Welcome to the Central Coast Area of Narcotics Anonymous
Serving: Paso Robles, Cambria, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Santa Maria, Lompoc
Just for today daily meditation
Recognizing complacency in our recovery is like seeing smoke in a room. The "smoke" thickens when our meeting attendance drops, contact with newcomers decreases, or relations with our sponsor aren't maintained. With continued complacency, we won't be able to see through the smoke to find our way out. Only our immediate response will prevent an inferno.
We must learn to recognize the smoke of complacency. In NA, we have all the help we need to do that. We need to spend time with other recovering addicts because they may detect our complacency before we do. Newcomers will remind us of how painful active addiction can be. Our sponsor will help us remain focused, and recovery literature kept in easy reach can be used to extinguish the small flare-ups that happen from time to time. Regular participation in our recovery will surely enable us to see that wisp of smoke long before it becomes a major inferno.
A Spiritual principle a day
The connection between generosity and pain may not seem obvious right away. However, early recovery is a good example of how giving of ourselves can help us endure pain and discomfort. When we first get clean, some of us find we're grieving many losses: our self-respect, our sense of self, the lifestyle and image that defined us, our relationship with drugs, and people we used with. Some of us come to NA mourning the loss of friends or family members to the disease. No one arrives to NA pain-free, but all of us who stay find some relief--usually by our active participation in NA.
"I hardly knew what to do with myself when I got clean," one member shared. "I felt like an exposed nerve. Before and after meetings, I'd help with anything that needed to be done--handing out reading cards, taking out the trash, stacking chairs. Helping the trusted servants made me feel better."
Generosity gets us out of ourselves. We stop focusing on our every thought and emotion and instead turn our attention to those around us. Even when we're in pain or discomfort, generosity helps us do something good when we don't know what else to do. Giving as a diversion from desperation is not necessarily the whole solution. Postponing feelings doesn't make them go away, but a brief respite can renew our energy or refresh our thinking so that we can apply other solutions as well. Perhaps most importantly, in helping others, we can find the willingness to accept help. Life is difficult, but we are not alone--we have each other.
WHAT IS THE NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS PROGRAM?
NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.
For more information on Narcotics Anonymous,
please go to the:
Narcotics Anonymous World Services Website,
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