Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   May 11                                                Balancing the scales

      "A lot of our chief concerns and major difficulties come from our
     inexperience with living without drugs.  Often when we ask an oldtimer
         what to do, we are amazed at the simplicity of the answer."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 43

                           ----=----

   Finding balance in recovery is quite a bit like sitting down with a set of
   scales and a pile of sand.  The goal is to have an equal amount of sand on
   each side of the scales, achieving a balance of weight.

   We do the same thing in recovery.  We sit down with the foundation of our
   clean time and the Twelve Steps, then attempt to add employment, household
   responsibilities, friends, sponsees, relationships, meetings, and service
   in equal weights so that the scales balance.  Our first try may throw our
   personal scales out of kilter.    We may find that, because of our
   over-involvement in service, we have upset our employer or our family.
   But when we try to correct this problem by resigning from NA  service
   altogether, the other side of the scales go out of balance.

   We can ask for help from members who have stabilized their scales.   These
   people are easy to recognize.    They appear serene, composed, and
   self-assured.  They'll smile in recognition at our dilemma and share how
   they slowed down, added only a few grains of sand at a time to either side
   of the scales, and were rewarded with balance in recovery.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  I seek balance in my life.  Today, I will ask others to
   share their experience in finding that balance.