Narcotics Anonymous Primary Purpose Group

GBR (Gray Book Reflection) 1/5
"In our experience, the Twelve Steps give us a way of life which does more than keep us off drugs."
Gray Book, p. 159
Lines 2-3
Chapter Ten
In Narcotics Anonymous the First Step talks about our powerlessness over our addiction.
Narcotics Anonymous is not a drug program, it's a Recovery Program.
We Recover from a hopeless state of mind, body and Spirit that makes up the disease of addiction.

*****Total and Complete Abstinence and maintaining Total and Complete Abstinence is the Cornerstone of N.A.******
But, Narcotics Anonymous is much more than that. Since addiction is much more than just using drugs, our Recovery has to be more than just remaining Clean.
Addicts have to Practice Spiritual Principles in every area of their Lives.
It's about "don't use, now what?"
As we Live the Spiritual Principles locked in our Steps and Traditions, our Spirits Awaken and we get the Benefits of the Spiritual Fruits that the Steps and Traditions have to Offer.
We find a God Of Our Understanding and Develop a Relationship with that God.
We have the opportunity for Spiritual Growth with no limitations. We then share this Precious Gift with others as we Carry the Message to the addict who still suffers.
We Awaken others as are Awaken. We also have the opportunity of Freedom from the self bo***ge the disease had kept us in.
We also, as a result are given Freedom from other people's control over us.
The Spiritual Principles of Narcotics Anonymous can be accessed, if we work for them.
Narcotics Anonymous makes the world a much better place to Live in, for us and for those around us.
In This Moment; We will see the full Benefits of the N.A. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions and not limit them to just not using drugs.

January 05, 2017

Recovery at home

Page 5

"We can enjoy our families in a new way and may become a credit to them instead of an embarrassment or a burden."

Basic Text, p.104

We're doing great in recovery, aren't we? We go to a meeting every day, we spend every evening with our friends in the fellowship, and every weekend we dash off to a service workshop. But if things are falling to pieces at home, we're not doing so great after all.

We expect our families to understand. After all, we're not using drugs anymore. Why don't they recognize our progress? Don't they understand how important our meetings, our service, and our involvement with the fellowship are?

Our families will not appreciate the change NA is working in our lives unless we show them. If we rush off to a meeting the same way we rushed off to use drugs, what has changed? If we continue to ignore the needs and desires of our partners and children, failing to accept our responsibilities at home, we aren't "practicing these principles in all our affairs."

We must live the program everywhere we go, in everything we do. If we want the spiritual life to be more than a theory, we have to live it at home. When we do this, the people we share our lives with are sure to notice the change and be grateful that we've found NA.

Just for Today: I will take my recovery home with me.

Page one 48 "Musts" in Narcotics Anonymous as found in the Basic text
P. 1. "Everything that occurs in the course of N.A. service MUST be motivated by the desire to more successfully car­ry the message of recovery to the addict who still suffers."­pg. XVI 2. "We MUST always remember that as individual mem­bers, groups, and service committees we are not and should never be in competition with each other." pg. XVI 3. "We MUST face our problems and our feelings." - pg. 15 4. "We are people with the disease of addiction who MUST abstain from all drugs in order to recover." -pg. 18 5. "A second admission MUST be made before our founda­tion is complete." pg. 21 Explanation: It is not enough to admit that we are powerless over drugs, we MUST also admit that our lives had become unmanageable. 6. "We MUST be done with the past and not cling to it." - pg. 28' 7. "Assets MUST also be considered, if we are to get an accurate and complete picture of ourselves." - pg. 28 8. "Although He already knows, the admission MUST come from our own lips to be truly effective. Step five is not simply a reading of step four." - pg. 31 9. & 10. "We MUST carefully choose the person who is to hear our fifth step.' We MUST make sure that they know what we are doing and why we are doing it." - pg. 31 11. "We MUST be exact." - pg. 32 12. " We MUST realize that we are not perfect." - pg. 3 5 13. "Our experience tells us that we MUST become willing this step will have any effect." - pg. 36 (step eight) 14. "We MUST separate what was done to us from what we did to others." - pg. 37 15. "As with each step we MUST, be thorough." - pg. 38 16. "We MUST remember the pain that they have known." - pg. 40 17. " It is said that for meditation to be of value, the results MUST show in our daily lives." - pg. 46 18. "We MUST give freely and gratefully that which has been freely and gratefully given to us." - pg. 47 19. "Our disease involved much more than just using drugs, so our recovery MUST involve much more than simple ab­stinence." - pg. 53 20. "We MUST give up this old concept and face the fact that reality and life go on, whether we choose to accept them or not." - pg. 53 21. & 22. "When we are prepared, we MUST try out our newly found way of life. We learn the program won't work when we try to adapt it to our life. We MUST learn to adapt our life to the program." - pg. 55 23. "Unity is a MUST in Narcotics Anonymous." - pg. 60 24. "We MUST live and work together as a group to ensure that in a storm our ship does not sink and our members do not perish." - pg. 60 25. "We MUST be constantly on guard that our decisions are truly an expression of God's will." - pg. 61 26. "An atmosphere of recovery in our groups is one of the most valued assets, and we MUST guard it carefully, lest we lose it to politics and personalities."- pg. 61 27. "We MUST remember that officers have been Placed in trust that we are trusted servants, and that at no time do any of us govern." - pg. 61 28. "Our Sixth Tradition tells us some of the things we MUST do to preserve and protect our primary purpose." - pg. 66 29. "We MUST first understand what N.A. is. Narcotics Anonymous is addicts who have the desire to stop using, and have joined together to do so." - pg. 70 30. "In order to achieve our spiritual aim, Narcotics Anony­mous MUST be known and respected." - pg. 71 31. "To improve ourselves takes effort and since there is no way in the world to graft a new idea on a closed mind, an opening MUST be made somehow." - pg. 75 32. "We MUST relearn many things that we have forgotten and develop a new approach to life if we are to survive." - pg. 77 33. "We realize we MUST do something." - pg. 78 (read the prior sentences) 34. "When we feel the old urges come over us, we think there MUST be something wrong with us, and that other people in Narcotics Anonymous couldn't possibly under­stand." - pg. 79 35. "We come here powerless and the power that we seek comes to us through other people in Narcotics Anonymous, but we MUST reach out for it." - pg. 79 36. "Recovery found in Narcotics Anonymous MUST come from within, and no one stays clean for anyone but them­selves." - pg. 80 37. "if we have relapsed it is important to keep in mind that we MUST get back to meetings as soon as possible." - pg. 80 38. "We MUST totally surrender ourselves to the program." - pg. 81 39. "We MUST use what we learn or we will lose it in a re­lapse." - pg. 81 40. "We MUST, use what we learn or we will lose it, no matter how long we have been clean." - pg. 82 41. "Eventually we are shown that we MUST get honest or we will use again." - pg. 82 42. "We MUST smash the illusion that we can do it alone." - pg. 82 43. "Staying clean MUST always come first." - pg. 82 44. "Some things we MUST accept, others we can change." - pg. 92 45. "We MUST be willing to do whatever is necessary to recover." - pg. 93 46. "We never know when the time will come when we MUST put forth all the effort and strength we have just to stay clean." - pg. 93 47. "No matter how painful life's tragedies can be for us, one thing is clear we MUST not use no matter what!" - pg. 98 48. "In order to receive we MUST be willing to give." - pg. 102