May 14

Our First Step deals with the Physical aspect of our disease. The first thing we do in this Program is stop using drugs. Complete and Total Abstinence is needed for Recovery in Narcotics Anonymous.

Many of us neglected our basic needs while using. For some of us, our diet was unbalanced, our bodies didn't get the exercise it needed, and many of us didn't replace the nutrients that the drugs took away. Our Mental and Spiritual Health were also negatively affected, to say the least. Our answer to all of our problems was using more drugs.

Years of drug usage causes a lot of damage, it'll take years of Abstinence, to get healthy again. As we get clean, we have to get in touch not only with our Emotions, but with our Physical Selves as well. When we're feeling in rare form, the first thing we do is practice H.A.L.T.S.

Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired and don't take yourself too Seriously. With these spot checks we can avoid extra grief we can bring to ourselves. It can also help us practice the Spiritual Principles we've learned so far, to make us better people.

Recovery is about Self-Care; it's about having a healthy balance in our lives. Recovery is also about building healthy relationships with people, places and things. One of our members wrote that; Spirituality is the right relationship with reality. When we were using, we weren't functioning in reality.

We can build healthy relationships with reality. When taking the First Step, we learn to have a relationship with Honesty.

Next we start to take care of our physical needs. We get proper rest and begin to have a balanced diet.

Some of us get a physical from our doctors. All this contributes to our Recovery and Health.