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
We've heard it said that "we're as sick as our secrets." What do we keep secret, and why?
We keep secret those things that cause us shame. We may hold onto such things because we don't want to surrender them. Yet if they're causing us shame, wouldn't we live more easily with ourselves if we were rid of them?
Some of us hold onto the things that cause us shame for another reason. It's not that we don't want to be rid of them; we just don't believe we can be rid of them. They've plagued us for so long, and we've tried so many times to rid ourselves of them, that we've stopped hoping for relief. Yet still they shame us, and still we keep them secret.
We need to remember who we are: recovering addicts. We who tried so long to keep our drug use a secret have found freedom from the obsession and compulsion to use. Though many of us enjoyed using right to the end, we sought recovery anyway. We just couldn't stand the toll our using was taking on us. When we admitted our powerlessness and sought help from others, the burden of our secret was lifted from us.
The same principle applies to whatever secrets may burden us. Yes, we're as sick as our secrets. Only when our secrets stop being secret can we begin to find relief from those things that cause us shame.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
Many of us wanted to help others before getting clean, but once we started using, doing so became difficult. One member described it this way: "My heart aspired to help people, but my brain never got the memo!" At some point in early recovery, many of us have the experience of sharing and then seeing another member relate. Maybe they nod in agreement, or they shake their head in shared amusement or disgust at the insidiousness and insanity of our disease. Maybe they vocalize--"That's right!"--or shed a tear. However they do it, they let us know that they know that we know--we share in the knowledge of the disease, and we share our experience with recovery, too.
This is how we get clean and stay clean--the therapeutic value of one addict helping another. We share experience, strength, and hope; we share tea and coffee; we share the joy of staying clean and the pain of losing fellow addicts. We do it together. At many points along the way, we are reminded of our purpose for being here and being together. Maybe it's when a nonmember asks, "Why do you still go to those meetings?" We might even wonder, Yeah, why do I? Then we remember--we are uniquely qualified to help other addicts, and helping addicts gives us purpose and keeps us clean.
When we go through something clean--an unintended pregnancy, parents with dementia, falling in or out of love--we are rarely the first ones in the room to do so. We share what we're going through so others can help us. Then we share what we went through so we can help others. Yes, we're each other's eyes and ears; sometimes we are also each other's trailblazers, coaches, older siblings. We have a reason for being here. And that reason is one another.
