Originally Posted by luckyv2
Yes we do need that and today is the only day that we need to work on. We come to the program as isolators, being alone, lonely, despair. Then the more meetings we attend, the more we study our road map, the more we apply these principals in all of our affairs, the more we realize that the fellowship of NA is where the isolation is replaced by a group of us who would never dream of sitting there talking, maybe going out for coffee or a soda, maybe just kicking back and watching a movie.
The idea that isolationist drug addicts can find a sense of acceptance, indeed belonging, that they'll BE there, still seems too precious to be real. I attended an outdoor/ campout meeting last night, where 20 recovering addicts were PRESENT. I mean, they were
there in body, spirit, and mind. Not floating around with their feet off the ground, not wandering the outskirts of the woods along the river edge, but they were THERE, gathered around a roaring fire, talking, sometimes about events, sometimes about people, sometimes about recovery. Openly sharing. Inviting, encouraging, welcoming. OPEN to all who wish to share in the fellowship. LOOKING directly at each other, eye to eye. Without hiding, without shame, without fear. Everyone present had far, far more clean time than I, but welcomed me as though I belonged there every bit as much as the rest of them. Everyone accepted, with a desire to stop using. Everyone has that free choice, to kick the drugs out of their head, and choose to re-claim their life as their own.