Just for today

Search form

Standing for Something

Just for Today - October 19

"... we could feel time, touch reality, and recognize spiritual values long lost to many of us."

Basic Text, p.85

We All Belong

Just for Today - October 18

"Although 'politics makes strange bedfellows,' as the old saying goes, addiction makes us one of a kind."

Basic Text, p.84

What a mixture of folks we have in Narcotics Anonymous! In any given meeting on any given night, we'll find a variety of people that probably never would have sat down in a room together if it weren't for the disease of addiction.

"The Truth"

Just for Today - October 17

"Everything we know is subject to revision, especially what we know about the truth."

Basic Text, p.91

The Simplest Prayer

Just for Today - October 16

"…praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

Step Eleven

How do we pray? With little experience, many of us don't even know how to begin. The process, however, is neither difficult nor complicated.

Choices

Just for Today - October 15

"We did not choose to become addicts."

Basic Text p. 3

When we were growing up, all of us had dreams. Every child has heard a relative or neighbor ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even if some of us didn't have elaborate dreams of success, most of us dreamed of work, families, and a future of dignity and respect. But no one asked, "Do you want to be a drug addict when you grow up?"

The End of Loneliness

Just for Today - October 14

"With the love that I am shown in Narcotics Anonymous, I have no excuse for loneliness."

Basic Text p. 262

Addiction is a lonely disease. We may be surrounded by people but, sooner or later, our addiction drives a wedge between us and even our closest loved ones. Many of us are driven to Narcotics Anonymous by a desperate loneliness.

Making a Difference

Just for Today - October 13

"Words cannot describe the sense of spiritual awareness that we receive when we have given something, no matter how small, to another person."

Basic Text p. 100

Being Right

Just for Today - October 12

"When we admit that our lives have become unmanageable, we don't have to argue our point of view... We no longer have to be right all the time."

Basic Text p. 56

Eyeglasses and Attitudes

Just for Today - October 11

"Our best thinking got us into trouble.... Recovery is an active change in our ideas and attitudes."

Basic Text p.53

In active addiction, the world probably looked like a horrible place. Using helped us tolerate the world we saw. Today, however, we understand that the world's condition wasn't really the problem. It was our ideas and attitudes about the world that made it impossible for us to find a comfortable place in it.

Consequences

Just for Today - October 10

"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. 87

Ever been tempted to do something even when you knew the results would be disastrous? Ever thought about how much it was going to hurt to do what you were tempted to do, then proceed to do it anyway?

Order

Just for Today - October 9

"We emphasize setting our house in order because it brings us relief."

Basic Text p. 93

Focusing on what others are doing can provide momentary relief from having to take a look at ourselves. But one of the secrets of success in Narcotics Anonymous is making sure our own house is in order. So what does "setting our house in order" mean, anyway?

A New Pattern Of Living

Just for Today - October 8

"We suspect that if we do not use what we have, we will lose what we have."

Basic Text p. 75

Addiction gave a pattern to our lives, and with it a meaning - a dark, diseased meaning, to be sure, but a meaning nonetheless. The Narcotics Anonymous recovery program gives us a new pattern of living to replace our old routines. And with that new pattern comes a new meaning to our lives, one of light and hope.

Depending On Our Higher Power

Just for Today - October 7

"As recovering addicts, we find that we are still dependent, but our dependence has shifted from the things around us to a loving God and the inner strength we get in our relationship with Him."

Basic Text pp.67-68

Amends Without Expectations

Just for Today - October 6

"Projections about actually making amends can be a major obstacle both in making the list and in becoming willing."

Basic Text p.38

The Eighth Step asks us to become willing to make amends to all persons we have harmed. As we approach this step, we may wonder what the outcome of our amends will be. Will we be forgiven? Relieved of any lingering guilt? Or will we be tarred and feathered by the persons we've harmed?

Ask For Mercy, Not Justice

Just for Today - October 5

"Many of us have difficulty admitting that we caused harm for others... We cut away our justifications and our ideas of being a victim."

Basic Text p.37

Our lives are progressing nicely. Things are going good, and each year in recovery brings more material and spiritual gifts. We may have a little money in the bank, a new car, or a committed relationship. We have a little self-confidence, and our faith in a Higher Power is growing.

Thirty-Day Wonder

Just for Today - October 4

"When we first begin to enjoy relief from our addiction, we run the risk of assuming control of our lives again. We forget the agony and pain that we have known."

Basic Text p.48

Losing Self-Will

Just for Today - October 3

"Our egos, once so large and dominant, now take a back seat because we are in harmony with a loving God. We find that we lead richer, happier, and much fuller lives when we lose self-will."

Basic Text p.101

Powerlessness, Personal Responsibility

"Through our inability to accept personal responsibilities, we were actually creating our own problems."
Basic Text, p. 13

God's Gift

Just for Today - March 23

"We do the footwork and accept what's being given to us freely on a daily basis."
Basic Text pg. 46

From Rude Awakening To Spiritual Awakening

Just for Today - March 5
"When a need arises for us to admit our powerlessness, we may first look for ways to exert power against it. After exhausting these ways, we begin sharing with others and find hope." Basic Text, p. 79

Keep Coming Back

May 31

"We don't have to be clean when we get here but, after the first meeting, we suggest that newcomers keep coming back and come back clean. We don't have to wait for an overdose or a jail sentence to get help from Narcotics."

Basic Text, p. 10

Very few of us arrive in NA brimming with willingness. Some of us are here because we are court-ordered to attend. Some have come to save our families. Some come in an effort to salvage a career teetering on the brink of ruin. It doesn't matter why we are here. It only matters that we are.

The Process

Just for Today - March 4

"This program has become a part of me.... I understand more clearly the things that are happening in my life today I no longer fight the process."
Basic Text, p. 162

That One Special Person

Just for Today - March 13

"A sponsor is not necessarily a friend, but may be someone in whom we confide. We can share things with our sponsor that we might not be comfortable sharing in a meeting."
IP No. 11, "Sponsorship, Revised"

Sick As Our Secrets

Just for Today - February 25

"It would be tragic to write [out an inventory only to] shove it in a drawer These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure."
Basic Text, p. 31

An Awakening of the Spirit

Just for Today - February 15

"The last thing we expected was an awakening of the spirit"

Basic Text, p. 48

Few of us came to our first Narcotics Anonymous meeting aching to take a personal inventory or believing that a spiritual void existed in our souls. We had no inkling that we were about to embark on a journey which would awaken our sleeping spirits.

Feeling a "Part Of"

Just for Today - March 15

"The get-togethers after our meetings are good opportunities to share things that we didn't get to discuss during the meeting."
Basic Text p. 29

Fun!

Just for Today - February 10

"In recovery our ideas of fun change"

Basic Text, p. 102

In retrospect, many of us realize that when we used, our ideas of fun were rather bizarre. Some of us would get dressed up and head for the local club. We would dance, drink and do other drugs until the sun rose. On more than one occasion, gun battles broke out. What we then called fun, we now call insanity.

Our Own True Will

Just for Today - March 29

"God's will for us consists of the very things we most value. God's will... becomes our own true will for ourselves."
Basic Text p. 46

The Recovery Partnership

"As long as I take it easy and make a commitment with my Higher Power to do the best I can, I know I will be taken care of today" Basic Text, p. 120

A New Vision

"Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear?"
Basic Text p. 33

Pages

See older meditations