ARE YOU ON YOUR OWN TEAM?

A newcomer to Narcotics Anonymous, discouraged with his attempts at trying to get free of his addiction, said to an old-timer, "The NA program just doesn't work for me."

"That's no surprise," said the old-timer. "The program doesn't work for anybody. To get and stay clean, you have to work the program."

It's an action program. The work involved isn't anywhere near as exhausting as chasing and paying for that high, but there is work involved: Not picking up that drug, going to meetings, getting and using a sponsor, learning about the disease of addition, and reprogramming yourself back into being a human being through working the Twelve Steps. There is also getting and using a Higher Power.

Praying by itself simply didn't work for me nor any addict I ever met. As an old-timer years ago put it, "A Higher Power doesn't read want ads, ring doorbells, pay bills, make apologies, loan money, impress judges, or dig ditches. If you ask your HP for help as you do those things, however, you'll get it." 

For years we prayed for a particular person, the son of one of the members of our group, to see the light, put down the drug, get into the program, and live.

It didn't work; He died using.

It shook our faith a bit until an old-timer pointed out, "God can't cure someone who doesn't want the cure. It takes a team to keep you clean: Meetings, other recovering addicts, a sponsor, a program, a Higher Power, and you. If you are not on your own team, there is nothing anyone nor any power can do.

It is an Action, not a Traction, program. Get on your own team and do the work, or hang back and wallow in never ending nightmares.

Do you want to get clean? Stay clean?

Do you want it enough to work for it?

Your choice.