Dave R

"We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all." Step Eight=All human beings struggle with self-centeredness. The chronic self-centeredness that lies at the very core of addiction makes that struggle doubly difficult for people like us. Many of us have l...

Dean · Dean

Another trip around the sun, very blessed and grateful to be here and be clean. Thanks for keeping the light on for me.

Dave R · Dave R

By shaping our thoughts with spiritual ideals, we are freed to become who we want to be.Basic Text, p. 105=Addiction shaped our thoughts in its own way. Whatever their shape may once have been, they became misshapen once our disease took full sway over our lives. Our obsession with drugs and self...

Dave R · Dave R

"Addicts tend to live secret lives...It is a great relief to get rid of all our secrets and to share the burden of our past."Basic Text, p. 33 = We've heard it said that "were as sick as our secrets." What do we keep secret, and why? We keep secret those things that cause us shame. We may hold onto s...

Dave R · Dave R

"When we feel trapped or pressured, it takes great spiritual and emotional strength to be honest." Basic Text, p. 81 = Many of us try to wiggle out of a difficult spot by being dishonest, only to have to humble ourselves later and tell the truth. Some of us twist our stories as a matter of co...

Dave R · Dave R

"Our addiction enslaved us. We were prisoners of our own mind and were condemned by our own guilt."Basic Text, p. 7=Guilt is one of the most commonly encountered stumbling blocks in recovery. One of the more notorious forms of guilt is the self-loathing that results when we try to forgive ourselve...

Dave R · Dave R

"Narcotics Anonymous offers only one promise and that is freedom from active addiction, the solution that eluded us for so long." Basic Text, p. 106 = NA offers no promises other than freedom from active addiction. It is true that some of our members meet with financial success in recovery....

Dave R · Dave R

"Continuing to take a personal inventory means that we form a habit of looking at ourselves, our actions, attitudes, and relationships on a regular basis."Basic Text, p. 42=Taking a regular inventory is a key element in our new pattern of living. In our addiction, we examined ourselves as littl...

Dave R · Dave R

"As we realize our need to be forgiven, we tend to be more forgiving."Basic Text, p. 39=Our behavior toward other people in our life is a mirror of our behavior toward ourselves. When we demand perfection of ourselves, we come to demand it from others around us, too. As we strive to repair and heal our...

Dave R · Dave R

"We feared that if we ever revealed ourselves as we were, we would surely be rejected."Basic Text, p. 32=Having relationships without barriers, ones in which we can be entirely open with our feelings, is something many of us desire. At the same time, the possibility of such intimacy causes us more f...

Dave R · Dave R

"After coming to NA, we found ourselves among a very special group of people who have suffered like us and found recovery. In their experiences, freely shared, we found hope for ourselves. If the program worked for them, it would work for us." Basic Text, p. 10 = A newcomer walks into his or he...

Dave R · Dave R

"Help for addicts begins only when we are able to admit complete defeat. This can be frightening, but it is the foundation on which we have built our lives."Basic Text, p. 22=Most of us have tried everything we can think of, exerted every ounce of force possible, to fill the spiritual hole inside us. ...

Dave R · Dave R

"Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."Step Twelve=There is no such thing as a failed Twelfth Step call. Even if our prospect doesn't get clean, we have accomplished two purposes. ...

Dave R · Dave R

"...we covered low self-esteem by hiding behind phony images that we hoped would fool people. The masks have to go."Basic Text, p. 33=Over-sensitivity, insecurity, and lack of identity are often associated with active addiction. Many of us carry these with us into recovery; our fears of inadequ...

Dave R · Dave R

"We want and demand that things always go our way. We should know from our past experience that our way of doing things did not work."Basic Text, p. 93=All of us have ideas, plans, goals for our lives. There's nothing in the NA program that says we shouldn't think for ourselves, take initiative, and p...

Dave R · Dave R

"For us, to use is to die, often in more ways than one."Basic Text, p. 82=As newcomers, many of us came to our first meeting with only a small spark of life remaining. That spark, our spirit, wants to survive. Narcotics Anonymous nurtures that spirit. The love of the fellowship quickly fans that sp...

Dave R · Dave R

"If, after a period of time, we find ourselves in trouble with our recovery, we have probably stopped doing one or more of the things that helped us in the earlier stages of our recovery."Basic Text, p. 95=Surrender is just for newcomers, right? Wrong!After we've been around awhile, some of us succu...

Dave R · Dave R

We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable. Step One = The First Step begins with we, and theres a reason for that. There is great strength in making a verbal admission of our powerlessness. And when we go to meetings and make this admission, we ga...

Dave R · Dave R

"Our disease always resurfaced or continued to progress until, in desperation, we sought help from each other in Narcotics Anonymous." Basic Text, p. 13=When we think of being desperate, we envision an undesirable state: a poor, bedraggled soul frantically clawing at something sorely needed, a...

Dave R · Dave R

"Dreams that we gave up long ago can now become realities." Basic Text, p. 71 = All things begin with a dream. But how many of us fulfilled our dreams while using? Even if we managed to complete something we had started, our addiction usually robbed us of any pride in our accomplishment....

Dave R · Dave R

"Do we fully accept the fact that our every attempt to stop using or to control our using failed?"Basic Text, p. 19=The room is dark. Your forehead is bathed in cold sweat. Your heart is racing. You open your eyes, sure that you've just blown your clean time. You've had a using dream, and it was just l...

Dave R · Dave R

"Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority." Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, "You're worthless!" Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-es...

Topic		Started By	Replies	Views	Last Post
	JFT August 14 Letting go of our limitations (Preview) "We don't have to settle for the limitations of the past. We can examine and reexamine our old ideas." Basic Text, p. 11 = Most of us come to the program with a multitude of self-imposed limitations that prevent us from realizing our full potential, limitations that impede our attempts...	Dave R	2	2991	Aug 14, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 13 Difficult people (Preview) "By giving unconditional love...we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual." Basic Text, p.103=Most of us have one or two exceptionally difficult people in our lives. How do we deal with such a person in our recovery?First, we take our own inventory. Have we w...	Dave R	1	2907	Aug 13, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 11 Active listening (Preview) "Through active listening, we hear things that work for us." Basic Text, pp. 106-107=Most of us arrived in Narcotics Anonymous with a very poor ability to listen. But to take full advantage of the therapeutic value of one addict helping another, we must learn to listen actively.What is active list...	Dave R	2	2706	Aug 11, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 10 Regular prayer and meditation (Preview) Most of us pray when we are hurting. We learn that if we pray regularly, we wont be hurting as often or as intensely. Basic Text, p. 44 = Regular prayer and meditation are two more key elements in our new pattern of living. Our active addiction was more than just a bad habit waiting to be broken by force...	Dave R	2	3513	Aug 10, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 9 The power of love (Preview) August 9 The Power of love "We begin to see that God's love has been present all the time, just waiting for us to accept it." Basic Text, p. 46 = God's love is the transforming power that drives our recovery. With that love, we find freedom from the hopeless, desperate cycle of using, self-ha...	Dave R	2	3488	Aug 9, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 8 Responsible recovery (Preview) August 8 Responsible recovery...we accept responsibility for our problems and see that were equally responsible for our solutions. Basic Text, p. 94 = Some of us, well accustomed to leaving our personal responsibilities to others, may attempt the same behavior in recovery. We quickly find out i...	Dave R	3	2818	Aug 8, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 7 The gratitude list (Preview) August 7 The gratitude listWe focus on anything that isnt going our way and ignore all the beauty in our lives. Basic Text, p. 77 = Its easy to be grateful when everything runs smoothly. If we get a raise at work, were grateful. If we get married, were grateful. If someone surprises us with a nice prese...	Dave R	3	3704	Aug 7, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 6 The joy within (Preview) "Since the beginning of our recovery, we have found that joy doesn't come from material things but from within ourselves."Basic Text, p. 107=Some of us came to Narcotics Anonymous impoverished by our disease. Everything we'd owned had been lost to our addiction. Once we got clean, we put all our e...	Dave R	1	703	Aug 6, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 15 Relations with others (Preview) "We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all." Step Eight=All human beings struggle with self-centeredness. The chronic self-centeredness that lies at the very core of addiction makes that struggle doubly difficult for people like us. Many of us have l...	Dave R	2	3683	Aug 5, 2017 by Gsis
	Clean B-day (Preview) Another trip around the sun, very blessed and grateful to be here and be clean. Thanks for keeping the light on for me.	Dean	3	479	Aug 5, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 5 The shape of our thoughts (Preview) By shaping our thoughts with spiritual ideals, we are freed to become who we want to be.Basic Text, p. 105=Addiction shaped our thoughts in its own way. Whatever their shape may once have been, they became misshapen once our disease took full sway over our lives. Our obsession with drugs and self...	Dave R	1	4265	Aug 5, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 4 When is a secret not a secret? (Preview) "Addicts tend to live secret lives...It is a great relief to get rid of all our secrets and to share the burden of our past."Basic Text, p. 33 = We've heard it said that "were as sick as our secrets." What do we keep secret, and why? We keep secret those things that cause us shame. We may hold onto s...	Dave R	1	2745	Aug 4, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 2 Practicing honesty (Preview) "When we feel trapped or pressured, it takes great spiritual and emotional strength to be honest." Basic Text, p. 81 = Many of us try to wiggle out of a difficult spot by being dishonest, only to have to humble ourselves later and tell the truth. Some of us twist our stories as a matter of co...	Dave R	2	3689	Aug 2, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT August 1 Freedom from guilt (Preview) "Our addiction enslaved us. We were prisoners of our own mind and were condemned by our own guilt."Basic Text, p. 7=Guilt is one of the most commonly encountered stumbling blocks in recovery. One of the more notorious forms of guilt is the self-loathing that results when we try to forgive ourselve...	Dave R	1	2571	Aug 1, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 31 Freedom from active addiction (Preview) "Narcotics Anonymous offers only one promise and that is freedom from active addiction, the solution that eluded us for so long." Basic Text, p. 106 = NA offers no promises other than freedom from active addiction. It is true that some of our members meet with financial success in recovery....	Dave R	1	3261	Jul 31, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 30 Regular inventory (Preview) "Continuing to take a personal inventory means that we form a habit of looking at ourselves, our actions, attitudes, and relationships on a regular basis."Basic Text, p. 42=Taking a regular inventory is a key element in our new pattern of living. In our addiction, we examined ourselves as littl...	Dave R	1	760	Jul 30, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 29 Expectations (Preview) "As we realize our need to be forgiven, we tend to be more forgiving."Basic Text, p. 39=Our behavior toward other people in our life is a mirror of our behavior toward ourselves. When we demand perfection of ourselves, we come to demand it from others around us, too. As we strive to repair and heal our...	Dave R	1	560	Jul 29, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 28 Secrets and Intimacy (Preview) "We feared that if we ever revealed ourselves as we were, we would surely be rejected."Basic Text, p. 32=Having relationships without barriers, ones in which we can be entirely open with our feelings, is something many of us desire. At the same time, the possibility of such intimacy causes us more f...	Dave R	1	603	Jul 28, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 27 We do recover (Preview) "After coming to NA, we found ourselves among a very special group of people who have suffered like us and found recovery. In their experiences, freely shared, we found hope for ourselves. If the program worked for them, it would work for us." Basic Text, p. 10 = A newcomer walks into his or he...	Dave R	1	639	Jul 27, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 26 Unconditional surrender (Preview) "Help for addicts begins only when we are able to admit complete defeat. This can be frightening, but it is the foundation on which we have built our lives."Basic Text, p. 22=Most of us have tried everything we can think of, exerted every ounce of force possible, to fill the spiritual hole inside us. ...	Dave R	1	613	Jul 26, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 25 Twelve step failure? (Preview) "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."Step Twelve=There is no such thing as a failed Twelfth Step call. Even if our prospect doesn't get clean, we have accomplished two purposes. ...	Dave R	1	727	Jul 25, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 24 The masks have to go (Preview) "...we covered low self-esteem by hiding behind phony images that we hoped would fool people. The masks have to go."Basic Text, p. 33=Over-sensitivity, insecurity, and lack of identity are often associated with active addiction. Many of us carry these with us into recovery; our fears of inadequ...	Dave R	1	686	Jul 24, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 23 Surrendering self-will (Preview) "We want and demand that things always go our way. We should know from our past experience that our way of doing things did not work."Basic Text, p. 93=All of us have ideas, plans, goals for our lives. There's nothing in the NA program that says we shouldn't think for ourselves, take initiative, and p...	Dave R	2	708	Jul 23, 2017 by Davethewave
	JFT July 22 Spiritual death (Preview) "For us, to use is to die, often in more ways than one."Basic Text, p. 82=As newcomers, many of us came to our first meeting with only a small spark of life remaining. That spark, our spirit, wants to survive. Narcotics Anonymous nurtures that spirit. The love of the fellowship quickly fans that sp...	Dave R	1	711	Jul 22, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 21 Surrender is for everyone (Preview) "If, after a period of time, we find ourselves in trouble with our recovery, we have probably stopped doing one or more of the things that helped us in the earlier stages of our recovery."Basic Text, p. 95=Surrender is just for newcomers, right? Wrong!After we've been around awhile, some of us succu...	Dave R	1	720	Jul 21, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 20 Step One (Preview) We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable. Step One = The First Step begins with we, and theres a reason for that. There is great strength in making a verbal admission of our powerlessness. And when we go to meetings and make this admission, we ga...	Dave R	5	531	Jul 20, 2017 by MIKEF
	JFT July 18 The gift of desperation (Preview) "Our disease always resurfaced or continued to progress until, in desperation, we sought help from each other in Narcotics Anonymous." Basic Text, p. 13=When we think of being desperate, we envision an undesirable state: a poor, bedraggled soul frantically clawing at something sorely needed, a...	Dave R	2	747	Jul 19, 2017 by Davethewave
	JFT July 19 Fulfilling our dreams (Preview) "Dreams that we gave up long ago can now become realities." Basic Text, p. 71 = All things begin with a dream. But how many of us fulfilled our dreams while using? Even if we managed to complete something we had started, our addiction usually robbed us of any pride in our accomplishment....	Dave R	2	701	Jul 19, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 17 Using our using dreams (Preview) "Do we fully accept the fact that our every attempt to stop using or to control our using failed?"Basic Text, p. 19=The room is dark. Your forehead is bathed in cold sweat. Your heart is racing. You open your eyes, sure that you've just blown your clean time. You've had a using dream, and it was just l...	Dave R	1	749	Jul 17, 2017 by Dave R
	JFT July 16 Self-esteem (Preview) "Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority." Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, "You're worthless!" Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-es...	Dave R	2	637	Jul 16, 2017 by Dave R
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