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POSTED BY: monk on 05/25/2008 00:42:16

BASIC TEXT STUDY GUIDE- WORKBOOK

From Back to the Basic - Greg P.

STEP ONE

"We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that

our lives had become unmanageable."

Para 1.

"It doesn't matter what or how much we used. In Narcotics Anonymous staying clean has to

come first. We realize that we cannot use drugs and live. When we admit our powerlessness

and the inability to manage our own lives, we open the door to recovery. No one could

convince us that we were addicts. It is an admission that we had to make for ourselves. When

some of us have doubts, we ask ourselves this question: "Can I control my use of any form of

mind or mood-altering chemicals?"

1) Does it matter what or how much we used and why?

_________________________________________________________________

2) Could anyone have convinced us that we were addicts?

_________________________________________________________________

3) When some of us have doubts about using what can we do?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 2.

"Most will see that control is impossible the moment it is suggested. Whatever the outcome,

we find that we cannot control our using for any length of time."

1) Is control possible for a using addict? If so, for how long?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 3.

"This would clearly suggest that an addict has no control over drugs. Powerlessness means

using against our will. If we can't stop, how can we tell ourselves we are in control? The

inability to stop using, even with the greatest willpower and the most sincere desire, is what

we mean when we say, "We have absolutely no choice". However, we do have a choice after

we eliminate all the things we have been telling ourselves to justify our using."

1) What is meant when we say we had absolutely no choice?

_________________________________________________________________

2. When do we get a choice?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 4.

"We didn't stumble into this fellowship brimming with love, honesty, open-mindedness or

willingness. We reached the point where we could no longer continue because of physical,

mental, and spiritual pain. When we were beaten, we became willing."

1) Were we willing when we first came into the Fellowship?

_________________________________________________________________

2) When did we become willing?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 5.

"Our inability to control our usage of drugs is a symptom of the disease of addiction. We are

powerless not only over drugs, but our addiction as well. We need to admit this in order to

recover. Addiction is a physical, mental and spiritual disease, affecting every area of our

lives."

1) Was our inability to control our usage of drugs the disease of

addiction? Explain.

_________________________________________________________________

2) What part of our lives does active addiction affect?

_________________________________________________________________

3) What were the three types of pain that caused us to become willing?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 6.

"The physical aspect of our disease is the compulsive use of drugs: the inability to stop using

once we have started. The mental aspect of our disease is the obsession, or overpowering

desire, which leads us to using even when it has destroyed our lives. The spiritual part of our

disease is our total self-centeredness. We felt that we could stop whenever we wanted to,

despite all evidence to the contrary. Denial, substitution, rationalization, justification,

distrust of others, guilt, embarrassment, dereliction, degradation, isolation, and loss of

control are all results of our disease. Our disease is progressive, incurable and fatal. Most of

us are relieved to find out we have a disease instead of a moral deficiency."

1) What is the physical aspect of our disease?

_________________________________________________________________

2) What is the mental aspect of our disease?

_________________________________________________________________

3) What is the spiritual aspect of our disease?

_________________________________________________________________

4) What are the eleven results of our disease?

_________________________________________________________________

5) Our disease is what (3 things)?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 7.

"We are not responsible for our disease, but we are responsible for our recovery. Most of us

tried to stop using on our own, but we were unable to live with or without drugs. Eventually

we realized that we were powerless over our addiction."

1) Are we responsible for our disease?

_________________________________________________________________

2) Are we responsible for our recovery?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 8.

"Many of us tried to stop using on sheer willpower, and this turned out to be a temporary

solution. We saw that willpower alone would not work for any length of time. We tried

countless other remedies- psychiatrists, hospitals, recovery houses, lovers, new towns, new

jobs. Everything we tried, failed. We began to see that we had rationalized the most

outrageous sort of nonsense in order to justify the mess drugs had made of our lives."

1) Can we stop using by sheer willpower alone? Explain.

_________________________________________________________________

2) What were some of the other remedies we tried and failed?

_________________________________________________________________

3) How did we justify the mess we made of our lives?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 9.

"Until we let go of all our reservations, the foundation on which our recovery is based is in

danger. Reservations, no matter what they are, rob us of obtaining all the benefits this

program has to offer. In ridding ourselves of all reservations, we surrender. Then, and only

then, can we be helped to recover from the disease of addiction."

1) What endangers the foundation of our recovery?

_________________________________________________________________

2) What robs us of the benefits that the program has to offer?

_________________________________________________________________

3) What happens when we rid ourselves of all reservations? Then what happens?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 10.

"Now, the question is: "If we are powerless, how can Narcotics Anonymous help?" We begin

by asking for help, and this is accomplished by working the Twelve Steps. The foundation is

the admission that we, of ourselves, have no power over addiction. When we can accept this,

we have completed the first part of Step One."

1) How do we begin our recovery?

_________________________________________________________________

2) What must we admit?

_________________________________________________________________

3) Step One is completed when _ _ _ _?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 11.

"A second admission must be made before the foundation is complete. If we stop here, we will

know only half the truth. We are great ones for manipulating the truth. We might say on one

hand, "Yes, I am powerless over my addiction", and on the other hand, "When I get my life

together, I can handle drugs". Such thoughts and actions led us back to active addiction. It

never occurred to us to ask, "If we can't control our addiction, how can we control our lives?"

We felt miserable without drugs."

1) What is the second admission that must be made?

_________________________________________________________________

Para 12.

"Unemployability, dereliction and destruction are easily seen as characteristics of an

unmanageable life. Our families generally are disappointed, baffled and confused by our

actions and often have deserted or disowned us. Becoming employed, socially acceptable and

reunited with our families does not make our lives manageable. Social acceptability does not

equal recovery."

1) What are some characteristics of an unmanageable life?

_________________________________________________________________

2) Does social acceptability equal recovery? Explain.

_________________________________________________________________

Para 13.

"We have found that we had no choice except to completely change our old ways of thinking

or go back to using. When we give our best, it works for us as it has worked for others. When

we could no longer stand our old ways, we began to change. From that point forward, we

can see that every clean day is a successful day, no matter what happens. Surrender means

not having to fight anymore. We accept our addiction and life the way it is. We become

willing to do whatever is necessary to stay clean, even the things we don't like doing."

1) Can we hang on to our old ways of thinking?

_________________________________________________________________

2) What made us begin to change?

_________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

POSTED BY: monk on 05/25/2008 00:44:46

Sponsor / Sponsee First Step Worksheet

"We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction,

and that our lives had become unmanageable."

Preparing for Step One:

1. Read from the beginning of the Basic Text ("Our Symbol") to the end of

Chapter 5 ("What Can I Do?").

Answer, either mentally or in writing, the first paragraph (after the italicized

section) of Chapter 4, "How It Works," which begins... These are some of the

questions we have asked ourselves:

Are we sure we want to stop using?

Do we understand that we have no real control over drugs?

Do we recognize that in the long run, we didn't use drugs - they used

us?

Did jails & institutions take over the management of our lives at

different times?

Do we fully accept the fact that our every attempt to stop using or to

control our use failed?

Do we know that our addiction changed us into someone we didn't

want to be: dishonest, deceitful, self-willed people at odds with

ourselves & our fellow man?

Do we really believe that we have failed as drug users?

3. Write what you expect from Narcotics Anonymous.

4. Write what you expect from your sponsor.

5. Write what the exact nature of our addiction is (it will be helpful to look

through the 1st ten chapters of the Basic Text & write down all, stated or

implied, definitions for

addiction

6. Get a good dictionary.

7. Read Chapters 1 & 2, thoroughly, before beginning Step One.

8. Read the introduction to It Works, How & Why.

1. Read Step One out of the Basic Text every day before writing.

2. Read Step One out of It Works, How & Why.

3. Write down

your

definition of each word in the step. Then look up each word

individually in the dictionary & write what you learn about the difference

between what you thought it meant & what the dictionary says it means.

4. Write what each part means to you:

a. We

admitted

b. that we were

powerless

c. over our

addiction

d. and that our lives

e. had become

unmanageable

5. Every day write about events that happened that caused strong feelings,

today & from the past. Write about the circumstances leading up to the event,

the event itself, and the consequences arising from the event, whether good

or bad.

6. Look up

Control. Write about what part your need to control

played in these

events.

7. Look up

Surrender. Write about how an attitude of surrender

may have

helped.

The first mistake that many of us make when we come into the program, is that we

think drugs are the problem. When we say to the newcomer that drugs are only a

symptom of a much deeper problem (addiction), it is hard for them to understand this.

To get a better understanding of addiction, we must look at the disease concept of

addiction. From that standpoint, addiction is a disease of attitudes, personality & a

general negative outlook that is rooted in fear, insecurity & low self-esteem. The main

ingredients of addiction are obsession & compulsions. Obsession - that fixed idea

that takes us back time & time again to our particular drug, or some

substitute

(anything that makes us feel good & offers instant gratification, such as money,

power, sex, food, anger) to recapture the ease & comfort we once knew. Compulsion

- once having started the process with one fix, one pill, one drink or one substitute,

we cannot stop through our own power of will. Because of our physical sensitivity to

drugs & anything that makes us feel good, we are completely in the grip of a

destructive power greater than ourselves.

Looking at it from this point of view, we see how addiction makes our lives

unmanageable, with or without drugs. At this point we must surrender & accept how

powerless we are over our addiction. When we do this, a very strange thing happens,

we begin to gain power through the

part of the program & the next Eleven Steps.

It has often been said that the First Step is our past, and the things of our past, that

are with us today. The next Eleven Steps are our future.

Now that we have a better understanding of our addiction, let us look at some ways

we apply the First Step in our daily lives. The most obvious is that we don't pick up

that first drink/drug or our lives will become unmanageable. We must accept &

surrender to this

JUST FOR TODAY

. Let's now take a look at some non-chemical

ways that we can apply this Step in our lives:

1. You go out to your car in the morning & it has a flat tire. Rather than feeding

into the addictive attitudes of anger or frustration, which will create

unmanageability, we must accept & surrender to the fact that the tire is flat &

take action to correct the situation. As addicts, we tend to resist the idea of

surrendering, of using this Step on every day problems, making our lives

unmanageable.

2. Another situation could be that you go out to your car, start it up & the motor

dies. It can't be fixed, but you need it for your job. You must be able to apply

the first step to this situation. When you surrender & accept that the car

cannot be fixed, you then gain the power to find alternate transportation. Or

you can refuse to apply the Step, refuse to surrender & allow your life to

become unmanageable. The choice is yours.

The First Step can be & must be applied to all areas of our lives. This is called Living

the Steps. The bottom line is that drugs are but one symptom of our disease. The

only relief we get from our disease is by working the Steps. It is a new & exciting

experience that will bring many changes into our lives.

One last thing that must be pointed out is the

portion of the Steps. All of our

steps begin with

we, except the 12th, which has the word we

in the middle. This

makes us different than any other 12 Step program. Narcotics Anonymous is a

program, not a "me" program. Part of our strength & power comes from

. Together

can. I can't, we

can! This is why we need meetings for the rest of our lives, this is

why we need contact, daily, with other recovering addicts.

Many newcomers may think, "If I stop using, I should be cured & I don't need the

program or meetings anymore." The only way we can clear up this denial is through

an analogy. A normie (non-addict) who goes to the hospital for an operation is given

a physically addictive drug for pain during a period of two weeks. When he becomes

physically addicted, they detoxify him & he goes on with his life without any problem.

However, those with the

disease of addiction

, have addictive personalities & are

POSTED BY: monk on 05/25/2008 00:48:23

The Narcotics Anonymous Step Working Guides

Step One

"We admitted we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become

unmanageable."

A "first" of anything is a beginning, and so it is with the steps: The First Step is the beginning of

the recovery process. The healing starts here; we can't go any further until we've worked this step.

Some NA members "feel" their way through the First Step1 by intuition; others choose to work

Step One in a more systematic fashion. Our reasons for formally working Step One will vary from

member to member. It may be that we're new to recovery, and we've just fought-and lost-an

exhausting battle with drugs. It may be that we've been around awhile, abstinent from drugs, but

we've discovered that our disease has become active in some other area of our lives, forcing us to

face our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives once again. Not every act of growth is

motivated by pain; it may just be time to cycle through the steps again1 thus beginning the next

stage of our never-ending journey of recovery.

Some of us find a measure of comfort in realizing that a disease, not a moral failing, has caused us

to reach this bottom. Others don't really care what the cause has been-we just want out!

Whatever the case, it's time to do some step work: to engage in some concrete activity that will

help us find more freedom from our addiction, whatever shape it is currently taking. Our hope is

to internalize the principles of Step One, to deepen our surrender, to make the principles of

acceptance, humility, willingness, honesty, and open-mindedness a fundamental part of who we

are.

First, we must arrive at a point of surrender. There are many different ways to do this. For some of

us, the road we traveled getting to the First Step was more than enough to convince us that

unconditional surrender was our only option. Others start this process even though we're not

entirely convinced that we're addicts or that we've really hit bottom. Only in working the First Step

do we truly come to realize that we are addicts, that we have hit bottom, and that we must

surrender.

Before we begin working the First Step, we must become abstinent-whatever it takes. If we're new

in Narcotics Anonymous and our First Step is primarily about looking at the effects of drug

addiction in our lives, we need to get clean. If we've been clean awhile and our First Step is about

our powerlessness over some other behavior that's made our lives unmanageable, we need to find

a way to stop the behavior so that our surrender isn't clouded by continued acting out.

The disease of addiction

What makes us addicts is the disease of addiction-not the drugs, not our behavior, but our disease.

There is something within us that makes us unable to control our use of drugs. This same

"something" also makes us prone to obsession and compulsion in other areas of our lives. How can

we tell when our disease is active? When we become trapped in obsessive, compulsive, selfcentered

routines, endless loops that lead nowhere but to physical, mental, spiritual, and

emotional decay.

==>What does "the disease of addiction" mean to me?

___________________________________________________________________

==>Has my disease been active recently? In what way?

___________________________________________________________________

==> What is it like when I'm obsessed with something? Does my thinking follow a pattern?

Describe.

___________________________________________________________________

==> When a thought occurs to me, do I immediately act on it without considering the

consequences? In what other ways do I behave compulsively?

___________________________________________________________________

==> How does the self-centered part of my disease affect my life and the lives of those around me?

___________________________________________________________________

==> How has my disease affected me physically?

___________________________________________________________________

Mentally?

___________________________________________________________________

Spiritually?

___________________________________________________________________

Emotionally?

___________________________________________________________________

Our addiction can manifest itself in a variety of ways. When we first come to Narcotics

Anonymous, our problem will, of course, be drugs. Later on, we may find out that addiction is

wreaking havoc in our lives in any number of ways.

==> What is the specific way in which my addiction has been manifesting itself most recently?

___________________________________________________________________

==> Have I been obsessed with a person, place, or thing? If so, how has that gotten in the way of

my relationships with others? How else have I been affected mentally, physically, spiritually, and

emotionally by this obsession?

___________________________________________________________________

Denial

Denial is the part of our disease that tells us we don't have a disease. When we are in denial, we are

unable to see the reality of our addiction. We minimize its effect. We blame others, citing the toohigh

expectations of families, friends, and employers. We compare ourselves with other addicts

whose addiction seems "worse" than our own. We may blame one particular drug. If we have been

abstinent from drugs for some time, we might compare the current manifestation of our addiction

with our drug use, rationalizing that nothing we do today could possibly be as bad as that was! One

of the easiest ways to tell that we are in denial is when we find ourselves giving plausible but

untrue reasons for our behavior.

==> Have I given plausible but untrue reasons for my behavior? What have they been?

___________________________________________________________________

==> Have I compulsively acted on an obsession, and then acted as if I had actually planned to act

that way? When were those times? How have I blamed other people for my behavior?

___________________________________________________________________

==> How have I compared my addiction with others' addiction? Is my addiction "bad enough" if I

don't compare it to anyone else's?

___________________________________________________________________

==> Am I comparing a current manifestation of my addiction to the way my life was before I got

clean? Am I plagued by the idea that I should know better?

___________________________________________________________________

==> Have I been thinking that I have enough information about addiction and recovery to get my

behavior under control before it gets out of hand?

___________________________________________________________________

==> Am I avoiding action because I'm afraid I will be ashamed when I face the results of my

addiction? Am I avoiding action because I'm worried about what others will think?

___________________________________________________________________

Hitting bottom: despair and isolation

Our addiction finally brings us to a place where we can no longer deny the nature of our problem.

All the lies, all the rationalizations, all the illusions fall away as we stand face-to-face with what our

lives have become. We realize we've been living without hope. We find we've become friendless or

so completely disconnected that our relationships are a sham, a parody of love and intimacy.

Though it may seem that all is lost when we find ourselves in this state, the truth is that we must

pass through this place before we can embark upon our journey of recovery.

==> What crisis brought me to recovery?

___________________________________________________________________

==> What situation led me to formally work Step One?

___________________________________________________________________

==> When did I first recognize my addiction as a problem? Did I try to correct it? If so, how? If

not, why not?

___________________________________________________________________

Powerlessness

As addicts, we react to the word "powerless" in a variety of ways. Some of us recognize that a more

accurate description of our situation simply could not exist, and admit our powerlessness with a

sense of relief. Others recoil at the word, connecting it with weakness or believing it to indicate

some kind of character deficiency. Understanding powerlessness - and how admitting our own

powerlessness is essential to our recovery - will help us get over any negative feelings we may have

about the concept.

We are powerless when the driving force in our life is beyond our control. Our addiction certainly

qualifies as such an uncontrollable, driving force. We cannot moderate or control our drug use or

other compulsive behaviors, even when they are causing us to lose the things that matter most to

us. We cannot stop, even when to continue will surely result in irreparable physical damage. We

find ourselves doing things that we would never do if it weren't for our addiction; things that make

us shudder with shame when we think of them. We may even decide that we don't want to use,

that we aren't going to use, and realize we are simply unable to stop when the opportunity presents

itself.

We may have tried to abstain from drug use or other compulsive behaviors - perhaps with some

success - for a period of time without a program, only to find that our untreated addiction

eventually takes us right back to where we were before. In order to work the First Step, we need to

prove our own individual powerlessness to ourselves on a deep level.

==> Over what, exactly, am I powerless?

_____

POSTED BY: Animal_Table on 05/27/2008 09:29:22

Keep it coming, Monk - good stuff!!

-Addict called Thom

--------------------------------------------------------------
Guided by a -Greater- Consciousness

POSTED BY: monk on 05/27/2008 10:57:43

Those are all first step worksheets.
The first one was out of Greg P,who wrote alot of our literature.

12/01/2008

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