Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   December 20                                      Overcoming self-obsession

      "In living the steps, we begin to let go of our self-obsession."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 97

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   Many of us came to the program convinced that our feelings, our wants, and
   our needs were of the utmost importance to everyone.  We had practiced a
   lifetime of self-seeking, self-centered behavior and believed it was the
   only way to live.

   That self-centeredness doesn't cease just because we stop using drugs.
   Perhaps we attend our first NA function and are positive that everyone in
   the room is watching us, judging us, and condemning us.   We may demand
   that our sponsor be on call to listen to us whenever we want-and they,
   in turn, may gently suggest that the world does not revolve around us.
   The more we insist on being the center of the universe, the less satisfied
   we will be with our friends, our sponsor, and everything else.

   Freedom from self-obsession can be found through concentrating more on the
   needs of others and less on our own.  When others have problems, we can
   offer help.  When newcomers need rides to meetings, we can pick them up.
   When friends are lonely, we can spend time with them.   When we find
   ourselves feeling unloved or ignored, we can offer the love and attention
   we need to someone else.  In giving, we receive much more in return-and
   that's a promise we can trust.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  I will share the world with others, knowing they are just
   as important as I am.  I will nourish my spirit by giving of myself.