"In time, we can relax and enjoy the atmosphere of recovery."
Basic Text, p. 56
Imagine what would happen if a newcomer walked into one of our meetings and was met by a group of grim-faced people gripping the arms of their chairs with white knuckles. That newcomer would probably bolt, perhaps muttering, "I thought I could get off drugs and be happy".
Thankfully, our newcomers are usually met by a group of friendly, smiling folks who are obviously fairly content with the lives they've found in Narcotics Anonymous. What an enormous amount of hope this provides! A newcomer, whose life has been deadly serious, is strongly attracted by an atmosphere of laughter and relaxation. Coming from a place where everything is taken seriously, where disaster always waits around the next corner, it's a welcome relief to enter a room and find people who generally don't take themselves too seriously, who are ready for something wonderful.
We learn to lighten up in recovery. We laugh at the absurdity of our addiction. Our meetings-those rooms filled with the lively, happy sounds of percolating coffee, clattering chairs, and laughing addicts-are the gathering places where we first welcome our newcomers and let them know that, yes, we're having fun now.
Just for Today: I can laugh at myself. I can take a joke. I will lighten up and have some fun today
I have a friend in the rooms who gets allot of laughs due to my control issues. Silly things like the coffee is too strong prompts him to say things like "That's because you weren't in charge of the coffee" followed by a few hearty laughs. There was a time...and not too long ago where this would have pissed me off. Today, I can laugh without abusing myself or him because I see the truth in it. And yeah, it is kinda funny. PS - I'm workin on it
This was the topic at my home group. Everyone was so grumpy and blue that I refused to share. I reflected, however, on how valuable the ability to tolerate boredom has been for me. Compared to active addiction, boredom is actually quite a pleasant emotion! And when I consider my Area service commitment, boredom is just one of the tolls of getting things done.
All in all, for me fun is deeper and richer than just whooping it up. And this is the message I felt unable to carry at my home group that day: fun is not fun unless it's also good for the soul.
yes at times a packed meeting room has also looked like a serious atmosphere to me, and half of those times I've also observed that it looked so to me because I've entered it in a very serious mood... lol...
Yesterday, I was chairing this step study meeting at my home group and everyone seemed to have this serious expression, none wanting to share, and those who shared seemed to do so in a very hesitant manner. And most of the times, members were moving in and out of the classroom for this or that...
Then there was this member who usually sits at a corner of the meeting room, and seldom smiles. I looked around to see where he is sitting, and as soon as our eyes met, I smiled. Without hesitation, he broke into a smile too, his face lighting up. From thereon, I felt a different atmosphere at the meeting. A friendly smile did the trick for me.
