The Reginald & Dionne Smith Foundation

08/26/2026

26 August

Choosing Intimacy over Isolation

Page 246

"Caring and sharing the NA way is the ultimate weapon against our alienating, isolating, destructive disease."

Living Clean, Chapter 5: Relationships, Opening Essay

Experiencing loneliness is an inevitable part of the human condition. For many addicts, this loneliness is amplified by how different we've felt from our peers. We've had trouble fitting in, or we're just plain weird. We needed too much attention and alienated others in our efforts to get it. Or we wanted none of that; instead, we stayed silent and hoped that others wouldn't notice us.

Drugs helped us deal with those feelings and experiences. Initially, using made us feel more "normal," more comfortable in our own skin. It allowed us to be more social and, most importantly, created a buffer to keep us safe from intimacy and vulnerability.

Early in recovery, we learn that our disease is fueled not only by getting loaded, but by keeping us isolated from others and from ourselves. When we first get clean and we don't have drugs as that extra layer of defense, we are raw.

Narcotics Anonymous provides us with opportunities to heal that rawness--through intimate relationships with other addicts. Allowing ourselves to share fearlessly with another addict is truly the salve for our isolation. Even with years clean, a voice in our heads will tell us that we are better off dealing with (or not dealing with) our problems alone. However, we know the act of revealing ourselves and being present for others is the most powerful antidote to our very human state of loneliness--and to our default addict state of believing we are just too weird.

Even though sharing may be uncomfortable, I will take a risk and allow myself to be seen by another addict. I will choose connection over isolation.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

08/26/2026

26 August

Tenth Step inventory

Page 248

"We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

Step Ten

❖

A daily Tenth Step keeps us on a sound spiritual footing. While each member asks different questions, some questions have been found to be helpful to almost everyone. Two key Tenth Step questions are, "Am I honestly in touch with myself, my actions, and my motives? And have I prayed for God's will for me and the power to carry it out?" These two questions, answered honestly, will lead us into a more thorough look at our day.

When focusing on our relationships with others, we may ask, "Have I harmed anyone today, either directly or indirectly? Do I need to make amends to anyone as a result of my actions today?" We keep it simple in our inventory if we remember to ask, "Where was I wrong? How can I do it better next time?"

NA members often find that their inventories include other important questions. "Was I good to myself today? Did I do something for someone else and expect nothing in return? Have I reaffirmed my faith in a loving Higher Power?"

Step Ten is a maintenance step of the NA program. The Tenth Step helps us to continue living comfortably in recovery.

❖

Just for Today: I will remember to review my day. If I have harmed another, I will make amends. I will think about how I can act differently.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

08/25/2026

25 August

A New Meaning for Love

Page 245

"How we go about getting love is where our defects come into play."

NA Step Working Guides, Step Six, "Our Defects of Character"

Before coming to the Fellowship of NA, we had a distorted sense of both giving and receiving love. Now that we're clean, we've got love all figured out . . . if only that were true! It doesn't matter how much time we have clean (or what type of love we are talking about); love is a serious business that requires vigilance.

Where and how do we addicts go looking for love? When we write our inventories and listen to those of our sponsees, that question is answered in abundance. We hear many stories of unmet expectations, abandonment by parents and partners, abuse, and neglect. Others are about relationships sought, gained, and sustained through manipulation and passive-aggressive behaviors--and sometimes coercive acts. We hear about love being confused with the exchange of s*x, money, and, of course, drugs.

We did those things to others, and others did them to us. And many of those behaviors will appear in future inventories because our character defects will rear their ugly heads again. The difference is that in NA we have the opportunity to seek and express love in ways that are manifestations of our assets, rather than our defects.

In NA, we get to experience the unconditional love of the Fellowship. We learn how to love and care for people in the rooms, as we learn how to accept that same love and care from others. Also, we will have abundant opportunities outside the rooms to apply the principles of love. Through working the Steps honestly and thoroughly, we are far less likely to try to manipulate and control others--or let ourselves be manipulated and controlled.

I am learning new ways to give and receive love. I don't have to act on my defects to experience love anymore. I will try to love those in my life with acceptance instead of expectations today.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

08/25/2026

25 August

The Ninth Step--reclaiming life

Page 247

"We are achieving freedom from the wreckage of our past."

Basic Text, p. 42

❖

When we start the Ninth Step, we've reached an exciting stage in our recovery. The damage done in our lives is what led many of us to seek help in the first place. Now, we have a chance to clean up that wreckage, amend our past, and reclaim our lives.

We've spent a long time and much effort preparing for this step. When we came to NA, facing the debris of our past was probably the last thing we wanted to do. We started doing it privately with a personal inventory. Then, we opened our past up to the scrutiny of a select, trusted few: ourselves, our Higher Power, and one other person. We took a look at our shortcomings, the source of much of the chaos in our lives, and asked that all those defects of character be removed. Finally, we listed the amends needed to set our wrongs right--all of them--and became willing to make them.

Now, we have the opportunity to make amends--to acquire freedom from the wreckage of our past. Everything we've done so far in NA has led us here. At this point in the process of our recovery, the Ninth Step is exactly what we want to do. With the Twelve Steps and the help of a Higher Power, we are clearing away the rubble that for so long has stood in the way of our progress; we are gaining the freedom to live.

❖

Just for Today: I will take advantage of the opportunity to reclaim my life. I will experience freedom from the wreckage of my past.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

08/24/2026

24 August

Finding Healing in Humor

Page 244

"The way we share . . . finding humor in some of the darkest, most frightening things that have happened to us--is not always available outside the rooms."

Living Clean, Chapter 2, "Connection to the World Around Us"

In NA, we often get to know each other from the inside out. "I knew the biggest hopes and fears of some of the members of my home group before I knew their last names or what kind of jobs they had," one member shared. We may never know the inner life of nonaddicts the way we know each other in NA--and it's a big part of why we're able to laugh with and poke fun at our fellow NA members.

Humor often comes in the form of a surprising or unexpected gap between expectation and reality. In society, there are lots of expectations about how people ought to act around one another--expectations that we addicts disregard completely. The nonaddicts in our lives often do not see what's so funny. Sometimes that's the joke: "Normal" people act one way; we addicts act very differently. When we hear members share their bizarre ideas and actions, we relate and are relieved that we're not alone.

Many of us find a deep well of humor in the way denial framed our experience. Sometimes that's the joke. "I thought my life was like something out of a big-shot gangster film-- money and drugs and lots of drama. In reality, it was more like a depressing ad for keeping your kids off drugs." The stark contrast between reality and the imagined movie version of our stories might seem pathetic or deranged to outsiders, but we lived to tell--and we can knowingly laugh at ourselves today.

Humor helps us heal as we come to terms with the reality of our lives. We see the outrageous gap between our behaviors and what "polite" society expects. (Of course, there are gaps--we're square pegs in round holes!) Or we notice the laughable distance between our lives and our fantasies. We share our inner selves in a way we can't anywhere else, often giving our fellow members a good chuckle. We stop taking ourselves so seriously, let our flaws show, and start to grow. It can be very funny, but it's no joke!

By sharing my insides with other addicts, I can learn to laugh at the insanity of addiction--and let go of it, little by little.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place

08/24/2026

NA World Services, Inc.
24 August

Seeking God's will

Page 246

"We learn to be careful of praying for specific things."

Basic Text, p. 46

❖

In our active addiction, we usually did not pray for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry it out. On the contrary, most of our prayers were for God to get us out of the mess we had made for ourselves. We expected miracles on demand. That kind of thinking and praying changes when we begin practicing the Eleventh Step. The only way out of the trouble we have made for ourselves is through surrender to a Power greater than ourselves.

In recovery, we learn acceptance. We seek knowledge in our prayers and meditation of how we are to greet the circumstances that come our way. We stop fighting, surrender our own ideas of how things should be, ask for knowledge, and listen for the answers. The answers usually won't come in a flash of white light accompanied by a drum roll. Usually, the answers will come merely with a quiet sense of assurance that our lives are on course, that a Power greater than ourselves is guiding us on our paths.

We have a choice. We can spend all our time fighting to make things come out our way, or we can surrender to God's will. Peace can be found in accepting the ebb and flow of life.

❖

Just for Today: I will surrender my expectations, look to my Higher Power for guidance, and accept life.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All of the efforts of Narcotics Anonymous are inspired by the primary purpose of our groups. Upon this common ground we stand committed. Our vision is that

08/23/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BnrjHBisi/?mibextid=wwXIfr

08/23/2026

23 August

Decision-making

Page 245

"Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking."

Basic Text, p. 90

❖

Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences. When we were using, our decisions were usually driven by our disease, resulting in self-destructive actions and dire consequences. We came to see decision making as a rigged game, one we should play as little as possible.

Given that, many of us have great difficulty learning to make decisions in recovery. Slowly, by working the Twelve Steps, we gain practice in making healthy decisions, ones that give positive results. Where our disease once affected our will and our lives, we ask our Higher Power to care for us. We inventory our values and our actions, check our findings with someone we trust, and ask the God of our understanding to remove our shortcomings. In working the steps we gain freedom from the influence of our disease, and we learn principles of decision making that can guide us in all our affairs.

Today, our decisions and their consequences need not be influenced by our disease. Our faith gives us the courage and direction to make good decisions and the strength to act on them. The result of that kind of decision making is a life worth living.

❖

Just for Today: I will use the principles of the Twelve Steps to make healthy decisions. I will ask my Higher Power for the strength to act on those decisions.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

08/23/2026

23 August

Striving for Emotional Maturity

Page 243

"Emotional maturity is our reward for letting go of anger and resentment."

Living Clean, Chapter 7, "Principles, Practice, and Perspective"

Perhaps we've all encountered circumstances when another member gets on our last nerve. When that happens, sometimes it takes everything in us not to attack them, mock them, shut them down using whatever tactic we can. We may want to bolt from the room because we see how this person--who may or may not have wronged us in some way--enjoys the respect of other members in the group. We want to expose them as a fraud and a hypocrite, but we don't. We say nothing because we know our personal feelings about another member should play no role in how, for instance, our area contributes to the region's Fellowship development efforts.

At other business meetings, we'll have no problem keeping our mouths shut because we'd much rather roll our eyes--and smugly watch the same two members battle it out like they always do over the finer points of coordinating an effective public relations campaign. In those situations, we have to stop ourselves from sharing the eye roll with everyone else in the room, revealing our displeasure with the proceedings. We'd love to break our silence by audibly groaning at how much time they are taking up. A member shared, "The second I start thinking about how I'm the only adult in the room, I know I'm not coming from a place of emotional maturity."

With some practice, we can learn to check ourselves in situations where previously the monster that lives in our head would have burst out in full force in an effort to kill the proceedings. Similarly, we find a way to restrain our inner adolescent, who would snark, scoff, and snipe at members merely for being themselves.

Emotional maturity may not sound like a big enough reward for not acting out on our character defects--but doesn't it make our lives so much more manageable? And peaceful? And isn't that a big part of why we came here in the first place?

I will practice reining in my reactiveness in situations where my personal feelings about other members serve no relevant purpose. Today emotional maturity is a reasonable reward for those efforts.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

08/22/2026

22 August

Trust and the Fifth Step

Page 242

"This may be the first time we've ever trusted another person enough to tell her or him about ourselves and allow that person to get to know us."

It Works, Step Five

We addicts have lots of stories. What some consider to be deep, dark secrets others easily share, sometimes even as badges of honor. Many of us are fine with divulging the goriest details of our using days, the mayhem of our childhoods, and our experiences of victimization. Regarding the Fourth and Fifth Steps, we think, No problem, I am an open book! But, as we do the work that is suggested, perhaps using the Step Working Guides, there's a depth inherent in those questions that goes way beyond our comfort. Exposing our own part in situations turns out to be messy, agonizing, and illuminating all at once. For many of us, our pettiness, our unforgiving nature or unkind acts, our ego on blast, our shame: These carefully guarded parts of ourselves turn out to be far more significant than the dramatic tales we thought we'd tell.

Thankfully, we've had the benefit and experience of the previous Steps to build trust in the program, each other, a Higher Power, and our sponsor. The Fifth Step is an opportunity for us to open our whole book and have another human being bear witness to the stories about ourselves that are the hardest to tell. As much as we'd been nervous about sharing our inventory with another person, it's the first time we've admitted much of this business to ourselves.

Building a bond of trust takes courage as well as vulnerability. As we exercise that bond, a weight is lifted off our shoulders: We reveal the truth about ourselves and we're not rejected. Many of us don't even realize how distant we've been in our relationships as a result of the secrets we'd guarded. And often being seen as truly ourselves by one person allows us to feel much lighter and more open in other relationships. One bond of trust inspires us to form others.

I'm willing to practice trust by sharing my whole story with another person. I aim to build upon my ability to trust and be trustworthy by applying what I've learned to other relationships.

All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute

UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.

UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION PREFERENCES to update which emails you receive.

NA World Services, Inc.
19737 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Copyright © 2026 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.