Just for today

Search form

Walking Through the Pain

Just for today - November 17

"We never have to use again, no matter how we feel. All feelings will eventually pass."  Basic Text p. 79

It hurts like never before. You get out of bed after a sleepless night, talk to God, and still don't feel any better. "It will pass;" a little voice tells you. "When?" you wonder, as you pace and mutter and get on with your day.

You sob in your car and turn the radio all the way up so you can't hear your own thoughts. But you go straight to work, and don't even think about using drugs.

Alone No More

Just for today - November 16

"We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."  Basic Text p. 35

Letting Go

Just for today - November 15

"Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live."  Basic Text p. 25

How do we begin the process of letting our Higher Power guide our lives? When we seek advice about situations that trouble us, we often find that our Higher Power works through others. When we accept that we don't have all the answers, we open ourselves to new and different options. A willingness to let go of our preconceived ideas and opinions opens the channel for spiritual guidance to light our way.

Not Just Surviving

Just for today - November 14

"When we were using, our lives became an exercise in survival. Now we are doing much more living than surviving."   Basic Text p. 50

Not Perfect

Just for today - November 13

"We are not going to be perfect. If we were perfect, we would not be human."  Basic Text p. 30

Our Own Story

Just for today - November 12

"When we honestly tell our own story, someone else may identify with us."  Basic Text p. 95

Many of us have heard truly captivating speakers at Narcotics Anonymous conventions. We remember the audience alternating between tears of identification and joyous hilarity. "Someday," we may think, "I'm going to be a main speaker at a convention, too."

From Surrender to Acceptance

Just for today - November 11

"We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us."  Basic Text p. 26

Surrender and acceptance are like infatuation and love. Infatuation begins when we encounter someone special. Infatuation requires nothing but the acknowledgement of the object of our infatuation. For infatuation to become love, however, requires a great deal of effort. That initial connection must be slowly, patiently nurtured into a lasting, durable bond.

Fear or Faith?

Just for today - November 10

"No matter how far we ran, we always carried fear with us."  Basic Text p. 14

For many of us, fear was a constant factor in our lives before we came to Narcotics Anonymous. We used because we were afraid to feel emotional or physical pain. Our fear of people and situations gave us a convenient excuse to use drugs. A few of us were so afraid of everything that we were unable even to leave our homes without using first.

The best-laid plans

November 9 - Just for Today

"It is our actions that are important. We leave the results to our Higher Power."

Basic Text, p. 88

Freed From Insanity

Just for today - November 8

Do I believe it would be insane to walk up to someone and say, "May I please have a heart attack or a fatal accident."  Basic Text p.23

We've heard it said that unless we're in love, we can't remember what love feels like. The same could be said of insanity: Once we're freed of it, we may forget how truly bizarre our insane thinking can be. But to be grateful for the degree of sanity to which we've been restored in Narcotics Anonymous, we need to remember just how truly insane we've been.

Feeling God's Will

Just for today - November 7

"I sincerely believed that a Higher Power could restore my sanity and that I would stop trying to figure out what God's will was, just accept things for what they were, and be grateful."

Basic Text p. 198

Understanding Humility

Just for today - November 6

"Humility is a result of getting honest with ourselves."  Basic Text p. 35

Humility was an idea so foreign to most of us that we ignored it as long as we could. When we first saw the word "humbly" ahead in Step Seven, we may have figured it meant we had quite a bit of humiliation in store. Perhaps we chose to look it up in the dictionary, only to become even more confused by the definition. We didn't understand how "lowliness and subservience" applied to recovery.

God's Guidance

Just for today - November 5

"Our Higher power is accessible to us at all times. We receive guidance when we ask for knowledge of God's will for us."  Basic Text p. 92

It's not always easy to make the right decision. This is especially true for addicts learning to live by spiritual principles for the first time. In addiction, we developed self-destructive, anti-social impulses. When conflict arose, we took our cues from those negative impulses. Our disease didn't prepare us to make sound decisions.

Exchanging Love

Just for today - November 4

"...we give love because it was given so freely to us. New frontiers are open to us as we learn how to love. Love can be the flow of life energy from one person to another"   Basic Text pp. 100-101

Love given, and love received, is the essence of life itself. It is the universal common denominator, connecting us to those around us. Addiction deprived us of that connection, locking us within ourselves.

No Matter What

Just for today - November 3

"We eventually have to stand on our own feet and face life on its own terms, so why not from the start."

Basic Text p.85

Living With Unresolved Problems

Just for today - November 2

"It makes a difference to have friends who care if we hurt."

Basic Text p.54

For most of our problems, the solution is simple. We call our sponsor, pray, work the steps, or go to a meeting. But what about those situations where the burden is ongoing and there's no end in sight?

Awakening

Just for today - November 1

"God helps us as we help each other."

Basic Text p.51

Our addiction caused us to think almost exclusively of ourselves. Even our prayers - if we prayed at all - were self-centered. We asked God to fix things for us or get us out of trouble. Why? Because we didn't want to live with the problems we'd created for ourselves. We were insecure. We thought life was about getting, and we always wanted more.

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