Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   November 22                                               Foundation first

   "As we begin to function in society, our creative freedom helps us sort
                our priorities and do the basic things first."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 83

                           ----=----

   No sooner do we get clean than some of us begin putting other priorities
   ahead of our recovery.   Careers, families, relationships-all these are
   part of the life we find once we've laid the foundation of our
   recovery.  But we can't build a stable life for ourselves before we do
   the hard, basic work of laying our recovery foundation.   Like a house
   built on sand, such a life will be shaky, at best.

   Before we begin putting all our attention to rebuilding the detailed
   framework of our lives, we need to lay our foundation.  We acknowledge,
   first, that we don't yet have a foundation, that our addiction has made
   our lives utterly unmanageable.   Then, with the help of our sponsor and
   our home group, we find faith in a Power strong enough to help us prepare
   the ground of our new lives.   We clear the wreckage from the site upon
   which we will build our future.   Finally, we develop a deep, working
   familiarity with the principles we will practice in our continuing
   affairs: honest self-examination, reliance upon our Higher Power's
   guidance and strength, and service to others.

   Once our foundation is prepared, then we can go full steam ahead to put
   our new lives together.  But first we must ask ourselves if our foundation
   is secure, for without our foundation, nothing we build can stand for
   long.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:   I will take care to lay a secure foundation for my
   recovery.  Upon such a foundation, I can build for a lifetime in recovery.