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
Belief in a Higher Power can make all the difference when the going gets tough! When things don't go our way in recovery, our sponsor may direct us to make a "gratitude list." When we do, we should include our faith in a Power greater than ourselves on the list. One of the greatest gifts we receive from the Twelve Steps is our belief in a God of our own understanding.
The Twelve Steps gently lead us toward a spiritual awakening. Just as our addiction progressed, so does our spiritual life develop in the course of working the program of Narcotics Anonymous. The steps are our path to a relationship with a God of our understanding. This Higher Power gives us strength when our road gets rough.
Are we grateful for our deepening relationship with a Higher Power? Do we remember to thank God for each day clean, no matter what has happened that day? Do we remember that, no matter how deep our despair or how great our joy, the God of our understanding is with us?
Our recovery is a gift, a gift that we sometimes take for granted. Each day we stay clean, we can rejoice in our Higher Power's care.
A Spiritual principle a day
In Narcotics Anonymous, we arrive to find ourselves the most important person in the room. For a lot of us, that notion is terrifying, but some of us enjoy the rock-star treatment.
We grab a white keytag and do a victory lap for thirty days in a row--including weekends. We share in every meeting until the timer goes off (every time), wondering aloud what the hell we are doing here with "all you people . . . no offense." We dazzle our fellows with our theory of the difference between humility and humiliation. They must like what we have to say, 'cause they tell us, "Keep coming back." We find a sponsor and bend his ear with a detailed account. "Sponse" picks us up at the recovery house and buys us a meal after the meeting. He doesn't say much, but he's definitely listening!
As our status as the most important person melts away and our keytag color changes to orange, Sponse suggests we listen more instead of talking so much, take meeting commitments that don't court attention, and reach out to newcomers. We get a blue six months clean, and we ask our sponsor about doing H&I. "Good idea" is his response. We think he's pleased about our initiative, even though he says nothing about it. Our bravado shifts. We get some high-fives and tighter hugs from members who acknowledge how well we're doing. That feels undeniably good, but showing up for other addicts feels even better.
Our story continues. We glow in the dark at one year and are black-and-gold at two. Our commitment to service deepens. We are invited to participate in our recovery, to share our experience, strength, and hope. We start to have this strange new feeling that we can't quite put our finger on. Over dinner--on us this time--we try to articulate the feeling to our sponsor: "It's something about being of value, maybe a little gratitude thrown in . . . ?" We struggle to find the words.
"Hmm," says our sponsor. "Sounds like you might be waking up."
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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Service & Meeting Announcements
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