January 16

Most of us came to Narcotics Anonymous with low selfesteem, some of us with close to none. Using drugs was our solution for the feelings we had about ourselves. Feelings of uselessness and not fitting in happened to us years before we picked up.

Using drugs seemed to offer some relief; it helped mask our feelings of ourselves and others. Little did we know that when we buried our feelings, we buried them alive. When the drugs stopped working we used more to cover up the shaken, frightened people we really were. We rejected ourselves, and we thought we would have been rejected by others if they really got to know us.

For us, isolation became our way of life; we felt we were all alone. After arriving to Narcotics Anonymous and we heard the experiences of others, we began to Identify. We started to feel Hope and started to feel part of.

We started to Empathize with others. The members that were here before us Loved us Unconditionally, until we learned to Love ourselves. As we Practiced the Spiritual Principles contained in the Steps with our Sponsors and the God Of Our Understanding, we learned Self-Acceptance, and we learned to Love ourselves.

After taking a Fifth Step with another human, we started to lose our fear about others getting to know us as we really were. We started to develop Compassion for others and Accepted others where they were. We learned about healthy risks. We learn that even a turtle had to stick its neck out, to make any progress.

Today in the Fellowship we're not alone.

N.A. can also mean Never Alone.