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The Masks Have To Go

Just for today - July 24

"... we covered low self-esteem by hiding behind phony images that we hoped would fool people. The masks have to go"

Basic Text, p.32

Surrendering Self-Will

Just for today - July 23

"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.78

All of us have ideas, plans, goals for our lives. There's nothing in the NA program that says we shouldn't think for ourselves, take initiative, and put responsible plans into action. It's when our lives are driven by self-will that we run into problems.

Spiritual Death

Just for today - July 22

"For us, to use is to die, often in more ways than one."

Basic Text, p.78

Surrender Is For Everyone

Just for today - July 21

"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.92

Surrender is just for newcomers, right? Wrong!

Step 0ne

Step: 
Step 1

Just for today - July 20

"We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable."

Step One

Fulfilling Our Dreams

Just for today - July 19

"Dreams that we gave up long ago can now become realities."

Basic Text, p. 68

The Gift of Desperation

Just for today - July 18

"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 desperate look in the eyes. We think of hunted animals, hungry children, and of ourselves before we found NA.

Using Our "Using Dreams"

Just for today - July 17

"Do we fully accept the fact that our every attempt to stop using or to control our using failed?"

Basic Text, p. 18

Self-esteem

Just for today - July 16

"Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority."

Basic Text, p. 112

Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, "You're worthless!" Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-esteem very early in our recovery. Some of us may feel that our feelings of inferiority were where all our problems began.

Relations with Others

Just for today - July 15

"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 lived as if we believed we were the last people on earth, utterly blind to the effect our behavior has had on those around us.

An "Inside Job"

Just for today - July 14

"Social acceptability does not equal recovery."

Basic Text, p.21

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, lying, and hustling. We start to look normal - just by removing the drugs.

Humility in Action

Just for today - July 13

"If we are hurting, and most of us do from time to time, we learn to ask for help."

Basic Text, p.80

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 recovery is simple: whether we have thirty days or thirty years clean, we must be willing to ask for help when we need it.

Patience

Just for today - July 12

"We were trapped by our need for the instant gratification that drugs gave us." Basic Text, pp.24-25

Encouragement

Just for today - July 11

"We share comfort and encouragement with others."

Basic Text, p.95

A Positive Attitude

Just for today - July 10

"That old nest of negativism followed me everywhere I went." Basic Text, p.135

A negative attitude is the trademark of active addiction. Everything that occurred in our lives was someone or something else's fault. We had blaming others for our shortcomings down to a fine science. In recovery, one of the first things we strive to develop is a new attitude. We find that life goes a lot easier when we replace our negative thinking with positive principles.

We Do Recover!

Just for today - July 9

"....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.86

The "G" Word

Just for today - July 8

"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"

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

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