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
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.
Spiritual Principle a Day
"NA service taught me how to be a responsible, productive member of this society first," a member shared. "Doing service gave me skills and knowledge that help me navigate the world outside of NA, too. I think of these as 'the hidden curriculum' in NA service." From that perspective, we might consider accountability to be one of the subjects we study.
Lessons on accountability begin in our first home group's business meetings and continue as we serve in various roles. One of the first things we learn is that the order of operations is different in NA. We had previous experience with the kind of accountability that comes after we screwed up. In NA, we often focus on setting each other up for success. To avoid missteps, we try to define tasks and spell out expectations up front, and then strive for transparency, communication, and support as we follow through. Having safeguards in place, especially when money or ego might be involved, can help protect our trusted servants and NA.
We check our worst impulses in advance and limit openings for errors in judgment. The treasurer who asks another member to confirm the Seventh Tradition count avoids temptation. The subcommittee chair who keeps the service body informed and regularly seeks direction is less likely to go rogue or be micromanaged.
This kind of preemptive accountability has applications in our personal lives, too. Managing medication after surgery involves a relay between multiple members of a support group in many NA communities; transparency about pill counts protects everyone involved. We can even see accountability's relevance in one member's strategy for staying out of the sack on a first date: "I meet them for coffee while the sun's still up and wear my shabbiest pair of underwear." Little reminders can help us live up to whatever standards we set for ourselves.