Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous of NJ. Our Message Is…
That an addict, any addict can stop using drugs,
lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.
Helpline
If you feel you have a problem with drugs, call our helpline
Events
See upcoming NA events and activities in NJ
Narcotics Anonymous is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean.
– Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text, page 9
Recovery from addiction is possible and available through the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous is FREEDOM from active addiction.
Narcotics Anonymous is an international, community-based association of recovering drug addicts with over 61,000 weekly meetings in over 131 countries worldwide.
Just for Today
The longer we stay clean, the more we experience feelings of gratitude for our recovery. These feelings of gratitude aren't limited to particular gifts like new friends or the ability to be employed. More frequently, they arise from the overall sense of joy we feel in our new lives. These feelings are enhanced by our certainty of the course our lives would have taken if it weren't for the miracle we've experienced in Narcotics Anonymous.
These feelings are so all-encompassing, so wondrous, and sometimes so overwhelming that we often can't find words for them. We sometimes openly weep with happiness while sharing in a meeting, yet we grope for words to express what we are feeling. We want so badly to convey to newcomers the gratitude we feel, but it seems that our language lacks the superlatives to describe it.
When we share with tears in our eyes, when we choke up and can't talk at all--these are the times when our gratitude speaks most clearly. We share our gratitude directly from our hearts; with their hearts, others hear and understand. Our gratitude speaks eloquently, though our words may not.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
For many of us, when we were new to NA, getting clean--and staying clean--was the hardest thing we'd ever been through. Our life seemed impossibly dark, and it took every bit of effort not to go back to our old lives. But we didn't pick up, no matter what. We survived that time, in large part, because of our connection to other recovering addicts. A member shared: "In my first meeting someone told me, 'I understand you, and you don't have to go through this alone.' For years, people had said so many things to me, trying to help, but until NA, no one said they'd had the same experience--and that they'd survived it."
However, staying clean doesn't mean the difficult times are over. Inevitably, "no matter what" situations await all of us. Sometimes these challenges can add to our lives in significant ways: We get off the street and live on our own for the first time or we buy property or start a family or a business. For many of us, we experience catastrophic events that easily eclipse the suffering of early recovery. We have to care for an aging parent or we lose a child to the disease of addiction. There's economic hardship, divorce or widowhood, infertility, cancer or chronic pain; the list is endless.
And so is the depth of the empathy and experience of our NA Fellowship. None of us has to go through any hardship alone. We get through these times clean, just as we did when we were new--with willingness to accept help from those who understand us and who have endured similar situations.
The member continued: "Without each other, we are stumbling around in the dark. I let people in, not only because I needed help, but because allowing others who love us to support us in our time of need also shows compassion and generosity." Speaking about the loss of his spouse to suicide, he added, "Ultimately, my own struggle became more bearable because I helped someone going through the same thing. That mutual aid is empathy in action."
