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
Our identities, how we think and feel, have been shaped by our experiences. Some of our experiences have made us better people; others have caused us shame or embarrassment; all of them have influenced who we are today. We can take advantage of the knowledge gained in examining our mistakes, using this wisdom to guide the decisions we'll make today.
Acceptance of ourselves means accepting all aspects of ourselves--our assets, our defects, our successes, and our failures. Shame and guilt left unaddressed can paralyze us, preventing us from moving forward in our lives. Some of the most meaningful amends we can make for the mistakes of our past are made simply by acting differently today. We strive for improvement and measure our success by comparing who we used to be with who we are now.
Being human, we will continue making mistakes; however, we need not make the same ones over and over again. By looking over our past and realizing that we have changed and grown, we'll find hope for the future. The best is yet to come.
A Spiritual Principal a Day
Before recovery, we had one primary strategy to help us deal with life\'s stressors: feeding our addiction. Drugs helped us escape from an abusive household or the feelings of loneliness from our partner\'s death. They soothed the anxiety caused by our job, our rent, or the fact that we had neither. We fled from the anguish of raising teenagers or the loss of a pregnancy. However well this strategy worked at first, ultimately, it was not sustainable. The drugs stopped working, the money ran out, incarceration, overdose, degradation. . . . We know the drill. In recovery, we are shown new approaches to handle life\'s challenges--and even our successes. We learn to surrender our uncomfortable feelings, to accept the outcome of the day\'s events, to cope with the grimmest of tragedies just to be in the current moment. Practicing the Third Step daily, from the moment we open our eyes, helps many of us to deal with life on life\'s terms. We \"turn it over\" by whatever method or ritual we find works for us--praying, meditating, sending a gratitude list to our network, calling a fellow addict who\'s struggling, or just taking a moment to acknowledge Whatever\'s Out There or Within Here. We affirm our Step Three decision and surrender just for today, every day. We find that the practice of a daily surrender is sustainable. This process of surrender is a muscle that we build so that we can rely on it during our toughest moments. Just as critically, surrendering makes space for us to thrive. Turning over our will is metaphorically taking out the trash, clearing the cobwebs, airing out the sheets. It\'s washing the windows not merely to see out but to get out there and make our mark on the world.
