Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   November 21                                         Letting our defects go

     "If [character defects] contributed to our health and happiness, we
             would not have come to such a state of desperation."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 34

                           ----=----

   Getting started on the Sixth and Seventh Steps isn't always easy.   We
   may feel as though we have so much wrong with us that we are totally
   defective.  We might feel like hiding under a rock.  Under no circumstance
   would we want our fellow addicts to know about our inadequacies.

   We will probably go through a time of examining everything we say and do
   in order to identify our character defects and make sure we suppress
   them.  We may look back at one particular day, cringing at what we're
   certain is the most embarrassing thing we've ever said.   We become
   determined to be rid of these horrible traits at all costs.

   But nowhere in the Sixth or Seventh Steps does it say we can learn to
   control our defects of character.  In fact, the more attention we focus on
   them, the more firmly entrenched they will become in our lives.  It takes
   humility to recognize that we can't control our defects any more than we
   can control our addiction.  We can't remove our own defects; we can only
   ask a loving God to remove them.

   Letting go of something painful can be as difficult as letting go of
   something pleasant.  But let's face it-holding on is a lot of work.
   When we really think about what we're holding onto, the effort just
   isn't worthwhile.  It's time to let go of our character defects and
   ask God to remove them.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  I'm ready to have my defects removed.  I will let go
   and allow a loving Higher Power to care for me.