Thank you for posting. 
September 05, 2018
Not hopelessly bad
Page 259
âWe find that we suffer from a disease, not a moral dilemma. We were critically ill, not hopelessly bad.â
Basic Text, p.16
For many of us, Narcotics Anonymous was the answer to a personal puzzle of long standing. Why did we always feel alone, even in a crowd, we wondered? Why did we do so many crazy, self-destructive things? Why did we feel so badly about ourselves so much of the time? And how had our lives gotten so messed up? We thought we were hopelessly bad, or perhaps hopelessly insane.
Given that, it was a great relief to learn we suffered from a disease. Addiction-that was the source of our problems. A disease, we realized, could be treated. And when we treat our disease, we can begin to recover.
Today, when we see symptoms of our disease resurfacing in our lives, we need not despair. After all, itâs a treatable disease we have, not a moral dilemma. We can be grateful we can recover from the disease of addiction through the application of the Twelve Steps of NA.
Just for Today: I am grateful that I have a treatable disease, not a moral dilemma. I will continue applying the treatment for the disease of addiction by practicing the NA program.
Copyright © 2007-2018, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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(nudgeâŠ)
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September 13, 2018
Something different
Page 267
"We had to have something different, and we thought we had found it in drugs. "
Basic Text, p.13
Many of us have always felt different from other people. We know weâre not unique in feeling that way; we hear many addicts share the same thing. We searched all our lives for something to make us all right, to fix that âdifferentâ place inside us, to make us whole and acceptable. Drugs seemed to fill that need.
When we were high, at least we no longer felt the emptiness or the need. There was one drawback: The drugs, which were our solution, quickly became our problem.
Once we gave up the drugs, the sense of emptiness returned. At first we felt despair because we didnât have any solution of our own to that miserable longing. But we were willing to take direction and began to work the steps. As we did, we found what weâd been looking for, that âsomething differentâ Today, we believe that our lifelong yearning was primarily for knowledge of a Higher Power; the âsomething differentâ we needed was a relationship with a loving God. The steps tell us how to begin that relationship.
Just for Today: My Higher Power is the âsomething differentâ thatâs always been missing in my life I will use the steps to restore that missing ingredient to my spirit.
Copyright © 2007-2018, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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September 15, 2018
Filling the emptiness
Page 269
ââŠwe think that if we can just get enough food, enough sex, or enough money, weâll be satisfied and everything will be alright.â
Basic Text, p.80
In our addiction, we could never get enough drugs, or money, or sex, or anything else. Even too much was never enough! There was a spiritual emptiness inside us. Though we tried as hard as we could to fill that emptiness ourselves, we never succeeded. In the end, we realized that we lacked the power to fill it; it would take a Power greater than ourselves to do that.
So we stopped using, and we stopped trying to fill the emptiness in our gut with things. We turned to our Higher Power, asking for its care, strength, and direction. We surrendered and made way for that Power to begin the process of filling our inner void. We stopped grabbing things and started receiving the free gift of love our Higher Power had for us. Slowly, our inner emptiness was being filled.
Now that weâve been given our Higher Powerâs gift of love, what do we do with it? If we clasp that gift tightly to ourselves, we will smother it. We must remember that love grows only when it is shared. We can only keep this gift by freely giving it away. The world of addiction is a world of taking and being taken; the world of recovery is a world of giving and being given. In which world do we choose to live?
Just for Today: I choose to live in the fullness of recovery. I will celebrate my conscious contact with the God of my understanding by freely sharing with others that which has been freely shared with me.
Copyright © 2007-2018, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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October 27, 2018
Living in the present
Page 313
âWe want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today.â
Basic Text, p.29
For many of us, the past is like a bad dream. Our lives arenât the same any more, but we still have fleeting, highly charged emotional memories of a really uncomfortable past. The guilt, fear, and anger that once dominated us may spill into our new life, complicating our efforts to change and grow.
The Twelve Steps are the formula that helps us learn to put the past in its place. Through the Fourth and Fifth Steps, we become aware that our old behavior didnât work. We ask a Higher Power to relieve us of our shortcomings in the Sixth and Seventh Steps, and we begin to be relieved of the guilt and fear that plagued us for so many years. In the Eighth and Ninth Steps, by making amends, we demonstrate to others that our lives are changing. We are no longer controlled by the past. Once the past loses its control over us, we are free to find new ways to live, ways that reflect who we truly are.
Just for Today: I donât have to be controlled by my past. I will live this new day as the new person I am becoming.
Copyright © 2007-2018, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Just For Today
November 18
Self-discovery
âThe Tenth Step can help us correct our living problems and prevent their recurrence.â
Basic Text p. 41
Our identities, how we think and feel, have been shaped by our experiences. Some of our experiences have made us better people; others have caused us shame or embarrassment; all of them have influenced who we are today. We can take advantage of the knowledge gained in examining our mistakes, using this wisdom to guide the decisions weâll make today.
Acceptance of ourselves means accepting all aspects of ourselves - our assets, our defects, our successes, and our failures. Shame and guilt left unaddressed can paralyze us, preventing us from moving forward in our lives. Some of the most meaningful amends we can make for the mistakes of our past are made simply by acting differently today. We strive for improvement and measure our success by comparing who we used to be with who we are now.
Being human, we will continue making mistakes; however, we need not make the same ones over and over again. By looking over our past and realizing that we have changed and grown, weâll find hope for the future. The best is yet to come.
Just for today: I will do the best I can with what I have today. Each day Iâll learn something new that will help me tomorrow.
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Just For Today
November 22
Foundation First
âAs we begin to function in society, our creative freedom helps us sort our priorities and do the basic things first.â
Basic Text pg. 83
No sooner do we get clean than some of us begin putting other priorities ahead of our recovery. Careers, families, relationships - all these are part of the life we find once weâve laid the foundation of our recovery. But we canât build a stable life for ourselves before we do the hard, basic work of laying our recovery foundation. Like a house built on sand, such a life will be shaky, at best.
Before we begin putting all our attention to rebuilding the detailed framework of our lives, we need to lay our foundation. We acknowledge, first, that we donât yet have a foundation, that our addiction has made our lives utterly unmanageable. Then, with the help of our sponsor and our home group, we find faith in a Power strong enough to help us prepare the ground of our new lives. We clear the wreckage from the site upon which we will build our future. Finally, we develop a deep, working familiarity with the principles we will practice in our continuing affairs: honest self-examination, reliance upon our Higher Powerâs guidance and strength, and service to others.
Once our foundation is prepared, then we can go full steam ahead to put our new lives together. But first we must ask ourselves if our foundation is secure, for without our foundation, nothing we build can stand for long.
Just for today: I will take care to lay a secure foundation for my recovery. Upon such a foundation, I can build for a lifetime in recovery.
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Just For Today
November 25
Meditation
âQuieting the mind through meditation brings and inner peace that brings us into contact with the God within us.â
Basic Text pg.45
As our recovery progresses, we often reflect on what brought us to Narcotics Anonymous in the first place and are able to appreciate how much the quality of our lives has improved. We no longer have to fear our own thoughts. And the more we pray and meditate, the more we experience a calm sense of well-being. The peace and tranquillity we experience during our quiet times confirms that our most important needs - our spiritual needs - are being met.
We are able to empathize with other addicts and strengthen our conscience in the process. We learn to avoid judging others and experience the freedom to be ourselves. In our spiritual reflection, we intuitively find âthe God within usâ and see that we are in harmony with a Power greater than ourselves.
Just for today: I will reflect upon the gift of recovery and listen quietly for my Higher Powerâs guidance.
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Just For Today
December 5
Those Who Want To Recover
âWe have seen the program work for any addict who honestly and sincerely wants to stop [using drugs].â
Basic Text, p. 10
How do we know when someone honestly and sincerely wants to stop using drugs? The truth is that we donât know! Because we cannot read minds or know anotherâs motives and desires, we simply have to hope for the best.
We may talk to a newcomer at a meeting and think weâll never see them again, only to find them several years later doing well in their recovery. We may be tempted to give up on someone who keeps relapsing or doesnât get clean right away, but we must not. No matter how unwilling someone may seem, a simple fact remainsâthe addict is at a meeting.
We may never know the results of our Twelfth Step work; it is not up to us to gauge the willingness of a newcomer. The message we carry is a part of us. We carry it everywhere and share it freely, leaving the results to a Power greater than ourselves.
Just for today: I will share my recovery with any addict, anywhere, anytime, and under any circumstances. I will leave the results to my Higher Power.
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Jeez I went and started my own thread I didnt know this one existed! I love this idea tho eh?
3 Likes
March 07, 2019
Priorities
Page 69
" 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
Things can get really good in our recovery. Perhaps weâve found our âsoul mate,â 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 donât always react to situations like others do.
Maybe, just maybe, weâve 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 âgood timesâ 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 donât let them divert us from our continuing recovery in Narcotics Anonymous.
Just for Today: Iâm grateful for the good times, but Iâve not forgotten from where Iâve come. Today, my first priority is staying clean and growing in my recovery.
Copyright © 2007-2019, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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What app is this from? I love it!
Itâs from the NA just for today book.
Awesome; thank you! Is there any way I can bookmark this thread? Iâm fairly new to the app so not really sureâŠ
I figured it out how to bookmarkđ
You can also order the book online, or from your local NA meeting
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Thank you very much!
May 1
Self-Worth And Service
"Being involved in service makes me feel worthwhile."
Basic Text, p. 212
When most of us arrived in Narcotics Anonymous, we had very little self-worth left to salvage. Many members say that they began to develop self-esteem through being of service early in their recovery. Something just short of a miracle occurs when we begin to have a positive impact on othersâ lives through our service efforts.
Most of us donât have a lot of experience, strength, or hope to share at thirty days clean. In fact, some members will tell us in no uncertain terms that what we can do best is listen. But at thirty days, we do offer something to that addict just coming into the rooms of NA, struggling to get twenty-four hours clean. The very newest NA member, the one with only the desire to stop using and none of the tools, can hardly imagine anyone staying clean for a year, or two years, or ten. But he or she can relate to those people with thirty days clean, picking up a keytag with a look of pride and disbelief emblazoned on their faces.
Service is something that is our unique giftâsomething that no one can take away from us. We give, and we get. Through service, many of us start on the sometimes long road back to becoming productive members of society.
Just for today: I will be grateful for the opportunity to be of service.
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Shared about that at my meeting last night. Great message!