Our Service Manual describes our service structure without really addressing the how's and why's of service. Hopefully, this work can fill these gaps by providing a reference where members can get specific answers to their questions about service and benefit from the ideas and experience of others who have been involved in and committed to service. In this way, perhaps, we can pass on some of what we have learned.

* * * * * TABLE OF CONTENTS * * * * *

Introduction..............................page 2

Chapter 1 The Nature of Service..........page 3

Chapter 2 The Twelve Traditions of N. A..page 6

Chapter 3 Historical Perspective.........page 36

Chapter 4 Our Service Structure..........page 48

Chapter 5 Service Procedures.............page 56

Chapter 6 The Service Effort.............page 67

Chapter 7 Trusted Servants...............page 70

Chapter 8 Ongoing Service................page 78

Chapter 9 Strength and Guidance..........page 83

Chapter 10 The Joy of Giving..............page 87

GEORGIA REGIONAL LITERATURE SUBCOMMITTEE

WORK IN PROGRESS -- ALL RIGHTS TO N.A.

FIFTH PRINTING (WITH ATHENS INPUT)

FEBRUARY 1987

INTRODUCTION

This material is meant to share the basic functions which go on behind the scenes in N.A. service work. Because of the nature of things, appearances can be deceptive in service. The trusted servant who has spent years learning how to do their service job may appear similar to the enthusiastic member who thinks they know it all, but in truth haven't yet begun the process of surrender we call service.

Newcomers to service bring with them talents and skills which may well contribute to the general welfare in N.A. Helping these members harness their talents and learn to serve within the frame- work of our Twelve Traditions, is the purpose of this work. By design, this work is applicable to members who want to give their best at all levels of service to the Fellowship: member, group, area, region and world. These interlocking levels of service are structurally similar in N.A.: committees, subcommittees, representatives, etc. Still, the basic part and the essential element is the N.A. member who provides service on an individual basis. All our formal service functions are expansions of what individual members do in the course of their recovery.

If, however, our committees turn inward on themselves and get 'committee' oriented, the age old problems of all bureaucracies set in. Common sense disappears. Human power is nothing against the disease of addiction. Some sort of love and spiritual values must guide us to be effective. If we ever lose this feeling in service, it's time to get back to the basics of recovery. As recovering addicts ourselves, we can never lose sight of our own need for surrender and faith in spiritual principles.

This material has come from thousands of conversations about service among members at all levels of service over a period of many years. Mostly, from those trusted servants who successfully started groups in areas and regions which had not had N.A. meetings before. They ran up huge telephone bills, traveled, and frequently corresponded with more experienced members who they knew, respected and trusted.

Our WSO played a significant role in this which was expanded through the efforts of the World Literature Committee. The young Fellowship of the seventies and eighties patterned themselves after this successful approach. Even so, word of mouth communications can result in inconsistencies. This material contains direct quotes from what was said and done to help extend our message into the hundreds of new communities where only a few short years ago, N.A. recovery was unknown.

A lot of new members find themselves in oldtimers shoes today. Our Basic Text was written by members just like you, praying to be used as instruments. The thousands of new meetings founded in the last few years were started by new members, just like most of you. The changes effected in World Services are the result of our Fellowship's growth. Improvements can lie ahead for us all in N.A. Together in gratitude to those who have gone before, faith in what works today and hope for those who still suffer, we will endure.

CHAPTER 1

THE NATURE OF SERVICE

It has been said that faith without works is dead. This is particularly so in our case. We must put our faith to work with action. Without the inner changes which reflect spiritual growth becoming apparent in our lives, we feel the return of the "hollow" feeling inside which we addicts have known so well. We revert to the selfishness and egotism we have relied on in our past. To help us establish some hope for ourselves, we need evidence that N.A. recovery is real. Evidence which will stand the tests which are forced on us by our disease.

We respect our members in service to N.A. and this can help their recovery for the good. It provides a degree of recognition of their better nature and a way of confirming their aspirations to become a better person. We are powerless, scared,and confused individuals who are willing to struggle towards our goals against terrific odds. We are motivated by a power greater than ourselves which provides for our survival. We are protected by the spiritual, giving, nature of our Fellowship. And, when we do fall short as individuals, we find forgiveness and acceptance. When we act against the principles which have given us a chance at a new life by disregarding one or more of our Twelve Traditions, we step outside this protective circle of spiritual love.

Basing our lives in a power greater than ourselves gives us a spiritual freedom which makes the welfare of others seem a valid concern to us. It is this concern for the well-being of others which is part of what attracts our newcomers. This concern has best been summed up in the phrase: "What you want to do about your problem and how we can help." It is positive and non-directive at the same time. We do not play God and attempt the impossible. Recovery teaches us to live in reality. Through helping others, we ourselves are helped. This is the great spiritual lesson of Narcotics Anonymous.

If all our Program consisted of was service, nobody would get clean in N.A. We must get help in order to be in a position to give it. Our surrenders, our faith, our inventories, our amends and our spirituality allow us to carry the N.A. message. After we learn to meet our own needs, we have something to offer others. Through recovery, we are able to recognize the effect, good and bad, that we have on others. Our identity as human beings increases. We find it impossible to feel good about ourselves unless we are doing something to benefit others.

As we learn and grow in recovery, we discover the good we do for others comes back to us. Even the most hardened and embittered of our members eventually realize they have been given a new life by those of us who were able to love them before they could love themselves. Without the nature of service there would be no N.A., no newcomers, and no helping of others.

In the beginning, the giving of our meager resources seemed like utter foolishness. We were all takers, one may or another. We didn't think much of ourselves for doing it but our disease had reduced us to the point where we had no choice but to put our needs first. We couldn't care and we didn't share anything of importance to us. Our using ate up our resources and we had to replace them as part of our using. As our needs are met in recovery, we find our desperate way of life fading into the past. Someone who is insecure about what they have isn't likely to part with it easily. When we have more, we can give more.

We see, accept and feel thankful for the help and love we receive from others. To do less for others than we receive from them would be spiritual relapse. Giving makes sense to us because we can see where we receive much more than we will ever be able to give back. When we try, we find we have even more to give. The world is good to its givers. Becoming a member of society is our transformation from taking to giving. When we find these truths, we have bequn the spiritual transformation we call recovery.

In the beginning, for most of us, there was at least one member of N.A. we trusted. We met them at a meeting or through a help line call. Our desire for recovery allowed them to carry the N.A. message to us. We may have hung out with them, chosen them to be our sponsors and even gone to meetings and activities with them. Often-times we couldn't be comfortable unless they were there. We may have met other members as well, but there was some special person who made us feel comfortable, safe and at home.

We all need someone we have good reason to trust. Our using destroys this kind of basic human contact. As our trust grows, we make other friends slowly or quickly. We may join a home group or a circle of members we see often. Our fear of others decreases. We go to more meetings and sometimes travel far from where we live, and find ourselves still feeling at home in another N.A. meeting. We begin to feel about our N.A. Fellowship, the way we felt about our first friend and our first circle of friends. Our fear lessens and our freedom increases.

Though they way seem to have no good purpose, certain problems experienced by N.A. members in service, teach us how to live. We get to go through situations which teach us things about ourselves and getting along with others we might not learn any other way. By staying clean through these experiences, we are led into a greater personal freedom.

Our experience shows us that we can never wish harm to another person without suffering harm ourselves. We learn to wish them the happiness and Joy we would like very much for them to receive. We can usually identify with their pain. Again, the freedom we find in recovery allows us to do these things. We are fortunate to be able to make some of our mistakes in a spiritual environment where we can get help from understanding members and stay clean through our periods of self made adversity. We learn how to forgive when we are forgiven. Our fellow members forgive us because they know they could easily be in our shoes.

Many of these interactions constitute some of the personal services we provide one another. Going to meetings, we discuss our problems with others and find a store of practical wisdom which provides the sort of answers we are seeking. Somehow, the more we seek, the more we find. The member in need is a service to the member who helps them. Problems which made no sense to us can be seen differently when we realize we are not alone.

The nature of service brings us into the rooms where meetings are held. Service also helps us fulfill our healthy need to be appreciated. We discover a new life clean is possible for us. We receive and accept help through N.A. After a while we find our- selves facing an addict, sick and confused, who reminds us a lot of ourselves when we were new. When this time comes, the cycle of service begins anew. We get to give them some of the answers we have found helpful in our own recovery. These answers become more real and meaningful each time we get to share them and see them work for others. Part of our recovery can be attributed to this process of ongoing renewal of the basic, simple answers we found in the beginning. We find more in life through giving than we can in taking. As our need for giving grows, we grow personally. Our visible growth is a reflection of an inner change. Our need to share simply allows more room for addicts seeking recovery.

This cycle of service, from getting our message to giving it to others, is the basic mechanism which allows for N.A. growth. Whenever it is broken through fear or shortcomings, we have learned to stop and turn to those who helped us before. They will have our answers if we are sincere. Soon, we will feel better and be able to do better.

Some of our problems seem to defy solution. If we find our way is blocked, it is better to find another positive direction to take for ourselves and let our God take care of the things we can't handle.

Many members suffer greatly from the confusion between our formal service structure and the spiritual nature of service to others. Our structure is a meaningless diagram printed on paper without the life, love and wisdom only we can put into it. Many of our best trusted servants never serve in any elected capacity. Our most important member may be the newcomer but our most important servant is the one who will be there, today, when we need help staying clean.

CHAPTER 2

THE TWELVE TRADITIONS OF N. A.

{A more complete survey of our Twelve Traditions is to be found in the Sixth Chapter of our Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous. This material is not meant to be a replacement of that material but only to provide commentary on our Traditions as applied to service in N.A. Observance of our Twelve Traditions preserves the integrity of our program of recovery. They are as essential to recovery as the Twelve Steps because the Steps cannot be worked without the atmosphere of recovery which exists within our Traditions. They should be studied by every member of N.A., not just our trusted servants or members with years of clean time. The written forms of the Traditions are the formalization of underlying spiritual truths which form the foundation of all recovery. They allow the 'we' of our Twelve Steps to exist.}

TRADITION ONE

"Our common welfare should come first;

personal recovery depends on N.A. unity."

"When you're up and I'm down, please help me. When you're hurting, I promise to return the favor. We really are in this one together. When we're both doing alright, let's learn to work together for those who are still suffering. That's where the real good feelings come from.

We come into the program broken and defeated by addiction. We are dazed and it takes a while for the fog to lift. What is shared and learned in N.A. meetings is essential to our lives and the quality of our lives. Eventually the program starts making real sense to us. We keep coming back for various reasons but we all have in common the pain and confusion from our addiction and the desire for recovery. The ties which bind us together are composed of our pain and hope for something better. While we feel the love and understanding, we know our unity is based in our instinct to survive.

Through N.A., we learn many things. We learn that we don't have to use today. As we grow in the program, we can pick up new ideas from other members which produce relief and good feelings in our lives today. Instead of 'good advice', we get the actual ex-perience of what works in recovery from those who have experienced it directly. Our belief in the program of N.A. and its members grows because N.A. works. Nothing else had worked for before. Seeing other addicts recovering is clear evidence that we too, can recover. We learn to look at daily events as special opportunities to improve our lives. We are constantly given opportunities to improve our lives. We are constantly going through situations clean which used to be impossible for us.

Practicing the things we learn at meetings, in our literature and directly from other addicts in recovery, we find ourselves succeeding. Our reaction is puzzled amazement combined with a feeling that it's too good to be true. Through abstinence and spiritual growth we come to believe that the N.A. way is real. Any disruption in this belief building process is a threat to the recovery of our members.

With our common welfare at stake, we are forced to disallow a member or group of members the right to use our name for personal purposes. A meeting which does not adhere to the Twelve Traditions of N.A., in the eyes of their local area or region, should not be listed in the directory of N.A. meetings in that area or region as well as our N.A. World Directory. While members can go in before violations go too far and try to share their concern, a service committee has the right and the ability to maintain an accurate directory of N.A. meetings. This does not allow for meetings which go against the basic principles and beliefs Of N.A. as embodied in our Twelve Traditions. Truly, our recovery is on the line if they are unable to surrender to our Traditions which serve to protect all who call themselves N.A. members.

Remember, what the other members, groups, areas and regions share in common is at stake here. Our combined feelings, welfare and recovery come first. Because this is a sensitive and often emotional subject, it may help to review what our experience has shown.

When one or more groups are kept on the meeting schedule but go against the spirit of N.A., by violating one or more of the Twelve Traditions, the service effort and the N.A. spirit fades. The most basic and easy service functions seem to be impossible. As addicts, we see this sort of thing for what it is: dishonest misrepresentation of the facts. If our service committees are dishonest, they lose the respect and the affection of our members. One of the most basic services we need is some sort of stability and order.

When the meetings in violation are taken off the schedule, the members behind the violations scream 'politics' and their need for disorder is made manifest. The other members just go to meetings where our Traditions are recognized as essential or start new groups. The integrity of our name and our principles is taken seriously and even with the hurt feelings of the few, the many benefit. Our kindness is not seen as a weakness of mind or spirit.

A meeting which knowingly violates our Traditions is not surrendered, cannot be relied on to carry our message and by simple definition has no right to the N.A. name. Our name has been built up by the good efforts of many and none have the right to tear it down.

We have learned to stress our anonymity. This means we set aside our personal preferences as members to effect our primary group purpose: to carry the N.A message to addicts seeking recovery.

Members who work hard to service the needs of our groups for administrative, Literature, Public Information, Hospitals and Institutions, policy and activities, feel uncomfortable when those who hold the N.A. name in contempt and perpetuate contradictions are listed on N.A. directories. They feel this way because they they try to do their best for N.A., only to have newcomers directed to a listed meeting where the Fifth Tradition is not honored. This is the contradiction which has been so hard to see. Addicts seek-ing recovery in N.A. have a right to receive our message in our meetings. If we knowingly allowed our newcomers to go into a situation brought on by ill-informed members who speak of their personal preferences instead of the N.A. message, we ourselves would be in violation of the principles of our Twelfth Step.

At some point in recovery, we develop an awareness of the dedication of those who have blazed our trail. Our early members made sacrifices to make available to us what is known today. Simply, they made some of our mistakes for us. Further, they endured the ridicule and laughter of those who didn't believe N.A. would work. What has sorted out from their total experience are only the things which worked. They had to go through the things which didn't work and somehow manage to hang on to their recovery. Some of them didn't make it. Still, we are grateful to them all.

We get a sense of oneness with our early members by helping others. Through the Steps, our awareness of the effects we can have on others becomes more important to us. We speak well of others today and those who have gone before since we are able to understand them through our own difficulty. None of us can afford the false sense of importance which comes from gossip. We realize what a miracle N.A. is. Sometimes, our disease gives us the idea that N.A. is only a mutual agreement to sustain a basis for belief which will fall apart if examined too closely. We forget the way we were when we came to the program because it is better today. Sometimes it takes the suffering of another, we are committed to help, to snap us out of this delirium before we relapse. Through helping another and seeing the things which worked for us working for another, we are protected. It reminds us of the Power of the program to work a lasting good for those who would otherwise be dying. Our ability to remember the miracles we have known is restored to us.

We come to love the Program of Narcotics Anonymous in its own right. We see those around us with new eyes. As if for the first time, we can see their pain and their courage takes on a new mean-ing. We know what it takes to do these things. Nothing has come easy for us except as a gift from our Higher Power.

We each pay a price to keep N.A. going. Not surprisingly, some of our members take this for a sign of weakness rather than an opportunity. To the dismay and discomfort of those who have come to love them, these members become proud and arrogant. Puffed up with a false sense of importance, they are unable to do the things which have worked to produce their recovery and lapse into a coma of the soul. Sometimes we can shake them out of it, sometimes not. We still love them and stand ready for the first indication that they are again able to ask for help. We feel for them because if they are hurting, at least a little part of us is hurting. We

cannot turn our back on these members, lest our own recovery be threatened. Neither do we have to kill them with kindness. When we love one another we say something when we see our fellow members participating in their disease. A real friend won't ignore our sickness or overlook our spiritual lapses.

A little simple honesty can go a long way. Other times just waiting seems to work best. If they can continue in a way which seems inappropriate to us and stay clean, sooner or later we have to re-examine ourselves and our beliefs. We can never do this too often. It is one of the primary ways we grow in recovery. If they are in the wrong, we can usually find a way to help them through patience. If not, at least we have the comfort of knowing we tried.

As we grow in recovery we also learn how large N.A. has grown. More and more we are made aware of the miracle of the Fellowship of N.A. There are meetings everywhere today. Some of us travel within the Fellowship to satisfy our curiosity. We find members thousands of miles from where we live who make us feel at home. Sometimes we discovery the meaning of an elusive spiritual principle at a meet-ing or through a member because we are new to them. When we learn how much we have in common, we can break out of some of the notions which have kept us apart from others.

We can perceive spiritual principles through the imperfect personalities. Who has been totally released from their short- comings? How would others treat you if they knew the real you? Once we come to know these things, we have a basis for appreciating our need for unity.

TRADITION TWO

"For our Group purposes there is but one ultimate authority, a loving God as He may express Himself

in our Group conscience, our leaders are but

trusted servants, they do not govern."

Each one of us has an equal chance to play a positive or a negative role in the present course of N.A. today. Our membership requirement, the desire to stop using, implies we have to change in order to play a useful role. This change takes place in every little thought and deed. When we have learned the uselessness of false pride and ego, our opportunity to serve will increase.

We bring our past into N.A. with us intact. Some of our be-liefs and feelings are accurate and will apply to our lives clean. Many will not work any better for us clean than when we were still using. These must be changed for us to be happy. If our unhappi-ness persists, we want to re-examine major portions of our lives to consider what we were exposed to which goes against what we really feel to be right inside. Otherwise, we will repeatedly go through strange feelings in ordinary settings. Contradictions of thought and feeling need to be resolved if we expect to overcome the restlessness and inability to accept good things into our new lives.

Without these changes, we will have grave problems surrender-ing to group conscience on any matters of importance to us. We way feel plagued and threatened instead of happy and joyous. We may get caught up in viewpoints based on our former experience with groups of all sorts. It is important to remember that in N.A. the rules have all been changed. Be grateful for the changes. Some-times these changes can only be seen in retrospect. Still, we can remember when conflicts based on pride, self-will and ego were real threats to our lives. In N.A., these threats are empty if we are living the Steps on a daily basis. When we really need to, we can surrender, rely on the God of our understanding and take our own inventory. We are constantly reminded that we do not use unless we lose our desire for recovery.

We hear our members share the fact that we can get caught up in the mechanics of service work to the extent that we forget to take care of ourselves, physically, mentally and spiritually. We work the program while working for the program. We can see the application of the first three Steps to service work more as time goes on. How can we truly serve others under our own power? We all do what we can, of course, but true N.A. service is the stuff of miracles that cannot be accounted for by logic and rational process. There are too many coincidences.

The statement that we ourselves don't really do anything makes more sense as we learn and grow. Through our Eleventh Step, we come to see ourselves as extensions of our Higher Power. We get goose bumps sometimes when we have prayed to be used as instruments of our Higher Power, things go so much better. Somehow, these are always the important things. Sometimes the lesser things seem to actually go wrong. It is interesting, a day at a time, to wait a while and see how we feel about the big deals that almost got us loaded. Maybe God is so loving that He lets these lesser matters go by to give us time to grow and see the pointlessness of fear.

Through our Twelve Steps we are given the power to surrender. We can pray for our God to use us as instruments of His Will. We can step out on faith if we have that good feeling in our hearts and know we have prayed for the strength and guidance we need to serve.

Our groups can appear either sleepy or totally efficient. We have seen countless incidents of members strutting and puffing out their brief hour on the stage of service. If we're worth our salt, we've been there ourselves. It makes it easier to be considerate of others who may be unaware of the nature of our services or our source of strength.

Really, we have nothing to worry about except staying clean. Through recovery, we've got plenty of time, one day at a time. Time is our gift. When the spirit of our Fellowship moves, all will be well. The increase brought on by our growth makes it in-creasingly difficult to keep track of everything that's happening. More and more we have to try to just do our job well and be sup-portive of the whole. Somehow our groups seem to do a good job of keeping track of it all. This is the reason our groups conscience is our guidance system. Somehow they know what we as individuals cannot.

The most we can expect is to be servants, worthy of trust. This means a lot to people like us who have known total collapse of moral systems and effective group roles. Perhaps our lack of ex-perience in these areas brings out a tendency to moralize and seek to dominate those we would serve. It's unfortunate when it happens and a good thing to avoid or get over as soon as possible. It seems contradictory to paint a picture of our role in service as some-thing subservient to the will of others and also speak of the joy of giving. You figure it out, we can't. It feels good. Sometimes it gives us a way to go on when nothing else can.

Group conscience is the result of individual prayers. When we pray, we activate the best in ourselves or make ourselves more open to the best in others. This conscience is not without direction. It is always rooted in concern over the difficulties of others and how we can help. If it's not, it's no service. Individual aware-ness can only aspire to conscience. The difference between cons-ciousness and conscience is prayer. We open and close our service functions with a prayer just like our recovery meetings. The equi-valent to the atmosphere of recovery in our meetings is the atmos-phere of service in our committees. It is made implicit so there can be no misunderstanding: the nature of our Ultimate Authority is loving.

The Second Tradition clearly states the fact that Ultimate Authority rests in the group. Knowledge of the implications of this statement makes the group responsible for the actions or the inactions of its servants. We have to take care of our own. Only N.A. groups can do this. Group conscience refers to the members of Narcotics Anonymous. When self-will and personalities prevail the principle of anonymity is violated and with this goes the conscious contact we need to go beyond our shortcomings.

Those who act as our leaders are in reality only acting on our instructions. They embody the signals they have gotten from all of us. They cannot rule, censor, decide or dictate except according those they serve and are accountable to. Authoritative actions exclude; service actions include. All our services and all of the recovery promised in N.A; is based on the freedom we find as indi-viduals from our active addiction and the lives it forced us to live. We as individuals have our own lives, opinions and beliefs. In service, we act as members of something greater than ourselves. For this reason we set aside our personal feelings in favor of group direction.

When we cannot do this in all conscience, we step down. Games of power and manipulation do no one any good. How could the most arrogant and proud among us hope to impose their will on another member. Its been tried but it always fails because the other member or members involved get bored and move on when their addiction threatens or they realize the feelings associated with service are missing. Remember, we try to love and help all our members, especially when they are hurting.

TRADITION THREE

"The only requirement for membership

is a desire to stop using."

Membership means the end of loneliness to us. We have all beaten ourselves into a corner by the time we get to Narcotics Anonymous. While we may be suspicious in the beginning, we feel a freedom in the meetings to express ourselves and find a similarity among the members we come in contact with. They hear what we're saying and seem to understand what we are feeling. They share with us and we begin to feel as if we have come home.

The purpose of this Tradition is to insure that no addict need die seeking recovery. Any other requirements for membership would allow someone to be turned away who might be seeking recovery but not be able to meet some other requirement.

We all had serious living problems which went against the grain of the society we come from and often made for discomfort among those who tried to help us. We had been forced by the fears and desperation to do many things which made us seem to be 'bad' people in our own eyes. We felt unworthy and it was often confusing when people reached out and told us they loved us. Didn't they know what we were and where we came from? Did they know what we had done in our active addiction. If they really knew, how could they accept us, much less love us. Since we felt unlovable and had been used to our pain and terror, there was plenty of room for us to assume that recovery was beyond what we could hope for. Any indication that we weren't wanted or failed to live up (or down) to a standard not related to the basic fact of our desire for recovery would have fed into our disease and allows us to say, "See, I never should have gotten my hopes up, I don't belong here." We can all remember some sort of feeling that we were welcome and that somehow the people in N.A really cared for us.

We addicts are good at messing up a good thing. This Tradition keeps our message simple and available. As we grow In recovery, it is amazing how we get busy setting up rules for ourselves and for others. The growth which comes from our Twelve Steps allows for some imperfections. We still get carried away with "a good idea" and go far beyond what is normal for other people. Haven't you ever had the feeling that everything would be O.K. if 'they' could just let go. It can seem as if we and the members we're close to have a pretty good understanding of it all. We're not seeking power, you understand, but those 'other' guys just can't be trying. If they really cared, they would be more open minded. We forget that others have their problems and rough days just like we do. Often we can be quick to judge another by their performance while we judge ourselves by our motives.

Since most of us, if not all of us, go through these types of changes as we grow from fear and desperation to faith and inspira-tion, this Tradition redlines the fact that we all have a lot to be grateful for and have all come a long way together. It at least minimizes the harm we might do to others before we can really take care of ourselves. There is nothing sadder than to sit at the funeral of a member who didn't make it and remember the last time you saw them alive. Somehow their efforts to get real help come to the forefront of your mind and the ways they fell short seem less important than when they were alive.

It is natural that we have to achieve some relief from our defects before we can expect to stop falling short of our goals. We lack the power to manage our lives and this makes us uncom-fortable. It is an ancient way for us to attempt to bring others in line when it is we who must change. Our power over others remains non-existent. We learn that we can change ourselves and that at least part of that change is based in our reactions to others, particularly when we do not like something about their actions. We will stay miserable in a job, a relationship or just about any living situation longer than most people. When we feel uncomfortable, we lash out at others, especially those who are close to us. Hopefully, they can continue to love us through these difficult times until we are able to accept, return and give to others what we have received.

These are our tendencies. If you don't suffer from them, we're glad for you. Because of these tendencies, we have a special need for this Tradition. We are allergic to pain, and without this Tradition we would sooner or later become victims of spiritual pride. We would grow socially sensitive and unconsciously exclude from our midst people who might be addicts but failed to meet some criteria for N.A. membership. They might be dirty, well dressed, foul mouthed, or from either of the wrong sides of the tracks. Some distinction would be made and some addict would die. Our discomfort would create social pain in us and we would become exclusive as a Fellowship. By taking control in this way, we run a certain risk of cutting ourselves off from the true source of our recovery. When we forget the lessons of surrender and faith and attempt to take up our old ways, we flounder, relapse and begin to die again.

Like any of the other Traditions, violations if the Third are nearly invisible to those who are in the middle of them. Usually others nearby can see more than we can. Correction is almost always dependent on our open mindedness. If we won't listen to those who love us, we miss out. Another way of saying this is that by the time we can see the harm being done to others, some of the others might be dead or we may find ourselves missing the relief we found in the past and risk relapse when it is only self-obsession that is at the root of our problem.

Insuring that when we see someone reaching out for help in N.A., we ourselves jump in to welcome them takes care of most of what we can do as members. Sometimes members isolate themselves but they have to reach out in time if they are to stay clean. If God lets us see them reaching out, God will give us the strength to meet their needs.

Our services make membership in N.A. available to those who are suffering but don't know we exist or how to get in touch with us. Our literature gives out newcomers a better chance of becoming members by letting them study written material. Our policies are meant to minimize politicking in N.A. which could confuse our own membership and run off people who may not stay to find out how N.A. differs from other groups. Our finance work simply keeps money moving toward some level of service which needs it, which furthers our primary purpose and helps make membership in N.A. available. Our H&I folks help carry our message where it can't otherwise go in jails and hospitals for the benefit of our members and would-be members. Our activities bring members together and help us overcome the fears which may hinder our membership and threaten our desire for recovery.

This is one of the most important of the Twelve Traditions because it keeps membership simple. Other Traditions are related to the Third Tradition. It unifies our recovery and service effort. It says "Yes" to members by right of our pain, our addiction and our hope for a better life clean. No one can make us members but we ourselves. Acceptance of our membership Is based on what we let others see and feel of our desire for recovery. Through our services, personal and in groups, we keep the door to recovery open to all addicts regardless of station in life or personal origins.

TRADITION FOUR

"Each Group should be autonomous except in matters

affecting other groups, or N.A. as a whole."

Our trusted servants have learned through painful experience or grateful surrender that there are limits on what we can do (and not do) in service to N.A.

When we first get into service, we are generally concerned with giving our very best to those we serve. We ask questions, read our Service Manual and exert ourselves to attend and support our group or committee. This open attitude lasts until we feel confi-dent in what we are doing and begin to serve as a resource to others seeking to serve. A lot of things can go wrong when we start to feel powerful, stop asking questions and reading the Service Manual. We can get so caught up in service that we stop working our personal programs. When we stop feeding ourselves spiritually and arrest the growth process we are involved in, almost anything can go wrong and something usually does. We begin to want to strike out on our own. We can become critical of others and lax in our own service.

One of the big ways we can run across the line between what works in N.A. is to forget or act as if what we do in service has no impact on others. If we want to throw a fund raiser or set up a service, we can get so into our vision that we forget to check with others for strength and guidance. We can think and act as if we were on our own. Sometimes this approach can seem to work for a while, especially if we are sincere in our effort to serve with-out directing or controlling those we serve. If we cannot see what is happening or hear the efforts others make to help us direct our energies into useful channels, we can lose our surrender and our respect for those who are our main resources. You'd think that we addicts could see all this happening but most of us have an in-ability to see ourselves as others see us. Our whole recovery process is based in our growing relationships with other addicts seeking recovery but we have difficulty applying this to our service.

Our actions should be guided by a Loving God as expressed in our group conscience. If we forget that we are only instruments of that will, we can fall into the trap of seeing others as powerful and get caught in acting powerful ourselves. This happens fairly often and none of us should have any difficulty in admitting our need for help in this area if we are in touch with our First Step.

Since the autonomy referred to in this Tradition is a reflec-tion of what happens in our individual group members, these things need to be brought more out into the open so fewer of our members will feel fearful or cutoff from their group just because they are less than perfect. We know well that if we are harsh or judgmental, it is we ourselves who will be unable to live up to the standards we would set for others.

We allow ourselves to be guided by the Twelve Traditions when we want to insure that our actions won't cause problems or hard-ships for other members or groups. If we ever get into a place where 'our common welfare' isn't important to. us, we are in real trouble and should get back in touch with reality as soon as pos-sible. Admitting fault is better than and can prevent a relapse. Taking personal responsibility for an error keeps the problem from growing.

Groups in N.A. are autonomous because it brings the whole Fellowship in touch with the spiritual principles of N.A. However, individuals are not autonomous. Work to inform others rather than reform them. It just won't work in N.A. The Fellowship always has the final say and the final responsibility. Group autonomy relates to the fact that our members become living extensions of their Higher Power's through living the Steps of N.A. If you can't feel something special in an N.A. meeting, you'd better raise your hand and get honest. Someone else may be hurting and your courage can help bring the meeting back into focus.

Group autonomy offers the variety and freedom we are promised as newcomers. We have all sorts of group formats, all sorts of members, our meetings are set in all sorts of places; we have a lot of freedom. We even have meetings within the locked doors of some prisons where a lot of our members happen to be found. When group meetings become too formal or stuffy and lack the spirit found in other meetings, attendance will fall off. If our meetings get too wild and crazy, they can drive off sincere members and would be members in violation of our Fifth Tradition covering the groups primary purpose of carrying our message. Either way, you can't stay clean without newcomers. Our freedom is balanced between personal freedom and concern for others. Our meetings can't be called N.A. without this sense of purpose.

The members who attend a meeting on a regular basis are re-sponsible to a great extent the quality and availability of our N.A message. If we forget what others have done for us or what we can do for others, it is easy to imagine that our meetings are gather-ing places of the knowledgeable with new people to impress with our great wisdom and insight into spiritual truths. We can fail for a time to remember that our lives depend on our willingness to stick out our hands to help or to receive the help found in N.A. If what we share doesn't work for those who give it a try, we have good reason to be nervous and get back to our basics. Addiction is a disease which kills. We all need help. Through helping others, our own real needs are met. Once we have our help, we can enjoy great personal freedom but we cannot turn our backs on N.A. or act contrary to our principles.

With these principles in mind, we can exercise our freedom to set up a new meeting that offers a special format for newcomers, a Step study, H&I, men and women, speakers, open and closed discus-sions and many others. We can attend an old meeting and freshen it up with love and gratitude. We can set a meeting some distance from where we live to make recovery more available. But when a mem-ber or a newcomer walks in the door, it is our hope that they will find what we found: a special place and a special feeling among others like ourselves who are living examples that N.A. works.

TRADITION FIVE

"Each group has but one primary purpose,

to carry the message to the addict that

still suffers."

People with our disease do not recover alone. We have other addicts in our lives who show us recovery is real. From the begin-ning we are in some sort of contact with other addicts who are re-covering on a daily basis in N.A. These other members help us go beyond what we were capable of before we were alone. The group principle is best illustrated in the fact that every one of our N.A. Twelve Steps is centered around the word "we". We don't become powerful in recovery but we are able to tap into a strength greater than ourselves immediately through other members, as soon and as long as we are open to it.

Groups which fail to carry a sufficient message of recovery invariably fail. As it says in our basic text, we have nothing else to offer but our message. It takes a group of two or more to make a "we". If a group forgets its primary purpose, then at least for a time, both are lost. The power to stay clean through taking an active interest in the recovery of others is given to us by the God of our understanding. We first pick up on this feeling of useful-ness to others in a group setting where other members are interes-ted in helping us recovery. At least part of the feeling of loving concern which draws us back to the meetings comes from an active application of the spiritual principle of this Tradition. Where the message is not being carried, there is no recovery.

We need each other and aren't embarrassed about admitting our need for help. We see others doing it and it comes to us naturally. The group setting and our primary group purpose begins to take away our loneliness from the beginning.

In terms of N.A. service, our primary purpose is really impor-tant. Members gathered together without an atmosphere of recovery will face insurmountable difficulties in affecting any services. Without the spirit of concern for others, gratitude for what we have received through N.A. and an efforts to help others will have effort to give our best, little chance of going beyond the room where the 'meeting' takes place.

Distractions of various sorts will begin to take up much of the time and resources of the members seeking to serve. Less and less time will be devoted to the needs of those suffering and more time will be spent in pleasing members present or absent. Even with the grace of an all loving and all powerful higher power, it seems to be impossible to satisfy everyone. This seems to be related to the fact that we are not only powerless over our disease but also each other. We can each only do our best. When enough members are giving it their best, the distractions will be overcome.

A title doesn't insure that the person elected can or will do their job. They have to want to. Likewise, a title of service committee doesn't mean a thing unless services to those who suffer are actually provided. There is no good feeling in contending with others. Without the same feeling we have in our regular meetings, a committee is Just a committee. A committee has to have the primary purpose of our groups in their minds and hearts to do service. Service is emphasized over the committee in N.A. instead of the other way around. Committees without hearts are heartless and feelings go by the board as bureaucratic concerns become more Important than people. Our anonymous workers who are the real strength of our structure cannot function and make their sacrifices unless they have a good feeling in their hearts about what they are doing. Violating that good feeling short circuits the services our structure is meant to provide. We have found our heart felt feel-ings to be more reliable guides than our heads. Still, the need to read and re-read the minutes can sometimes help us get at what others are really saying when communications have become a problem.

Today, our resources are growing and so are our numbers. In service As we grow, we learn new lessons in service, just as we learn in recovery. Giving has to be more than a word to us. And, whether service is done one way or another is a concern which might better remain in the hands of our Higher Power. If we truly want to help enough, we will be shown a way. Each time our path seems to be blocked, we can turn to some new direction. Quite often, we find that others are able and ready to do as good a job or better than what we may have had in mind, whereas we are able to move on to break new ground where it is needed. Still, the addict in us will attempt to root us in our old self and we often mistake our anonymous freedom for lack of recognition.

Our groups and service bodies reflect the feelings and the recovery of our members. By working our own program first, we are doing the most basic thing a servant can do. By fulfilling our spiritual needs, we are able to contribute to the whole in a good and useful manner. We feel good about what we are doing at the time and good about it later on as well. Naturally, lack of faith, character defects and an inability to admit fault or snake amends will be a hindrance to anyone seeking to serve. Helping others who seem to be having these problems is one of the ways service work, serves us.

TRADITION SIX

"An N.A. Group ought never to endorse, finance,

or lend the N.A. name to any related facility or

outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property

or prestige divert us from our primary purpose."

Most of us have never been a real part of anything that we

could feel good about before coming to N.A. We would hear about good things and good people and investigate them only to find the inevitable loop hole. We had trouble believing the promise of N.A. in the beginning because we had been let down so many times. It is not surprising that there are some special difficulties we have had to overcome in our growth and development.

A lot has been said and written about the Sixth Tradition. Most of the references concern keeping N.A. free of involvement with external efforts. We need to address the difficulties which arise out of involvement within our service structure which can give rise to similar problems.

These difficulties arise in two categories. The first is the case where our members work in institutions or hospitals which have to do with addicts. The second and more important for our present attempt to share insight into problems which arise and how we can successfully deal with them, is the case where our members find themselves overwhelmed by a service title or commitment.

In the first case, we simply need to keep N.A. simple and comprehensible to our membership. Clearly, we are on our own here. The message we got when we were new and what N.A. means to us today need to be fairly close together lest we risk going against our personal basis in recovery. What attracted us in the beginning had the power to keep us coming back when we were at our weakest and most vulnerable. The message we heard got through to us where nothing else would. The Program of Narcotics Anonymous is a miracle in its own right and it stands on its own. In keeping with our spiritual aims, any notion of dependence or obligation to another group, institution or program is futile. This way we can consis-tently work towards maintaining our own recovery and work towards carrying our message. In addition, because we have integrity, we can cooperate with almost anything which works to help get addicts to N.A. We are fortunate in our times to have to opportunity to draw on our roots to extend our branches throughout the world. We have more meetings, members and services than ever before and its still getting better. The second need we have to deal with really concerns us all.

We have suffered greatly for the lack of sure insight into

problems of money and prestige which arise not from the outside, but from within our own ranks. As we have grown, too many of our services have inevitably put our members into situations where they are unable to deal with the pressures and demands of their job and have fallen right flat on their faces to our amazement. We voted them in, we believed they could do it and we were wrong! The lesson here is that we who elect have a responsibility to those who serve us. They, like us, are addicts, and will sooner or later have pro-blems. And, just like the other things which go against recovery, we must bring the problems out into the open before we can deal with them. Sticking your head in the sand is only good for getting your ass in the air. Where these matters have been dealt with successfully, the members get together, honestly share what is bothering them, and work towards a solution--together. Sometimes it gets sticky. A committee may have funds, equipment or apparent personal influence which get misused by some or all of its members. A whole community may have to reach out to other communities but the help is there if we have the courage to ask for it.

Today, we have excellent guidelines to help our treasurers. Implicit in the guidelines is the fact that the group is respon-sible for itself. Those who put it in the bank or spend it as directed by group conscience serve us and like other servants need consideration and support if they are to do a good job. If they get into trouble, their recovery hangs in the balance. We have to put our primary purpose first here. Before jumping in with only rumor and suspicion, lets take our own inventory. Get the facts directly from those who can help and bring them together in a room for the purpose of reestablishing the spirit of N.A. The problems have to be dealt with in terms of personalities so we have a special need for spiritual principles. From fear and isolation, let any who has had difficulty know they are loved, ask them what can be done to set matters right and give them help if they ask for it. They will be very concerned about their recovery and will fear condemnation prior to investigation.

Painful experience has taught us that equipment is best rented or kept in the hands of members and not committees. In this way the equipment never plays a role in motivating a member to seek a cer-tain office. As we grow we will accumulate more successful experi-ence relating to how an area or regional office can be maintained in terms of equipment, but it is already safe to say that there will be problems to overcome when they are first set up.

Third on the list from the Sixth Tradition is prestige. Few of us have had the opportunity to hold prestigious positions any where. We love N.A. and want to do what we can to help. We can be overwhelmed with the thought of holding a position that we never dreamed possible. If we are elected, we feel light headed and our peace is shattered. It can still be OK and we can do a good job. Get with your sponsor and home group. Carefully read the literature one more time, looking for messages you couldn't see the need for before. If you don't feel good inside, decline the nomination or step down. There will be other times and opportunities to serve. Put your recovery first.

Probably the reason these problems come up, is because we are put in positions where it is easy to imagine that we ourselves are responsible for the miracle of N.A. this is not so. The newcomers keep us clean. We need service because we need to feel good about ourselves and each other and we get something special through the giving. All we can do as servants is to work a daily program and do our job. No one can account for N.A. Anyone who has been involved for a while will tell you from their own personal experience of the times they thought they were in control and feared for the worse. Through their surrender and faith, they stayed clean and everything came out alright in the end.

TRADITION SEVEN

"Every N.A. group ought to be fully

self supporting, declining outside contributions."

As we each grow in recovery, so our Fellowship has grown. We have had to pay a great price for what we have today. Along the way, all the blind alleys were checked out, all the errors made and all the things happened which would have spelled our collective ruin. The miracle of Narcotics Anonymous is that we go through all these growing experiences and not only survive but possibly grow from them. It seems that we addicts insist on doing anything the wrong way first. Because of this, we have learned that we truly have little to fear--beyond the specter of relapse. We are the sort who can go through the most painful experiences known to man and be laughing right after. In a way this might have helped us survive, but we have grown to better things. Our tendency to test is often exchanged for a more practical method when something important is at stake. One of the most important things for addicts seeking recovery is another addict who wants our help and is asking for it. To find these people and help them to get to our meetings, we print meeting schedules and directories, we carry meetings of N.A. into jails and hospitals, we run public service announcements to let other addicts know that recovery is possible and we work directly to help others, where ever the opportunity to do so exists in recovery.

When we were a small, struggling Fellowship, we often had to do without a lot of things. Some of our members went through a lot of personal hardships in order that we might be able to get clean. They drove thousands of miles, dug deep into their pockets to fill the basket and did whatever they could to help the program grow. To those who have gone before, we are grateful and our gratitude shows in our acts.

Today our needs are greater than ever. Fortunately, however, our resources have grown with us. When it comes to getting service work done, we know we could get members to serve out of love for the Fellowship even to their personal injury. We feel, however, that they would be unable to do the best they could for us under their own steam. If we want it done, we pay the price. In this way the service comes from us and our servants are assured of their spiritual anonymity. Through group responsibility, our members can say, "Thy will, not ours, be done." Our support protects the recovery of our servants.

Where we would otherwise have to hire a non-member to get a job done or do without the service, we employ our Seventh Tradition of being self-supporting. Our Eighth Tradition makes this possible where the job involves some type of work not related to Twelfth Step work. We generally pay the going rate for clerical work or an eight-hour day for office work. This is not ever done where the spiritual nature of our service is involved, but applies only to functions which back up our service effort. We pay the travel ex-penses of our representatives when they go too far beyond what an individual member can afford or reasonably be expected to meet themselves. In this way they remain our servants and many of the strains which might otherwise occur are prevented. Travel, telephone and correspondence costs are budgeted by our service bodies, and receipts are turned in to the treasurer. Our service committees have an open book policy where the ledger and these receipts can be inspected by any member. Reviews of our treasurers records by their service committee officers benefit the treasurer and let them know they don't have to act alone. As a note of interest, our treasurers came up with the review procedure in the N.A. Treasurer's Handbook so they wouldn't have to feel like they were doing it themselves. Problems of money should never hamper our service effort. We used to put a lot of money into dying, we now put our money into living.

Servants have always been extensions of a group conscience and have enjoyed some level of emotional and financial support from the service body which has backed them up. Where they have failed to get the help they needed, the service effort has fallen short of its goals. Our loving God has a way of keeping track of these things, and all who have truly served selflessly have gratitude and joy to share. Their need to stay clean and feel better about themselves was met.

Our Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous, has excellent material on the application of the Seventh Tradition relating to forms of out-side support. N.A. can't afford to compromise its spiritual integ-rity by placing itself in a position where recovery or growth is seen as determined by money, power or prestige. We know God has been good to us. We will always have the funds to do what is needed, and more than we need would cause problems. Our "prestige" is in the simple fact of our recoveries. Our power rests solely in our prayers and our gratitude.

TRADITION EIGHT

"Narcotics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers."

The basic tenet of N.A. service and Twelfth Step work is that we give freely of what we have received from N.A. to those who are asking for our help. We serve on committees, helplines, H & I panels, give people rides to meetings, share one on one, sponsor members in recovery, and many other things through our membership in N.A. This giving helps us all maintain our recovery and avoid relapse, by placing us in helpful situations with others who suffer like we do. Their pain reminds us of what the next usage holds In store for us. Our being able to help keeps us in touch with the miracle of N.A. If we charged for our service, the idea that money was a basic motivation would undermine the spiritual nature of our program. We make it abundantly clear to all that we act out of love and a special sort of self-preservation. Something about us and those we would serve Is very alert to insincerity, and we can't afford to allow this principle to become blurred. We are too vulnerable to the fear and distrust of those who need our message. Those we would serve are not apt to stay around to get the facts straight.

"Professional" means that a charge is made for any goods or services received. So much of our recovery in N.A. comes to us moment by moment when we are exerting ourselves to get through a rough period or in helping another that we have found that it is impossible to guarantee recovery or to control recovery in any way. As it says in our Basic Text, all we have to offer is our message. Our message is that if you're an addict like us, you can get clean and stay clean through practicing the Steps and applying the prin-ciples of N.A. We find it embarrassing even to discuss charging for what we attribute to a power far greater than ourselves.

Some of our members are employed in treatment facilities which offer programs of various sorts to addicts. Their membership in N.A. is separate from their employment. Those who keep it separate have little trouble maintaining their jobs and may help others as a part of their program with no conflict. When the two are not kept separate, the idea that we ourselves are powerful enough to produce recovery in others creeps in and we run the risk of finding ourselves cut off from our spiritual roots. We need always be mindful of the fact that we enjoy a way of life which has come from the thousands who have gone before us in recovery. N.A. has been born out of their successes, and no government, medical approach or single religion has played any significant role in any of it. We just found a way to stop dying, and part of the responsibility for recovery is the willingness help others. Keeping the miracle alive is important to us because our lives depend on it.

Our early years were such that we never could afford special workers. As a consequence, we have had to do without some things. We have had great difficulty in documenting our successes which has limited our ability to pass on to others what we have learned in N.A. Our Book, Narcotics Anonymous grew out of a volunteer service effort. Historically, we had our recovery, our Board of Trustees, our World Service Office and our World Service Conference and even our service structure before we had our Book which is the basis of the finances which have allowed our world service effort to grow to the extent that it can effectively support the service needs of hundreds of thousands of recovering addicts all over the globe.

It has been difficult in the past to maintain an up to date World Directory of meetings. Only the valiant efforts of our pre-decessors allowed us to have literature available to members with a single address and phone number to which any member anywhere could turn. We have had to struggle to gain every inch of ground, and yet we have come so far. Our communications needs suffered. When our world service effort was entirely dependent on the contri-butions from our members, groups, areas and regions, we often had to do without. This is not due to lack of funds or generosity among the Fellowship. Much is spent by groups, areas and regions on local services without which N.A. as we know it could not survive.

Today it is different. We are able to afford special workers at our world Service office as well as at some area and regional offices throughout the Fellowship. These workers don't do the essential work of the Program but act in supporting roles. Our clerical, secretarial, management, finances, and legal matters require the employment of a capable person, addict or non-addict, to do the job. We are finding that when we shortchange our workers, we often shortchange ourselves. It is possible to do a job for a time only out of love, especially where there is no way to be financially responsible. When it comes, however, to marketable skills and N.A. is not a marketable skill -- we pay people who work for the Fellowship a fair wage. This is in keeping with our Seventh Tradition of being self-supporting.

We are grateful that today we are better able to respond to the needs of our growing Fellowship. Keeping our love and what we share in staying clean free to all and yet being able to pool our resources to meet our common needs helps us become responsible.

TRADITION NINE

"N.A. as such ought never be organized;

but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."

The group conscience covered in the Second Tradition comes out in the Ninth Tradition. It is not enough to say we care and give only lip service to the promise of N.A. recovery. Our pro-mises are backed up by our actions. This Tradition gives the Fellowship a way to implement group conscience within spiritual bounds.

Sooner or later our members want to give back some small part of what the Program has given them. To keep out arbitrary rule-making for others and keep our Fellowship and Program adaptable, N.A. as such is left in the hands of our members. Their prayers keep our way spiritually fit. Since we turn our wills and our lives over to care of the God of our understanding in our Third Step, we entrust our way of life to this care. Our group conscience is based on our conscious contact.

Our services are conducted by members carrying out the will of our groups and members. We don't need rulers or governors in any sense. It would go against our nature as well as our principles. Our structure is different from 'committees' and 'boards' as the terms apply in the world at large. They are terms of convenience since the spiritual nature of our service effort as well as our recovery requires using terms which may have other meanings, for convenience. For instance, our group secretaries rarely have steno or typing skills, and if they do they have little need to use them as they set up the coffee and literature or line up a speaker. Our services are performed by members who care and are only rewarded in terms of recovery. When they require our financial support to do a good Job for us, we provide it in various ways. In special cases we employ the Eighth Tradition. These cases constitute the smallest fraction of our service effort, and even then, they only carry out the will of our Higher Power as expressed in group conscience. These practical considerations do not imply that only volunteer service is spiritual. Our special workers exhibit personal dedication as well as spiritual motivation.

This Tradition is sometimes applied to mean that N.A. service shouldn't be organized. Maybe this is true to the extent that we work through volunteers. If they don't do a good Job, they may be replaced or other members may pitch in to allow them to serve out their terms in office. We generally don't mind giving an extra measure of support if a member wants to serve and is doing their best, it's just another way of giving to us. What we can't do under the Ninth Tradition is to 'fire' anyone, cut their pay or arbitrar ily change their position in service. We applaud their good efforts and help where we can if they fall short of the mark. Our group role is to provide emotional and financial support as part of our group responsibility. They are our members and we care for them just like it says in the Third Step and Second Tradition. We believe God runs this Fellowship and we are only instruments of a will greater and more loving than our own. Our personal faith, humility and honesty is reflected in our groups and is the gauge of our group conscience.

For all these reasons and one more, we learn to see service positions as opportunities to give and not positions of power or prestige. We laugh and joke with members who fall into the trap of taking themselves too seriously. They usually get the message with no harm done. The one more reason we don't take ourselves too seriously is relapse. We are more susceptible to a false sense of personal power than most people, to put it mildly. As soon as we feel powerful, we have taken back our Third Step, the Step which allows the God of our understanding to help us with our defects and shortcomings and gives us the power to make amends. We need always to remember that without N.A., we are subject to active addiction. No spiritual knowledge, no personal power and no strong enabling can help us then. All we can do is humble ourselves by coming back to N.A. It is this consideration which makes our service boards and committees different. If we get caught up in self-will, we may be putting our recoveries and our lives on the line, and this we don't want.

To the best of our God-given ability our service boards and committees are organized. Disorderly services are generally poor services. Keeping it simple and doing the best we can will take care of most problems. We tend to get into trouble when we fall for the idea that what we need is more guidelines. This is a men-tal approach and generally doesn't work out when we are in need of a spiritual remedy. Sometimes this is to surrender to the loving experience already embodied in our existing guide-lines. Our egotism leads us to try to 'top' the efforts of others when our need is to continue those efforts.

If our guidelines are simple, straightforward and useful to the members doing the work, they are abided by. If not, they are disregarded and new guidelines written. We have learned just how powerless we are to force our point of view on another trusted servant.

It is better to pray and deal with the personal problems up front. One self-willed member can undo a whole service effort if they go unchecked. Somebody has to love them enough to be honest with them and let them know they're hurting. Sometimes they don't even know they are orchestrating, not serving. A lot of members see this as a threat to, their surrender. If one can do so much damage, are they not powerful and where is God? You can answer this one yourself by thinking of a meeting. Is your recovery threatened if a member or would be member is acting badly, yelling or disrupting the meeting. We don't hate them, we love them. From our own early experiences, we remember wondering if N.A. was for real and, when we were out of line, how the members preserved the atmosphere of recovery without running us off. We pray and look for ways to help.

Sometimes, we can talk with them directly, and sometimes not. Sometimes, all that is needed is for someone to sit down with them and tell them how it is with US. That we all have survived this period of rebellion somehow clean. That we have to be responsible because we have so much freedom. We have no one to watch us in N.A. If we mess up, we pay the price, and so do those who are all looking to us for help. Sometimes getting with their sponsor can help. They may be able to help us see what the member's concern is and thereby work towards solution. Sometimes we just have to let go and do the best we can without them, even if it hurts us to do so. We can't help them unless they realize their need for help and are open to our love and help. The rest of the members just stay clean and do what they can.

We have welcomed some pretty powerful people in this Fellow-ship, but they all surrender sooner or later. Sometimes they just want attention and don't know another may to get it. They may not realize the 'power' which comes from surrender. Our personal power always fails, so we have learned not to go for it. By being clean and positive, you are speaking well for recovery. Since we're not fighting, no one has to change for us to be happy. We can maintain our position indefinitely with no expenditure of energy except what It takes to pray. When we consider all the energy we used to put into fighting, it is easy to see how surrender seems to produce 'power' in recovery. The truth is that what we used to waste is simply available to us in useful forms.

If our members who are in service to the Fellowship learn from the beginning to respond to the needs of those they serve, with the love and support of other members who contribute the ideas, sugges-tions and financial support needed, they can serve long and well. The unified group is 'stronger' than the sum of its members, and a unified effort always produces results. It is through the grace of a loving and all-powerful God that this power turns in circles, rarely extending beyond the range of the group until its members can reflect enough recovery to take a spiritual direction. This protects us from the harm which can stem from personal limitations and self-will. Only through spiritual growth can spiritual goals be approached. Most of us will notice how ineffectual it is to try to disrupt a meeting or a service effort. True, time and effort may be wasted, but isn't this the price we have always had to pay for our foolishness? We know that when this happens we are letting them as well as ourselves down if we stand by and wait for self-correction to take care of the problem. If we feel our membership strongly enough, we take up for ourselves.

Members who have learned these lessons will always be working to extend the N.A. message. They know N.A. is the only way out for suffering addicts of our type--those for whom nothing else would work. As we grow, and the wisdom of the N.A. way is seen with increased clarity, we develop a healthy respect for the program of Narcotics Anonymous.

Trouble can come when members who should be supporting the service effort see themselves as powerful, forget their own respon-sibilities and go beyond their supportive roles. When ever this happens, intrigue and rumor can severely disrupt a service effort. Something about our disease makes these problems exciting. The needs of those we serve go wanting if we put our differences first. What unifies our service is our common desire to do something to help the addict who still suffers. Without this bottom line, we fall apart and nothing makes sense. We get into personalities and forget principles. For as long as this disorder prevails, there can be little in the way of service.

We used to hide from these problems, pretending they didn't exist. Today we learn to be honest about them. They only prevail when we are afraid to speak the truth. When we are surrendered servants trying to do our best, we will be guided past the diffi-culties which appear to block our progress from time to time. We have to use our honesty, open-mindedness and willingness as guides to tell us what to do.

When our efforts have enough order to prevent conflicts and enough freedom of movement for our members to do their best, great things can happen. We do not try to organize our meetings beyond the format and the basic need to share in a manner which works to grant relief from our disease, which we all need so desperately. We do try to organize our services to prevent problems which always occur among people. These difficulties way be aggravated by our disease, but they are common to all humanity. We learn to deal with them honestly, and we are growing in recovery as well as service. We carry what we learn into all areas of our lives. Sometimes we become qualified for a better job or a promotion though what we learn in service even though that was the last thing on our mind.

Our basic addict fear of others, expressed in our antisocial behavior, fades out when we realize the miracle of our having sur-vived an impossible history of conflicts, sabotage and character assassination. The knowledge breeds respect. Somehow we have come through it all, and are better off today than we ever were before, regardless of the dark periods. We learn that love is real and that the lies have no power over us unless we give them power by lacking faith. All our personal answers are in the Twelve Steps of N.A. Our group answers are in the Twelve Traditions. We find repeatedly that our growth and continuance always comes from those who don't give up hope, who keep trying to do whatever they can to help another suffering addict. In time this becomes a great comfort to us all, and we get back to the important things like helping another addict stay clean one day at a time.

We find that the service problems usually come from one place: poor priorities. If we are truly putting the needs of some hurt-ing addict ahead of our own, we can't afford to disagree too much. We can settle any differences we have along the lines of common sense, a little prayer and maybe a phone call or two.

Our service structure only makes sense when it is a vehicle for helping others. The need for structure should never come ahead of the needs of our members, whom we exist to serve. Our additional needs beyond recovery aren't that important, theirs are. Too often we have found ourselves quibbling over the fine points of parlia-mentary procedure, while our newcomers to service walk out the door

shaking their heads and needed services take second place to the concerns of hair-splitting perfectionists. If we stray to far from common sense, we are probably falling into a trap. If our minds could be trusted to carry us beyond the feelings of hopelessness and endless conflict, our Twelve Steps would be written very differently. We rely on daily miracles to stay clean and for the strength to help others. When we find ourselves in conflict among ourselves, we all need to pray. We need to remember where we came from and how we were helped in the beginning. When we can remind ourselves of these things, we can forget the feelings of distrust and disunity and get back to getting along with our fellow members.

The important function of our service boards and committees is to see to it that a good suggestion from members get proper atten-tion and is implemented wherever possible. This helps us grow, and keeps our services 'wired into' the Fellowship. When members see their suggestions taken seriously, they will take their service bodies seriously. All the good things we enjoy in N.A. began as suggestions from members. Otherwise, we gain a deep personal joy from seeing addicts pulling together doing the routine chores associated with their service efforts. Maintaining the helplines which blanket America, and are now beginning in other countries. Carrying our message into jails, hospitals and prisons where we know there are addicts who can't get out to the regular meetings. Those who have the honor and privilege of working on carrying our message in written form. Those who do the tough jobs in maintaining order in our service committees through good policy in keeping with our Twelve Traditions. Those who do the fantastic work it takes to have a calm, serene convention where everything seems to come out even. And those who work today to carry our message to the ends of the Earth, so that no addict anywhere need die never knowing help is available ...

TRADITION TEN

"N.A. has no opinion on outside issues; hence

the N.A.name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

With recovery comes the temptation to see ourselves as power-ful. We can forget who we are, what we are and where we came from unless we stick with the N.A. Program and follow the Steps to the best of our ability. The disease of addiction has had us trapped within ourselves for years, and getting to be a part of society again carries a great emotional impact. Our success in recovery can be seen as our own, especially by non-addicts. They may encourage us to make stands, write articles, and make personal appearances, which flatter us and make us feel like someone special. A lot of us love the crowd and crave recognition in any form.

"N.A. is a non-profit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." This sentence from the second chapter of our Book tells us what N.A. is. We maintain our integrity as a fellowship by right of the fact that we stay out of the affairs of any other entity, legal, social or spiritual as a fellowship. In this way we can stay clean, grow spiritually and help others. To go beyond this, as a Fellowship, would affect first how we feel about recovery, and second, how others would feel about N.A.

As a spiritual program, N.A. can never be threatened by an outside force. As a Fellowship, we keep up appearances because we want our message to be widely available. Remember, others see us through their eyes, not ours. If we don't represent something worthwhile in their eyes, addicts seeking recovery won't be refer-red to us. We care about those who are hurting. We are willing to put our best foot forward. We draw the line at compromising our spiritual principles. In the same way, we draw the line at telling other people what we think of them. It can have a very negative effect on how others see us, which could limit our effectiveness in carrying the message and rob us of the spiritual aspect of anonym-ity. We try to keep our priorities straight and are often able to set aside our personal differences.

Hopefully, our personal opinion is not the first thing on our mind when we are in a position where someone else is looking to us as a member of N.A. rather than as an individual.

Most members want to know how to avoid mistakes and seek guid-ance from those who have had to pay the painful price for their mistakes with no one to tell them any better at the time, even if they were asking. Abiding by these spiritual principles doesn't take anything away from our individuality. It may be the basis which makes our individuality possible in any positive terms.

For practical purposes, just remember we're not dealing in fantasy here. When the time comes, and we know it will if you're active in N.A., for you to answer questions put forth by a repor- ter, a hospital worker or a prison employee--keep it simple!! If they aren't an addict themselves, chances are that they will never understand N.A. at all, except that we stay clean and that our lives get better. That's really about all they need to know to give us a good recommendation. Because they want to understand, they will ask certain questions. These questions may relate to us personally or to N.A. as a whole. We answer their questions as honestly and accurately as we can. We try not to indulge ourselves in personal interpretation of events or issues. If we don't know for certain, we say so. If its a touchy issue, we Just decline the question by saying we don't know the answer to that one. We empha-size our gratitude for recovery and our desire to help others. It sometimes seems, everyone wants to understand addiction.

Sometimes this quest for understanding makes them oblivious to the facts. We suffer from a disease, not a primary psychological illness or a moral flaw. We are allergic to using drugs--in any form! We never know for sure how long we will be clean or what life holds for us. Our recovery itself is a miracle. We can't explain it among ourselves, much less to anyone else. In our program, we learn that acceptance works where understanding fails.

When we are asked to answer questions which have nothing to do with N.A., we simply don't answer them. We know that even with the disclaimer "this is just my personal opinion", the chance for mis-understandings is too great. Better to say nothing than risking mistakes which don't need to occur. By doing all this, we keep ourselves and our program out of the public eye. We don't need any adverse publicity. We're not selling anything; we are trying to stay clean. As we grow those who need us will increasingly be able to find us. Our public information workers primary task is to help make our message more available without sensationalism or violation of our spiritual aims.

TRADITION ELEVEN

"Our public relations policy is based on attraction

rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films."

As we learn in recovery, hiding from our problems is no way out. Today's escape is tomorrow's pain. They either get worse or recur in our lives. In a spiritual sense, it might be nice if we didn't have to worry about what others thought of US. That doesn't work out very well either. So, the choice we have in service is to get out the message that recovery is possible, so those who do want us can find us, without attracting non-addicts who may have other serious problems to deal with. There are others to help them and, though we can sometimes help them along, they cannot come ahead of our primary group purpose. In terms of N.A. recovery, there isn't anywhere else we know of for them to go and get help with their addiction. If we discover something of value to addicts seeking recovery, we can make it become part of the program. If it is valid and proves itself in time, it becomes available to every member. We have to keep to our primary group purpose and serve the needs of addicts seeking recovery.

Promotion of Narcotics Anonymous would bring many who would buy our literature and attend our meetings. They might even speak well of us and give us their money. We know these things are a threat to us in recovery and do not seek them out. We would become caught up in the impossible task of servicing people who weren't addicts and who have no need for us or our recovery. Addicts would see this and leave the program in fear and confusion. We would have our recoveries on the line, with relapse around the corner, and a bunch of let-down people to satisfy who weren't even addicts. Probably some of those who left would start some meetings which observed this Tradition carefully, as if their lives depended on it.

Thankfully, we don't have to worry about this happening today, because we have been very fortunate, having had little promotion. We had instead a whole lot of attraction which has resulted in our unparalleled growth. Our message is available almost anywhere in the western world today with good beginnings in the eastern hemi-sphere. It is the pain and desperation brought on us by our dis-ease which accounts for our growth. Our groups and members have prospered wherever they put our principles into action on a daily basis.

As far as members representing N.A. goes, who can say they understand us? In certain cases the Eighth Tradition gives us the right to have jobs done for us. We have the kind of growth which requires the signature of legal documents, for instance. These people don't represent N.A., they fulfill the law of the land where it is unavoidable. It is a convenience and a function we support where necessary. As our resources have grown, many old dreams in N.A. have become possible.

If a member or group of members tried to represent us without our express consent, they would be facing a thousand witnesses to the contrary in a day. Our trusted servants only have the power we give them. It is ours to give and ours to withdraw. Our structure is set up so that while a great deal of good can be done, little in the way of money, power or prestige attaches to any one of us.

We are just as concerned about what happens to one of our

members who might violate the Eleventh Tradition at a podium or in the media as we are about the trouble we might have to go through to restore our integrity. For us to allow them to be placed in such a situation would be very unloving. They would be bound to think themselves as more equal than others and it would give power to their disease. We have had these troubles in the past. No one knows for sure how much damage to our name arose, maybe only a little. The question we had to ask ourselves was did they stay clean? Too often they did not.

Again, we love all our members and wish harm to none. Anytime we are addressing a large group of people in public, speak as an individual, make it plain that we have no spokesmen and women. If people are interested in N.A. and want to know more about us, we are friendly but draw a line between cooperation and affiliation. If a mishap occurs, it is best if the members involved bring it to the attention of others immediately. Through our unity, a remedy will be found. A letter to the right parties. A statement of disclaimer to the media. Just learning from the error will eliminate the harm which would come from the repetition of the mistake.

As we grow, these sort of problems are more likely to occur. We have learned that it is easier to avoid these problems than to do anything about them later. Refer to the material from the WSC Public Information Committee, or contact them directly for specific help not covered to your satisfaction in the material. This is your Program. Your questions will help improve our resources and, if we check around enough, somebody else has likely faced the same problem you have today. The help they have to offer comes from direct personal experience. They can describe what worked for them. You can pass on the benefits to those who will In time look to you.

TRADITION TWELVE

"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all

our Traditions, ever reminding us to place

principles before personalities."

A lot of the program makes no sense if it is viewed in terms of personalities. Without principles like surrender, humility and faith, we couldn't get very far in recovery. In N.A.,a lot of what we only sought spiritually before the program becomes everyday reality for us. Humility, patience and tolerance make no sense at all unless we are guided spiritually and believe that these things will effect the real changes we seek.

At the core of these principles is anonymity. Elusive, here one minute and gone the next, intangible except for the change others can see and we can feel, is the principle of anonymity. As a principle, anonymity requires that we be in touch with something or some feeling which we can trust to take care of the problems, goals and objectives which we can't face alone. The intrinsic value of an act or statement which gives it meaning comes from a selfless concern for others and a lack of concern for rewards. These things support our Traditions and all our service effort.

Until we have some clean time and recovery, we simply aren't qualified for service. The likelihood that we will see the members in service in personal terms, themselves somehow gifted to set up help lines, distribute literature and chair meetings, is too great. It looks easy, but our experience shows us that our members in service are really miracle workers. We have defects, we lack basic skills and we have trouble getting alone with others. S omehow we are guided, we find others who understand our need to help others. They show us that we're not alone in our desire to serve. They share with us the feelings and the miracles they've seen.

We work together and discover that our problems aren't that unusual and that somehow we are able to do the impossible. Our direction comes from some power greater than ourselves, and nothing is wasted. Sometimes we pay a great price, and this gives a certain spiritual value to what we receive. We learn that alone we can do little. There is always someone who will understand and many who can help if they are asked. Sometimes we wait for others to see we are hurting. If we jumped in every time we saw someone hurting, we would become self-styled saviors. If we were to do this, we would not understand one of the functions of anonymity. In most cases, we wait until a member surrenders and is able to ask for help. Also, we have found that it is best to wait for a member to ask for help. Otherwise, the idea is planted that we can make it without the surrender which makes real help possible. As long as we are fighting, we are helpless. Take

up for yourself, don't be a doormat, but lighten up on fellow members who are only trying to help. Our inability to ask for help when we need it is denial and one of the ways the disease isolates us. Sometimes, we wonder if our fellow members really care when they are only practicing their programs. They know help for us is only possible when we know their limitations. They are anonymous. When we ask for help, the principle is set in motion and we can get our priorities in order.

Especially, anonymity is our way of being part of, but not taking credit for, the miracles in N.A. By not taking credit, we open the way for more. In the past, when we would do something, we would take credit and immediately rest on our laurels. We would hide all our misbehavior behind a few good acts. Now we can do more and grow more without feeling like we're the only ones. We all care and have the ability to know God's will and have the strength to carry it out through the Twelve Steps of N.A. There is plenty to do for all of us!

While it's not referred to very often, there may be another side to all of this. Anonymity is an escape clause for us from our active addiction. As long as we are clean, we have a choice. We don't have to be the people we once were. We don't have to pay the price for many of the actions which got us here. No one knows, after all, what has happened in our minds. When we feel guilty and self-destructive, we may have forgotten the real basis we have for these feelings. Our anonymity protects us. As long as we don't use, we don't have to act or think as we once did. The social stigmas do not apply to us as clean addicts, unless we break our anonymity. If we do, we label ourselves in the minds of society and the burden of the disease is often put on us. In our meetings, we practice being our best. We get the identity with clean addicts who have gotten honest about their inability to make it alone. This helps us get honest too.

The question often arises: Are we being dishonest by being anonymous? After all, we did many people wrong. Some of the things we did were illegal and harmed others. Are we carrying over our disease into our recovery? The answer to all of these questions is that we are different people clean. Through our anonymity, we are able to shed our former identities as a butterfly sheds its cocoon. In time through our Steps, we make amends where to do so won't cause more harm. Anonymity gives us a chance to lead new lives without other people putting us into the only category they have for addicts: untrustworthy, dishonest and self-seeking. Our shared anonymity gives us a share in the successes of all our clean members. This meets many of our fundamental needs.

When we break this Tradition by taking personal credit or misrepresenting facts about N.A., we run a serious risk of losing the recovery which has given us a new life. Others may have to pay a price for our violation, but we will be the first to pay. We will feel powerful inside and not want to hear those who love us. If we are criticized, we feel personally threatened and find it hard to admit fault. We forget who we are, what we are and where we came from. We forget the patience, love and understanding which kept us coming back.

What we do then, is stop doing what we are doing, turn around and come back to the Program of Narcotics Anonymous. We have spiritually relapsed, and through surrender we renew our sense of recovery and go beyond our old limitations. We consider the God of our understanding and how much faith we are able to put into our Higher Power. We decide to let our loving God take charge of our lives again. Though we may be the only one who knows we have done anything wrong, it is important for us to get back on the right track. Just as in the problems we faced getting clean, the prob-lems will drop away, one by one, until we find ourselves at a point where our egos try to step in. We have learned to say no to our selfish-ness and yes to surrender and recovery. When we try to go it alone, we fail. When we go along with others, great things are possible. We are anonymous because we can't honestly claim credit for what we didn't do. We didn't get ourselves clean, we can't keep ourselves clean and we can't help others without a Loving God to guide and strengthen us.

CHAPTER 3

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

{As with the other material contained in this manuscript, changes will be required to insure accuracy of dates and various specifics. These changes can be supplied easily as the material develops by informed members. We have to begin somewhere. Also, examples specific to the topics discussed could be useful as illustrations. Many of our historical episodes are sequences of events played out along similar lines in each community within the Fellowship; i.e., original members get used to stepping out on faith and taking charge through the embryonic local structure. We learn surrender, similarly, at one or more points, the procedural difficulties will foreshorten or overshadow the service effort completely. We learn balance.}

N.A. began when the first two addicts seeking recovery got

together and found they could stay clean through their common

desire. God only knows where and when this occurred. There is a

written record of "an organization similar to A.A. which operates among addicts" in 1944. Reference is made to this in Alcohol, Science and Society page 472. The earliest written reference we know of to "Narcotics Anonymous" is from The Addict, page 166, published in 1963 which mentions a founding date of 1948 by Daniel Carlsen in New York City. Articles in the Saturday Evening Post, Newsweek and Time in 1950 and 1951 speak of N.A. spreading to other major cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. More work needs to be done to reference these dates for authenticity and accuracy. So far no written material from these meetings has surfaced. In time we will know more, but likely the details won't be of great importance since N.A. didn't really begin to grow until the 1970's.

What may be of importance to some of us is that the long hard struggle for addicts to be able to live clean lives began some time ago and that many good people have paid a part of the price which has resulted in our being able to live clean today. More than anything else, we are grateful to these men and women. They endured struggles we can only imagine. A handful may still be alive today. However, most have probably died feeling that their contribution was in vain. They had problems like being arrested walking out the door after a meetings, valiant support from a few, but indifference from the many - all the obstacles which occur when a new idea is taking form. Surely they each made a contribution which encouraged others to carry on and helped them do so.

N.A. as we know it today began in July of 1953 in Sun Valley California with a few members getting together to discuss their needs and visions of a Twelve Step Program for addicts. Little is known of the intervening years through 1963, but meetings were held and, with perhaps only one interruption in 1959, they continue to date.

In the early 1960's, several members stepped out on faith and formed the Board of Trustees. These members believed that

they could help somehow by formalizing and considering what might be done to encourage N.A. growth and development. They took

action which resulted in establishing a coherent basis for our

service structure.

In 1963, the material which grew into our little White Booklet was first compiled. Initially there were no stories, very little material, and a list of questions for newcomers. The material has been added to over the years, until it reached the form we know today.

All our Fellowship has grown along similar lines in each community. Sometimes the meetings were started more than once by the same people. Their desire for recovery the N.A. way led them to give it one more try. One of our advantages today is in being able to find out how N.A. has gotten started in other communities. Not all their experiences will apply to us, but can get a feel for the way to get past the problems and into the solutions.

The founding members in each area have been sincere, willing and open to the needs of others. On the surface they may have appeared crazy, stubborn, self-willed and revolutionary. Still, we know that a desire for recovery and their love for other suffering addicts has to have been behind their every act. Even their mistakes worked out well when they were sincere and willing to admit fault. None were perfect, but the miracle of N.A. is the way we can rise out of our own ashes. They went to great lengths to find or latch onto even one more newcomer. Their personal services backed up the entire service effort in their area. The opportunity to see others recovering helped encourage them, but the real miracle was that they stayed clean. Their lives steadily, if shakily, got better. They established our basic unity of identity, concern and effort. One of their great strengths was the ability to get along with one another in favor of the Fellowship. This lesson was hard won. Many members today have paid this price.

Eventually, the newcomers added to the numbers of the founders and another meeting got started. When this happened they knew what to do, they elected trusted servants and became groups. This gave members a way to become involved without being accused of "running things." As the number of members grew, however, the need for some sort of structure made itself evident. There were the inevitable squabbles among members who had no structure and an increasing difficulty in agreeing on basic issues. Most problems centered more around "who", than "what" and "how", and had more to do with personalities than principles. Anonymity wasn't yet clearly seen as the underlying principle in all N.A. service. These are the problems our structure is designed to deal with, along lines indicated by group conscience and within our Twelve Traditions.

Naturally, some of our founding members became zealots for

N.A. Their enthusiasm was often boundless, and their energy attracted a lot of newcomers. While in the early days we were mainly concerned with recovery from heroin addiction, we became increasingly more open to any addict seeking recovery. N.A. grew as never before as our Third Tradition became more established. Many members coming out of the Sixties were ready for a change. Addiction had become epidemic. Those of us who had survived were sick of the dying and the phoniness. As our message became more available, so did the need for the message.

Addicts seeking recovery in N.A. were no longer exclusively heroin addicts. Pot heads, speed freaks, acid heads, pill heads and prescription addicts began to show up in increasing numbers. A lot of these members brought new talents and skills to the Fellowship which helped us grow and prosper. Many felt that they were more than lucky, they felt they were somehow chosen. Why had their friends died, while they had lived? Recovery was seen as miraculous and special. The sharing of recovery took place in hushed tones of gratitude and respect.

Contact with members in world services, other N.A. communities and reading the literature allowed the founders to realize that N.A. was a real program in its own right. They eventually broke off from some of their early supporters wherever and whenever conflicts of interest arose. They didn't want to be offensive about it, they just wanted to work their program and help others the N.A way. They came to realize that for the good of N.A. warm bodies and warmer hearts were needed. Identifying themselves as 'addicts' with no other qualifier became the accepted course for most members. They understood that as addicts, they suffered from addiction, the disease which lies. Any form of denial, dishonesty or word games can be dangerous to our recoveries. Our newcomers were confused enough, and N.A. recovery was finally available. Traveling members helped to weld N.A. communities together. Somehow spiritual principles shared by speakers who were relatively or completely unknown made a lasting impact on members who were able to hear their story from someone who couldn't possible know them personally. We addicts are a distrustful lot, our need to be sure we aren't being misled or tricked in any way is great.

The reasons for these feelings are dealt with in the course of living our Twelve Steps. Naturally we try to keep everything as simple as possible. We know that the least hint of controversy will harm some of our members. We are willing to go to extra ordinary lengths to Insure against this happening. To get the personal help needed, most of our members turned sooner or later to the telephone. They could get with other members anywhere and discuss their feelings, their concerns and their hopes.

As our communities have grown, we have reached the point where we are able to stand on our own two feet. Our 'leaders' are sooner or later seen to be simply members who have the love and courage to step out on faith and do what they can. We sort out our problems among ourselves, as best we can. We learn, sometimes slowly and painfully, that we are all in this together and we don't want any of our members turning away from the Fellowship because of hurt feelings or misunderstandings, especially over our efforts to serve

If we were able to learn from our experience, most of us would not be here. Responsibility is doing the right thing before the

disaster, not the ability to live to tell the tale. Through our surrendering and admitting our need for help, we become teachable. Then it is possible to learn from our mistakes and what others have to offer.

Our history shows that those who had early faith succeeded in helping to found N.A. Their way may not have been easy. Folks may have laughed at them and criticized them personally. Newcomers may have come and gone with depressing frequency. They kept the first meetings open, established some contact with N.A. members elsewhere from the beginning or later on. They read the N.A. mail and responded where they could. They learned from other members the language of N.A., which reflects our collective wisdom. They traveled and they hosted other traveling members. They had a burning desire to help and to learn. These members passed on to their communities whatever came their way. A lot of times the things they had to pass on were upsetting to local members. They might run afoul of local members by stressing total abstinence. What they learned about our service structure might have seemed ungrateful or untrue to local members who were unable to see N.A. as a total program of recovery in its own right. Traveling members were the main source of finding out more about Narcotics Anonymous.

A member might go away to a service conference or convention as a more or less average member and come home full of information and facts about the growing Fellowship, which were previously not known to members in their home area. Many times they were seen as carrying their personal opinion, instead of N.A. wisdom they had learned from other members. It didn't help matters that these members were in fact imperfect. Sometimes they had indeed gotten some of their facts confused. Enough of the truth about N.A. must have gotten through, though, because we grew and grew. Despite all the shortcomings, character defects and the personalities, we grew.

While all these things were going on, as you might imagine, many versions of what was happening grew up. Those who believed that N.A. is a God given program of recovery, from addiction, were proved right. All other ways of trying to understand N.A. failed.

The communications and distribution center at our WSO made a big difference from its start in the early Seventies. Concerned members could call in or write and get solid information on the Fellowship. As our service structure became a reality in the middle and late Seventies, much of the groundwork for our unity was generated.

In the early 1970's the first World Service Office was formed. It moved among the homes of several members and was sometimes to be found in the back of someone's car. Eventually, it came to be in the home of one of our members where it stayed until 1981, when it moved to a new office at Vineland. It was relocated again in 1983 to 16155 Wyandotte Street, Van Nuys, California.

The WSO had many problems getting started and more problems as time went on. The members involved had the task of transforming the idea of an N.A. World Service Office into a reality. Even with the emotional and financial support given them by the growing Fellowship, the job they did was incredible. The effort was entirely volunteer. There were no paid workers until the 1980's.

The main thing in the early 1970's was that there was a stable mailing address at P.O. Box 622 in Sun Valley, and a phone number where members could call in to ask for help and information. This was a crucial factor. N.A. began to grow. Literature and group supplies were printed and distributed through the WSO. Fellowship communications were effected for the first time on an ongoing basis. Group supplies were developed and made available to the growing Fellowship. These activities set the stage to encourage other members to go to work addressing other needs our Fellowship had in those days. The members who were lucky enough to be a part of the original efforts to establish our World Service Office will enjoy our gratitude forever.

{This material is drawn in large part from the kind of love and sharing which took place over a number of years among an uncountable number of our members in service, who had nowhere else to turn. Many of the problems turned out to have similar answers. It was a very anonymous solution in that it allowed members with local growing pains to turn to members from outside communities for help. These members were able to get impartial help which was drawn from their Fellowship. A lot of telephones got cut off for bills that couldn't be paid, but the good being done was stronger than the telephone company.}

Active members in service usually have quite a few out town of phone numbers they use from time to time to stay in touch with the rest of the Fellowship and to get the help they need to keep going. One and two hour calls are not uncommon, as our service workers can tell you. The effect of this over the years has been to bring members together wherever they happen to live. These calls provide a quiet time to ask all the questions which fill our minds as we grow. They can also be lifesavers if a pressing problem comes up in a member's home community. One of our greatest reliefs is the knowledge that we are never alone. Long distance communication allows us to chuckle over some of our difficulties when we find out that members elsewhere have the same problems, controversies