Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   August 28                                            The light of exposure

     "These defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 31

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   The Fifth Step asks us to share our true nature with God, with ourselves,
   and with another human being.  It doesn't encourage us to tell everyone
   every little secret about ourselves.   It doesn't ask us to disclose to
   the whole world every shameful or frightening thought we've ever had.
   Step Five simply suggests that our secrets cause us more harm than good
   when we keep them completely to ourselves.

   If we give in to our reluctance to reveal our true nature to even one
   human being, the secret side of our lives becomes more powerful.  And when
   the secrets are in control, they drive a wedge between ourselves, our
   Higher Power, and the things we value most about our recovery.

   When we share our secret selves in confidence with at least one human
   being-our sponsor, perhaps, or a close friend-this person usually
   doesn't reject us.   We disclose ourselves to someone else and are
   rewarded with their acceptance.  When this happens, we realize that honest
   sharing is not life-threatening;  the secrets have lost their power over
   us.

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   Just for today:  I can disarm the secrets in my life by sharing them with
   one human being.