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
After taking the Fifth Step, many of us spend some time considering "the exact nature of our wrongs" and the part they'd played in making us who we were. What would our lives be like without, say, our arrogance?
Sure, arrogance had kept us apart from our fellows, preventing us from enjoying and learning from them. But arrogance had also served us well, propping up our ego in the face of critically low self-esteem. What advantage would be gained if our arrogance were removed, and what support would we be left with?
With arrogance gone, we would be one step closer to being restored to our proper place among others. We would become capable of appreciating their company and their wisdom and their challenges as their equals. Our support and guidance would come, if we chose, from the care offered us by our Higher Power; "low self-esteem" would cease to be an issue.
One by one, we examined our character defects this way, and found them all defective--after all, that's why they're called defects. And were we entirely ready to have God remove all of them? Yes.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
When we stop using, we eliminate the most obvious symptom of the disease and the source of many of our problems. Abstinence alone, however, is seldom enough to straighten out our thinking. Even after the drugs are gone, our outlook, priorities, and personalities remain distorted. If we want to be free from all aspects of the disease, it will take some work.
"My self-centeredness had me tied up in knots," one member recalled. "I was angry and judgmental, greedy for attention and material things, dishonest with others and myself. Just not using was just not enough. It took time and change for me to get free from my self-imposed prison."
We get relief along the way and glimpse what it's like to be unburdened from self-centered fear. Stepwork loosens the grip that worry and shame once had on us, freeing us to live in today. We find freedom in having friends we can count on and confide in, in belly laughs that aren't chemically induced, in the depth of our empathy for others' struggles. We stay aware of our spiritual condition, not settling for freedom's cheap substitute: irresponsibility. Humility liberates us to be a little more forgiving of others and ourselves, recognizing that we're all works in progress. We're grateful for our new capacity to stay in the present and for the respite we get from the disease when we tend to our spiritual wellness. We face life's many choices knowing that, no matter what, we'll be okay.
Freedom is a state of mind, not a state of being. The NA program helps us discover and discard limiting beliefs and patterns that keep us stuck, regardless of our living conditions. "Each day offers a fresh start and another opportunity to cast off my mental, emotional, and spiritual shackles," wrote one member from the confines of a prison. "If I want to fly, I have to let go of the baggage that's weighing me down." That's apt advice for all of us.
