Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   July 12                                                           Patience

    "We were trapped by our need for the instant gratification that drugs
                                  gave us."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 25

                           ----=----

   "I want what I want, and I want it now!" That's about as patient as
   most of us ever got in our active addiction.  The obsession and compulsion
   of our disease gave us a "one-track" way of thinking; when we wanted
   something, that's all we thought about.  And the drugs we took taught us
   that instant gratification was never more than a dose away.  It's no
   wonder that most of us came to Narcotics Anonymous with next to no
   patience.

   The problem is, we can't always get what we want whenever we want it.
   Some of our wishes are pure fantasy; if we think about it, we'll realize
   we have no reason to believe those wishes will be fulfilled in our
   lifetimes.  We probably can't even fulfill all our realistic desires; we
   certainly can't fulfill them all at once.   In order to acquire or
   achieve some things, we will have to sacrifice others.

   In our addiction we sought instant gratification, squandering  our
   resources.  In recovery we must learn to prioritize, sometimes denying the
   gratification of some desires in order to fulfill more important long-term
   goals.  To do so requires patience.  To find that patience, we practice
   our program of recovery, seeking the kind of full-bodied spiritual
   awakening that will allow us to live and enjoy life on life's terms.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  Higher Power, help me discover what's most important in
   my life.  Help me learn patience, that I can devote my resources to the
   important things.