Just for Today Reading!

November 16

Alone no more

“We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life.” Basic Text, p. 37 ––––=–––– Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people—especially people who were not using—at all costs.  After years of isolation, trying to find a place for ourselves in a bustling, sometimes boisterous fellowship is not always easy.  We may still feel isolated, focusing on our differences rather than our similarities.  The overwhelming feelings that often arise in early recovery—feelings of fear, anger, and mistrust—can also keep us isolated.  We may feel like aliens but we must remember, the alienation is ours, not NA’s. In Narcotics Anonymous, we are offered a very special opportunity for friendship.  We are brought together with people who understand us like no one else can.  We are encouraged to share with these people our feelings, our problems, our triumphs, and our failures.  Slowly, the recognition and identification we find in NA bridge the lonely gap of alienation in our hearts.  As we’ve heard it said—the program works, if we let it. ––––=–––– Just for today:  The friendship of other members of the fellowship is a life-sustaining gift.  I will reach out for the friendship that’s offered in NA, and accept it. I remember the day when I came in to recovery, I did not want to open up, I did not want to share anything about my life with anyone, as I was a very private person. I did not want to share anything about my past with anyone. I remember the first week very well... I did not say a word to anyone...  Once I learned about opening up, and the feeling I got with sharing my story with other people, and finally came to understand the meaning to opening up with other people... I felt so much better, cause I came to understand that WOW... I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE! Now that I am 3.5 years clean and sober, I have made many friends in the fellowship of NA, and I have a lot of people that I can call when I am going through something, and it helps so much when someone else understands what I have been through in my life... cause well .. they have been through the same thing! My name is Denny, and I am a Addict! :)

Just for Today Reading... Nov 15th

November 15

Letting go

“Take my will and my life.  Guide me in my recovery.  Show me how to live.” Basic Text, p. 26 ––––=–––– How do we begin the process of letting our Higher Power guide our lives?  When we seek advice about situations that trouble us, we often find that our Higher Power works through others.  When we accept that we don’t have all the answers, we open ourselves to new and different options.  A willingness to let go of our preconceived ideas and opinions opens the channel for spiritual guidance to light our way. At times, we must be driven to the point of distraction before we are ready to turn difficult situations over to our Higher Power.  Anxiously plotting, struggling, planning, worrying—none of these suffice.  We can be sure that if we turn our problems over to our Higher Power, through listening to others share their experience or in the quiet of meditation, the answers will come. There is no point in living a frantic existence.  Charging through life like the house is on fire exhausts us and gets us nowhere.  In the long run, no amount of manipulation on our part will change a situation.  When we let go and allow ourselves access to a Higher Power, we will discover the best way to proceed.  Rest assured, answers derived from a sound spiritual basis will be far superior to any answers we could concoct on our own. ––––=–––– Just for today:  I will let go and let my Higher Power guide my life. Most of us, (like my self) came to this recovery program for the first time, we heard all this talk about GOD, or GOD OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING. Like most, I was afraid of that... I have never in my life been much of a God person, I was always afraid to open my mind to something like church or any religion for that matter, Mainly cause I was mad!  The best part of this Recovery Program that we MUST live to is that it is all based around THE GOD OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING. The idea is for you to come to believe that there is something out there that is bigger and stronger than you, that is willing to listen in your time of need, that is willing to Guide you in your recovery... help you meet new people in your life that don 't use. I came to believe that there was something bigger and better to me out there and my life became so much more easier ! My recovery kinda just fell in to place, and now I am living the life that I never thought I could... Thanks to the 12 steps, and the God of my understanding... I am clean and sober today, and have the heart and mind set to help others see that life is so much better that way! :)  My name is Denny, And I am a Addict!

Just for Today Reading!

November 12

Our own story

“When we honestly tell our own story, someone else may identify with us.” Basic Text, p. 98 ––––=–––– Many of us have heard truly captivating speakers at Narcotics Anonymous conventions.  We remember the audience alternating between tears of identification and joyous hilarity.  “Someday,” we may think, “I’m going to be a main speaker at a convention, too.” Well, for many of us, that day has yet to arrive.  Once in awhile we may be asked to speak at a meeting near where we live.  We might speak at a small convention workshop.  But after all this time, we’re still not “hot” convention speakers—and that’s okay.  We’ve learned that we, too, have a special message to share, even if it’s only at a local meeting with fifteen or twenty addicts in attendance. Each of us has only our own story to tell; that’s it.  We can’t tell anyone else’s story.  Every time we get up to speak, many of us find all the clever lines and funny stories seem to disappear from our minds.  But we do have something to offer.  We carry the message of hope—we can and do recover from our addiction.  And that’s enough. ––––=–––– Just for today:  I will remember that my honest story is what I share the best.  Today, that’s enough. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We all came to recovery thinking that we had to have better stories than everyone else, but really all that was, was our need to want to be better than everyone else in recovery. In the 3.5 years that I have been clean and sober, I have found that some of us that are new in recovery tend to Glamorize our addiction, to make it sound like it was fun, or had it's fun times, and lets face it .. sometimes it did, but if you were to sit and think about all the good times and and all the bad times, the bad times would out weigh the good times by far, Just for today, we only need to think about our recovery, we only need to think where we want to be , not where we once were, we only need to only come to a understanding that yes, we had some good times, but never again, do we need to follow that path again, cause really! Lets face it, our bad times will always out weigh the good times, and the good times, well they were not really that good! Cause we were not our selves then....  I truly hope you all have a understanding that the better times are yet to come, and thats cause we are in recovery! :)  My name is Denny, I am a addict! And let me tell you the GOOD TIMES have all came to my life, while I lived a life in Recovery!