NA Truisms

[Lily]

I didn't write these, but got them from another site, they are NA approved, just fun to read, I can relate to many!



Directions to NA: Just go straight to hell and make a u-turn.


NA: Being a part of something is more important that being the center of attention.


NA is the only place where you can walk into a room full of strangers and reminisce.


NA romance.... the odds are good... but the goods are odd.


NA: Look for a way in; not for a way out.


NA: We are not reformed drug users, but informed addicts.


NA has no fixed address -- you can take it with you.


NA: We are here for a reason, not for the season


NA Groups: A NA group will be judged by the worst behavior of its members


Before I came to NA I was dead, but did not know enough to lie down.


In NA there are no losers -- just slow winners


Addict (as defined by self): A piece of crap that the universe revolves around.


Addict: Someone who refuses to give up a life of failure without a fight.


Addict: A person who when s/he goes to a wedding, wants to be the bride and when s/he goes to a funeral, wants to be the corpse.


An addict is someone who wants to be held while isolating.


Addict: "I may not be much, but I'm all I think about."


Addict: "If I wasn't an addict, I'd use all the time!"


Addicts burn their bridges in front of them.


An addict is someone who finds something that works and then stops doing it.


If you think that you are an addict, chances are you are.


An addict is a person with two feet planted firmly in mid-air.


Non-addicts change their behavior to meet their goals; addicts change their goals to meet their behavior.


An addict can be in the gutter and still look down on people.


High bottoms have trap doors


If the cure works, chances are you have the disease.


Three most dangerous words for an addict: "I've been thinking"

[kj3880]

Those are good.
I'd never heard that one about high bottoms having trap doors. I hope not in every case. Ugh. That is my worst fear.

I see and hear so many people who came in the way I did last year (still having a job, house, kids, dog, etc) and all of them seem to end the same way...."I still had my job when I came in here the first time, but I didn't think I belonged/thought I could manage my use one more time...now I've lost it all and I'm back and humble and willing to work it your way." I can't tell you how many times I've heard it. It's what keeps me stepping.

I don't understand why I got to come to recovery and still have some things to my name and understand that I can't use anyway. I don't feel like I'm more clever then anyone else. Maybe just luckier. I have to be grateful that I know I can't use, I guess. I don't know what else to do.

Love,
KJ

[tomvlll]

"Addict: Someone who refuses to give up a life of failure without a fight."

Yeah, Works for alcoholics, too. Good one.

[Lily]

KJ,

I don't necessarily believe that about high bottoms having trapped doors. I think it "can" be true in some peoples experience, but some people make it to the recovery rooms having their stuff and marriages, etc. I guess for me today I believe I am blessed that I never lost my stuff, (however this could have been a good thing to clean out my accumulated things over 45 yrs haha) but more importantly than any things I may have I am much more thankful I have my life and my family is alive and that I never killed anyone out there while driving drunk or high. I did get a dui in 87 and could have killed someone.

Everytime I read about some young kid killing a family member, a friend or even a stranger and get 5 yrs in prison, I think, There goes I but by the GRACE of God.

I also know that any of those could be me tomorrow, that is why I am choosing to stay in today and stay clean today.

[Alera]

IMO, High bottoms have high trap doors, low bottoms have low trap doors. Both still have trap doors, it just depends on how far you have left to fall. I've had friends who had the lowest trap door and never made it back to the rooms, and I've seen folks like you that knew the trap door was there (high or low) and have years of clean time.

[kj3880]

Thanks, Lily and Alera, for letting me know that there are some others out there who seem to be able to stay in recovery with a high bottom. There aren't any that I know of around here. Even my sponsor, who had a really low bottom that included prostitution and jail, relapsed when she had ten years clean. She said she got complacent in her recovery because she ended up getting a really full life in her recovery. I came in here with a really full life.

Maybe this fear of relapse is a healthy one. There's a male nurse who had a high bottom in my network. His story was similar to mine and when I came in he had several years clean. He had got his license back and was doing great. Four months ago, he had a new baby with his wife, his life got really busy, he was working a lot at the ER, and he started using "to help cope" with the schedule. He let me know and asked me and some others what to do. I could only tell him that if he really can't stop using, take a leave of absence and get some inpatient treatment, maybe detox. It wasn't an option, because he said if they found out at work about the relapse, he would lose his license permenently (I don't know if that really happens, just what he had told me.)

So of course, he didn't stop, and the predictable thing happened. He got caught. He got fired. His wife put him out (she's a "normie"). So now he is shooting heroin because he doesn't have access to the ER drugs. I hate this disease. He is a nice man. He just couldn't seem to stop using. Let's me know I can't ever try "just one." Some people serve as an example of what not to do, I guess, and that is sad. Especially for his new baby.

Love,
KJ

[Lily]

KJ,

Check this out....I just saw this author on Oprah today.

High Functioning Alcoholic - Home

Even though she is speaking of alcohol, you can get the story behind it. She says "The story of the high functioning alcoholic is seldom told, for it is not one of obvious tragedy, but that of silent suffering."

I think there are many out there who do not hit low bottoms, some though suffer in silence and either white knuckle it or go around and around at finding that easier softer way, or maybe find another way and recover, or never recover at all and die as high functioning alcoholics. I knew a Priest like this growing up as a kid and a Lt. Commander who lived across the street from us. He had it all, the wife, the kids, the career, the house, etc. He finally went cold turkey and died sober, but didn't find the program of recovery that I know of.