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.
Active addiction was no picnic; many of us barely came out of it alive. But ranting against the disease, lamenting what it has done to us, pitying ourselves for the condition it has left us in--these things can only keep us locked in the spirit of bitterness and resentment. The path to freedom and spiritual growth begins where bitterness ends, with acceptance.
There is no denying the suffering brought by addiction. Yet it was this disease that brought us to Narcotics Anonymous; without it, we would neither have sought nor found the blessing of recovery. In isolating us, it forced us to seek fellowship. In causing us to suffer, it gave us the experience needed to help others, help no one else was so uniquely suited to offer. In forcing us to our knees, addiction gave us the opportunity to surrender to the care of a loving Higher Power.
We would not wish the disease of addiction on anyone. But the fact remains that we addicts already have this disease--and further, that without this disease we may never have embarked on our spiritual journey. Thousands of people search their whole lives for what we have found in Narcotics Anonymous: fellowship, a sense of purpose, and conscious contact with a Higher Power. Today, we are grateful for everything that has brought us this blessing.
Optimism is one of those spiritual principles that, perhaps too simplistically, gets merged with a personality trait. It's true that some of us easily see the positive side of things because that's who we are. But more of us are wired differently. For those of us who aren't born optimists, we can use optimism as a strategy to shift our perspective. It takes effort--sometimes enormous effort--to open our eyes to see life's bounty and beauty during dark times.
"To me," a member wrote, "optimism means that even if I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel, I can keep checking to see if one appears. And the 'miracle' is that it eventually does, even if it's tiny." Because we risk rejection and disappointment by doing so, it takes courage to keep peering into that darkness.
Optimism can sometimes be found when we take a moment to look outside our own woes. "When I can't discern the good in my own life," wrote another, "I look at someone else's. I see the road they've traveled and their transformation against all odds. Sometimes it takes one breath to shift my perspective, other times I need a crowbar." When we look only at ourselves, we're self-obsessed--obsessed with what was taken away from us or what we never had.
Some of us find our optimism strategy in the simple benefit of the gratitude list. Or it's allowing others to care for us in our time of need, rather than driving them away with our indulgence in "I got this" or "poor, poor me." Or it's prayer, an expression of trust in our Higher Power. Optimism alone can't save us from utter despair or self-destruction. We need perseverance, hope, and lots of gratitude. One addict put it like this: "The only way to have what I want is to want what I have."
