All the Readings - Free State Region of Narcotics Anonymous

1 Who Is an Addict?Most of us do not have to think twice about this know! Our whole life and thinking was centered in drugsin one form or another the getting and using and findingways and means to get more. We lived to use and usedto live. Very simply, an addict is a man or woman whoselife is controlled by drugs. We are people in the grip of acontinuing and progressive illness whose ends are alwaysthe same: jails, institutions, and from the Little White Booklet, Narcotics Anonymous . 1986 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 ISBN 0-912075-65-1 10/00 What Is theNarcotics AnonymousProgram?NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women forwhom drugs had become a major problem. We are recoveringaddicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. Thisis a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There isonly one requirement for membership, the desire to stop suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself abreak.

2 Our program is a set of principles written so simply thatwe can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thingabout them is that they are no strings attached to NA. We are not affiliatedwith any other organizations. We have no initiation fees ordues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to are not connected with any political, religious, or lawenforcement groups, and are under no surveillance at anytime. Anyone may join us regardless of age, race, sexualidentity, creed, religion, or lack of are not interested in what or how much you used or whoyour connections were, what you have done in the past, howmuch or how little you have, but only in what you want to doabout your problem and how we can help. The newcomer isthe most important person at any meeting, because we canonly keep what we have by giving it away. We have learnedfrom our group experience that those who keep coming to ourmeetings regularly stay from the Little White Booklet, Narcotics Anonymous .

3 1986 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 ISBN 0-912075-65-1 10/00 Why Are We Here?Before coming to the Fellowship of NA, we could notmanage our own lives. We could not live and enjoy life as otherpeople do. We had to have something different and we thoughtwe had found it in drugs. We placed their use ahead of thewelfare of our families, our wives, husbands, and our had to have drugs at all costs. We did many people greatharm but most of all we harmed ourselves. Through ourinability to accept personal responsibilities we were actuallycreating our own problems. We seemed to be incapable offacing life on its own of us realized that in our addiction we were slowlycommitting suicide, but addiction is such a cunning enemy oflife that we had lost the power to do anything about it. Many ofus ended up in jail or sought help through medicine, religion,and psychiatry. None of these methods was sufficient for disease always resurfaced or continued to progress untilin desperation we sought help from each other in coming to NA, we realized we were sick people.

4 Wesuffered from a disease from which there is no known cure. Itcan, however, be arrested at some point and recovery is from the Little White Booklet, Narcotics Anonymous . 1986 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 ISBN 0-912075-65-1 10/00We Do RecoverWhen at the end of the road we find that we can no longerfunction as a human being, either with or without drugs, we allface the same dilemma. What is there left to do? There seemsto be this alternative: either go on as best we can to the bitterends jails, institutions or death or find a new way to live. Inyears gone by, very few addicts ever had this last who are addicted today are more fortunate. For the firsttime in man s entire history, a simple way has been provingitself in the lives of many addicts. It is available to us all. This isa simple spiritual not religious program, known as from the White Booklet, Narcotics Anonymous . 1986 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

5 , PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 ISBN 0-912075-65-1 6/04(over)How It WorksIf you want what we have to offer, and are willing to make theeffort to get it, then you are ready to take certain steps. Theseare the principles that made our recovery possible:1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, thatour lives had become We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselvescould restore us to We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to thecare of God as we understood We made a searching and fearless moral inventory We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another humanbeing the exact nature of our We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defectsof We humbly asked Him to remove our We made a list of all persons we had harmed and becamewilling to make amends to them We made direct amends to such people wherever possible,except when to do so would injure them or We continued to take personal inventory and when we werewrong promptly admitted We sought through prayer and meditation to improve ourconscious contact with God as we understood Him.

6 Prayingonly for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carrythat Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps,we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practicethese principles in all our sounds like a big order, and we can t do it all at didn t become addicted in one day, so remember easydoes is one thing more than anything else that will defeatus in our recovery; this is an attitude of indifference orintolerance toward spiritual principles. Three of these that areindispensable are honesty, open-mindedness, and these we are well on our feel that our approach to the disease of addiction iscompletely realistic, for the therapeutic value of one addicthelping another is without parallel. We feel that our way ispractical, for one addict can best understand and help anotheraddict. We believe that the sooner we face our problems withinour society, in everyday living, just that much faster do webecome acceptable, responsible, and productive members of that only way to keep from returning to active addiction isnot to take that first drug.

7 If you are like us you know thatone is too many and a thousand never enough. We put greatemphasis on this, for we know that when we use drugs in anyform, or substitute one for another, we release our addictionall over of alcohol as different from other drugs has causeda great many addicts to relapse. Before we came to NA, manyof us viewed alcohol separately, but we cannot afford to beconfused about this. Alcohol is a drug. We are people with thedisease of addiction who must abstain from all drugs in orderto Steps reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, from the Little White Booklet, Narcotics Anonymous . 1986 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 ISBN 0-912075-65-1 10/00(over)The Twelve Traditions of NAWe keep what we have only with vigilance, and just asfreedom for the individual comes from the Twelve Steps, sofreedom for the group springs from our long as the ties that bind us together are stronger thanthose that would tear us apart, all will be Our common welfare should come first; personal recoverydepends on NA For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority a loving God as He may express Himself in our groupconscience.

8 Our leaders are but trusted servants; they donot The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop Each group should be autonomous except in mattersaffecting other groups or NA as a Each group has but one primary purpose to carry themessage to the addict who still An NA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the NAname to any related facility or outside enterprise, lestproblems of money, property, or prestige divert us from ourprimary Every NA group ought to be fully self-supporting, decliningoutside Narcotics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional,but our service centers may employ special NA, as such, ought never be organized, but we may createservice boards or committees directly responsible to thosethey Narcotics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hencethe NA name ought never be drawn into public Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather thanpromotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity atthe level of press, radio, and Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions,ever reminding us to place principles before these Traditions comes slowly over a periodof time.

9 We pick up information as we talk to members and visitvarious groups. It usually isn t until we get involved with servicethat someone points out that personal recovery depends onNA unity, and that unity depends on how well we follow ourTraditions. The Twelve Traditions of NA are not are the guidelines that keep our Fellowship alive and following these guidelines in our dealings with others,and society at large, we avoid many problems. That is not tosay that our Traditions eliminate all problems. We still have toface difficulties as they arise: communication problems,differences of opinion, internal controversies, and troubleswith individuals and groups outside the Fellowship. However,when we apply these principles, we avoid some of the of our problems are like those that our predecessorshad to face. Their hard won experience gave birth to theTraditions, and our own experience has shown that theseprinciples are just as valid today as they were when theseTraditions were formulated.

10 Our Traditions protect us from theinternal and external forces that could destroy us. They aretruly the ties that bind us together. It is only throughunderstanding and application that they Traditions reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, from the Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous , Fifth Edition. 1988 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 ISBN 0-912075-65-1 6/03 Just for TodayTell yourself:JUST FOR TODAY my thoughts will be on my recovery,living and enjoying life without the use of FOR TODAY I will have faith in someone in NA whobelieves in me and wants to help me in my FOR TODAY I will have a program. I will try to follow itto the best of my FOR TODAY, through NA, I will try to get a betterperspective on my FOR TODAY I will be unafraid. My thoughts will be onmy new associations, people who are not using andwho have found a new way of life. So long as I followthat way, I have nothing to from the Little White Booklet, Narcotics Anonymous .