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
When we take the Third Step, we decide to allow a loving Higher Power to guide us and care for us in our daily lives. We make the decision to allow this guidance and care into our lives. Some of us believe that, once we've made the Third Step decision, God leads us; from that point on, it's just a matter of paying attention to where we are led.
The Third Step decision is an act of faith, and asking for God's help is a way of renewing that act of faith. Putting faith to work in our daily lives gives us all the courage and strength we need, because we know we have the help of a loving Higher Power. We trust that our needs will be met. We can tap into that faith and trust just by asking.
A Spiritual principle a day
Moving into our first apartment clean, learning how to pay bills on time, going to a funeral or a wedding for the first time in recovery, asking someone to sit with us while the craving to pick up passes--life on life's terms presents us with opportunities to ask for help on a daily basis. Our old way of thinking--shaped by self-centeredness and denial--guards a myth that equates asking for help with weakness.
It takes a great deal of courage to push past the impulse to do all of this on our own. We cultivate humility as we surrender our excessive pride. We ask for and receive support from other members and find the courage to face new emotions and experiences. One member shared, "Today, I see that asking for help is our greatest source of strength."
At times, life shows up and hits us square in the face. No matter how good a program we work, life still has its ups and downs. We all suffer losses. Success, at first so unfamiliar, can be challenging as well. And often we feel ill equipped to handle life on life's terms alone. The good news is that we don't have to.
The hardest part of getting help may be asking for it. We don't feel worthy and may think of ourselves as a burden. We swallow our pride and turn to more experienced NA members for help. As awkward as that might be, our requests are typically met with graciousness. Having navigated many of life's obstacles clean, they're usually delighted to share their wisdom and offer support. The joys of helping another addict don't end when we attain X number of years.
Learning how to be self-supporting does not mean that life's challenges become a solo endeavor. By practicing humility, we learn what our limitations are, establish some healthy boundaries, and set out in new directions that develop our strengths.
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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