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.
Perhaps one of the most difficult truths we must face in our recovery is that we are as powerless over another's addiction as we are over our own. We may think that because we've had a spiritual awakening in our own lives we should be able to persuade another addict to find recovery. But there are limits to what we can do to help another addict.
We cannot force them to stop using. We cannot give them the results of the steps or grow for them. We cannot take away their loneliness or their pain. There is nothing we can say to convince a scared addict to surrender the familiar misery of addiction for the frightening uncertainty of recovery. We cannot jump inside other peoples' skins, shift their goals, or decide for them what is best for them.
However, if we refuse to try to exert this power over another's addiction, we may help them. They may grow if we allow them to face reality, painful though it may be. They may become more productive, by their own definition, as long as we don't try and do it for them. They can become the authority on their own lives, provided we are only authorities on our own. If we can accept all this, we can become what we were meant to be--carriers of the message, not the addict.
When we read "Just for Today"--as we do at many meetings--we're reminded to cultivate a better perspective on life. Open-mindedness is one of the keys to attaining this improved outlook. Without an open mind, we limit ourselves to what we already know. As one member pointed out, "If I knew how to fix myself, why would I come to NA?" Knowing we don't have all the answers can be a real asset. Such humility helps us to stay teachable.
In addition to looking within, we can find lessons and teachers in our experience and all around. Desperation, no matter the degree, can be a teacher. It has a way of opening our minds to the possibilities recovery has in store. When we're open to finding teachers, we're quicker to detect life's guardrails and correct course to avoid some of the harshest lessons. When things don't go our way, open-mindedness helps us find opportunities to stretch ourselves. New ideas seem less like a personal attack and more like a chance to increase our understanding. Instead of avoiding criticism, we seek to learn from it without getting defensive.
Once we stop using and lose the desire to use, the job of finding a new way to live is a lifelong project we chip away at each day. It takes on new meaning as we mature in recovery. "The new way to live I found when I was 20 and new to NA would kill me today," one member shared with a wink. "I need to be in bed by ten!" Regardless of our preferred bedtime, it helps to remain open and teachable if we want to continue to learn and grow. Life never stops offering new lessons. Instead of resenting life's twists and turns, we try to focus on what we can discover about ourselves as we navigate them.
