The good times can also be a trap; the danger is that we may forget that our first priority is to stay clean.
Basic Text, p. 43
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Things can get really good in our recovery. Perhaps weve found our soul mate, built a rewarding career, started a family. Maybe our relationships with our family members have healed. Things are going so well, we barely have time to attend meetings. Perhaps we begin to reintegrate into society so successfully that we forget that we dont always react to situations like others do.
Maybe, just maybe, weve put some priorities ahead of themselves. Is meeting attendance still a priority with us? Do we still sponsor? Do we phone our sponsor? What step are we working? Are we still willing to drag ourselves out of bed at some ungodly hour for a Twelfth Step call? Do we remember to practice principles in all our affairs? If others in NA reach out to us, are we available? Do we remember where we came from, or have the good times allowed us to forget?
To stay clean, we must remember that we are only one drug away from our past. We stay grateful for the good times, but we dont let them divert us from our continuing recovery in Narcotics Anonymous.
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Just for today: Im grateful for the good times, but Ive not forgotten from where Ive come. Today, my first priority is staying clean and growing in my recovery.
My life is very full and busy today, but I still make time to do things I need to do for my recovery, like attending meetings, calling my sponsor, fellowship with other recovery addicts, service, step work, and so on.
In the short time I have been on this recovery journey, it seems to me that those who are the successful "old timers" and newcomers alike are those who put their recovery first. I hope I always remember to do so. I know right now that is why it is working for me. Peace.
