March 31

Our Fifth Step tells us, "The masks have to go. " Living in active addiction we were always trying to hide the people we were. We didn't like ourselves, that's a big reason we used. Every time we got loaded, was to get out of ourselves.

Drugs made it bearable to live in our own skins. However, when the euphoria of using wore off, we didn't like who we had become either, so we used some more. At the end, we felt that we couldn't live anymore with the drugs.

After arriving at Narcotics Anonymous and cleaning up, the greater aspect was that we couldn't live without the drugs either. Some of us went back to using, to the bitter ends, jails, institutions, and death. Some of us stood and found a New Way to Live.

In Narcotics Anonymous the only thing we have to change is everything. Working the Steps has been described as the peeling of an onion, layer by layer.

Even though there's a lot of tears, there's also a lot of growth. At the core of the onion is where our true Spirits resides. Our Journey in Recovery is to go back, through our inventories and recapture ourselves before our Spirits went to sleep.

With the help of God, Steps, Traditions and the Fellowship our Spirits Awaken, and we are Nurtured. We are Loved, until we learn to Love ourselves. First, we have to unlearn who we think we are, and become who we really are.

We find that the True value is in being ourselves. Self-Acceptance is a process, and part of that process is also Accepting what we are lacking.

We capitalize on our Assets and Share these with others. We also acknowledged our liabilities and Share those with God. As we learn to Accept and Love ourselves, we learn to Accept and Love others.