Tafakari ya Kitabu cha Kijivu
We were finally free to be ourselves, because we were not trying to cover anything up. It was a great relief to be rid of all our secrets, to share the burden of past guilts.
Gray Book, p. 45 (Step Five, Lines 30-33)
We've often heard at meetings that we're as sick as our secrets. After arriving to Narcotics Anonymous, most of us realized we were sick people. Living in active addiction requires that we hide behind a lot of phony images.
The things that some of us had to do to keep using only caused us degradation. We had feared if people got to know us we would surely be judged and rejected. Since dark places are where negatives are developed, we got sicker.
Our Literature reminds us that defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure. The Fifth Step is the Solution to having these defects exposed and identified. Admitting to God, ourselves and another human being starts this process.
Our first spoken Inventory might not reveal all our past mistakes. Our Goal with our Recovery in Narcotics Anonymous is to Achieve Adequacy, not perfection. The process of Prayer will be our most important Spiritual Tool at this point.
We continue with the Help of the God Of Our Own Understanding, our N.A. Sponsors, and the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. We no longer have to be bogged down in our self-made prisons.
The Fifth Step is the Key to a deeper level of Freedom. Since we are only Offered a Daily Reprieve, our self-assessment will have to be a lifelong process, "A Day At A Time. "
In This Moment: We will take a Healthy risk motivated by Faith to keep Growing in our Spiritual Journey in Narcotics Anonymous.