Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   November 16                                                  Alone no more

     "We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and
          loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 35

                           ----=----

   Many of us spent much of  our using time alone, avoiding  other
   people-especially people who were not using-at all costs.  After years
   of isolation, trying to find a place for ourselves in a bustling,
   sometimes boisterous fellowship is not always easy.  We may still feel
   isolated, focusing on our differences rather than our similarities.   The
   overwhelming feelings that often arise in early recovery-feelings of
   fear, anger, and mistrust-can also keep us isolated.  We may feel like
   aliens but we must remember, the alienation is ours, not NA's.

   In Narcotics Anonymous, we are offered a very special opportunity for
   friendship.  We are brought together with people who understand us like no
   one else can.  We are encouraged to share with these people our feelings,
   our problems, our triumphs, and our failures.  Slowly, the recognition and
   identification we find in NA bridge the lonely gap of alienation in our
   hearts.  As we've heard it said-the program works, if we let it.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  The friendship of other members of the fellowship is a
   life-sustaining gift.    I will reach out for the friendship that's
   offered in NA, and accept it.