Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous of NJ. Our Message Is…
That an addict, any addict can stop using drugs,
lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.
Helpline
If you feel you have a problem with drugs, call our helpline
Events
See upcoming NA events and activities in NJ
Narcotics Anonymous 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.
– Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text, page 9
Recovery from addiction is possible and available through the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous is FREEDOM from active addiction.
Narcotics Anonymous is an international, community-based association of recovering drug addicts with over 61,000 weekly meetings in over 131 countries worldwide.
Just for Today
After the first couple of years in recovery, most of us start to feel like there are no more big deals. If we've been diligent in working the steps, the past is largely resolved and we have a solid foundation on which to build our future. We've learned to take life pretty much as it comes. Familiarity with the steps allows us to resolve problems almost as quickly as they arise.
Once we discover this level of comfort, we may tend to treat it as a "rest stop" on the recovery path. Doing so, however, discounts the nature of our disease. Addiction is patient, subtle, progressive, and incurable. It's also fatal--we can die from this disease, unless we continue to treat it. And the treatment for addiction is a vital, ongoing program of recovery.
The Twelve Steps are a process, a path we take to stay a step ahead of our disease. Meetings, sponsorship, service, and the steps always remain essential to ongoing recovery. Though we may practice our program somewhat differently with five years clean than with five months, this doesn't mean the program has changed or become less important, only that our practical understanding has changed and grown. To keep our recovery fresh and vital, we need to stay alert for opportunities to practice our program.
A Spiritual Principle a Day
In our first days of being clean (and for many of us a long time after), it's difficult for us to accept the goodwill of addicts in the Fellowship as real. We think, Why in the hell are all these people so happy to see me, like they know me or something? Some of us believe these NA people are trying to manipulate us in some way. Otherwise, why would they be so welcoming? We remain on red alert to find a crack in their game, but the goodwill of other humans can be hard to resist, especially when we haven't been offered it in a while. So, we keep coming back. Our journey toward freedom from active addiction begins.
In NA, we do what others have done to stay clean, so we're encouraged to welcome those newer than we are. "At first, I found this uncomfortable because I didn't feel genuine approaching people," a member shared. "But as I became more aware of the value of what had been so freely given to me, my desire to help new people grew. I sincerely felt hope for them, and I was truly excited to see them when they came back. I didn't think I was even capable of feeling like that."
For many of us, that shift is nothing short of a miracle. This newfound, heartfelt commitment to the well-being of other addicts represents freedom from the self-centeredness we've been trapped in for so long. We know the program is working when we realize that we have hope for others to succeed.
