May 5

Our Third Tradition tells us that addicts can be prayed over, beaten, locked up and threatened, but an addict will not stop using until the addict wants to. The price of admission to Narcotics Anonymous is pain, without it most of us wouldn't have gotten here. Even after coming to N.A., most of us didn't stay. It seems that pain might be the admission, but it's not enough to keep us here, once the pain subsides.

Our initial Surrender has to be followed with Willingness, and Willingness has to be followed with Action. Desire is measured by our level of Surrender, and our level of Surrender is measured by our pursuit of Recovery. So even though desire is not a measurable commodity, it can be seen by our Willingness to go to any lengths.

Our Basic Text says that; "If you want what we have to offer, and are willing to make the effort to get it, then you are ready to take certain Steps. The First Step is to get and stay clean. Recovery will not work if we're not clean from all mood changing/mind altering drugs, including any form of Medicated Assisted Treatment drugs.

We then remain Openminded to a Power Greater Than Ourselves, that can relieve our obsession to use. The Action we do, like attending Meetings, read Literature, and get and use a Sponsor, is the Process that restores us to sanity. We Turn our Will and Lives over to the Care of God of our Own Understanding. This is evident when our obsession to use has been lifted.

Any length means that we don't put anything in front of our Recovery Program. It means that we don't make excuses for not attending meetings. It also means that we don't do it alone, and we have a Home Group, that we are part of.

We don't put conditions on staying clean. We stay clean no matter what happens in our Lives.

We are accountable to others, by remaining reachable.