Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   August 13                                                 Difficult people

    "By giving unconditional love... we become more loving, and by sharing
                 spiritual growth we become more spiritual."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 99

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   Most of us have one or two exceptionally difficult people in our lives.
   How do we deal with such a person in our recovery?

   First, we take our own inventory.  Have we wronged this person?  Has some
   action or attitude of ours served as an invitation for the kind of
   treatment they have given us?  If so, we will want to clear the air, admit
   we have been wrong, and ask our Higher Power to remove whatever defects
   may prevent us from being helpful and constructive.

   Next, as people seeking to live spiritually oriented lives, we approach
   the problem from the other person's point of view.   They may be faced
   with any number of challenges we either fail to consider or know nothing
   about, challenges that cause them to be unpleasant.   As it's said, we
   seek in recovery "to forgive rather than be forgiven; to understand
   rather than be understood."

   Finally, if it is within our power, we seek ways to help others overcome
   their challenges without injuring their dignity.   We pray for their
   well-being and spiritual growth and for the ability to offer them the
   unconditional love that has meant so much to us in our recovery.

   We cannot change the difficult people in our lives, nor can we please
   everyone.  But by applying the spiritual principles we've learned in NA,
   we can learn to love them.

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   Just for today:  Higher Power, help me serve other people, not demand that
   they serve me.