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~ 2008 Form
~
NA Foundation Group
Our Pledge to the NA Fellowship
This material is the result of years of work and preparation. To reach a larger
number of NA members, we have checked the spelling, grammar and paragraph order.
Some sections will be much the same. Others have been greatly improved. There
may be a 3rd Presentation form or even a 4th as we write our way to an agreeable
Final Form.
The technical editing we have done will save time, so that you can now
concentrate on the recovery and spiritual issues. Only members can perceive and
share about these. This material is the most complete form so far, but crucial
areas are missing - areas that you know more about than we do.
All this has been done to allow a greater number of members to study, review and
discuss the material. We need to find out what is missing, poorly stated or
inappropriate. We will keep your input in files, and hold conferences to discuss
how to include new material.
We remain firm in our commitment to group conscience and group processing. We
are hoping you will be moved to action and begin your own local NA Foundation
Group meeting. An NA Foundation Group uses existing NA literature, carries the
NA message of recovery, but it also reads and studies this book. The purpose is
to clarify the subjects covered, include members experience and thoroughly
process the material subject to finalization by some great number of members -
we hope for at least ten thousand.
This material is copyrighted and held in trust by those writing it, so that all
may own but none may sell it. In its final form, it will be dedicated in
gratitude to the NA program and held in trust for the Fellowship-at-large. A
�joint work� is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention
that their contributions will be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts
of a unitary whole. This was the basic idea all along. All subsequent
contributions were anonymous contributions freely given to help other addicts.
We should always keep faith with those who have freely given. All NA members will
be free to copy, produce and distribute this writing. No intrusion by outside
forces will be allowed. The authors of this work will go to great lengths to
protect the integrity and form of the NA Way of Life book as written and
approved by the NA Fellowship-at-large in open, participatory conferences. When
complete, the work will be placed in public domain.
No permission is extended to any outside enterprise or corporation. Outside
forces are defined as those who see the work we are doing as commercially viable
rather than a free expression of our experience, strength and hope. We do not
charge for our Twelfth Step, nor do we allow others to do so. We trust a loving
God to care for us, provide for us and protect us from the
pressures of money, property and prestige.
Production and distribution methods will be considered at a later stage of the
work. As it nears completion, with a great many members from all over the world
involved, we will finalize a method that will both make the material available
and keep the price at a minimum. We don't want this book sold for profit,
royalties or personal gain from ownership, production or distribution of the
work. We do insist it remain as a work written by addicts, for addicts. To this
end we are pledged.
We don't need money or permission to do this work. Our Fellowship stresses our
complete, creative freedom. We don't need outside guidance - God gives us
plenty. What we need is you, as a willing NA member, to show your concern in
positive ways by sending in your input and showing up at our conferences to help
process all the input. Only members can do this well.
In Loving Service,
Foundation Group of N.A.
September 22, 2005
PREFACE
This work is designed to produce written recovery materials for addicts seeking
recovery in Narcotics Anonymous. Our efforts to originate and accumulate helpful
material benefit everyone.
All are welcome to support, participate, and engage in this effort. Write
seriously or playfully, as the Spirit guides you. There is no telling what great
goodness may emerge if our motives and our spirits are purely devoted to being
instruments of a loving God. We write this for the good of others like us who
have lost their way or never had a way to start with. .
We are addicts who come from the dying times. We vividly recall when we believed
that there was absolutely no hope, anywhere on earth, for people like us. No one
else believed there was any hope either. We have created a life style and mind-set which was given to us by a God of our understanding. We are still creating
and enlarging the pathway that gives people like us choices that we never knew
that we had before. Our newfound hope lets us live clean and grow spiritually.
We have applied the Twelve Steps of NA to our lives and we live the results. We
see the negative consequences of unhealthy selfishness and compromise. We prefer
now to go our way in peace and to follow the Will of our Higher Power.
The main obstacle to writing recovery material is the fact that it must come
from addicts. When considering written input, we go through an enormous amount
of extra trouble to determine whether it is our disease talking or our recovery.
Writing material to suit the needs of all NA members is nearly impossible for
any individual to do. The fact that we have written even one book, our Basic
Text, is a great miracle. A second is bound to be less difficult because now we
know it can be done.
We are free to approach any subject that needs consideration and discussion.
Whether it is about a helpful technique or an obstacle to recovery, we declare
our right to write. Recovering addicts write about their lives and their
recovery. This is the process of sorting out our lives and filling in the
blanks.
As in recovery, fear is the basic obstacle to the writing. It begins when we are
afraid to tell the truth. Truth telling may seem an all occasion remedy, but
that can be another illusion. There are frequent times when telling the truth
will be mistaken for its opposite by the unlearned listener or will overburden
the more complacent members. These things take time - God's time.
We believe NA started to grow in the nineteen seventies because all members were
encouraged to participate and add our voice to NA by writing the Basic Text.
Reversing this, leaving people out of the writing process, diminishes NA as a
whole. Incomplete processing can only embed errors in material that purports to
be approved by the NA Fellowship. These errors are easily corrected if enough
members are allowed to participate in the process. The extraordinary processing
that went into the Basic Text in 1979 to 1982 is the origin of the enhancement
of �approved� material. To mark written material as �approved� without
such in depth processing is misrepresentation of the facts.
Handling these things "professionally" is not necessarily superior,
correct, or more efficient. �Professionally� means that either we don't care
enough to do something on our own time, or that we can't, so we pay someone else
to do it. However, in our case we care and we happen to be the only people in
the world who know what we do to recover on a daily basis. Professionalism
downplays the beauty and wonder of ordinary members writing recovery material.
This betrays the Spirit of NA. The writings' of clean addicts expressing their
gratitude, concern for others and their commitment to improve themselves is
valuable evidence that our way of life is real. Without it, whining,
complaining, misrepresenting others and an endless rain of misinformation can
create the impression that where there is smoke there is fire. It is a
smokescreen in which those still suffering often get lost and sometimes die.
Professionals can only mimic what works for us. We have to discover the answers
and share them in writing. Since recovery is transmitted experience, not theory,
it doesn't require the kind of talent that you have to pay for. Technical
assistance should not take precedence over accuracy. Not all our truths are
pleasant or convenient. The disease of addiction cannot afford to be honest. It
cannot say, "Give me all your money, all your love life, your offspring and
I'll give you a good feeling. True, it won't last long and it'll hurt a lot
while you're dying, but for a few moments, you'll feel great.� In recovery the
disease may say, "Hold back, play it safe. Don't be too up front here. Wait
for another time."
We want to be fearless and thorough in our recovery. If our disease gets away
with minimizing or misdirection enough of the time to water down the truth, it
will no longer have the power to help us addicts. The message will get lost
among the background noises. This is how we are at risk of becoming weakened and
divided among ourselves.
This is a new effort to address our NA Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Much
has been learned through observation and discussion in recent years. Addicts who
are grateful to Narcotics Anonymous write this material and we want our
experience to be available to others as part of our Twelfth Step, carrying the
message.
That any addict can stop using, even for a time, is a miracle. That we can
arrest the disease of addiction by total abstinence extends that miracle in
time. We get the time back - we have a choice now and use
this time as we will. Many reach the point where we make a conscious
decision to align our will with the will of our Higher Power. We do this by
learning principles that allow us to discard and replace many of our old ideas
and ways of coping with life. This is a modern day testament to applied
spirituality. Personality change in human beings requires great willingness,
faith and courage.
Our way of life makes change possible. Many of the words we tend to use to
describe this process may seem confusing. We try to describe accurately the
feelings and new ideas that occur during the process to allow others to follow
our path and to confirm in a sense what we are learning. All this requires
learning, study, and evaluating new perspectives.
Among recovering addicts in Narcotics Anonymous, certain assumptions evolve.
Some of these elements allow us to enter recovery and get along with clean
addicts almost immediately. Some of the basics of recovery need to be
re-examined, even by our long-term members.
We should try to avoid the clich�s that are employed by people outside the NA
program in our writing of this book. We don't want to dull our recovery or our
message of hope. Once we begin to experience relief, our pain seems like a bad
dream. One of our problems in recovery is our appearance of normality. When we
have stopped using, even for a short time, we can look so good that someone may
offer us drugs to celebrate! This makes it hard for us to maintain the recovery
practices that have worked for us. When we were new at recovery, our pain served
as reminder. When we get a little better, we are apt to want to leave off some
elements of our recovery. Social pressures set in immediately which may force us
to resume our lives as if we were "normal." We addicts are anything
but "normal."
Our needs and abilities can be viewed as ordinary, once they are no longer
exaggerated by our addiction. Our own reactions to the world around us show us
how we are different. Our distortions of reality, to which we adapted while in
active addiction, continue along with us in recovery. These distortions and
contradictions are part of what we call the �drug induced fog.� For most
practical purposes, this only means that our orientation is different from what
is normal to non-addicts. As we recover, we can gain or
regain the personal and social skills to work, cope with daily living, and
function in an effective and agreeable manner. Our
recovery process makes this possible and enhances these things over time.
Our addiction is constantly working to divide us and trip us up to interrupt our
recovery.
Certain fears remain embedded in us. We have had the experience of finding
ourselves betrayed by our senses. We have sought pleasure and found pain. We
have moralized and proved personally insufficient. We have crusaded for various
causes only to find emptiness and a sense of time wasted. Our bodies registered
ecstasy and we woke up in the gutter. Therefore, we are careful to guard against
the search for, and acceptance of, momentary pleasure. Caution can be cool.
Our recovery writing is our attempt to share with others what we have found
to be true in simple, direct terms, based on actual, personal experience. It is
courageous because we attempt not only to make sense of our own recovery but
also to make a sincere effort to help other addicts get clean and begin to grow
again as human beings.
There are many forces against us in our efforts. Many institutions exist because
our disease is so prevalent that it is hard to imagine a world without it. Our
disease takes so many forms other than addiction to drugs. We
are incredibly disabled by our addiction and even after finally seeking recovery in
NA, our disease will take other forms: gambling, over-eating, obsession with
work or social standing. The disability and degradation of our affliction may
end us up totally worn out, beaten and institutionalized. Experience in
hospitals, jails, and treatment centers may confuse us. Total abstinence may
seem simplistic to professionals with a bias towards dispensing drugs. NA is the
last option for many, the last house on the block, so to speak. Recovery
would be a heck of a lot of trouble for a non-addict to go through if they did
not feel their life was at stake. We try to avoid being all things to all
people. Non-addicts should seek help elsewhere and never be allowed to change
our written program of recovery based on total abstinence. For most, NA is the
only place in the world where total abstinence is available.
This can seem harsh or unscientific to those who require drugs of various
types to live a normal life. We do not discourage or add to the problems of such
people who are attracted to NA. We just know that our disease is so tricky that
our minds and bodies will make up symptoms to get drugs. There is no use in
arguing this point, Some people will never �get� it. We have to stand up for
our way or life if we are to have a way of life.
It takes true commitment to move forward and do the right thing. Infighting,
greed, and petty jealousy constantly rip away at our efforts. These elements
take their toll. Those who criticize may devalue our freely given efforts.
Recovery writing in NA is just another form of commitment to recovery. It is one
in which the elements of greed, self-centeredness and pride must be eliminated.
There is a saying that may apply here, "If a pickpocket meets a saint, he
will see only pockets."
Those who find a message of recovery in our meetings will surely experience some
of the curiosity and wonder we share. Those who look for flaws will see only
flaws. A successful piece of recovery writing enhances areas of personal growth
and has the internal power to leap from the page into our loneliness, despair
and pain. We have found success in these areas. Our writing has helped many
shake off the feelings and mindset that leads to relapse. Our energy seems to
come from our experience with the thinking that accompanies relapse. In relating
our feelings, the reader may suddenly realize that others have turned back
before using. Only sharing what we have experienced personally has the power and
energy to do this.
There is a tendency among us addicts to look for the dark, hidden meaning in
things and avoid the simple and obvious need we have to share. The lessons we
learn may not become ours until we share them. Information can feel like power.
We can forget that the learning we have found has a universal source that any
sincere individual can access at any time. Our sharing is only a reminder of
what we know to be true when we are in our right minds. The distrust that is a
big part of our addiction seeks loopholes and exceptions to recovery principles.
Personality flaws or shortcomings will seem more important to some than the good
we do.
If we fall into the trap of possessiveness, what we know becomes tainted with
greed and a lust for personal power. We who do this work seek to become aware
because we care. We learn that we can pass on important information to those who
are in dying need of it. Often to counteract the negativity of our fear and
disbelief, we have found that if we look at the brighter side, then the brighter
side becomes more real to us.
Our loving gratitude is abundant. Caring and sharing is our way. We stand ready,
with God's help, to supply the needs, right the wrongs, and take on the
responsibilities required to insure the continuance and growth of Narcotics
Anonymous. NA is the miracle that any addict can get clean and stay clean by
following a set of written principles: The NA Twelve Steps and the NA Twelve
Traditions.
Therefore, in all sincerity, we undertake this work that others may benefit.
Possession of this work resides with the Spirit that makes us one in our
gratitude and effort. No service body, board, or any group of people inside or
outside NA should ever regard this work as their own legal possession. In the
exhaustive process of doing this work in the traditional manner, all should be
in order before the work is considered finished. After completion, we will allow
no further changes. If other points of concern arise, we will address them
separately in other writings. We don't want to foster close-mindedness, yet we
have learned that the tendency to personal preference is so strong in some of us
that efforts towards change would begin to defeat our efforts if any opportunity
existed. There will always be small groups of people who want to take over.
Truth has no copyright. We borrow from all fields anything that might help our
people get clean, stay clean or help others. We expect others to borrow in turn
from our experiences. Possessiveness would undermine our spiritual integrity and
deny our faith in our Ultimate Authority. Our writing is an expression of our
love. We pray to be willing, forthright and honest even in the face of greed,
jealousy and fear. We grant permission for reprinting to members from within the
Fellowship. Non-member individuals, groups, or organizations are forbidden to
copy our materials or use our trademarks. Our literature belongs to our
Fellowship and is a tangible form of our common welfare. Our method is simple:
All of us own our literature, and none of us can sell our copyrights.
To change material after it has been subjected to the close scrutiny, study and
seemingly endless discussion that only the NA Fellowship can conceive of is like
touching up a masterpiece because you found a crooked line. It diminishes the
quality of the material by substituting work that may seem nicer yet lack the
core of inner strength our extreme processing creates. Critics should go to
their own studio and paint their own picture. Being clean, helping others and
living a better life on a daily basis has a value beyond what can be bought with
money. If our writing does not have the ring of truth and love for those who
suffer from our disease, it will be useless for purposes of recovery. It will
get old after one reading and will not even touch us at the times we need it the
most.
Individuals are free to write and publish whatever they like within the law of
the land. Our literature in NA must also be free. We want to pursue our recovery
process without the constraints others would place on us. Some of us may become
writers the same way others will find their places in the world.
Today, we want to give back some of what we received. Addicts coming to NA
today should know that they are loved by people praying to be used as
instruments to help them. Recovery is a wonderful thing and many of us feel that
too much time has been wasted haggling over how to write literature in NA. We
will do better to encourage addicts working individually or as groups and let
the quality and usefulness of certain pieces become self-evident. Bureaucracy
has a deadening effect on most processes involving spirituality. Bureaucracy
must not bind the free Spirit that is NA. Bureaucracy is the enemy of self-help
organizations.
At any given point in our recovery, the disease of
addiction will seek to divide and destroy us if we allow it to take control.
Newcomers don�t understand this at all. They may not
even believe they have a disease. They are clueless how it affects their
thinking and relationships. Newcomers do not know the disease is deviously
working in their very own minds against their every move towards recovery.
Certainly they have no idea if or how it affects the Fellowship or such an
endeavor as this book. The newcomer simply thinks they have a problem with
drugs. Having had time to search our hearts for an answer on these issues, our
spiritual guidance is this: that we have to keep the faith ourselves before we
have anything to offer others. As long as we can tell the truth in a plain,
simple and honest manner, the way will open to us.
Foundation Group of N.A.
September 22, 2005
INTRODUCTION
Introductions are supposed to explain how to
utilize or benefit from a book, so we are at a curious juncture. To benefit from
this book, we must first write it! We want to share our experience through
writing for the Fellowship and make an important point: that it can be done and
that we can do it.
When we were writing the Basic Text, there were plenty of people who said it was
impossible, can't be done, or at least not the way we had it planned. We may
have seemed foolish, even a little crazy, to trust a bunch of addicts to write a
book about their �recovery.� In those days, there were many people who had
little respect for us. We had to earn respect by being respectable. Writing our
own literature let people know we were serious about our gratitude, serious
about our recovery, and serious about our willingness to love and care for the
newcomer.
Most of you have benefited from the Basic Text yet never expected to get to
write anything helpful. Well, the plan for this book is to sponsor writing from
the society of addicts recovering in NA. Chapter length pieces on any topic
within the range of things we experience in recovery can be included in the
book.
In particular, there are many among us being dismayed that some energy is being
exerted against the principle idea that our recovery is from 'just' drug
addiction. The exciting thing about NA, for us, has always been the relief we
have found from our addiction once we stopped using. Those of you who share this
belief might find some fascinating material to add to our recovery process.
Over-spending, gambling, sexual obsession and other compulsions have nothing to
do with chemical addiction but trigger chemical changes in our bodies. Our
serious concern here is that our disease appears to mutate into other forms.
Some of these forms may be as seemingly non injurious as watching too much TV
and others that may be as totally devastating as any degree of drug' addiction.
We must count ourselves as free to write about any of these things. A big part
of our program is to constantly expand into new areas of living. We believe the
very best should be available to those who choose to live the NA way of life.
Consider yourself free to write for this book. If your writing is sincere and
accurate, at least you will benefit to some degree. Your efforts may be a
runaway best-photocopied, eternally underground recovery piece. It may become a
booklet or a new chapter. Many of the chapter length pieces can be expanded into
a book to help carry our message.
This material is meant only to help addicts and is given freely. It should never
be seen as mere property and no addict anywhere should ever be made to suffer by
our efforts to help. Remember that one of the ways we have survived is by using
our imagination and acting on hunches. This is one way
God creatively works in our lives.
We wrote our Basic Text in the years between 1977 and 1982. As was our
intention, we surrendered the material to the main World Service Conference that
then moved the material into the safekeeping of our World Service Office. Almost
right away, adversarial issues set the WSO at odds with the membership who had
written the book. Without the Fellowship realizing it, the WSO began to set
itself up as a publishing agency which is very different from a primary service
center. We did not know that other 12 Step Fellowships, such as AA, did not mark
up their literature to fund their service efforts. This kept their literature
from becoming a way to make money for the General Service Office.
We are ready to begin this new work. There is trouble with going through what
used to be the approved channels with this work. The channels are no longer
there in our NA service structure.
An alternative route has been developed. We will open chapters experimentally
and develop them as recovery themes. We will then have them work-shopped by
various members throughout the Fellowship. We will distribute the various
chapters informally and let the result be compiled into a final manuscript. We
will only take into account the needs of the addicts seeking recovery based on
the valid experience of our membership.
We don't recommend using this anonymous effort to grind personal axes, yet your
feelings are important. Remember to respect our reader. Share the way you would
in a meeting and let the value of your sharing show itself. Like our personal
recovery, the writing would take on its own colors and word choices. Some
material might have an intellectual appeal. Other material might be rather raw
and coarse. All would depend on its usefulness to perpetuate itself. May the God
of your understanding be with us as we proceed to extend our written message of
recovery.
Foundation Group of N.A.
September 22, 2005
8.16.08
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