A new idea cannot be grafted onto a closed mind.... Open-mindedness leads us to the very insights that have eluded us during our lives.
Basic Text, p. 96
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We arrived in NA at the lowest point in our lives. Wed just about run out of ideas. What we needed most when we got here were new ideas, new ways of living, shared from the experience of people whod seen those ideas work. Yet our closed minds prevented us from taking in the very ideas we needed to live.
Denial keeps us from appreciating just how badly we really need new ideas and new direction. By admitting our powerlessness and recognizing how truly unmanageable our lives have become, we allow ourselves to see how much we need what NA has to offer.
Self-dependence and self-will can keep us from admitting even the possibility of the existence a Power greater than ourselves. However, when we admit the sorry state self-will has gotten us into, we open our eyes and our minds to new possibilities. When others tell us of a Power that has brought sanity to their lives, we begin to believe that such a Power may do the same for us.
A tree stripped of its branches will die unless new branches can be grafted onto its trunk. In the same way, addiction stripped us of whatever direction we had. To grow or even to survive, we must open our minds and allow new ideas to be grafted onto our lives.
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Just for today: I will ask my Higher Power to open my mind to the new ideas of recovery.
So good to revist the 1st step again in depth(my new sponsee working on) knowing that the obsession and compulsion to use drugs has been lifted for me but that driving force that keeps me powerless over some behaviors that leads to unmanageabilty in certain areas of my life can continually be addressed by applying spiritual priciples of the steps guided by my Higher Power and and a continuing,day at a time,process through our program Narcotics Anonymous.I still ain't that "well" but I am certainly better than I was..By God's grace I continue to remain teachable.......
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Our purpose is to remain clean,just for today,and to carry the message of recovery.
