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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

Keeping Faith

Just for Today - October 2

"We grasp the limitless strength provided for us through our daily prayer and surrender as long as we keep faith and renew it."

Basic Text p.44

There are two parts to recovery: getting clean, and staying clean. Getting clean is comparatively easy because we only have to do it once. Staying clean is more difficult, requiring attention every day of our lives. Yet both draw their power from faith.

Not Just a Motivation for Growth

Just for Today - October 1

"We learn that pain can be a motivating factor in recovery."

Basic Text p.29

"Pain - who needs it!" we think whenever we're in it. We see no good purpose for pain. It seems to be a pointless exercise in suffering. If someone happens to mention spiritual growth to us while we're in pain, we most likely snort in disgust and walk away, thinking we've never encountered a more insensitive person.

Being Ourselves

Just for Today - September 30

"Our real value is in being ourselves." Basic Text, p.101

Over and over, we have tried to live up to the expectations of those around us. We may have been raised believing that we were okay if we earned good grades in school, cleaned our rooms, or dressed a certain way. Always wanting to belong and be loved, many of us spent a lot of time trying to fit in - yet we never quite seemed to measure up.

Just For Today

Just for Today - September 29

"When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably."

Basic Text, p.96

"Just for today" - it's a comforting thought. If we try to live in the past, we may find ourselves torn by painful, disquieting memories. The lessons of our using are not the teachers we seek for recovery.  Living in tomorrow means moving in with fear.

We cannot see the shape of the secret future, and uncertainty brings worry. Our lives look overwhelming when we lose the focus of today.

Hope

Just for Today - September 28

"Gradually as we become more God-centered than self centered, our despair turns to hope."

Basic Text, p.92

Right Back Up

Just for Today - September 27

"There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure."

Basic Text, p.77

"Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I've fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!" Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Seeing Ourselves In Others

Just for Today - September 26

"It will not make us better people to judge the faults of another."

Basic Text, p.37

The Fourth Step - Fearing Our Feelings

Step: 
Step 4

Just for Today - September 25

"We may fear that being in touch with our feelings will trigger an overwhelming chain reaction of pain and panic."

Basic Text, p.29

A common complaint about the Fourth Step is that it makes us painfully conscious of our defects of character. We may be tempted to falter in our program of recovery. Through surrender and acceptance, we can find the resources we need to keep working the steps.

A Growing Concept of God

Just for Today - September 24

"The only suggested guidelines are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves. We don't have to be religious to accept this idea. The point is that we open our minds to believe." Basic Text, p.24

In a lifelong process of coming to believe, our understanding of God will change. The understanding we have when new in recovery will not be the same when we have a few months clean, nor will that understanding be the same when we have a few years clean.

Dealing with Gossip

Just for Today - September 23

"In accordance with the principles of recovery, we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other."

Basic Text, p.11

Let's face it: In Narcotics Anonymous, we live in a glass house of sorts. Our fellow members know more about our personal lives than anyone has ever known before. They know who we spend our time with, where we work, what step we're on, how many children we have, and so forth. And what our fellow members don't know, they will probably imagine.

Keeping the Gift

Just for Today - September 22

"Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift." Basic Text, p.102

Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we've been given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoring routine maintenance, until it expired on the road? Of course not! You would go to great lengths to maintain the condition of such a valuable gift.

Prayer

Just for Today - September 21

"Prayer takes practice, and we should remind ourselves that skilled people were not born with their skills." Basic Text, p.45

Many of us came into recovery with no experience in prayer and worried about not knowing the "right words!" Some of us remembered the words we'd learned in childhood but weren't sure we believed in those words anymore. Whatever our background, in recovery we struggled to find words that spoke truly from our hearts.

Courage to Change

Just for Today - September 20

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Serenity Prayer

Recovery involves change, and change means doing things differently. The problem is, many of us resist doing things differently; what we're doing may not be working, but at least we're familiar with it. It takes courage to step out into the unknown. How do we find that courage?

Fellowship

Just for Today - September 19

"In NA, our joys are multiplied by sharing good days; our sorrows are lessened by sharing the bad. For the first time in our lives, we don't have to experience anything alone." IP No.16, "For the Newcomer"

Honest Relationships

Just for Today - September 18

"One of the most profound changes in our lives is in the realm of personal relationships."

Basic Text pg. 55

Recovery gives many of us relationships that are closer and more intimate than any we've had before. As time passes, we find ourselves gravitating toward those who eventually become our friends, our sponsor and our partners in life. Shared laughter, tears, and struggles bring shared respect and lasting empathy.

Going Beyond Step Five

Just for Today - September 17

"We may think that we have done enough by writing about our past. We cannot afford this mistake." Basic Text p.32

Emotional Balance

Just for Today - September 16

"Emotional balance is one of the first results of meditation, and our experience bears this out."

Basic Text p.45

Filling the Emptiness

Just for Today - September 15

"..we think that if we can just get enough food, enough sex, or enough money, we'll be satisfied and everything will be alright."

Basic Text p.77

Secrets Are Reservations

Just for today - September 14

"Eventually we are shown that we must get honest, or we will use again." Basic Text p.82

Everyone has secrets, right? Some of us have little secrets, items that would cause only minor embarrassment if found out. Some of us have big secrets, whole areas of our lives cloaked in thick, murky darkness. Big secrets may represent a more obvious, immediate danger to our recovery. But the little secrets do their own kind of damage, the more insidious perhaps because we think they're "harmless!"

Something Different

Just for today - September 13

"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 we're 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 "different" place inside us, to make us whole and acceptable. Drugs seemed to fill that need.

New Horizons

Just for today - September 12

"My life is well-rounded and I am becoming a more comfortable version of myself, not the neurotic, boring person that I thought I'd be without drugs."

Basic Text p.262

Is there really life without drugs? Newcomers are sure that they are destined to lead a humdrum existence once they quit using. That fear is far from reality.

Bend With the Wind

Just for today - September 11

"We learn to become flexible.. As new things are revealed, we feel renewed."

Basic Text p.98

More Powerful Than Words

Just for today - September 10

"We learn that a simple, loving hug can make all the difference in the world."

Basic Text p.88

Perhaps there have been times in our recovery when we were close to someone who was in great pain. We struggled with the question, "What can I do to make them feel better?" We felt anxious and inadequate to relieve their suffering. We wished we had more experience to share. We didn't know what to say.

Feet of Clay

Just for today - September 9

"One of the biggest stumbling blocks to recovery seems to be placing unrealistic expectations on... others." Basic Text p.78

Rebellion

Just for today - September 8

"We need not lose faith when we become rebellious."    Basic Text p.34

Many of us have lived our entire lives in revolt. Our initial response to any type of direction is often negative. Automatic rejection of authority seems to be a troubling character defect for many addicts.

Resentment and Forgiveness

Just for Today - September 7

"Where there has been wrong, the program teaches us the spirit of forgiveness."

Basic Text p.12

In NA, we begin to interact with the world around us. We no longer live in isolation. But freedom from isolation has its price.

The more we interact with people, the more often we'll find someone stepping on our toes. And such are the circumstances in which resentments are often born.

Regular Meeting Attendance

Just for Today - September 6

"We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean."

Basic Text p.9

Not Hopelessly Bad

Just for Today - September 5

"We find that we suffer from a disease, not a moral dilemma. We were critically ill, not hopelessly bad." 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.

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