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New to board- want to share my story
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I am an addict. I have a history of self medicating because I cannot deal with my own negative feelings. My most recent drug of choice was pain killers. I lost my job because of this and have been arrested. I am an Iraq war veteran and may loose my 19 years of military service. I have 3 boys and I do not know if t...
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sam t
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7
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385
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A Lesson Learned
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Throughout my recovery I have always kept myself separated from my 'old life' as it were and have only felt the lure of my internal demons challenging my sobriety. Through happenstance I bumped into an old friend this spring that I hadn't seen in 25 years. Our addictions were identical in the old days...
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kitty doyle
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4
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235
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Our message board serves many purposes.
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One of the ones I see come up often is as an outlet for confused newcomers. All of us have questions from time to time, or need to vent if something is really bugging us, but one thing I see come up regularly is a brand new person to the forum posts a long and troubled message, often looking for advice or help i...
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avid
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10
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235
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JFT August 28 The light of exposure
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These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure. Basic Text, p.32 = The Fifth Step asks us to share our true nature with God, with ourselves, and with another human being. It doesnt encourage us to tell everyone every little secret about ourselves. It doesnt ask us to disclose to the...
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Dave R
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1
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304
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JFT August 27 Choosing life
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Change from self-destructive patterns of life became necessary. Basic Text, p. 15 = Active addiction is a smoldering death-wish. Each of us courted death every time we used. Our lifestyles, too, put us at risk. The life of an addict is sold cheaply with every day and every dose. In recovery, the...
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Dave R
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1
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177
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JFT August 26 Tenth step inventory
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We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Step Ten = A daily Tenth Step keeps us on a sound spiritual footing. While each member asks different questions, some questions have been found to be helpful to almost everyone. Two key Tenth Step questions are,...
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Dave R
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1
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220
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JFT August 19 First things first
(Preview)
We apply effort to our most obvious problems and let go of the rest. We do the job at hand and, as we progress, new opportunities for improvement present themselves. Basic Text, p.56 = Its been said that recovery is simpleall weve got to change is everything! That can seem a pretty tall order, espec...
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Dave R
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3
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276
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JFT August 25 The Ninth Step--reclaiming life
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We are achieving freedom from the wreckage of our past. Basic Text, p. 42 = When we start the Ninth Step, weve reached an exciting stage in our recovery. The damage done in our lives is what led many of us to seek help in the first place. Now, we have a chance to clean up that wreckage, amend our past, and...
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Dave R
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2
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305
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JFT August 24 Seeking God's will
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We learn to be careful of praying for specific things. Basic Text, p. 46 = In our active addiction, we usually did not pray for knowledge of Gods will for us and the power to carry it out. On the contrary, most of our prayers were for God to get us out of the mess we had made for ourselves. We expected mira...
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Dave R
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2
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140
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The right place?
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I hope I have found the right place for support? I have custody of my nephew who is/was an addict.... he is just new out of rehab. His mother and sister are also addicts. I really need some support with this and the emotions I am feeling about my sister. Before I post about things I need help with and need to w...
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momof6
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2
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154
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JFT August 23 Decision-making
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Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking. Basic Text, p. 90 = Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences. When we were using, our decisions were usually driven by our disease, resulting in self-destructive a...
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Dave R
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153
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Working Step 4 in Narcotics Anonymous (1988); the first Step writing guide in NA !
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Hi all, Raman an addict here. Clean and serene in NA.... I was wondering how many of us encountered the Step 4 guide. In those days this was the only step working guide we had. Previous to this, the 4th Step was written based on the Basic Text 4th Step section. Then addicts decided that a guide would be mo...
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Raman
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5
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1066
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JFT August 22 Contribution
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We recognize our spiritual growth when we are able to reach out and help others. Basic Text, p. 58 = To make a difference in the world, to contribute something special, is perhaps the highest aspiration of the human heart. Each one of us, no matter what our personal makeup, has a unique quality to off...
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Dave R
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166
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Suboxone
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First, my clean date is 3/15/83. Second, I work in treatment, and refer heroin addicts for suboxone treatment. I am a happy addict who believes in traditions, not opinions. Since the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using, I would think everyone would agree that an addict who en...
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Jeffrey19953
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471
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JFT August 21 Friendships
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Our friendships become deep, and we experience the warmth and caring which results from addicts sharing recovery and a new life. IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance = Most of us come to Narcotics Anonymous with few genuine friends. And most of us arrive without the slightest understanding of what it take...
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Dave R
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159
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I need help...Getting from RESENTMENT to FORGIVENESS
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There is a person who really hurt me a few months ago. She was somewhat of a friend of my husband and I and we tried to help her get back on her feet--we were trying to help a sick and suffering addict like you all tell us. This person went around telling people she was sleeping with my husband. 99% of me doesn'...
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k8isgr8ful
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10
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344
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JFT August 20 Facing death
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Often we have to face some type of crisis during our recovery, such as the death of a loved one... Basic Text, p. 102 = Every life has a beginning and an end. However, when someone we love a great deal reaches the end of their life, we may have a very hard time accepting their sudden, final absence. Our g...
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Dave R
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164
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JFT August 18 "How long do I have to go?"
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The way to remain a productive, responsible member of society is to put our recovery first. Basic Text, p. 106 = The meetings have been great! Each night weve attended, weve gathered with other addicts to share experience, strength, and hope. And each day, weve used what weve learned in the meeti...
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Dave R
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2
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280
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JFT August 17 Tell the truth
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A symptom of our disease is alienation, and honest sharing will free us to recover. Basic Text, p. 83 = Truth connects us to life while fear, isolation, and dishonesty alienate us from it. As using addicts, we hid as much of the truth about ourselves from as much of the world as we possibly could. Our...
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Dave R
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why do you "keep coming back" to NA?
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We've all heard the expression "keep coming back" It reminds us that Addiction is an incurable disease, and the experience, strength, and hope we receive at a meeting is an ongoing treatment. It further reminds that even when the desire to use has been lifted, we can only "keep what...
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avid
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566
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JFT August 16 Up or down
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This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day.... This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer. Basic Text, pp. 37 = Our spiritual condition is never static; if its not growing, its decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual progress will lose its upward momentum....
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Dave R
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155
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JFT August 15 Over time, not overnight
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We found that we do not recover physically, mentally, or spiritually overnight. Basic Text, p. 28 = Have you ever approached a recovery celebration with the feeling that you should be further along in your recovery than you are? Maybe you have listened to newcomers sharing in meetings, members w...
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Dave R
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205
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Please join me in a moment of reflection
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Goodmorning and blessings of this day!Welcome to another day of Life to all, especially those here for first time,or just coming back. Our last 15 months in our relocation to Florida from New York ,leaving our jobs(mine of 34 years)and starting new and seeking to be near my wifes family to help in thei...
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MIKEF
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10
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353
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JFT August 14 Letting go of our limitations
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We dont 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 to find the valu...
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Dave R
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187
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Clean 131 Days
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I've been clean for just over 4 months now, I've really been struggling these past few days, i haven't been to a meeting in weeks. I guess i felt maybe just checking in some where would do me some good for now. Ive planned my relapse, from beginning to end, although honestly it usually ends in my head with m...
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PopTart
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325
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JFT August 13 Difficult people
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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...
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Dave R
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121
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The disease of 'more'
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My sponsor calls addiction the disease of more. So true. I haven't had drug cravings for years, but my disease is still alive and well. The latest manifestation is that I have a pertty serious hernia. I started going to the gym a while ago "to get fit" ...and them became obsessed with body b...
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avid
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304
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JFT August 12 Enough!
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Something inside cries out, Enough, enough, Ive had enough, and then they are ready to take that first and often most difficult step toward dealing with their disease. = Have we really had enough? This is the crucial question we must ask ourselves as we prepare to work the First Step in Narcotics A...
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Dave R
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210
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prayer request
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Please pray to your god tonight for strength for me as I am not doing OK. I am struggling once again and as much as I know using is wrong and I have called many people and am in the middle of no where for the week I'm not sure I can keep going.
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LizC
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8
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301
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JFT August 9 The power of love
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We begin to see that Gods love has been present all the time, just waiting for us to accept it. Basic Text, p. 46 = Gods love is the transforming power that drives our recovery. With that love, we find freedom from the hopeless, desperate cycle of using, self-hatred, and more using. With that love, w...
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Dave R
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197
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