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
When we're confused or in pain, our sponsor sometimes tells us to "write about it." Though we may groan as we drag out the notebook, we know that it will help. By laying it all out on paper, we give ourselves the chance to sort through what's bothering us. We know we can get to the bottom of our confusion and find out what's really causing our pain when we put the pen to the paper.
Writing can be rewarding, especially when working through the steps. Many members maintain a daily journal. Simply thinking about the steps, pondering their meaning, and analyzing their effect is not sufficient for most of us. There's something about the physical action of writing that helps to fix the principles of recovery in our minds and hearts.
The rewards we find through the simple action of writing are many. Clarity of thought, keys to locked places inside of us, and the voice of conscience are but a few. Writing helps us be more honest with ourselves. We sit down, quiet our thoughts, and listen to our hearts. What we hear in the stillness are the truths that we put down on paper.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
Many of us can say: "Relapse is a part of my story."
From our own experience and from listening to each other share, we know the possibility that we might not stay clean is very real. What causes an addict in recovery to choose to get high again? It can be anything, really, but an unaware "I got this" can be especially dangerous. We tire of hearing the message, sharing the message, and, frankly, each other. The sun goes down and comes back up on what seems like the same day. We become increasingly cranky and unfulfilled. Having become disillusioned with life clean but without recovery, maybe we even quit going to meetings. Eventually, we reach outside of ourselves to fix our insides and use again. When we come back to the rooms, we tell our story of complacency and sitting on that stepwork.
While there are endless versions of the relapse story, we all have heard the ones that don't have happy Narcotics Anonymous endings. Not everybody makes it back to NA and has the opportunity for another go at recovery. Knowing we could die out there--or not die but bring ruin to our livelihood and relationships--doesn't keep us clean. So . . . what does?
We know the answer to the question. It's pushing through with the basics of Steps, service, sponsor, and Higher Power. It's breathing life into our recovery in whatever ways we can. Start a new meeting? Take on another sponsee? Read the daily "SPAD" entry? It's doing what we all have done in the past, again, just for today. It's carrying the message to a newcomer to remind ourselves of where we came from and what was so freely given to us. It's not picking up, even when we want to. It's staying, even when we don't want to. Perseverance can be an antidote to complacency. We want to live, so we have to keep on living.
We don't need a new relapse story, or one at all. It's preventable, not inevitable.
