Practicing The Program
As I sat on the patio one day, it appeared that everything was wrapped in fog. It was grayish white, like old cotton batting that I used to get in a jewellery box…
Keep The Focus On Myself
After attending Nar-Anon meetings for a while, my greatest secret wish was that my partner would embrace recovery and get clean. I kept my mouth shut – white knuckling it,…
Halt
The acronym reminds me that when I am Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired, I am not taking care of my needs. If I am enmeshed with my addicted loved one,…
The Power Of A Meeting
My son, in his addiction, was not in the habit asking me for favors. Then he called to inform me that he had been asked to leave a transient hotel in…
A Newcomer’s Poem
My girlfriend was enabling her addicted son and his addicted girlfriend. Her denial was allowing the addicts to become an issue between us. It was destroying our relationship, as well as my…
Calm
Since attending Nar-Anon, I can see that to give opinions, advice, and money to the addict is a message that I do not trust the addict’s ability to mature and manage…
Helping
How do I make the transition from caretaker or enabler to helper? The best way to help addicts is to seek help for myself first. One of life’s toughest lessons is that…
No Expectations
One of the hardest things for me to grasp in Nar-Anon was the idea of having no expectations for the addict in my life. Having always had high expectations of everyone…
Gift Of Honesty
In Nar-Anon, we work the Twelve Steps for ourselves. Step Four, “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves,” can appear to be a difficult and intimidating step. Possibly, because…
Detachment Takes Practice
At times, detachment has been hard for me. My sickness leads me to believe that I can say or do that one thing to help change the addict’s life. However, my…