NA members hold nearly 76,000 meetings weekly in 143 countries. We offer recovery from the effects of addiction through working a twelve-step program, including regular attendance at group meetings. The group atmosphere provides help from peers and offers an ongoing support network for addicts who wish to pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle.
Our name, Narcotics Anonymous, is not meant to imply a focus on any particular drug; NA’s approach makes no distinction between legal and illegal drugs including alcohol. Membership is free, and we have no affiliation with any organizations outside of NA including governments, religions, law enforcement groups, or medical and psychiatric associations. Through all of our service efforts and our cooperation with others seeking to help addicts, we strive to reach a day when every addict in the world has an opportunity to experience our message of recovery in their own language and culture. This website is the contribution by members living in Ventura County towards that worldwide effort.
We are not alone, you are not alone.
The Narcotics Anonymous message is “that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use and find a new way to live.”
NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.
When we first came to NA, some of us wanted everything, and right away. We wanted the serenity, the cars, the happy relationships, the friends, the closeness with our sponsor--all the things other people had gotten after months and years of working the steps and living life on life's terms.
We learned the hard way that serenity comes only from working the steps. A new car comes from showing up on the job every day and trying to "practice these principles in all our affairs," including our employment. Healthy relationships come as a result of lots of hard work and a new willingness to communicate. Friendship with our sponsor comes as a result of reaching out during the good times as well as the bad.
In Narcotics Anonymous, we have found the path to a better way of life. To reach our destination, however, we must do the footwork.
April 19, 2024 |
Finding Self-Acceptance with the Serenity Prayer |
Page 113 |
"We learn to live with our frailties and imperfections." |
Living Clean, Chapter 1, "A Vision of Hope" |
Many of us have ideas in our heads of what we think we should be. These ideas may come from our families, friends, society, our religious backgrounds, and countless other influences. It's a little uncomfortable when our images of who we think we are and who we think we should be don't match. Getting to a place of self-acceptance when these pictures don't align can be challenging. The Serenity Prayer is a big help here. There are some things about ourselves we may never be able to change. If we're a lot shorter or taller than most of the people we know, wishing or praying to be an average height isn't likely to do much. By talking through our discomfort with our sponsor or others we trust, we can begin to make peace with our height. Then, of course, there are the qualities we are okay with, but others around us aren't! "I had a sense of humor that usually involved making someone the butt of the joke," one member wrote. "I kept hurting people, but I thought that if they would just get thicker skin, things would be fine. My sponsor suggested that I find ways to joke without hurting people. I was mad at first, but I worked on my sense of humor, and people don't look at me like I'm such an ass all the time now." Part of accepting our frailties and imperfections comes in finding the wisdom to know the difference between what we must accept and what we can change. "That's just who I am" is an excuse we no longer need for harmful behavior. Talking with other addicts and connecting with our Higher Power can help us continue to grow into the people we want to be. |
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Some parts of who I am are here to stay, while other aspects may need a little work. I will use the Serenity Prayer to aid in my self-acceptance. |
Copyright (c) 2007-2023, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
april, 2024
april, 2024
Address:
P.O. Box 23596
Ventura, CA 93002
24-Hour Phone line: 1-888-817-7425
Email: webmaster.gcana@gmail.com
Here are some tips to help you understand how to get started:
Simply find a meeting on our meeting directory page.
No need to make an appointment, but maybe show up a bit early, and have a seat anywhere you like.
Have a listen, share, or don’t share.
Mostly just learn you are not alone.
None of us could do this alone, we do this together.
For us drugs had become a major problem.
To help each other stay clean, we recovering addicts meet regularly.
No initiation fees or promises are required.
You are already a member if you have the desire to stop using.
If you want to do something about your problem:
We want to know how we can help.
We all thought we were powerless to do anything about our addiction.
Experience has shown us, if we keep coming to meetings regularly, we stay clean.