Category Archives: ETROR

The Narcotics Anonymous Message

The message is that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. Our message is hope and the promise of freedom.

Who We Are

East Tennessee Ridges of Recovery is a service committee formed to provide NA groups in East Tennessee assistance in carrying our message. This support is provided through many services including public information, published meeting listings, and fellowship events.

The purpose of this site is to be a resource for members as well as anyone else who thinks they may have a problem with drugs. We seek to provide current information regarding recovery meetings, email and telephone contacts where an addict may seek help, service committees, and events in our area. It is also intended to be a source of general information about Narcotics Anonymous for non-members and professionals in our community.

Just for Today

November 21, 2024

Letting our defects go

Page 339

"If [character defects] contributed to our health and happiness, we would not have come to such a state of desperation."

Basic Text, p. 35

Getting started on the Sixth and Seventh Steps isn't always easy. We may feel as though we have so much wrong with us that we are totally defective. We might feel like hiding under a rock. Under no circumstance would we want our fellow addicts to know about our inadequacies.

We will probably go through a time of examining everything we say and do in order to identify our character defects and make sure we suppress them. We may look back at one particular day, cringing at what we're certain is the most embarrassing thing we've ever said. We become determined to be rid of these horrible traits at all costs.

But nowhere in the Sixth or Seventh Steps does it say we can learn to control our defects of character. In fact, the more attention we focus on them, the more firmly entrenched they will become in our lives. It takes humility to recognize that we can't control our defects any more than we can control our addiction. We can't remove our own defects; we can only ask a loving God to remove them.

Letting go of something painful can be as difficult as letting go of something pleasant. But let's face it--holding on is a lot of work. When we really think about what we're holding onto, the effort just isn't worthwhile. It's time to let go of our character defects and ask God to remove them.

Just for Today: I'm ready to have my defects removed. I will let go and allow a loving Higher Power to care for me.

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