The Bay Cities Area of Narcotics Anonymous serves as a vital resource for individuals and families affected by addiction throughout the coastal South Bay region of Los Angeles County. By coordinating local NA groups, maintaining accurate meeting information, and supporting area-wide service efforts, the Bay Cities Area helps ensure that anyone seeking recovery can easily find help. The area supports meetings in these communities Carson, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, San Pedro, Signal Hill, Torrance, Torrrance, Wilmington, strengthening connections between members, promoting unity, and fostering a safe, consistent message of recovery for the broader community.
Remorse was one of the feelings that kept us using. We had stumbled our way through active addiction, leaving a trail of heartbreak and devastation too painful to consider. Our remorse was often intensified by our perception that we couldn't do anything about the damage we had caused; there was no way to make it right.
We remove some of the power of remorse when we face it squarely. We begin the Eighth Step by actually making a list of all the people we have harmed. We own our part in our painful past.
But the Eighth Step does not ask us to make right all of our mistakes, merely to become willing to make amends to all those people. As we become willing to clean up the damage we've caused, we acknowledge our readiness to change. We affirm the healing process of recovery.
Remorse is no longer an instrument we use to torture ourselves. Remorse has become a tool we can use to achieve self-forgiveness.
Sometimes we get anxious about how we're faring in recovery. Are we doing enough to stay clean? Is our concept of a Higher Power crystal clear? Have we struck the right balance of NA versus life responsibilities? When was the last time we reached out to a newcomer--like really made an effort? "Stop trying to do it perfectly," a member suggests. "Just stop and turn it over."
Just turn it over. Just?!
The concept of "turning it over" to our Higher Power can be a tough one for many of us. We can be confused about what the "it" is that we're turning over, who/what we're turning it over to, and what "turning it over" is in the first place. Luckily, we have plenty of opportunities to explore this concept in recovery--we can answer all the questions in our Step Working Guides, we can discuss it with our sponsor, we can ask other members we trust about their experience, we can devour every passage on the Third Step to be found in NA literature.
But let's all just take a moment and consider this: Since we are reading these words right now, we are clearly taking a practical action of turning our will over. Whether alone or with a group, we are in our Higher Power's will at this very second as we take in this moment. This is all-inclusive, whether we have tons of time clean or are wrestling with our recent relapse. Right now, as we are reading these words or hearing them read aloud by another member, we are having a spiritual experience. We don't have to force it or define it or wonder about it or control it. We can just reflect on it.
So simple. So practical.
