Chattanooga Area
of Narcotics Anonymous
Drug Problem?
Find a Meeting
October 27, 2026 |
Living in the present |
| Page 313 |
| “We want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today.” |
| Basic Text, p. 29 |
| For many of us, the past is like a bad dream. Our lives aren’t the same any more, but we still have fleeting, highly charged emotional memories of a really uncomfortable past. The guilt, fear, and anger that once dominated us may spill into our new life, complicating our efforts to change and grow. The Twelve Steps are the formula that helps us learn to put the past in its place. Through the Fourth and Fifth Steps, we become aware that our old behavior didn’t work. We ask a Higher Power to relieve us of our shortcomings in the Sixth and Seventh Steps, and we begin to be relieved of the guilt and fear that plagued us for so many years. In the Eighth and Ninth Steps, by making amends, we demonstrate to others that our lives are changing. We are no longer controlled by the past. Once the past loses its control over us, we are free to find new ways to live, ways that reflect who we truly are. |
| Just for Today: I don’t have to be controlled by my past. I will live this new day as the new person I am becoming. |
| Copyright (c) 2007-2026, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
October 27, 2026 |
Accepting All of Me |
| Page 310 |
| “We make peace with ourselves–with all we have gained, and lost, and learned, and become.” |
| Living Clean, Chapter 1, “A Vision of Hope” |
| WHO AM I? As cliched and psychobabbling as that question may seem, many of us will identify with having asked it–and having not known the answer. Or, more to the point, we didn’t want to know. In active addiction, many of us could have answered the question like this: “Anyone you want me to be, baby.” And right after getting clean, “Nobody!” might have been the most accurate response, considering the shame we were feeling and how invisible we wanted to be in meetings. Denial had kept us from accepting the truth of our actions and their impact on ourselves and the people who love us. Many of us paid the price for this lack of self-awareness with the loss of relationships, careers, assets, even our freedom. The recovery process allows us to start contemplating our true identities, and it takes all the honesty we can conjure up, along with a healthy dose of courage and humility. We learn to accept that we’ve caused pain and injury, have done damage to ourselves and others while on our destructive paths. We also learn to accept that we aren’t the sum total of those actions. Recovery affords us the opportunity to use the hardships we’ve endured to help others. We divulge our deep personal struggles–those from our past and those that will inevitably arise while clean–in order to deepen our relationships with other addicts. In doing so, we show our fellow addicts that we can stay clean–no matter what. |
| Today I strive to accept who I am, what it took to get here, and where I am now. My past does not own me. Instead, I will use it as a tool to help others. |
| Copyright (c) 2007-2026, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
About NA
Anonymity
The basic premise of anonymity allows addicts to attend meetings without fear of legal or social repercussions. This is an important consideration for an addict thinking about going to a meeting for the first time. Anonymity also supports an atmosphere of equality in meetings. It helps insure that no individual’s personality or circumstance will be considered more important than the message of recovery shared in NA.
Who are members of NA?
Anyone who wants to stop using drugs may become a member of Narcotics Anonymous. Membership is not limited to addicts using any particular drug. Those who feel they may have a problem with drugs, legal or illegal, including alcohol, are welcome in NA. Recovery in NA focuses on the problem of addiction, not on any particular drug.
How does NA work?
Addicts helping each other recover are the foundation of NA. Members meet regularly to talk about their experiences in recovery. More experienced members (known as sponsors) work individually with newer members. The core of the NA program is the Twelve Steps. These “steps” are a set of guidelines outlining a practical approach to recovery. By following these guidelines and working closely with other members, addicts learn to stop using drugs and face the challenges of daily living.
Narcotics Anonymous is not a religious organization and does not mandate any particular belief system. It does teach basic spiritual principles such as honesty, open-mindedness, faith, willingness, and humility that may be applied in everyday life. The specific practical application of spiritual principles is determined by each individual. Recovery in NA is not a miracle cure that happens within a given period of time. It is a process, ongoing and personal. Members make an individual decision to join and recover at their own pace.
NA Meetings
Financial contributions from non-members are not accepted. Most NA meetings are held regularly at the same time and place each week, usually in a public facility. There are two basic types of meetings those that are open to the general public and those closed to the public (for addicts only). Meetings vary widely in format. Some formats are: participation, speaker, question and answer, topic discussion, and some have a combination of these formats. The function of any meeting is always the same: to provide a suitable and reliable environment for personal recovery.
NA’s primary approach to recovery is its belief in the therapeutic value of one addict helping another. Members take part in NA meetings by talking about their experiences and recovery from drug addiction. NA meetings are informally structured, held in space rented by the group, and are led by members who take turns opening and closing the meeting. NA meetings and other services are funded entirely by member contributions and the sale of recovery literature.
Reprinted from A Resource In Your Community.
Anonymous World Services, Inc.
PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409
October 27, 2026 |
Living in the present |
| Page 313 |
| “We want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today.” |
| Basic Text, p. 29 |
| For many of us, the past is like a bad dream. Our lives aren’t the same any more, but we still have fleeting, highly charged emotional memories of a really uncomfortable past. The guilt, fear, and anger that once dominated us may spill into our new life, complicating our efforts to change and grow. The Twelve Steps are the formula that helps us learn to put the past in its place. Through the Fourth and Fifth Steps, we become aware that our old behavior didn’t work. We ask a Higher Power to relieve us of our shortcomings in the Sixth and Seventh Steps, and we begin to be relieved of the guilt and fear that plagued us for so many years. In the Eighth and Ninth Steps, by making amends, we demonstrate to others that our lives are changing. We are no longer controlled by the past. Once the past loses its control over us, we are free to find new ways to live, ways that reflect who we truly are. |
| Just for Today: I don’t have to be controlled by my past. I will live this new day as the new person I am becoming. |
| Copyright (c) 2007-2026, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved |