December 19

When we first come to Narcotics Anonymous most of us just wanted to stop hurting, some of us wanted to stop using. We saw how our drug use brought us to our knees in a state of despair. We stopped using drugs, and we started to work some Steps with our Sponsors. Soon our Lives started to get busy.

We were around our families more, and some of us gained much-needed employment. Some of us went back to school.

We felt we had to make up for lost time. Many of us forgot that these new Gifts were possible because we were in N.A. Some members mistook the point of Recovery in Narcotics Anonymous.

At first our whole Life was centered in N.A. Then, some of us forgot our priorities; and put these Gifts in front of our Recovery. Narcotics Anonymous was no longer number one.

We were too busy to attend Meetings, call our Sponsors or Carry the Message to others. We forgot that we can't keep what we have unless we give it away. We stopped making Surrender to this Way Of Life.

Many of us returned to active addiction. If we were lucky enough to survive and come back, we learned to put our Lives into Narcotics Anonymous; instead of putting Narcotics Anonymous into our Lives. We learned that our Lives had to be in the center of N.A. Our Recovery must come first, our Lives hinges on this fact.

We have to be always on our way to a Meeting; we just have to stop and work first. We're on our way to a Meeting; we just have to see our families first. In other words, we should always be on our way to a Meeting.

Meetings are a fence around our Cleanliness. This Physical Act of Surrender protects our Clean Time.

It keeps making our Recovery possible and Growing.