dalin
10-08-2008, 12:37 AM
Yesterday and today
The following article—written in the late sixties or early seventies—is one of the items discovered in the archive material which the WSO recently acquired from Jimmy K’s estate. The anonymous author articulates solutions that are still applicable today—nearly thirty years later.
Despite the rumors, facts, and speculations that you may have heard recently, Narcotics Anonymous is alive and well. In fact, it seems to me that NA is doing better and growing more than ever.
At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Where is this guy coming from? He must be naïve or uninformed. Doesn’t he know about what’s happening?”
Well, maybe you’re right. I probably am naïve because I choose to live my life as positively as I can instead of focusing on the negative and becoming panicky like I used to. I probably am uninformed or misinformed. I’ve heard and read about problems in our WSO, our WSB, our WSC, and our conference committees. I’ve heard about regional problems, area problems, and groups problems. I’ve heard about service structure problems, unity problems, spin-off problems, problems with other programs, and problems caused by members off on some tangent or caught up in people, places, things, or self. I’ve heard bushel baskets full of problems from here, there, and everywhere. However, most of what I hear is second-, third-, fourth-, or tenth-hand information.
I’m not saying that we don’t have problems or that the things I’ve heard are just paranoia or overactive imaginations. In fact, I believe that most of what I’ve heard is probably very real, and that there’s probably a whole “****load” of problems we’re not even aware of yet. What I am saying is that maybe I don’t look at these problems the same way some of the people I’ve talked to lately seem to do. I am grateful for our problems.
When we have problems in our fellowship, I don’t get upset the way I used to. I’m actually more concerned when everything seems to be going too smoothly. My big concern about our problems is that they so often cause panic and blind our members (new and old) to the hope and joy of recovery.
For me, problems have usually motivated or accompanied growth. I’m an addict, and problems seem to be a part of addiction. Whenever I’m put in a situation with another human being, I’ve automatically got a problem: my inability to cope with, deal with, accept, trust, and communicate with others. I see these same problems within our fellowship and services, but I also see them growing the same way we grow as individuals: slowly and with a lot of faltering steps, but growing still.
When I came to this program, there were probably less than 20 NA meetings in the world, and maybe 100 or 200 NA members. Today, there are probably 20 local NA fellowships this size or larger. When I was new, our service structure consisted of two or three committees and whoever had the literature in the trunk of his car. Today, there are literally hundreds of service committees working to help make our fellowship better. No wonder it sometimes seems that we have so many more problems today; after all, we’ve only grown by a hundred times or so in the last ten years. Things seem bigger and more complicated because there are a lot more people. Communication is a lot harder because three-quarters of the members of NA don’t see each other and share with each other in meetings on a daily or at least weekly basis. Many of the things that we see only as problems may really be symptoms of our fantastic growth.
There is one more thing that convinces me that NA is alive and well, and that I need have no fear about our fellowship: NA is a spiritual program, and ultimately very personal in nature; our program is principles and people. Spiritual principles are indestructible, and attacks on spiritual principles are futile. Narcotics Anonymous is something that each of us carries within. So long as any of us are clean and living life based on our principles, Narcotics Anonymous will be alive and flourishing. It can’t be any other way; the success and growth of our program is built into the principles upon which it is based
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following article—written in the late sixties or early seventies—is one of the items discovered in the archive material which the WSO recently acquired from Jimmy K’s estate. The anonymous author articulates solutions that are still applicable today—nearly thirty years later.
Despite the rumors, facts, and speculations that you may have heard recently, Narcotics Anonymous is alive and well. In fact, it seems to me that NA is doing better and growing more than ever.
At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Where is this guy coming from? He must be naïve or uninformed. Doesn’t he know about what’s happening?”
Well, maybe you’re right. I probably am naïve because I choose to live my life as positively as I can instead of focusing on the negative and becoming panicky like I used to. I probably am uninformed or misinformed. I’ve heard and read about problems in our WSO, our WSB, our WSC, and our conference committees. I’ve heard about regional problems, area problems, and groups problems. I’ve heard about service structure problems, unity problems, spin-off problems, problems with other programs, and problems caused by members off on some tangent or caught up in people, places, things, or self. I’ve heard bushel baskets full of problems from here, there, and everywhere. However, most of what I hear is second-, third-, fourth-, or tenth-hand information.
I’m not saying that we don’t have problems or that the things I’ve heard are just paranoia or overactive imaginations. In fact, I believe that most of what I’ve heard is probably very real, and that there’s probably a whole “****load” of problems we’re not even aware of yet. What I am saying is that maybe I don’t look at these problems the same way some of the people I’ve talked to lately seem to do. I am grateful for our problems.
When we have problems in our fellowship, I don’t get upset the way I used to. I’m actually more concerned when everything seems to be going too smoothly. My big concern about our problems is that they so often cause panic and blind our members (new and old) to the hope and joy of recovery.
For me, problems have usually motivated or accompanied growth. I’m an addict, and problems seem to be a part of addiction. Whenever I’m put in a situation with another human being, I’ve automatically got a problem: my inability to cope with, deal with, accept, trust, and communicate with others. I see these same problems within our fellowship and services, but I also see them growing the same way we grow as individuals: slowly and with a lot of faltering steps, but growing still.
When I came to this program, there were probably less than 20 NA meetings in the world, and maybe 100 or 200 NA members. Today, there are probably 20 local NA fellowships this size or larger. When I was new, our service structure consisted of two or three committees and whoever had the literature in the trunk of his car. Today, there are literally hundreds of service committees working to help make our fellowship better. No wonder it sometimes seems that we have so many more problems today; after all, we’ve only grown by a hundred times or so in the last ten years. Things seem bigger and more complicated because there are a lot more people. Communication is a lot harder because three-quarters of the members of NA don’t see each other and share with each other in meetings on a daily or at least weekly basis. Many of the things that we see only as problems may really be symptoms of our fantastic growth.
There is one more thing that convinces me that NA is alive and well, and that I need have no fear about our fellowship: NA is a spiritual program, and ultimately very personal in nature; our program is principles and people. Spiritual principles are indestructible, and attacks on spiritual principles are futile. Narcotics Anonymous is something that each of us carries within. So long as any of us are clean and living life based on our principles, Narcotics Anonymous will be alive and flourishing. It can’t be any other way; the success and growth of our program is built into the principles upon which it is based
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------