Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   October 3                                                 Losing self-will

    "Our egos, once so large and dominant, now take a back seat because we
    are in harmony with a loving God.  We find that we lead richer, happier,
                and much fuller lives when we lose self-will."

                                                           Basic Text, p. 105

                           ----=----

   Addiction and self-will go hand in hand.   The unmanageability that we
   admitted to in Step One was as much a product of our self-will as it was
   of our chronic drug abuse.   And today, living on self-will can make our
   lives just as unmanageable as they were when we were using.   When our
   ideas, our desires, our demands take first place in our lives, we find
   ourselves in constant conflict with everyone and everything around us.

   Self-will reflects our reliance on ego.  The only thing that will free us
   from self-will and the conflict it generates in our lives is to break our
   reliance on ego, coming to rely instead on the guidance and power offered
   us by a loving God.

   We are taught to consult spiritual principles, not our selfish desires, in
   making our decisions.  We are taught to seek guidance from a Higher Power,
   one with a larger vision of things than our own.  In doing this, we find
   our lives meshing more and more easily with the order of things around
   us.  No longer do we exclude ourselves from the flow of life; we become a
   part of it, and discover the fullness of what recovery has to offer.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  I  seek freedom from ego and the conflicts generated by
   self-will.  I will try to improve my conscious contact with the God of my
   understanding, seeking the guidance and power I need to live in harmony
   with my world.