NA The Message Central Minnesota Area of Narcotics Anonymous Volume 14 Issue 1 March / April 2012 One Addict Helping Another Is Without Parallel. (You are a member when you say you are) A newcomer contacted an older NA member with a problem and asked for suggestions Special Interest Articles: Taking others inventory? Principles before personalities You are a member when you say you are. Newsletter Committee Krista W. 320-241-4829 Randy P. 320-250-6761 Steve G. 763-486-3867 (calendar) Newcomer: I go to several meetings in the ******area. Recently, an individual spoke to me after a meeting to say I had no right to be there. He accused me of using, selling drugs to others, bringing newcomers down and robbing people. All is untrue. I have been clean for over 90 days. I do not drive and the only place I go to is NA meetings. He was at a meeting last night and accused me of the same things again. Saying he knew I sold to his sponsor. I no longer feel safe in NA. How do I proceed? This is causing me great stress. Thank you. Older Recovering Member: Thank you for contacting somebody. Congratulations on making it to 90 days. That s an amazing accomplishment. Getting clean and staying clean is a miracle and a precious gift. It s clear that you understand that because you re doing everything that you can to hang on to it. You are not alone. It's hard for me to believe someone in the fellowship would go to such extremes! The part where he says, "I know you sold to my sponsor" just kills me. The greatest strength of Narcotics Anonymous is the fact that we are all recovering drug addicts. Unfortunately, the greatest challenge that we all face is also the fact that we are all recovering drug addicts. Sometimes we say and do things that are hurtful out of a misunderstanding and a desire to do good. This can be very confusing and distressing but the fact of the matter is that we don t become perfect people just because we stop using drugs. We still sometimes judge others and act out inappropriately, sometimes with good intentions. I hope you continue to judge this individual with love and as much understanding as you can muster. The best way for you to handle this problem is to discuss it with your sponsor. If you don t have a sponsor, we suggest that you get one. Your sponsor will be able to help you handle situations like this and guide you in your recovery going forward. Please know this; you are welcome at any NA meeting because The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. The fact that you are at an NA meeting is evidence enough of that fact. If someone is trying to stop you from attending an NA meeting, you may want to privately discuss the issue before the meeting with the Group s Chairperson as it is his/her responsibility to maintain an atmosphere of recovery in the meeting. They should be able to help. All the best to you in your recovery. Please let us know if we can help further. Other Members replied: I agree with this being published. ** replied in a very respectful way. I appreciate you for that. What's inappropriate is that a young person and young in recovery is going through this. What saddens me is this type of negative behavior happens all of the time. I brought this problem to a few other members that know this person and plan on helping this person through this. Any suggestions on what we as a team could do more for this person and others? I like the suggestion about going to a trusted servant so they can take a look at their meeting atmosphere and hopefully if those meetings need additional help, they can ask anyone at their Area or at Region. Oh my! I have no idea what to say to this. This is soooo inappropriate!!
SERPENTS KISS My name is Krista W. and I am a recovering addict. I have had the pleasure of serving the Central Minnesota Area as the newsletter chairperson since 2009. I have learned a lot about myself, other addicts and most of all the fellowship of NA. I regretfully have to say that I need to step down when my term is over. The chair is open in May and I will hope to see the newsletter continue. It has been a passion of mine to help produce this newsletter, but it s time for me to pursue other areas. Since coming into recovery in July of 1995 at the tender age of 31, I have served on different levels of service. Previous attempts at getting clean never included getting involved in any type of service or functions. Making this change has been monumental in my current recovery. I have always had a problem with low self-esteem mostly due to events in my life before even starting to use drugs. Most of those events led to my using drugs to escape reality and responsibility. It was to, say the least, a very vicious cycle. I have learned how to take criticism and determine what is constructive and what is destructive. My self-esteem has gotten much better and I have developed a thicker layer of skin. I have come to realize that the world does not change just because I quit using drugs. There are people inside and outside the fellowship of NA that are miserable and want to make others miserable. I had to choose not to be a party to that. Principles before personalities to me means that I respect every addict when I am in a meeting or function because we are there with a singleness of purpose; to stay clean today. It doesn t mean I have to agree with them or hang out with them outside the meeting. Listening to other recovering addicts I have learned that not everyone works what I consider to be a good program. When I take my focus off of my own program for even a moment to make that sort of judgment, I can never get that time back to work on myself. I have to remember that it is none of my business what other people think of me. I am only responsible for my own actions. There are dozens of people that support me in my recovery and only a few that might want to see me fail. My first instinct is to worry about the few instead of the dozens, which has proven to be nothing but destructive to my recovery. I can t say that recovery has been easy, but it has always been worth it. Thank you to those of you that loved me until I could love myself. The world was cold and I was scared And when we met I thought you cared The lies course through my veins I have since not been the same I just wanted a moment of your time But my fatal esteem was in its prime Births and deaths so much to miss I traded my soul for the serpents kiss Devils candy in its purest form Do or die or just conform There is no more room inside my soul I will no longer lose control Be gone I say, goodbye to you I am living what I know is true I have asked for help, my one true wish
Take back my soul from the serpents kiss Marcie W MNNAC Fundraiser Arctic Blast Where: Atonement Lutheran Church 1144 29th Ave St. Cloud When: Saturday March 3rd from 5:00-Midnight (Speaker at 7 with dance to follow) Cost: Dinner and Dance- $15 Dance- $5 (also no addict turned away From speaker and dance) Raffle items needed Questions? Call Lisa S. 320-310-2258 or Randy P. 320-250-6761
One way to keep from getting bored with your recovery is to get out to the FUNctions and have some FUN. GRATITUDE PRAYER Our gratitude speaks, when we care and when we share with others the N.A. way, that no addict seeking recovery need ever die from the horrors of addiction. CMA of NA Clean Dates Congratulations to: Tony 3-07-2011 Mike P. 3-10-2004 Calvin C. 3-16-2011 Vern R. 3-17-2011 Debbie O. 4-09-2008 Dale K. 4-16-2009 Lucy K. 4-17-1987 Jerry G. 4-23-2008 Hey! In case you haven t heard. There are positions that need to be filled at the Area level. Several positions have been left open Rather than just fill them with people that don t meet the requirements. some have had people serve numerous terms, please come to an Area MEETING and let your willingness to serve be known. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. Area meetings are always the 3 rd Sunday following the 3 rd Saturday of the month. Minnesota NA Bridging the Gap Program Addicts nearing release from facilities and institutions can experience feelings of fear about reentering society. They may worry that they won t find the support to keep their recovery going. Narcotics Anonymous can help. In those first critical days, a temporary NA contact can accompany the addict to a variety of NA meetings, make introductions to other NA members, and share his/her experience of recovery in the Narcotics Anonymous program. The chances of recovering alone are not good. If you would like help for an addict in bridging the gap between release and their first meeting, please request a temporary contact on our website:
http://naminnesota.org/ For Professionals Request a Temporary Contact Content of this newsletter does not in any way represent NA as a whole. It represents the views, opinions and concerns of the CMA Newsletter Sub-committee. Any constructive criticism shall be directed to the CMA Newsletter Sub-committee. Any comments, concerns and submissions for content including but not limited to articles, poems, artwork, personal stories, events, Etc. must be submitted to the CMA Newsletter Sub-committee via mail, e-mail, or in person. All submissions become the exclusive property of the CMA Newsletter Sub-committee with all rights reserved and are subject to change or editing at any time.