12 Step Program-Step 1

We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction; that our lives had become unmanageable:

In this step, you face the reality of your addiction and come to terms with the fact that your life is out of control. You are preparing yourself to receive the help you need.

The First Step – An Action Step

As an addict begins working the First Step, it is important to ask themselves some basic personal questions: “Do I understand that I have no real control over drugs?”  Am I willing to stop using? Am I willing to do whatever it takes to recover?

At first, many addicts may have thought the First Step required no action-they just surrender and go on to Step Two. But Step One does require action!

If they faithfully practice these principles, they will transform their perceptions and the way they live their lives. Surrender is only the beginning. Once they surrender, they need to learn how to live in the peace they have found.

Powerlessness

Our using is a mental obsession, a physical compulsion and a spiritual self-centeredness – which is progressive, incurable, and can be fatal unless arrested. The addict lives in denial of these facts.

Obsession, for the addict, is the never-ending stream of thoughts relating to using drugs, running out of drugs, getting more drugs, and so on. They simply can’t get these thoughts out of their minds.

The physical compulsion is caused by their physical addiction to the substances once we start using them again. Their self-centeredness is what occurs when they are trapped in this viscious mental obession and physical compulsion.

The minute an addict admits their powerless, they never have to use again.

When they honestly admit their powerlessness over their addiction, they can begin the search for a better way to live.

First Step and Isolation

The First Step begins with “we”, and there’s a reason for that. When addicts go to meetings and make this admission, they gain more than personal strength. They become members, part of a collective “we” that allows them, together, to recover from their addiction.

They realized that they couldn’t stop using drugs on their own. Addiction is an isolating disease, closing them off from society, family, and self. They hid. They lied. They scorned the lives they saw others living, surely beyond their grasp. Their lives lost meaning, and they withdrew further and further from reality.

Surrender

Addicts come into treatment and recovery as broken individuals. They posssibly can be morally, spiritually, physically and financially bankrupt. In the acknowledgement of those facts, they can surrender and know that victory lies in the admission of defeat.

They begin to believe on a deep level that they, too, can recover. They begin to let go of their doubts and truly come to terms with their disease. They become open to change. They surrender.

Not that surrender is always easy. On the contrary, surrender can be difficult, especially in the beginning.  And the more they surrender, the easier it gets.

Unmanageable Lives

Some addicts realized their lives had become unmanageable because they felt out of control emotionally or began to feel guilty about their drug use. Some lost everything— homes, families, jobs, and  self respect. Some spent time in jails and institutions. And some have come very close to death.

Their unmanageable actions and thoughts will be replaced by spiritual principles and way of life:

Something inside them tells them they have had enough of a damaged and tragic life. They are ready to take that first and often most difficult step toward dealing with their disease.”  

We admitted that we were powerless over

Narcotics Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous is a global, community-based organization with a multilingual and multicultural membership. NA was founded in 1953, and members hold nearly 67,000 meetings weekly in 139 countries today.

What is the NA Program

What Is the Narcotics Anonymous Program? NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs.

There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.

There are no strings attached to NA. We are not affiliated with any other organizations. We have no initiation fees or dues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to anyone. We are not connected with any political, religious, or law enforcement groups, and are under no surveillance at any time. Anyone may join us regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion.

We are not interested in what or how much you used or who your connections were, what you have done in the past, how much or how little you have, but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help.

The newcomer is the most important person at any meeting, because we can only keep what we have by giving it away. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.

https://www.rehabcenter.net/what-are-the-twelve-steps-of-narcotics-anonymous/

Narcotics Anonymous is a global, community-based organization