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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 inadeq...
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Dave R
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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...
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Dave R
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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. Theres nothing in the NA program that says we shouldnt think for ourselves, take initiative, and put...
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Dave R
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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 weve been around awhile, some of us succum...
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Dave R
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new here....could ex-husband be using???
(Preview)
Good evening everyone. Im new hereI really dont know where to startso here I go. My ex-husband, Robert, is a crack addict. It was a HUGE shock to everyone who knew him, including me. We dated for 5 and a half years (Oct 2002 to March 2008), lived together for four and a half (Sept 2003 to March 2008), before...
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TurtleBear
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6th step alternative desired
(Preview)
hi I'm an addict named Nicole B, from Eugene OR I am new to this forum, and I have some clean time, been through the steps in the NA Step working guide a few times, and I want to explore other formats that other members may have used, I am willing to go to any length at this point in my life for continued recove...
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Nicole B
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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...
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Dave R
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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. Perhaps whe...
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Dave R
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The disease of Addiction claims another
(Preview)
It has been confirmed. Corey Monteith died of an overdose. So sad that another young life gets snuffed out too soon. It just proves yet again, that money, fame and success are no protection from this deadly disease. Rest in peace Corey
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avid
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Step 3, Recent Struggles, Off Balance....
(Preview)
Hi All - I am looking for some much needed advice - I've really been out of balance lately. I am approaching the 10 month mark and working on my 4th step. I feel like in the time between finishing my 3rd step and now (probably about 90-100 days) I've really become off balance and resistant. I think maybe...
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Troy05
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Hardest thing in recovery is putting down a pet
(Preview)
One of the hardest things I have had to do is have one of my cats down friday night .He was a Maine Coon Cat , known as Gentle Giants , he was 15 lbs and almost a yard long . My Whylie had a heart attack the vet thinks , he was panting in pain so we sent him to Kitty Heaven . RIP : Whylie Woo . -- Edited by c...
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cdbuckberry
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If I do not fully surrender, cannot I not finish step one?
(Preview)
Im 5 months into my recovery. I was doing my step work every day when i started. Kinda stopped for 2 months, and just picked the packet back up. Im on the Surrender section, and the question is Do I accept that I'll never regain control, even after a long period of abstinence? My answer is no. I am not conv...
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EmpireCat
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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 youve just blown your clean time. Youve had a using dream, and it was just lik...
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Dave R
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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, Youre worthless! Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-estee...
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Dave R
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Shalom
(Preview)
Hey everyone! How's it going? The board has been too quiet the past couple days...
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LizC
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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...
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Dave R
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JFT July 13 Humility in action
(Preview)
If we are hurting, and most of us do from time to time, we learn to ask for help. Basic Text, p. 83 = Sometimes recovery gets downright difficult. It can be even more difficult to get humble enough to ask for help. We think, I have all this time clean. I should be better than this! But the reality of rec...
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Dave R
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JFT July 14 An "inside" job
(Preview)
Social acceptability does not equal recovery. Basic Text, p. 22 = One of the first things that happens to many of us in recovery is that we start to look better. We get healthier; we bathe; we dress more appropriately. And without the goading of active addiction, many of us finally stop stealing,...
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Dave R
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Hey Manon....folks here are thinking about you.
(Preview)
Just a shout out to let you know that you are always in our thoughts. Some here are missing you, and yes maybe a little worried, so if you see this please just let us know your ok. (((((Mannon)))))
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avid
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Drug of choice?
(Preview)
It really annoys me sometimes when I hear addicts talk about their drug of choice. It is like they think that they really only had a problem with a particular drug. I've heard the following recently from a newcomer: "Yeah, I wasn't really an addict until I started doing opiates. Before then, I s...
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Dave R
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JFT July 12 Patience
(Preview)
We were trapped by our need for the instant gratification that drugs gave us. Basic Text, p. 25 = I want what I want, and I want it now! Thats about as patient as most of us ever got in our active addiction. The obsession and compulsion of our disease gave us a one-track way of thinking; when we wanted so...
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Dave R
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JFT July 11 Encouragement
(Preview)
We share comfort and encouragement with others. Basic Text, p. 99 = Many of us have watched as babies take their first steps. The mother holds the child on its feet. The father kneels nearby with outstretched arms, encouraging the little one, his face flooded with devotion. The baby takes a few s...
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Dave R
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JFT July 10 A positive attitude
(Preview)
That old nest of negativism followed me everywhere I went. Basic Text, p. 137 = A negative attitude is the trademark of active addiction. Everything that occurred in our lives was someone or something elses fault. We had blaming others for our shortcomings down to a fine science. In recovery,...
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Dave R
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JFT July 9 We do recover!
(Preview)
...the time has come when that tired old lie, Once an addict, always an addict, will no longer be tolerated by either society or the addict himself. We do recover. Basic Text, p. 89 = From time to time, we hear speakers share that they dont really understand spiritual principles yet. They tell us...
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Dave R
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Things I Learned in Rehab
(Preview)
I wrote a story about my trip to rehab (my most recent one!) and I put it up on amazon. I was wondering if anyone was interested in checking it out. It's on amazon only. I really need the support. It's slow getting started and I worked really hard on it. It's really funny and a little vulgar, but that's where...
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StacyB
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JFT July 8 The "G" word
(Preview)
It is important for you to know that you will hear God mentioned at NA meetings. What we are referring to is a Power greater than ourselves that makes possible what seems impossible. IP No. 22, Welcome to NA = Most of us come to Narcotics Anonymous with a variety of preconceptions about what the word G...
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Dave R
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seeking recovery in a new place
(Preview)
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jethro85
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8
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JFT July 6 "I'm sorry"
(Preview)
The main thing [the Eighth Step] does for us is to help build awareness that, little by little, we are gaining new attitudes about ourselves and how we deal with other people. Basic Text, p. 39 = To say Im sorry probably isnt such a foreign idea to most of us. In our active addiction, it may have bee...
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Dave R
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JFT July 7 God in each other
(Preview)
One aspect of our spiritual awakening comes through the new understanding of our Higher Power that we develop by sharing another addicts recovery. Basic Text, p. 52 = Weve heard it said that we often see God most clearly in one another. We see the truth of this when we practice our Twelfth Step. Whe...
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Dave R
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7 years clean today
(Preview)
Something made a noise in my ear just a bit ago to come and check the board out and as i'm here reading I realized today, july 5th is my clean date LOL isn't that something ? i say it is for this hope to die addict. And no it hasn't gotten easier but, I have learned that this to shall pass, hang on tight for the ri...
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BigV
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