persons have visited this site since January 3, 2008
~ 2008 Form ~
"Humility is knowing the importance of doing our
part well
and being open to the many forms of help
required for a full and abundant life."
When we come to our own understanding of our higher power and turn our will and lives over to the care of a loving God, we are relieved of our burdens. Many concerns, ideas and habits are removed because now we can see them as defective. We have distanced ourselves from our using. This can not happen overnight. As we continue to grow spiritually, an attentive calm may settle into our lives. We experience relaxed attention without desperation. We no longer need desperation to spur us to action. We seem to have more time, less fear, less guilt and a quiet sort of luck. In truth, we are blessed. We have to adjust to living in the grace of God.
Our mind becomes our servant and friend, ceasing its endless rambling. Our needs, our desires, and our wants seem to line up better. Control is less necessary because of our increased effectiveness. What used to be pressing concerns may suddenly seem absurd. Our growing wonderment at the power of a loving God and our experience in recovery leads us into a state of nearly permanent gratitude, interrupted only occasionally by our disease lashing out to hurt someone. That we can find a way to go on living after the pain of active addiction is miraculous in itself. That all this comes from such a simple process under the umbrella of anonymity changes our attitude towards labeling others unfairly as we ourselves have been labeled.
While we are experiencing some of these thoughts and feelings, our appearance to others is totally different from when our faces reflected desperation born of fear and guilt. This is when others may observe some patient, kind and gentle quality. Many of us experienced a change of expression so dramatic that some or our new friends may think that we are the brother or sister of the person they met when we were just getting clean. We look that different. This exciting peace is a reflection of our new lives. It is a natural state that exists potentially in all people yet is rarely obvious in addicts. Vitality and spirit have replaced loneliness and dispair.
A part of our individual humility is reflected in our collective ability to keep to ourselves. We do not dilute our effectiveness as a Fellowship by taking public stands on outside issues. We do make it known that NA meetings exist. We do this through our public information services so that we will not fall into the traps associated with dealing with the media. We have service guidelines to help us. The purpose of these services is to get an addict to a meeting, not to challenge various treatment philosophies. It helps nothing to be set at odds with those trying to help us. We keep to our basics because that is our message. Total abstinence is not an outside issue. Needless medication is a serious problem in some cases. We cannot work the 12 Steps under the influence of a chemical buffer. Most people do not need to take anything but food and water. In the few cases where someone must take medication, we try to be generous. We can only help those who are not aware of our way of life by our example. We stay clean and learn to lead a spiritual life. We also are careful to address only the issues of recovery and getting to a meeting. We have no opinions on outside issues, especially when talking to a reporter.
Just as we avoid the labels of `addict' in a world that lacks the knowledge that addicts can experience recovery, we also avoid labeling our program and Fellowship by taking public stands on outside issues. Within NA, we sometimes find it necessary to take stands on issues that directly affect our Fellowship and our members. Many NA's have found it easier to revert to old ways when dealing with issues other than to practice the principles of recovery. It is like they will risk lesser matters to spiritual principles and then take on major items with the justification, "This is serious!" They may not see that casting aside a spiritual principle and resuming old behavior often leads to relapse. It is important to see the relationship between casting aside a spiritual principle and relapse. Many of us don't get a second chance at recovery. We are honest, open and willing because it works for us.
What we have found in NA is a series of paths through some of the hazards that allow us to maintain both our spiritual integrity and personal effectiveness. Addicts in recovery `check out' every possible way of doing things and only settle for a simple solution after the dust settles. We also have a tendency to avoid change and innovation. It took us twenty years to begin to evolve a service structure in 1973, another five to set up a basic World Service Office and five years after that to establish our Basic Text. These observations illustrate the difficulty we have had to overcome to achieve some of our progress. Our difficulty seems to lie in our addiction and the inhibiting factor that makes us cling to the known and avoid risk.
Pressure for change comes from members who see an unaddressed need. These members contribute their time and resources to meet that need and begin to work out solutions. While they are doing this, members who have not studied the issues may criticize them. It is important that they keep going. Their critics may never understand or see the reason why. Just so, when we see others doing things we don't understand, we learn to ask questions and become informed before we criticize.
In all of this, individuals can and do play roles. Yet, the importance of their roles is more a function of our common welfare than who plays the role. What gets done is more important to us than who does it. Many blessings we share in NA had to wait long years before members became willing. Humility is simply doing our part to help.
1.30.03
persons have visited this site since January 3, 2008
Reprinted from the
N.A. FELLOWSHIP USE ONLY
Copyright � December 1998
Victor Hugo Sewell, Jr.
NA Foundation Group
6685 Bobby John Road Atlanta, GA 30349 USA
404.312.5166
[email protected]
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.