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
As using addicts, the demands of our disease determined our personality. We could be whoever or whatever we needed to be in order to get our "fix." We were survival machines, adapting easily to every circumstance of the using life.
Once we began our recovery, we entered a new and different life. Many of us had no idea what behavior was appropriate for us in any given situation. Some of us didn't know how to talk to people, how to dress, or how to behave in public. We couldn't be ourselves because we didn't know who we were anymore.
The Twelve Steps give us a simple method for finding out who we really are. We uncover our assets and our defects, the things we like about ourselves and the things we're not so thrilled about. Through the healing power of the Twelve Steps, we begin to understand that we are individuals, created to be who we are by the Higher Power of our understanding. The real healing begins when we understand that if our Higher Power created us this way, it must be okay to be who we really are.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
Most of us have heard the saying, "Don't leave before the miracle happens." For newcomers, that can mean staying in a meeting even when the urge to leave feels like more than we can handle. After a little time clean, it might mean taking one more phone call from the sponsee who hears nothing we say or choosing not to react when our boss or significant other pushes our last button--again (and again and again).
But how do we get there? How does the newcomer stay in the seat when everything in them screams: Get up! Get out of here! How does the sponsor dig deep and offer experience, strength, and hope to the troubled sponsee, instead of just sighing deeply and asking, "Have you prayed about it?" How do we shift our focus from the momentary frustration of an argument to the fulfillment we experience in our relationship or career?
It's easy to do the right thing when things are going well, when we're getting what we want or think we deserve. Sometimes, though, the "rewards" might seem minimal or feel like they're taking forever to arrive.
Some members have described recovery as being "a marathon, not a sprint." Marathoners call it "hitting the wall"--that point in the race when it feels impossible to keep going, and there's no end in sight. It happens in recovery, too: We live by these principles for months, years, even decades, but some of our hopes and dreams still seem so out of reach. We can't even see the finish line yet, and we are TIRED. We have to remember that there is no "finish line" in a just-for-today program. We're not here for the reward at the end.
We keep the pace. Even if it's slow and steady, we keep moving forward whether we feel like it or not. We might need to stop at an aid station--for runners, a cup of cold water or sports drink every couple of miles makes it possible to go the distance. In recovery, coffee or tea with another addict can get us over that next spiritual hump--to the miracle on the other side.
