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
Love is like an elixir for some of us. The excitement of a new lover, the intrigue of exploring intimacy, the sense of release we get from allowing ourselves to become vulnerable--these are all powerful emotions. But we can't forget that we have only a daily reprieve from our addiction. Holding onto this daily reprieve must be the top priority in any recovering addict's life.
We can become too involved in our relationship. We can neglect old friends and our sponsor in the process. Then, when things get difficult, we often feel that we can no longer reach out to those who helped us prior to our romantic involvement. This belief can lay the groundwork for a relapse. By consistently working our program and attending meetings, we ensure that we have a network of recovery, even when we're deep in a romance.
Our desire to be romantically involved is natural. But we mustn't forget that, without our program, even the healthiest relationship will not guard us against the strength of our addiction.
A Spiritual Principal a Day
Once we have been in recovery for a while, we discover that unmanageability can be caused by things other than the use of drugs. Some difficulties we face are the result of factors other than our disease. This can be especially frustrating after we put so much work into gaining freedom from our disease: developing the ability to make and keep plans, to set and achieve goals for ourselves. We were stuck in ruts for so long, and finally we are going somewhere!
And then complications arise. Someone cancels on us at the last minute. The bus is late. Money we were counting on doesn't come through on time. External complications are a fact of life, and they sometimes make our lives more difficult to manage. For people who are well versed in unmanageability, our tolerance for complications not of our own making can be surprisingly low sometimes. Acceptance and faith often go hand in hand, especially in these moments.
One real danger to our practice of faith comes when we obsess over complications. Rather than simply addressing an issue head-on, we are prone to begin thinking about it. And keep thinking about it--about precisely how much the complication is interfering with our plans. Self-centered obsession is familiar territory for us; what better place for us to go when things aren't going our way? A member shared, "I can have 99 things going right for me, but all I can think about is the one thing that isn't."
Sharing with other addicts can help us move from obsession back to faith. When our sponsor suggests a gratitude list, it's not about pretending that difficulties or hardships don't exist--it's about getting a better perspective. Taking a more objective look at our lives helps us reconnect with faith. Yes, something is going wrong. But in many other areas, our lives are going better than we ever could have managed on our own. We will be okay. In fact, we already are.
