Gratitude
“Hopeless living problems have become joyously changed. Our disease has been
arrested, and now anything is possible.”
Basic Text p.102
The NA program has given us more freedom than we ever dreamed possible.
Sometimes, though, in the daily routine, we lose track of how much we’ve been
given. How, exactly, have our lives changed in Narcotics Anonymous?
The bottom line of recovery, of course, is freedom from the compulsion to use. No
longer must we devote all our resources to feeding our addiction. No longer must we
endanger, humiliate, or abuse ourselves or others just to get the next “fix”.
Abstinence itself has brought great freedom to our lives.
Narcotics Anonymous has given us much more than simple abstinence-we’ve been
given a whole new life. We’ve taken our inventory and have identified the defects of
character that bound us for so long, keeping us from living and enjoying life. We’ve
surrendered those shortcomings, taken responsibility for them, and sought the
direction and power we need to live differently. Our home group has given us the
personal warmth and support that helps us continue living in recovery. And topping
all this off, we have the love, care, and guidance of the God we’ve come to
understand in NA.
In the course of day-to-day recovery, we sometimes forget how much our lives have
changed in Narcotics Anonymous. Do we fully appreciate what our program has
given us?
Just for today: Recovery has given me freedom. I will greet the day with hope,
grateful that anything is possible today.