persons have visited this site since May 10, 2002
~ 2003 Form ~
"Hope is to faith as desire is to willingness."
Marietta Lit II - May 2000
Since our origins as a program and Fellowship, one common element provided for our common welfare: hope. Hope for recovery. Hope that the obsession will someday be lifted. Hope that the program is for real. Hope that things will start making sense. Hope for ourselves and others. When an addict attends an NA meeting and hears a message of hope, their ability to admit their need for help begins. Hope is catching, in a sense, and can be transmitted by spiritual interaction.
Hope is to desire something reasonable and attainable. The desire for recovery was unreasonable and unattainable for us until we found NA. Those who have gone before us had this desire and it is the same desire for recovery that makes us members today. Hope keeps us alive and vital as a Fellowship. Hope wards off negativity and apathy. While hope may seem intangible to some, its effects are profoundly visible. You can tell by looking at someone that they are hopeful. It is at the head of our list of spiritual principles because with hope, problems don't seem insurmountable. Anticipation of things getting better can be the beginning of fulfillment.
We know when we feel hopeless; solutions are apt to appear distant and unlikely. A lot of us in NA learn to give and receive hope from one another at the onset of our recovery. When we feel hopeful, our sense of security, optimism and self-reliance eliminate many of our concerns and help us deal with the rest. On the other hand, hopelessness breeds despair and the simplest things can seem overwhelming. As a principle, hope becomes something to be treasured. Like any treasure, there are those would steal what they could have honestly. As a fundamental part of our recovery, NA members are asked to avoid any act that would threaten to dampen or extinguish hope in the hearts of our members.
Hopelessness has its hallmarks also. Dejection, despair, desperation, despondency, discouragement can result in an incapacity for hope. When we feel these things in recovery, we learn to realize spiritual principles are being violated in some way that affects us. In this way, principles may guide us out of our hopelessness.
Policies insuring every member is capable of having a voice in NA have been a part of our Traditions and Service Structure since we first began to grow as a Fellowship. In the early seventies, dreams began which were realized by the creation of our World Service Conference in 1975. Even in our earliest days, the efforts to begin and carry the NA message were almost entirely dependent on the hope that a better way was possible for addicts. The value of the hope offered by these ‘open door' policies was made apparent by a series of efforts where the ‘door' was closed to all but a few. The failure of these efforts and the feelings of hopelessness among the many waiting on the few, proved a severe test for our Fellowship.
We can withstand some adversity because it is familiar ground for most of us. To have our sense of hope and assurance threatened not only dampens our spirits but can lead to a sense of utter abandonment - a dangerous place for recovering addicts. Hope allows us to take our first Step, though it may be so small as to go almost unnoticed. Hope allows us to make the surrenders we each must face if we are to grow in recovery. Hope is also the basis of our First Tradition. We would have no common welfare without hope.
As our trust, confidence and faith grows, so does our sense of hope. Exploitation of our members, falsification of minutes and reports, controlled elections and manipulations of group conscience have caused many or our members to lose hope. In this sense, hope as a principle may give some of us the clarity we need to avoid doing these things when they may seem desirable or important. Blindness to the effects of our actions on others makes talk of God and hope seem unimportant and unrealistic at the times when we need help the most.
There are at least two ways to learn this lesson: give in to the temptation and violate spiritual principles or avoid violating our structure and its principles. It is easy to do one and requires great faith to do the other. Where we fall into error, a public Tenth Step among our membership, is the best way to stop the disorder and gain the forgiveness we need from others. The Tenth Step puts closure on the harm done. Rule breaking always risks harming others and should be avoided by earnest study and meditation.
Where hope and a sense of purpose prevails, we addicts begin to learn feelings long lost to most of us through our active addiction. At times, we may feel almost too buoyant, too enthusiastic. Our aspirations may exceed what is possible for us - yet often in recovery today's dream is tomorrow's reality. Without a dream, we may have no tomorrow. A sense of hope allows us to discuss matters that may be unpleasant or make us uncomfortable. When disorders occur, we suffer until we get back to the NA way: Steps, Traditions and Principles. Hope helps us surrender to the 1st Step.
One addict shares simply: "Hope is a small word but a big thing and if it wasn't shown to me through NA, I think I might have died."
1.24.03
persons have visited this site since May 10, 2002
Reprinted from the
N.A. FELLOWSHIP USE ONLY
Copyright � December 1998
Victor Hugo Sewell, Jr.
N.A. Foundation Group
2692 Whitehurst Drive NE
Marietta, Georgia 30062
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All rights reserved. This draft may be copied by members of Narcotics Anonymous for the purpose of writing input for future drafts, enhancing the recovery of NA members and for the general welfare of the Narcotics Anonymous Fellowship as a whole. The use of an individual name is simply a registration requirement of the Library of Congress and not a departure from the spirit or letter of the Pledge, Preface or Introduction of this book. Any reproduction by individuals or organizations outside the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous is prohibited. Any reproduction of this document for personal or corporate monetary gain is prohibited.
Last update September 29, 2005