prattmang

most places i go i see no reference to the step working guilds even in step meeting if its NA APPROVED MEANING WRITTEN BY ADDICT FOR ADDICTS JUST AS THE BASIC TEXT IS THEN WHY DO WE DO STEP WORK OUT OF THE BASIC TEXT THAT TRULY HAS NO STEP WORK IN ITMOST OF US USE AA HAND OUT WHEN WE HAVE OUR ON NA LITERTURE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE OLD WAY I AM POWERLESS EVEN THOUGH IT PLANLY READS WE WERE POWERLESS HEY THE STEP WORKING GUILD IS A WONDERFUL TOOL THAT ALLOWING METO SEE IN TO ME AND REALIZE MY PROBLEM STATED WELL BEFORE I PICKED UP MY DRUG AND THAT DRUGS ARE JUST 1 OVIUS SYMPTOMS OF MY DISEASE IWISH I WOULD HAVEWRITTEN THAT MYSELF BUT ITS IN THE LITETURE IS PROGRAM OF NARCOTICS ANNOYMOUS EVERY THING I HAVE HERE IS FROM THE OUR LITERATURE]

Gmoney

Hi Prattmang,

Welcome to the NA Step Study forum of SR!

I'll try to address your concerns.

First of all, I'm curious as to what part of Baltimore you're located. I say that because the Baltimore/Maryland area has a very, very large NA fellowship (one of the largest in the US) and it surprises me that the NA Step Working Guides aren't available. You may have overlooked, but if not, feel free to make the request for that literature from your group's GSR or Literature Committtee at the ASC. You may also want to check out some different meetings...here's where you can fid them:

NA Meeting Locator

I agree that something is wrong with that picture (using AA literature for NA step work), but what it sounds like to me is that you're running into things the way they were done in the fledgling days of NA when NA had little or no literature of it's own. When I got clean (98) the SWG were in the early stages of approval/publication and didn't reach my area until around 2000 - 2001. Prior to that, addicts were doing step work from worksheets that were passed down from addict to addict. The "Purist Movement" was still in effect in my area, so no AA literature was involved in anything related to NA. And yes...the SWG is NA approved.

I totally agree. Many of us tend to take the wording of the 1st step too literally or take it out of context. The word "were" simply signifies our common state before coming to NA, but throughout the rest of our literature we are told that we "ARE" powerless. There really isn't a contradiction once we understand what addiction and powerlessness means. Over the years I've heard many addicts claim they were no longer powerless (using the word "were" as justification for their position), only to later hear them share of powerlessness and surrender about one manifestation or another of their disease. This, IMO, is why sponsorship is so important.

G

prattmang

been away from the forum for awhile my last post was about step meetings where we still use the old way of doing a step meeting with a story when there more then enough information in the swg to convert with exsperience in 86 when i was first introduce to to na there was not alot of literature we forged on trail and error came up with new literature from our error i thought for along time that drugs were my only problem after a rude awakening i realize that its just 1 symptom of the desease of addiction so now when i go to or do step meetings its base on swg and my exsperences in recovery and not adrug alog if after being around here and i dont change then i am the same person with out the drugs in that state i cause more harm the when i was using drugs the literure says we dont care what or how much or where. only in what we can do about ur problem. iama gsr myself

prattmang

its funny how we take a statement such as we were powerless and only relate it to drug use and thats what the basic text does give us basic information but in some of our other literature planly says that what makes me a ADDICT IS the disease of addiction no the drugs NOT MY BEHAVIOR BUT SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME PRONE TO OBSESION AND COMPLULSION IN OTHER AREAS OF MY LIFE NOW IF ICHANGE ANY WORD OF THAT STATEMENT I WOULD CHANGE THE WHOLE STATEMENT BUT IF I HAD NEVER PICKED UP THIS OTHER LITERTURE I CANT VERY WELL COMMENT IF ALL I DID WAS AN AA HANDOUT BECAUSE THE BASIC TEXT HAS no step work in it now if i have not use in along time and gotten some information tha i am implimenting on a daily basis the i HAVE SOME POWER OVER THE DRUG BUT NOT THE DISEASE BECAUSE IT WIL MANAFESE IT SELF IN SOME OTHER AREA LIKE APERSON PLACE OR THING NOW THE BASIC TEXT IS LIKE THE OLD TESTERMENT THE SWG IS THE NEW TESTERMENT THE OLD WILL HELP ME WITH YESTERDAY THE NEW WILL HELP ME WITH TODAY SO IF U DONT PICK IT UP IT WILLNOT GET IN U I UNDERSTAND THAT SOME OF US MIGHT NOT BE AS OPEN MINDED AS WE SAY BECAUSE WE HAVE ACCOMALATED SO CLEAN TIME WE MIGHT HAVE COME BEFORE THE NEW LITERATURE WAS DEVELOPE THATS NO REASON TO NOT STUDY THE LITERATURE MADE BY USE FOR US THATS THERAPEUTIC VALUE AND 7 TRADITION