New Material - July 1999
NA BOOK OF LIFE
As work goes forward on these new three books, the NA Book of Basics, the NA Book of Changes and the NA Book of Life, it becomes clearer that this has been needed for a long time. The heavy emphasis on surrender, getting a Higher Power and helping others to keep recovery going will allways be fundamental to our NA program. But Changes, the kind of determined personality changes that only the Twelve Steps of NA can produce for us require a similar emphasis on turning our life and will over, inventorying the stuff of our lives and letting go of things we don't reall want or need. It is also clear that once a person has done this there is another shift of emphasis to spiritual principles, admission of fault , prayer and meditation to keep our program alive. How many have been lost because they did not know what the next thing to do was even when they had come most of the way to lasting recovery! We hope for your continued support, blessings, prayers and written input!
PREFACE
Inspiration for this came in winter of 1998 after extensive edit of NA Way of Life. There is a need for people who are not dodging, making excuses or delaying their recovery any longer but want to dive into 12 Step recovery, are working their Steps and need specific help in changing from a habitually ineffective and unhappy person into someone who is balanced, effective and taking time to do the things they really care about in life.
INTRODUCTION
This is totally new material so all NA members reading it should input as the Spirit moves you.
Fresh Input:
Freedom for an individual, cannot exist without perspective one cannot truly be free unless one understands one's place in the world. Achieving true freedom requires many years of work, but carries with it the promise of all benefits one associates with the concept, most importantly, a lightness of being, a sense of confidence, and of peace and joy. All of which cannot be shaken by the infuriating tribulations of everyday life.
Freedom is a terrifying idea, because it requires a sense of self, far stronger than that which is otherwise demanded by our society. That sense of self cannot be defined in contradistinction to anything one who defines himself as a rebel, therefore, cannot actually be free because his identity is based on something external, (that against which he is rebelling) if that were to change, his identity and self-image would be worthless, because, fundamentally it is not based on anything of substance. Similarly, one who defines himself as a member of, say the elete, is likewise vulnerable, for if social upheaval arises or if circumstances conspire to deprive this individaul of his social status, then he too is at a loss for his own identity.
A person who is truly free does not concern himself with these things, learning equally from all men and women and moving with the grace and ease among the circles and societies of the world in times of both prosperity and adversity. Shaking oneself free of these externally reinforced images and expectations is excruciatingly difficult. It requires a ruthless determination to recognize one's own insignificance and pettiness. It demands that one face one's insecurities, identify all the crutches that one used in order to feel good about one's self and fling them away.
It is an extraordinarily painful process as one must see and recognize all that is negative, dark and flawed within one's self. But when one is free, the trivial formalities of life fall away, both in how one views one's self and in how one relates to others. One recognizes the patterns of thought and behavior commonly adopted by others and can (see) them at will - but need not depend on them as substitution for an internalized understanding far more profound.
I think freedom is possible. I am not free. I wish I were!
In love of surrendering and searching for freedom:
Stan M. - South Carolina USA - June 23, 1999
NA BOOK OF LlFE
As we grow through a careful and self loving journey along the NA Twelve Steps, almost all addicts will reach a point where their surrender has become a part of life, conscious contact has replaced to a reasonable degree the self will and ego that characterizes active addiction and we have become freed to walk down any path in life. Once we establish ourselves in this new way of lfie, the rules will appear to have changed. Instead of bouncing along from emergency to disaster, and crisis to coma, we will seek other forms of stimulation. Inspiration, vocation, aspiration, prayers for continued self-improvement and growth will be among the new methods open to us. It will take time, effort and practice to become familar with these new tools. When we succeed to in learing to life, we reach a point where we begin to experience problems of prosperity.
While as recovering addicts we will never be 'normal', we will come as close to normalcy as possible or practical. We will always do certain things differently as recovering addicts and members of NA. Where we needed emphasis on seeking direct help and reality checks from many others, we will find ourselves depending on our own inner voice and certain known persons. Choices that used to involved extremely hostile or threatening situations will be more often choices between one good thing or course of action and another. Our personal habits may be working in general but need specific correction to improve on the quality of our life or our performance of our duties. This refinement requires that we maintain the habitual paths that have helped us as we work to improve ourselves.
As some parts of our lives improve, areas that were in the background will come to the forefront of our attention as we continue to grow. Acceptance of the parts of our lives that are working well is a big part of locating the parts that we may want to improve. Seeing, knowing, that we are defective, and yet continuing in an attitude of hope and optimism is essential. We learn this lesson in our First Step of recovery: admission is the key to betterment and growth. Denial only prolongs the pain.
Problems of Prosperity
You would have to get your last bill paid, some money in the bank, the capacity to live within your means - or at least bring in more than you spend and let some time pass to discover just how real problems that only exist in within prosperity can be. The impoverished person assumes that if they only had some more money, some more time ora little more of something else, they could set and accomplish their goals. Discovering this is not always the case can be real unnerving for most of us. We are shaken to find that we have to seek other forms of stimulation with we are no longer driven by fear and deprivation.
We have to keep on working, doing our part and especially stay in touch with our humanity. More than, or at last as much as, we ever had to, we realize that not taking responsibility, procrastination and sloth can block our way. The idea that we are better than others because we 'have' more possessions can set us apart from. We only prolong our isolation and delay our personal growth when we hide our inadeqacy or mask our fears.
NA Foundation Group - Atlanta, GA July 1999
Last edit June 23, 1999
Reprinted from the
N.A. FELLOWSHIP USE ONLY
Copyright � December 1998
Victor Hugo Sewell, Jr.
NA Foundation Group
P.O. Box 213
Cleveland, Ohio 44022-0213
[email protected]
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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 August 28, 2004