If you want to use drugs, that’s your business. If you want to stop but can’t, that’s ours.
Attend one of our meetings or call the helpline (800) 539 0475 to find out how Narcotics Anonymous can help.
All of the efforts of Narcotics Anonymous are inspired by the primary purpose of our groups. To carry our message to addicts who still suffer.
Upon this common ground we stand committed.
Just For Today
June 04, 2026 |
Build, don't destroy |
| Page 162 |
| "Our negative sense of self has been replaced by a positive concern for others." |
| Basic Text, p. 16 |
| Spreading gossip feeds a dark hunger in us. Sometimes we think the only way we can feel good about ourselves is to make someone else look bad by comparison. But the kind of self-esteem that can be purchased at another's expense is hollow and not worth the price. How, then, do we deal with our negative sense of self? Simple. We replace it with a positive concern for others. Rather than dwell on our low self-esteem, we turn to those around us and seek to be of service to them. This may seem to be a way of avoiding the issue, but it's not. There's nothing we can do by dwelling on our low sense of self except work ourselves into a stew of self-pity. But by replacing our self-pity with active, loving concern for others, we become the kind of people we can respect. The way to build our self-esteem is not to tear others down, but to build them up through love and positive concern. To help us with this, we can ask ourselves if we are contributing to the problem or to the solution. Today, we can choose to build instead of destroy. |
| Just for Today: Though I may be feeling low, I don't need to tear someone down to build myself up. Today, I will replace my negative sense of self with a positive concern for others. I will build, not destroy. |