JUST FOR TODAY

[Caressa2]

"So many times, addicts have sought the rewards of hard work without the labour."

NA Basic Text, p. 33

When we first come to NA, some of us wanted everything, and right away. We wanted the serenity, the cars, he happy relationships, the friends, the closeness with our sponsor-all the things othe people had gotten after months and yeas of working the steps and living life on life's terms.

We learn the hard way that serenity comes only from working the steps. A new car comes from showing up on the job every day and trying to "practice these principles in all our affairs," including our employment. Healthy relationships come as a result of lots of hard work and a new willingness to communicate. Friendships with our sponsor comes as a result of reaching out during the good times as well as the bad.

In Narcotics Anonymous, we have found the path to a better way of life. To reach our destination, however, we must do the footwork.

JUST FOR TODAY: I want a better life. I will make an inventory of what I want, find out how to get it, talk with my sponsor about it, and do the necessary footwork.

[Caressa2]

"Addiction is a family disease, but we could only change ourselves."

IP No. 13, Youth and Recovery

Many of us come from severely damaged families. At times, the insanity that reigns among our relatives feels overwhelming. Sometimes we feel like packing our bags and moving far, far away.

We pray that our family members will join us in recovery but, to our great sadness, this does not always happen. Sometimes, despite our best efforts to carry the message, we find that we cannot help those we hold most dear. Our group experience has taught us that, frequently, we are too close to our relatives to help them. We learn it is better to leave them in our Higher Power's care.

We have found that when we stop trying to settle the problems of family members, we give them the room they need to work things out in their own lives. We have faith that God will will help our relatives. Often, the best thing we can give our loved ones is the example of our own ongoing recovery. For the sake of our family's sanity and our own, we must let our relatives find their own way to recover.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will seek to work my own program and leave my family in the care of a Higher Power.

[Caressa2]

"We have found that we have no choice except to compeltely change our old ways of thinking or go back to using."

NA Basic Text,p. 21

Many of us find that our old ways of thinking were dominated by fear. We were afraid that we wouldn't be able to get our drugs or that there wouldn't be enough. We feared discovery, arrest and incarceration. Further down the list were fears of financial problems, homelessness, overdose, and illness. An our fear controlled our actions.

The early days of recovery weren't a great deal different for many of us; then, too, fear dominated our thinking. "What if staying clean hurts too much?" we asked ourselves. "What if I can't make it? What if the people in NA don't like me? What if NA doesn't work?" The fear behind these thoughts can still control our behavior, keeping us from taking the risks necessary to stay clean and grow. It may seem easier to resign ourselves to certain failure, giving up before we start, then to risk everything on a slim hope. But that kind of thinking leads only to relapse.

To stay clean, we must find the willingness to change our old ways of thinking. What has worked for other addicts can work for us-but we must be willing to try it. We must trade in our old cynical doubts for new affirmations of hope. When we do, we'll find it's worth the risk.

JUST FOR TODAY: I pray for the willingness to change my old ways of thinking, and for the abiality to overcome my fears.

[Caressa2]

"This is our road to spiritual growth."

NA Basic Text, p. 35

When we arrived at our first NA Meeting, it looked like the end of the road to many of us. We weren't going to be able to use anymore. We were spiritually bankrupt. Most of us were totally isolated and didn't think we had much to live for. Little did we realize that, as we began our program of recovery, we were stepping onto a road of unlimited possibilities.

At fist, just not using was tough enough. Yet, as we watched other addicts working the steps and applying those principles in their lives, we began to see that recovery was more than just not using. The lives of our NA friends had changed. They had a relationship with the God of their understanding. They were responsible members of the fellowship and of society. They had a reason to live. We began to believe these things were possible for us, too.

As we continue our recovery journey, we can get sidetracked by complacency, intolerance, or dishonesy. When we do, we need to recognize the signs quickly and get back on our path - the open road to freedom and growth.

JUST FOR TODAY: I am continuing to develop my spiritual, social, and general living skills by applying the principles of my program, I can travel as far as I wish on the open road of recovery.

[Caressa2]

"Many of us understand God to be simply whatever force keeps us clean."

NA Basic Text, p. 25

Some of us enter recovery with a working understanding of a Higher Power. For a lot of us, however, "God" is a troublesome word. We may doubt the existence of any sort of Power greater than ourselves. Or we may remember uncomfortable experiences with religion and shy away from "the God stuff."

Starting over in recovery means we can start over in our spiritual life, too. If we're not comfortable with what we learned when we were growing up, we can try a different approach to our spirituality. We don't have to understand everything all at once or find the answers to all our questions right away. Sometimes it's enough just to know that other NA members believe and that their belief helps keep them clean.

JUST FOR TODAY: All I have to know right now about my Higher Power is that it is the Power that helps keep me clean.

[tired]

dear carees what you wrote today makes absolute sence to me from reading your post i can see my a struggles and fears but ican also see he is no where near trying so i will pray that my hp to come into his life and show him the unlimited possibilities if he would only give it a chance thanks your friend tired

[Caressa2]

"Through abstinence and through working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous, our lives have become useful."

NA Basic Text, p. 8

Before coming to Narcotics Anonymous, our lives were centered around using. For the most part, we had very little energy left over for jobs, relationships, or other activities. We served only our addiction.

The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous provide a simple way to turn our lives around. We start by staying clean, a day at a time. When our energy is no longer channeled into our addiction, we find that we have the energy to pursue other interests. As we grow in recovery, we become able to sustain healthy relationships. We become trustworthy exployees. Hobbies and recreation seem more inviting. Through participation in Narcotics Anonymous, we help others.

Narcotics Anonymous does not promise us that we will find good jobs, loving relationships, or a fulfilling life. But when we work the Twelve Stepps to the best of our ability, we find that we can become the type of people who are capable of finding employment, sustaining loving relationships, and helping others. We stop serving our disease, and begin serving god and others. The Twelve Steps are the key to transforming our lives.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will have the wisdom to use the Twelve Steps in my life, and the courage to grow in my recovery. I will practice my program to become a responsible, productive member of society.

[Caressa2]

"Recovery is a reality for us today."

NA Basic Text, p 97

Pain and misery were realities in our using lives. We wer unwilling either to accept our living situation or to change what was unacceptable in our lives. We attempted to escape life's pain by taking drugs, but using only compounded our troubles. Our altered sense of reality became a nightmare.

Through living the program of Narcotics Anonymous, we learn that our dreams can replace our nightmares. We grow and change. We acquire the freedom of choice. We are able to give and receive love. We can share honestly about ourselves, no longer magnifying or minimizing the truth. We accept the challenges real life offers us, facing them in a mature, responsible way.

Although recovery does not give us immunity from the realities of life, in the NA Fellowship we can find the support, genuine care, and concern we need to face those realities. We need never hide from reality by using drugs again, for our unity with other recovering addicts gives us strength. Today, the support, the care and the empathy of recovery gives us a clean, clear window through which to view, experience, and appreciate reality as it is.

JUST FOR TODAY: A gift of my recovery is living and enjoying life as it truly is. Today, I will embrace, reality.

[Caressa2]

"The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery."

NA IP NO. 19, Self-Acceptance.

Most of us came to Narcotics Anonymous without much self-acceptance. We looked at the havoc we had wreaked in our active addiction, and we loathed ourselves. We had difficulty accepting our past and the self-image produced by it.

Self-Acceptance comes more quickly when we first accept that we have a disease called addiction, because it's easier to accept ourselves as sick people than as bad people. And the easier it is to accept ourselves, the easier it becomes to accept responsibility for ourselves.

We achieve self-acceptance through the process of ongoing recovery. Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous teaches us to accept ourselves and our lives. Spiritual principles like surrender, honesty, faith and humility help relieve us of the burden of our past mistakes. Our attitude changes with the application of these principles in our daily lives. Self-acceptance grows as we grow in recovery.

JUST FOR TODAY: Self-acceptance is a process set in motion by the Twelve Steps. Today, I will trust the process, practice the steps, and learn to better accept myself.

[Caressa2]

"We want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today."

NA Basic Text, p. 28

Many of us had trouble identifying our resentments when we were new in recovery. There we sat with our Fourth Step in front of us, thinking and thinking, finally deciding that we just didn't have any resentments. Perhaps we talked ourselves into believing that we weren't so sick after all.

Such unwitting denial of our resentments stems fromt he conditioning of our addiction. Most of our feeligns were buried, and buried deep. After some time in recovery, a new sense of understanding develops. Our most deeply buried feelings begin to surface, and those resentments we thought we didn't have suddenly emerge.

As we examine these resentments, we may feel tempted to hold onto some of them, especially if we think they are "justified." But what we need to remember is that "justified" resentments are just as burdensome as any other resentment.

As our awareness of our liabilities grows, so does our responsibility to let go. We no longer need to hang on to our resentments. We want to rid ourselves of what's undesirable and set ourselves free to recover.

JUST FOR TODAY: When I discover a resentment, I'll see it for what it is and let it go.

[Caressa2]

"We can also use the steps to improve our attitudes. Our best thinking got us into trouble. We recognize the need for change."

NA Basic Text, p. 53

When new in recovery, most of us had at least one person we just couldn't stand. We thought that person was the rudest, most obnoxious person in the program. We knw there was something we could do, some principle of recovry we could practice to get over the way we felt about this person-but what? We asked our sponsor for guidance. We were probably assured, with an amused smile, that if we just kept coming back, we'd see the person get better. That made sense to us. We believed that the steps of NA worked in the lives of everyone. If they could work for us, they could work for this horrible person, too.

Time passed, and at some point we noticed that the person didn't seem as rude or obnoxious as before. In fact,he or she had become downright tolerable, maybe even likeable. We got a pleasant jolt as we realized who had really gotten better. Because we kept coming back, because we had kept working the steps, our perception of this person had changed. The person who'd plagued us had become "tolerable" because we'd developed some tolerance; he or she had become "likeable" because we'd developed the ability to love.

So who really gets better? We do! As we practice the program, we gain a whole new outlook on those around us by gaining a new outlook on ourselves.

JUST FOR TODAY: As I get better, so will others. Today, I will practice tolerance and try to love those I meet.

Note: Sorry this is late but have an eye infection and wasn't up to typing earlier today.

[Caressa2]

"Living just for today relieves the burdens of the past and the fear of the future. We learn to take whatever actions are necessary and to leave the results in the hands of our Higher Power."

NA Basic Text, pp. 90-91

In our active addiction, fear of the future and what might happen was a reality for many of us. What if we got arrested? lost our job? our spouse died? we went bankrupt? and on, and on, and on. It was not unusual for us to spend hours, even whole days thinking about what might happen. We played out entire conversations and scenarios before they ever occured, then charted our course on the basis of "what if...." By doing this, we set ourselves up for disappointment after disappointment.

From listening in meetings, we learn that living in the present, not the world of "what if," is the only way to short-circuit our self-fulfilling prophecies of doom and gloom. We can only deal with what is real today, not our fearful fantasies of the future.

Coming to believe that our Higher Power has only the best in store for us is one way we can combat that fear. We hear in meetings that our Higher Power won't give us more than we can handle in one day. And we know from experience that, if we ask, the God we've come to understand will surely care for us. We stay clean through adverse situations by practicing our faith in the care of a Power greater than ourselves. Each time we do, we become less fearful of "what if" and more comfortable with what is.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will look forward to the future with faith in my Higher Power.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Sometimes I feel like my Higher Power has more faith in me than I have in myself. I do know though that I am what I think and that if I think negative I attract it, and I can get stuck in it. I am what I eat! Whether it is mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically, what goes in, comes out!

[Caressa2]

"Ongoing recovery is dependent on our relationship with a loving God who cares for us and will do for us what we find impossible to do for ourselves."

NA Basic Text, p. 96

How often have we heard it said in meetings that "God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves" At times we may get stuck in our recovery, unable, afraid, or unwilling to make the decisions we know we must make to move forward. Perhaps we are unable to end a relationship that just isn't working. Maybe our job has become a source of too much conflict. Or perhaps we fel we need to find a new sponsor but are afraid tobegin the search. Through the grace of our Higher Power, unexpected change may occur in precisely the area we felt unable to alter.

We sometimes allow ourselves to become stuck inthe problem instead of moving forward toward the solution. At these times, we often find that our Higher Power does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Perhaps our partner decides to end our relationship. We may get fired or laid off. Or our sponsor tells us that he or she can no longer work with us, forcing us to look for a new one.

Sometimes what occurs in our lives can be frightening as change often seems. But we also hear that "God never closes a door without opening another one." As we move forward with faith, the strength of our Higher Power is never far from us. Our recovery is strengthened by these changes.

JUST FOR TODAY: I trust that the God of my understanding will do for me what I cannot do for myself.