Just for Today meditation for March 13, read by Farrah

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March 13

That one special person

""With one sponsor, we can learn to build a relationship built on trust and honesty. Through shared experience, a sponsor is able to reflect on personal growth."

IP No. 11, "Sponsorship"

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(Revised) "A sponsor is not necessarily a friend, but may be someone in whom we confide. We can share things with our sponsor that we might not be comfortable sharing in a meeting." IP No. 11, "Sponsorship", Revised We've asked someone to sponsor us, and the reasons we have for asking that particular person are as many as the grains of sand on a beach. Perhaps we heard them share at a speaker meeting and thought they were funny or inspiring. Perhaps we thought they had a great car and we would get one by working the same program they work. Or maybe we live in a small town and they were the only person who had the time available to help.

Whatever the initial reason for getting the sponsor we have, we're sure to find that our reasons for keeping them are quite different. Suddenly they'll amaze us with some stunning insight, making us wonder whether they've been sneaking peeks at our Fourth Step. Or maybe we're going through some sort of life crisis, and their experience with the same problem helps us in ways we never dreamed possible. We call them in pain, and they come up with a special combination of caring words that provide genuine comfort.

None of these remarkable feats on the part of our sponsor are mere coincidence.

They've simply walked the same path before us. A Higher Power has placed that one special person in our lives, and we are grateful for their presence.

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Just for today:

I will appreciate that one special person in my life-my sponsor.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Spiritual Principle a Day for March 13, read by Farrah

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[email protected]

March 13

Securing the Bond of Solidarity

"An NA group reinforces the solidarity of its members and the foundation of their continued recovery by declining outside contributions."

—It Works, Tradition Seven

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One way to define solidarity is standing together with others. The Seventh Tradition explains that one of the ways we do this is by taking care of NA together, in our own way.

Declining outside contributions is bold—it means we rely on each other to step up and take responsibility for NA. The vitality of our groups and service bodies fully depends on the resources we contribute.

The bonds we share with other recovering addicts are unique; we have addiction and recovery in common, and yet sometimes we have very little else that connects us. Still, we are joined together in solidarity through the NA program. We don’t recover alone, and every one of us received the message of recovery as a result of what other addicts gave to NA before we showed up. Practicing solidarity in NA is not just a feeling of commitment to our own group or local services. We stand in solidarity with those who aren’t here yet—we stand for still-suffering addicts everywhere—when we take action to make sure they have a chance to experience our message in their own language and culture, just as we have.

In our groups, that means doing what we can to ensure the meetings remain open to anyone with a desire to stop using. Solidarity with our local service bodies means we support the efforts to ensure that local addicts can find NA. We practice solidarity with NA beyond our community by paying attention to the services that make our message more widely available and by contributing what we can to help fulfill the needs of all our services.

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Spiritual Principle:

NA is here to ensure the message is available to anyone seeking recovery, around the corner or around the world. I will practice solidarity with still- suffering addicts by sharing what I can.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Spiritual Principle a Day for March 12, read by Farrah

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March 12

Humility and Sticking to the Basics

"A hard lesson in humility reminds us that we never graduate. When we stop practicing the basics, we are in trouble."

—Living Clean, Chapter 6, “Getting Out of Our Own Way”

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In active addiction, we were convinced that we had all the answers. This arrogance kept us in the dark and might have killed us if we hadn’t found NA. As newcomers, desperation forces us to unlock the door to humility. At that threshold, we learn to ask for help and take suggestions.

The basics—meetings, sponsor, Steps, service, NA literature, Higher Power, not picking up no matter what—are the same for all of us. Our literature offers abundant and simple advice for what we must do to get humble and stay clean. In meetings, we frequently hear members recount their version of “I relapsed because I stopped doing the basics.” Our fellows continually tell us there’s no finish line in NA, no graduation. We believe all this. The stories we hear in the rooms are the evidence. So, we soldier on with the basics.

Until life gets in the way. The good stuff: We’re housed, out of prison, making money, parenting again, in love. We graduate (from school!). Staying connected to NA becomes harder. Those basics are time-consuming, and time is scarce these days. The arrogance we banished creeps back in. We got this! We did the work! Having just one can’t hurt, right?

We are in trouble.

How much trouble we get in depends on how willing we are to get back to the basics. We don’t have to destroy our lives and lose everything. We can become teachable again and rediscover our spiritual center. We can call a fellow addict, show up at our home group, say “What’s up?” to our Higher Power.

We’ve heard, “If I never leave the basics, I never have to get back to them.” It means more now.

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Spiritual Principle:

Which of “the basics” are lacking in my program? What am I willing to do today to change that?

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Just for Today meditation for March 12, read by Farrah

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[email protected]

March 12

Getting out of the rut

"Many times in our recovery the old bugaboos will haunt us. Life may again become meaningless, monotonous, and boring."

Basic Text, p. 75

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Sometimes it seems as though nothing changes. We get up and go to the same job every day. We eat dinner at the same time every night. We attend the same meetings each week. This mornings rituals were identical to the ones we performed yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. After the hell of our addiction and the roller-coaster craziness of early recovery, the stable life may have some appeal-for awhile. But, eventually, we realize we want something more.

Sooner or later, we become turned off to the creeping monotony and boredom in our lives.

There are sure to be times when we feel vaguely dissatisfied with our recovery. We feel as if we're missing something for some reason, but we don't know what or why.

We draw up our gratitude lists and find literally hundreds of things to be grateful for.

All our needs are being met; our lives are fuller than we had ever hoped they'd be.

So what's up?

Maybe it's time to stretch our potential to the fullest. Our possibilities are only limited by what we can dream. We can learn something new, set a new goal, help another newcomer, or make a new friend. We're sure to find something challenging if we look hard enough, and life will again become meaningful, varied, and fulfilling.

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Just for today:

I will take a break from the routine and stretch my potential to it's fullest.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Just for Today meditation for March 11, read by Farrah

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arch 11: Just for Today meditation, read by Rob M.

Just for Today meditation for March 11, read by Rob M.

Donations via PayPal and questions may be directed to:

[email protected]

March 11

Lightening the load

"It will not make us better people to judge the faults of another. It will make us feel better to clean up our lives..."

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Sometimes we need something tangible to help us understand what holding a resentment is doing to us. We may not be aware of how destructive resentments really are. We think, "So what, I have a right to be angry," or, "I might be nursing a grudge or two, but I don't see the harm." To see more clearly the effect that holding resentments is having in our lives, we might try imagining we are carrying a rock for each resentment. A small grudge, such as anger at someone driving badly, might be represented by a pebble. Harboring ill will toward an entire group of people might be represented by an enormous boulder. If we actually had to carry stones for each resentment, we would surely tire of the weight. In fact, the more cumbersome our burden, the more sincere our efforts to unload it would be. The weight of our resentments hinders our spiritual development.

If we truly desire freedom, we will seek to rid ourselves of as much extra weight as possible. As we lighten up, we'll notice an increased ability to forgive our fellow human beings for their mistakes, and to forgive ourselves for our own. We'll nourish our spirits with good thoughts, kind words, and service to others."

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Just for today:

I will seek to have the burden of resentments removed from my spirit.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Spiritual Principle a Day for March 11, read by Farrah

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[email protected]

March 11

Forgiving Our Imperfections

"Recognizing our own humanness gives us the capacity to forgive others and not be as judgmental as we have been in the past."

—NA Step Working Guides, Step Nine, “Spiritual Principles”

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By working Steps Four through Eight, we confront the person who’s kept our lives in turmoil: “Oh no, it’s me!” In this rigorous process, we face our disease and our humanity.

We unpack and pick apart lifelong grudges and current resentments against people who hurt, judged, and rejected us. Often, we’re shocked to learn we had a significant part to play. Engaging fully in the recovery process gives us a more realistic awareness of our flaws and limitations. We see a connection between our acting out and our very human need for safety, love, and acceptance. We learn that a lack of empathy for our own missteps has driven our judgments of others. Our capacity to forgive is inseparable from our capacity for empathy.

In the Ninth Step, we strive to make peace with our own humanness. We expose our imperfections to those we’ve hurt. In an attempt to right our past wrongs, we humbly apologize. We change our behavior so we won’t repeat past errors. We’re often—but certainly not always—forgiven for the harm we’ve caused. This process offers us a striking lesson in empathy.

Acknowledging and accepting our own imperfections is key to accepting imperfections in others. We forgive ourselves for the times we let self-centered fear guide our actions.

Instead of judging others for similar impulses, we can choose to forgive them, actively seeking to accept them as they are.

Experiencing others’ judgment and rejection—both in everyday life and when our attempt at making amends is rebuffed—increases our capacity to feel empathy and to forgive others. Our own pain becomes a source of strength, and we can draw from the well of self- acceptance we’ve created through our experience with the Steps.

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Spiritual Principle:

Today I will take a “balcony view” of my judgments of others. Instead of cataloging their flaws, I will acknowledge their humanness because I’m also human and worthy of empathy.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Just for Today meditation for March 10, read by Rob M.

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March 10

Our own recovery

"The steps are our solution. They are our survival kit. They are our defense against addiction, a deadly disease. Our steps are the principles that make our recovery possible."

Basic Text, p. 19

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There's lots to like in Narcotics Anonymous. The meetings, for one, are great. We get to see our friends, hear inspiring stories, share some practical experience, maybe even hook up with our sponsor. The campouts, the conventions, the dances are all wonderful, clean fun in the company of other recovering addicts. But the heart of our recovery program is the Twelve Steps-in fact, they are the program.

We've heard it said that we can't stay clean by osmosis-in other words, we can't just attend meetings, no matter how many, and expect to breathe recovery in through the pores of our skin. Recovery, as another saying goes, is an inside job. And the tools we use in working that "inside job" are the Twelve Steps. Hearing endlessly about acceptance is one thing; working the First Step for ourselves is very different.

Stories about making amends may be inspiring, yet nothing will give us the freedom from remorse that taking the Ninth Step ourselves will give. The same applies to all twelve steps.

There's much to appreciate about NA, but to get the most from our recovery we must work the Twelve Steps for ourselves.

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Just for today:

I want everything my personal program has to offer. I will work the steps for myself.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Spiritual Principle a Day for March 10, read by Rob M.

Donations via PayPal and questions may be directed to:

[email protected]

March 10

Finding Accountability in Others’ Insights

"We choose [our] mirrors carefully, seeking those we can trust to be honest, helpful, and kind."

—Living Clean, Chapter 6, “Anonymity”

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There are loads of reasons to keep coming back to NA. The fact that we can’t do this alone tops the list for many of us. We need each other. As our Basic Text puts it, “We are each other’s eyes and ears.” When we share with others in NA, we get to learn from their valuable experience and get their perspective on ours. Their take helps us better understand the past and gives us a new vantage point on what we’re doing now. Objectivity is an acquired skill. When we share honestly with our fellow recovering addicts, we can see our behavior more clearly in their reflections. We begin to gain some accountability.

Asking for such insights can make us feel quite vulnerable. One member wrote, “My outsides were suiting up and showing up while my insides remained aloof. ‘Undercover isolation’ became a way of life. I couldn’t find my way out on my own.” We find people we can trust and choose to confide in them, returning again and again to those who offer the insights we’re seeking. It’s what we mean when we tell newcomers to “stick with the winners!” Beyond simple abstinence, we need people who are real with us—and help us get real, too.

When we surround ourselves with people who are living the program, our lives improve.

One member shared, “I developed a support system, and that system of support developed me!” We need people to tell us the truth when we can’t see it ourselves. Sometimes the clarity starts the minute we begin to open our mouths. “It sounded good in my head,” one addict shared, “but before I could even say it out loud to my sponsor, I realized it was total BS!”

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Spiritual Principle:

To stay clean, I need a clear reflection. Who are my most trustworthy mirrors today?

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Spiritual Principle a Day for March 9, read by Rob M.

Donations via PayPal and questions may be directed to:

[email protected]

March 9

One Addict Helping Another in Unity

"Groups flourish with the loving support of addicts helping addicts. We strengthen our unity by participating in each other’s recovery."

—It Works, Tradition One

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After living in turmoil and fear for so long, the warm and welcoming atmosphere we found in NA meetings may have been puzzling at first. Some of us wondered if we were in the wrong place. We watched as members jumped in to help set up chairs and greeted each other with hugs. This behavior was unfamiliar and yet strangely compelling. Despite our suspicions, we wanted to find out more.

Some of us looked for excuses to leave or for reasons that we didn’t belong but found ourselves relating nevertheless. One member recalled, “I heard the speaker share about the despair that brought her to rock bottom. She gave voice to my own fears and regrets. It was a moment of clarity for me: I was not alone in my struggles.”

It dawns on us that NA members understand the desperation and isolation of active addiction because they’ve lived it. They found a way out and a new way to live. We begin to hope that the solution they found would work for us too.

Over time, we come to appreciate what once confused us. We grow to value what we see and hear in meetings. We follow the lead of more experienced home-group members and participate in some of our meetings’ unity-building practices: We welcome new members, empathize with each other’s struggles, and celebrate the milestones of recovery. We notice what unity does for individual members as well as for the group—the way we treat each other contributes to a vibrant atmosphere of recovery in which members and groups thrive.

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Spiritual Principle:

Group unity starts with one addict helping another. I will be a part of group unity by offering loving support to a fellow member today.

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom

Just for Today meditation for March 9, read by Rob M.

Donations via PayPal and questions may be directed to:

[email protected]

March 9

Small things

"In the past, we made simple situations into problems; we made mountains out of molehills."

Basic Text, p. 87

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Making mountains out of molehills seems to be our specialty. Have you heard it said that to an addict, a flat tire is a traumatic event? Or how about those of us who forget all pretense of principle when confronted with a bad driver? And what about that can opener that won't work-you know, the one you just threw out the second story window? We can relate when we hear others share, "God, grant me patience, right now!" No, it's not the major setbacks that drive us to distraction. The big things-divorce, death, serious illness, the loss of a job-will throw us, but we survive them. We've learned from experience that we must reach out to our Higher Power and others to make it through life's major crisis. It's the small things, the constant day-to-day challenges of living life without the use of drugs, that seem to affect most addicts most strongly in recovery.

When the little things get to us, the Serenity Prayer can help us regain our perspective. We can all remember that "turning over" these small matters to the care of our Higher Power results in peace of mind and a refreshed perspective on life.

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Just for today:

I will work on patience. I will try to keep from blowing things out of proportion, and walk with my Higher Power through the day. pg. 71

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© NA World Services

This podcast is not affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and is an independent production of the Works of Wisdom