Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   July 28                                               Secrets and intimacy

      "We feared that if we ever revealed ourselves as we were, we would
                             surely be rejected."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 32

                           ----=----

   Having relationships without barriers, ones in which we can be entirely
   open with our feelings, is something many of us desire.  At the same time,
   the possibility of such intimacy causes us more fear than almost any other
   situation in life.

   If we examine what frightens us, we'll usually find that we are
   attempting to hide an aspect of our personalities that we are ashamed of,
   an aspect we sometimes haven't even admitted to ourselves.  We don't
   want others to know of our insecurities, our pain, or our neediness, so we
   simply refuse to expose them.  We may imagine that if no one knows about
   our imperfections, those imperfections will cease to exist.

   This is the point where our relationships stop.   Anyone who enters our
   lives will not get past the point at which our secrets begin.  To maintain
   intimacy in a relationship, it is essential that we acknowledge our
   defects and accept them.  When we do, the fortress of denial, erected to
   keep these things hidden, will come crashing down, enabling us to build up
   our relationships with others.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  I have opportunities to share my inner self.  I will take
   advantage of those opportunities and draw closer to those I love.