JFT September 5
 

September 5


Not hopelessly bad

“We find that we suffer from a disease, not a moral dilemma. We were critically ill, not hopelessly bad.”

Basic Text, p. 16

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For many of us, Narcotics Anonymous was the answer to a personal puzzle of long standing. Why did we always feel alone, even in a crowd, we wondered? Why did we do so many crazy, self-destructive things? Why did we feel so badly about ourselves so much of the time? And how had our lives gotten so messed up? We thought we were hopelessly bad, or perhaps hopelessly insane.

Given that, it was a great relief to learn we suffered from a disease. Addiction—that was the source of our problems. A disease, we realized, could be treated. And when we treat our disease, we can begin to recover.

Today, when we see symptoms of our disease resurfacing in our lives, we need not despair. After all, it’s a treatable disease we have, not a moral dilemma. We can be grateful we can recover from the disease of addiction through the application of the Twelve Steps of NA.

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Just for today: I am grateful that I have a treatable disease, not a moral dilemma. I will continue applying the treatment for the disease of addiction by practicing the NA program.

It was important for me to realize that my problem was not a moral one (lack of willpower or moderation) but a disease. I wouldn't be able to get better by trying to improve my willpower: I had to realize that I was powerless over drugs/alcohol.