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
How many times in our recovery have we misunderstood the behavior of another, immediately formed a judgment, applied a label, and neatly tucked the individual into a pigeonhole? Perhaps they had developed a different understanding of a Power greater than themselves than we had, so we concluded their beliefs were unspiritual. Or maybe we saw a couple having an argument; we assumed their relationship was sick, only to find out later that their marriage had prospered for many years.
Thoughtlessly tossing our fellows into categories saves us the effort of finding out anything about them. Every time we judge the behavior of another, we cease to see them as potential friends and fellow travelers on the road to recovery.
If we happened to ask those we are judging if they appreciate being stereotyped, we would receive a resounding "no" in response. Would we feel slighted if this were done to us? Yes, indeed. Our best qualities are what we want others to notice. In the same way, our fellow recovering addicts want to be well thought of. Our program of recovery asks us to look positively at life. The more we concentrate on the positive qualities in others, the more we'll notice them in ourselves.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
None of us chose to have the disease of addiction. We also didn't choose our upbringing or the demographic groups we belong to, our identity or culture, or to have our particular set of character defects (and assets). These aspects of ourselves don't tell our whole story, not nearly. This truth also doesn't negate responsibility for our personal autonomy, our free will to make decisions that may in many ways be informed by these characteristics. Personal autonomy is having the capacity and willingness to act on our own behalf. As recovering addicts, our goal for personal autonomy is to have the capacity and willingness to do so while living by spiritual principles--as opposed to the self-centeredness that drove a lot of our decision making in active addiction.
Through the Twelve Steps of NA, we investigate the hand we were dealt and what we did with those cards. This work opens many doors for us to make self-aware choices that align with our true values and a higher purpose. "In Step Four, I had an epiphany many of us have, realizing that holding on to my resentments was a choice that was holding me back," a member wrote. "And my experience with Step Seven shows me that when I'm about to act out on a shortcoming, I have a choice. For me, autonomy is that moment of grace where I pray, 'Help me choose differently because I want to live differently.'"
We are as we do, not as we feel or think we are. We aren't all our outsides or insides. We can be kind without feeling kind. We can feel kind and not act on it. Our choices reflect our priorities--how we treat the people in our lives (from our sponsor, to someone we want to date, to a server in a cafe), how we spend our time and money, how we act when no one's looking. We're no longer living by default or vicariously through others; we've carved out who we authentically are and can make choices that reflect that version of us. We are autonomous, responsible for our own feelings, words, and actions. And just as no one can "make" us do anything, we can't make choices for others either.
