The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous (How It Works)

If you want what we have to offer, and are willing to make the effort to get it,
then you are ready to take certain steps. These are the principles that made our recovery possible.

1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

This sounds like a big order, and we can't do it all at once. We didn't become addicted in one day, so remember - EASY DOES IT.

There is one thing more than anything else that will defeat us in our recovery;
this is an attitude of indifference or intolerance toward spiritual principles.
Three of these that are indispensable are honesty, open-mindedness and willingness. With these we are well on our way.

We feel that our approach to the disease of addiction is completely realistic, for the therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel.
We feel that our way is practical, for one addict can best understand and help another addict.
We believe that the sooner we face our problems within our society, in everyday living, just that much faster do we become acceptable, responsible, and productive members of that society.

The only way to keep from returning to active addiction is not to take that first drug. If you are like us you know that one is too many and a thousand never enough.
We put great emphasis on this, for we know that when we use drugs in any form, or substitute one for another, we release our addiction all over again.

Thinking of alcohol as different from other drugs has caused a great many addicts to relapse. Before we came to N.A., many of us viewed alcohol separately, but we cannot afford to be confused about this.
Alcohol is a drug. We are people with the disease of addiction who must abstain from all drugs in order to recover.

The Triangle of Self-Obsession

This is NA Fellowship-approved literature.
Copyright © 1983 by
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
All rights reserved.

When we are born we are conscious only of ourselves, we are the universe. We perceive little
other than our basic needs, and if these needs are met we are content. As our consciousness
expands we become aware of a world outside ourselves. We discover that there are people,
places, and things around us, and that they fulfill our needs. At this point we also begin to
recognize differences and develop preferences. We learn to want and choose. We are the center
of a growing universe and expect to be provided with the things we need and want. Our source
of contentment shifts from basic needs miraculously met to the fulfillment of our desires.
Most children, through experiences over a period of time, come to realize that the outside
world cannot provide all their wants and needs. They begin to supplement what is given to
them with their own efforts. As their dependency on people, places, and things decreases they
begin to look to themselves more and more. They become more self-sufficient and learn that
happiness and contentment come from within. Most continue to mature; they recognize and
accept their strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. At some point, they usually seek the help of
a Power greater than themselves to provide the things they cannot provide for themselves. For
most people, growing up is a natural process.

As addicts, however, we seem to falter along the way. We never seem to outgrow the selfcenteredness
of the child. We never seem to find the self-sufficiency that others do. We continue
to depend on the world around us and refuse to accept that we will not be given everything. We
become self-obsessed; our wants and needs become demands. We reach a point where
contentment and fulfillment are impossible. People, places, and things cannot possibly fill the
emptiness inside of us, and we react to them with resentment, anger, and fear.
Resentment, anger, and fear make up the triangle of self-obsession. All of our defects of
character are forms of these three reactions. Self-obsession is at the heart of our insanity.
Resentment is the way most of us react to our past. It is the reliving of past experiences, again
and again in our minds. Anger is the way most of us deal with the present. It is our reaction to
and denial of reality. Fear is what we feel when we think about the future. It is our response to
the unknown; a fantasy in reverse. All three of these things are expressions of our selfobsession.
They are the way that we react when people, places, and things (past, present, and
future) do not live up to our demands.

In Narcotics Anonymous we are given a new way of life and a new set of tools. These are the
Twelve Steps, and we work them to the best of our ability. If we stay clean, and can learn to
practice these principles in all our affairs, a miracle happens. We find freedom—from drugs,
from our addiction, and from our self-obsession. Resentment is replaced with acceptance; anger
is replaced with love; and fear is replaced with faith.
We have a disease that, in the end, forces us to seek help. We are fortunate that we are given
only one choice; one last chance. We must break the triangle of self-obsession; we must grow
up, or die.

The way we react to people, places, and things:
Negative Positive
Resentment Past Acceptance
Anger Present Love
Fear Future Faith