Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   September 1                                                    Real values

    "We become able to make wise and loving decisions based on principles
                and ideals that have real value in our lives."

                                                           Basic Text, p. 101

                           ----=----

   Addiction gave us a certain set of values, principles we applied in our
   lives.  "You pushed me," one of those values told us, "so I  pushed
   back, hard."  "It's mine"  was another value generated by our
   disease.  "Well, okay, maybe it wasn't mine to start with, but I liked
   it, so I made it mine."  Those values were hardly values at all-more
   like rationalizations-and they certainly didn't help us make wise and
   loving decisions.   In fact, they served primarily to dig us deeper and
   deeper into the grave we'd already dug for ourselves.

   The Twelve Steps give us a strong dose of real values, the kind that help
   us live in harmony with ourselves and those around us.  We place our faith
   not in ourselves, our families, or our communities, but in a Higher
   Power-and in doing so, we grow secure enough to be able to trust our
   communities, our families, and even ourselves.  We learn to be honest, no
   matter what-and we learn to refrain from doing things we might want to
   hide.   We learn to accept responsibility for our actions.    "It's
   mine" is replaced with a spirit of selflessness.  These are the kind of
   values that help us become a responsible, productive part of the life
   around us.   Rather than digging us deeper into a grave, these values
   restore us to the world of the living.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:   I am grateful for the values I've developed.   I  am
   thankful for the ability they give me to make wise, loving decisions as a
   responsible, productive member of my community.