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
We are people accustomed to placing all our eggs in one basket. Many of us had one particular drug of choice that was our favorite. We relied on it to get us through each day and make life bearable. We were faithful to that drug; in fact, we committed ourselves to it without reservation. And then it turned on us. We had been betrayed by the only thing we had ever depended on, and the betrayal left us floundering.
Now that we've stumbled into the rooms of recovery, we may be tempted to rely on another human being to meet our needs. We may expect this from our sponsor, our lover, or our best friend. But dependence on human beings is risky. They fall short of perfection. They may be on vacation, sleeping, or in a bad mood when we need them.
Our dependence must rest on a Power greater than ourselves. No human force can restore our sanity, care for our will and our lives, or be unconditionally available and loving whenever we are in need. We place our trust in the God of our understanding, for only that Power will never fail us.
A Spiritual principle a day
It doesn't take much cleantime to figure out that our communication skills could use some work. We find ourselves increasingly ready to connect, really connect, with other people. We'll have to learn to build bridges, not burn them down. Being better communicators--and better humans, for that matter--will mean discarding some old patterns and adopting some new ones.
Indulging in gossip is one of those old habits of communication we may want to rethink. We may have believed we bonded with others by sharing information that wasn't ours to share. Even when the news seems harmless, gossiping makes us seem untrustworthy. We learn to resist the urge to fill in every gap in any conversation with rumor, speculation, and innuendo. We get more comfortable with some breaks in our conversations and learn the value of listening more and speaking less. We adopt a new habit of asking questions and practicing empathy and open-mindedness as we hear others' points of view.
Some of us suffer from overthinking, not oversharing. We second-guess the wisdom of speaking up, keeping what's on our minds to ourselves instead. We may think we're being considerate, but withholding our experience and ideas often keeps others at arm's length. We might come off as shallow or stuck-up when maybe we're just shy. Sure, there's risk involved in putting our ideas on the table, but that vulnerability enables us to connect.
To complicate matters, communication involves so much more than talking and listening. All of those nonverbal cues we exchange--facial expressions, body language, eye contact, touch--all add meaning. Communication is complicated! Often the best strategy is to check that we understand correctly or have been understood.
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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