Welcome to the Burlington County Area of Narcotics Anonymous
“The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using”…Tradition 3
DRUG PROBLEM? CALL OUR HELPLINE: 1-800-992-0401
UPCOMING MEETINGS
The NA White Booklet
If you are new to Narcotics Anonymous, we recommend the Narcotics Anonymous White Booklet, also known as “The Little White Book” and as NA’s first piece of Literature. It’s a great introduction to the program to get you started! Click on the image to download the booklet. You can also explore one of the other informational pamphlets found on the Literature page of this website..
What is NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS?
~ Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text, page 9.
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Narcotics Anonymous is an international, community-based association of recovering drug addicts with over 58,000 weekly meetings in over 131 countries worldwide
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Recovery from addiction is possible and available through the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous.
Just For Today
Our complicated lives can be made a lot less complicated if we concentrate on a few simple things--sharing our experience, strength, and hope with others, regular meeting attendance, and practicing the principles of the program in our daily lives.
By sharing our experience, strength, and hope with other addicts, we provide a powerful example for newcomers to follow. The effort we put into helping others also helps keep self-centeredness, the core of our disease, at bay.
Many of us pick one group, a "home group," whose meetings we attend faithfully. This regularity gives some routine to our lives, and lets others know where they can find us if they need us.
Practicing the Twelve Steps in our daily lives make the difference between a balanced recovery and simply not using. The steps give us some much-needed guidance in managing our everyday affairs.
Yes, we are complex people. But the NA program simplified our lives, enabling us to live a life free from active addiction. Our lives can be filled with serenity and hope when we live by the guidance of the simple principles of our program.
Spiritual Principle a Day
That awkward moment . . . We shuffle up to the door of our first meeting. Some guy is standing there with a big smile and asks our name. We reach out our hand to shake his, but instead of taking it, he puts his arms around us. "We hug in NA!"
For some of us, that hug is the first show of affection we've received in a very long time. That simple, welcoming action can be reassuring (You're going to be okay), affirming (You are in the right place), even restorative (You are loved and accepted). We hear time and time again, throughout our literature and in meetings, how our self-love tank was on empty when we got to NA. Later, when we inevitably make a mess of things in one way or another, our fellow members tell us with a hug: "You are not alone." That NA hug is an expression of unconditional support, and it's a distinctive part of our NA culture. It's meant to ignite that slow process of building (or rebuilding) our capacity for compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and love for ourselves.
For many of us, receiving that love from others is a challenge, in the beginning and even with time clean. The idea of being loved by strangers who expect nothing in return can feel unsettling or outright bizarre, despite our loneliness.
And for others, it's not the love we balk at--it's the hug. We didn't grow up that way, in our families or cultures. Or, being touched is not our thing, period, and we have our reasons for it. Let's be straight-up: Some of us don't want to be hugged, even by those with the best of intentions. Perhaps the most open-minded, accepting, and compassionate way to show that NA love is to watch for the signals others give and follow their lead. As one member commented, "There's only one requirement for membership in NA, after all--and engaging in the NA hug ain't it!" Each of us gets to determine if, when, and how we want to be hugged.