Narcotics Anonymous Step Working Guides

1 NA Step Guide 1 The Narcotics Anonymous Step Working Guide This is NA Fellowship-approved literature Copyright 1998, World Service Office, Inc. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Contents Preface .. 4 Step One .. 5 We admitted we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.. 5 The Disease of Addiction .. 5 Denial .. 6 Hitting Bottom: Despair and Isolation .. 6 Powerlessness ..7 Unmanageability ..7 Reservations .. 8 Surrender .. 9 Spiritual Principles .. 9 Moving On .. 11 Step Two .. 11 We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.. 11 Hope.

2 12 Insanity .. 12 Coming to Believe .. 13 A Power Greater Than Ourselves .. 14 Restoration to Sanity .. 14 Spiritual Principles .. 15 Power Greater Than Myself .. 16 Moving On .. 17 Step Three .. 17 We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.. 17 Making a Decision .. 18 Self-Will .. 19 The God of Our Understanding .. 20 Turning It Over .. 21 Spiritual Principles .. 22 Moving On .. 23 Step Four .. 23 We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.. 23 Motivation .. 24 Searching and Fearless .. 24 A Moral Inventory .. 25 An Inventory of Ourselves.

3 26 NA Step Guide 2 Spiritual Principles .. 26 The Inventory .. 26 Resentments .. 26 Feelings .. 27 Guilt, Shame .. 27 Fear .. 27 Relationships .. 28 Sex .. 29 Abuse .. 30 Assets .. 31 Secrets .. 31 Moving On .. 32 Step Five .. 32 We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.. 32 Facing Fears .. 33 Admitted to God .. 33 To Ourselves .. 33 And to another human being .. 34 The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs .. 35 Spiritual Principles .. 35 Moving On .. 36 Step Six .. 37 We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.. 37 Entirely Ready for what? .. 37 To Have God.

4 38 Our Defects of Character .. 39 Spiritual Principles .. 39 Moving On .. 41 Step Seven .. 41 We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.. 41 Preparing To Work Step Seven .. 42 Asking To Have Our Shortcomings Removed .. 43 Getting Out Of The Way .. 44 Spiritual Principles .. 44 Moving On .. 45 Step Eight .. 45 We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.. 45 The People We Harmed and How We Harmed Them .. 47 Making Our List .. 48 Becoming Willing .. 49 Spiritual Principles .. 50 Moving On .. 51 Step Nine .. 51 We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

5 51 Amends .. 52 Fears and Expectations .. 52 Amends Direct and Indirect .. 54 Forgiveness .. 56 Making Amends .. 58 Spiritual Principles .. 59 NA Step Guide 3 Moving On .. 59 Step Ten .. 60 We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.. 60 Feeling versus Doing .. 60 Right and Wrong .. 62 How Often Should We Take A Personal Inventory? .. 63 A Personal Inventory .. 64 Spiritual Principles .. 65 Moving On .. 66 Step Eleven .. 67 We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

6 67 Our Own Spiritual Path .. 67 Prayer and Meditation .. 69 Conscious Contact .. 70 God s Will .. 71 The Power to Carry That Out .. 72 Spiritual Principles .. 72 Moving On .. 73 Step Twelve .. 74 Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.. 74 We Tried To Carry This Message .. 74 To Addicts .. 77 Practicing These Principles in All Our Affairs .. 77 Spiritual Principles .. 78 Moving On .. 79 NA Step Guide 4 Preface The idea for this piece of literature came from the Narcotics Anonymous Fellowship itself. Beginning in the early 1980s, we began receiving Twelve Step Guides and step worksheets along with requests that we develop a standard set of Guides for the NA Fellowship to use in Working through the Twelve Steps.

7 Fellowship demand propelled this project up the NA World Service Conference Literature Committee s priority wordlists, and finally resulted in the World Service Conference directing the WSCLC to go ahead with the project at WSC 95. The Working title for this project for many years was the Step Writing Guides . However, we recognized that the word writing imposed a limitation on members who may be unable to write or may choose not to use writing as the means for Working the Twelve Steps. Therefore, the title became the Step Working Guides . Each chapter includes both narrative and questions. The narrative is meant to provoke thought about the questions but is not meant to be comprehensive.

8 There is a difference in voice between the narrative and the questions. The narrative is written in the we voice to promote unity about what we all have in common: our addiction and recovery. The questions are written in the individual I voice so that each member using these Guides can personalize the work. The Step Working Guides is a companion piece to It Works: How and Why. Thorough discussion of each of the Twelve Steps is contained in that work. Additional information about NA recovery can be found in other NA literature. If we find that any of the terms used in this book are unfamiliar, we should feel free to make use of a dictionary.

9 These Guides are meant to be used by NA members at any stage of recovery, whether it s our first time through the steps or we ve been living with the steps as our guiding force for many years. This book is intentionally written to be relevant to newcomers and to help more experienced members develop a deeper understanding of the Twelve Steps. As NA grows in numbers, in diversity, and in strength and longevity of clean time, we need literature that will continue to serve the needs of the fellowship1 literature that grows along with the fellowship. However, as open and inclusive as we tried to be when writing these Guides , we realized that we would never be able to write something that captured every member s experience with the steps.

10 In fact, we wouldn t have tried to do that, even if we thought it were possible. This book contains Guides to Working the Twelve Steps toward recovery; it does not contain recovery itself. Recovery is ultimately found in each member s personal experience with Working the steps. You can add to these Guides , delete from them, or use them as they are. It s your choice. There s probably only one inappropriate way to use these Guides : alone. We can t overemphasize the importance of Working with a sponsor in Working the steps. In fact, in our fellowship, a sponsor is considered, first and foremost, a guide through the Twelve Steps. If you haven t yet asked someone to sponsor you, please do so before beginning these Guides .