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
September 22, 2026 |
Keeping the gift |
| Page 276 |
| "Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift." |
| Basic Text, p. 107 |
| Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we've been given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoring routine maintenance, until it expired on the road? Of course not! You would go to great lengths to maintain the condition of such a valuable gift. Recovery is also a gift, and we have to care for it if we want to keep it. While our recovery doesn't come with an extended warranty, there is a routine maintenance schedule. This maintenance includes regular meeting attendance and various forms of service. We'll have to do some daily cleaning--our Tenth Step--and, once in a while, a major Fourth Step overhaul will be required. But if we maintain the gift of recovery, thanking the Giver each day, it will continue. The gift of recovery is one that grows with the giving. Unless we give it away, we can't keep it. But in sharing our recovery with others, we come to value it all the more. |
| Just for Today: My recovery is a gift, and I want to keep it. I'll do the required maintenance, and I'll share my recovery with others. |