March 8

Defects have been called the tools of the disease. From our self-centered fear stemmed most of our character defects.

We needed these defects to continue our using. We were always afraid of losing something we had, or afraid of not getting something we wanted.

Fear seemed to always dominate our lives. Coming to Narcotics Anonymous, we were Offered a New Way Of Living. This Way Of Life Offers Abstinence, it offers Freedom from obsession and a New Way To Live.

The Steps Free us from the drugs, then it Frees us from the self-imposed prisons that we created for ourselves. The Hope we received, resulted in Faith in a Power Greater Than Ourselves. Our fears lessened as we Trusted our thinking and Actions to this Power.

As our Faith increased, we began to Trust the Spiritual Principles. Practicing the Principles resulted in Growth. Practicing defects resulted in pain and no Growth.

These old tools are no longer needed in Recovery. Today we have a Fellowship, a Program, and a God Of Our Own Understanding, to Guide and Protect us from us. Some defects are human traits gone astray, being human we will act out on a defect, that's when it becomes a shortcoming. That's when we need our Higher Power to give us the Strength to act according to His Will.

We use the Spiritual Tool Kit we were given, and our defects get minimized. Getting Glimpses of what we could become without our defects, gives us Hope. We go on and ask God to help us with our shortcomings.