Grey Book Reflection
They are our solutions. They have become our survival kit, for addiction is a deadly disease.
Gray Book, p. 30 (Chapter Four, Lines 15-16)
Our Literature says, " that working the steps is our best guarantee against a relapse. " Abstinence for us is Life saving, but the only way, for us, to treat the disease of addiction is through working the Steps. Recovery in Narcotics Anonymous must be progressive because the disease of addiction is progressive. We're Granted a Daily Reprieve from having to use drugs.
Our disease not only has to be arrested, but it also must be treated, otherwise, we will return to active use. Our Steps are the Solution.
The First Step in Narcotics Anonymous does not solely focus on the symptom, which for us, are the drugs. It focuses on the actual disease.
We're not addicts because we use drugs, we use drugs because we're addicts. We arrest the disease in the First Step, then we relieve the obsession to use, which is the mental part of the disease in the Second Step. We find a God of Our Understanding in the Third Step, which makes it possible for us to change and start to Recover. The rest of the Steps transform us from hopeless and suffering people, to Hopeful and Useful people.
The Steps of Narcotics Anonymous are our Solution to a condition that left us in a devastating and deadly state. We finally can Live Happy, Joyous and Free, with ourselves and others. We can develop a Relationship with others and the God Of Our Understanding.
Through the Steps we can clean up the wreckage of our past, we can find a New Way To Live, and our futures can be different. We share these Steps with other suffering addicts and with the World at Large.
We will utilize the tools laid before us. We will not forget that our disease is progressive and fatal. Our Steps are our only Solution.