BoMar Drop In Center

08/19/2025

August 19

Good morning! We are open from 10-5 today. Today is a fantastic day for a new start! Stop in and chat, have some coffee, get a bite to eat and hit a meeting! You are not alone!

12:30 NA meeting
6:00 NA meeting

August 19, 2025
Inclusiveness Means Any Addict
Page 239

"All addicted persons are welcome and equal in obtaining the relief that they are seeking from their addiction; every addict can recover in this program on an equal basis."

Basic Text, Chapter 6, "Tradition Three"

Many of us who have been around NA for a little while have no doubt that the NA program is for any addict. Our literature and our Traditions clearly state that any addict with a desire to stop using should be able to find a place in our Fellowship. Making that ideal into a reality requires more than telling newcomers to "focus on the similarities, rather than the differences"--it requires us to actively make space in our meetings for any addict, "regardless of . . ."

"I was the only person who looked like me in the rooms where I got clean," a member shared. "People told me to focus on the similarities, and all I could think was, That's pretty easy for all of you--everyone looks like you! Then I heard someone say, 'One day you'll hear someone who is nothing like you share your story,' and it clicked. I needed to hear that it's okay that we're not all the same--our stories are similar even when we're not. I don't have to ignore real parts of who I am to belong here."

Making space for any addict requires taking an honest look at ourselves and our communities. Society outside of our meetings has all sorts of social strata. Differences in language, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, and financial status can present challenges--and some might prefer it if distinctions like these melted away at the door to our meeting. But they're often all wrapped up in who we are as people, and our distinctions are assets to NA, not problems to be solved. We can tell newcomers that our differences don't matter, but if our meetings are largely made up of people from similar backgrounds, it can look like NA is no more inclusive than the rest of society. When we share openly about our differences and encourage others to do so, too, our distinctions enrich the NA Fellowship. Being who we are helps newcomers identify and relate--and stay.

——— ——— ——— ——— ———

Focusing on the similarities does not mean I need to ignore the differences. I will share honestly about who I am, differences and all--and honor the experiences of addicts who are not like me.

08/18/2025

August 18

Good morning all! We are open from 9-4 today. Stop in and see us, hit a meeting, and grab a bite to eat.

12:30 Drop-In Center NA meeting

August 18, 2025
"How long do I have to go?"
Page 240

"The way to remain a productive, responsible member of society is to put our recovery first."

Basic Text, p. 106

The meetings have been great! Each night we've attended, we've gathered with other addicts to share experience, strength, and hope. And each day, we've used what we've learned in the meetings to continue in our recovery.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Work, family, friends, school, sport, entertainment, community activities, civic obligations--all call out for our time. The demands of everyday living sometimes make us ask ourselves, "How long do I have to go to these meetings?"

Let's think about this. Before coming to Narcotics Anonymous, could we stay clean on our own? What makes us think we can now? Then there's the disease itself to consider--the chronic self-centeredness, the obsessiveness, the compulsive behavior patterns that express themselves in so many areas of our lives. Can we live and enjoy life without effective treatment for our disease? No.

"Ordinary" people may not have to worry about such things, but we're not "Ordinary" people--we're addicts. We can't pretend we don't have a fatal, progressive illness, because we do. Without our program, we may not survive to worry about the demands of work, school, family, or anything else. NA meetings give us the support and direction we need to recover from our addiction, allowing us to live the fullest lives possible.

Just for Today: I want to live and enjoy life. To do that, I will put my recovery first.

08/16/2025

August 16

We are closed today. Have a safe weekend.

6:00 NA

August 16, 2025
Up or down
Page 238

"This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day...This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer."

Basic Text, p. 37

Our spiritual condition is never static; if it's not growing, it's decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual progress will lose its upward momentum. Gradually, our growth will slow, then halt, then reverse itself. Our tolerance will wear thin; our willingness to serve others will wane; our minds will narrow and close. Before long, we'll be right back where we started: in conflict with everyone and everything around us, unable to bear even ourselves.

Our only option is to actively participate in our program of spiritual growth. We pray, seeking knowledge greater than our own from a Power greater than ourselves. We open our minds and keep them open, becoming teachable and taking advantage of what others have to share with us. We demonstrate our willingness to try new ideas and new ways of doing things, experiencing life in a whole new way. Our spiritual progress picks up speed and momentum, driven by the Higher Power we are coming to understand better each day.

Up or down--it's one or the other, with very little in between, where spiritual growth is concerned. Recovery is not fueled by wishing and dreaming, we've discovered, but by prayer and action.

Just for Today: The only constant in my spiritual condition is change. I cannot rely on yesterday's program. Today, I seek new spiritual growth through prayer and action.

08/15/2025

August 15

Good morning and HAPPY FRIDAY! Have a safe weekend. We are open from 10-4 today. Stop in and see us!

12:30 Drop-In Center NA meeting

August 15, 2025
Guided by Conscience
Page 235

"We come to know our intentions. We get better at hearing our own voice, our own conscience, and listening to our instincts."

Living Clean, Chapter 5, "Conscious Contact"

Even those of us who were raised by wolves were taught the difference between right and wrong. The code of ethics we inherited may have been a bit twisted, but it gave us a point of reference nonetheless. As a result, many of us suffered from a guilty conscience when we screwed up or caused harm early in our using careers. At some point, though, we made a choice--knowingly or not--to behave in ways that were contrary to the values we had internalized. It's not that we lacked a moral compass; we'd just put it away for a bit. On those occasions when we still felt bad, we turned to denial, defensiveness, and drugs--lots of drugs--to help us stuff the discomfort of a guilty conscience.

Our awareness of that still, quiet voice within starts to return almost as soon as we put down the drugs. Our first reunion with our conscience can feel pretty distressing. Without drugs to mask our feelings, many of us experience an uncut dose of the shame we'd been stuffing for years. We're relieved to read that "we are not responsible for our disease" in the Basic Text. People who know their way around the Twelve Steps assure us that the second half of that sentence, "we are responsible for our recovery," will help us make peace with the past and develop our own conscience.

We begin to tune in to what's right for us and focus on aligning our actions with spiritual principles and our own values. We learn--sometimes through trial and error--to behave in ways we can be proud of. Not wanting to pay a spiritual price, we're slower to act out on our most basic urges and selfish desires, so we do so less frequently. We can even observe our impulses without acting on them--who knew? With practice, we recalibrate our value system and develop a code of behavior that reflects our intentions.

——— ——— ——— ——— ———

I will listen for the reawakened voice of my conscience knowing that it reflects my beliefs and intentions.

08/14/2025

August 14

Today is a good day to have a GREAT day! We are open from 10-5 today. Are you struggling with life on life's terms, mental health, or substance use? Stop in and get connected to some resources. Or just have a conversation with someone who has experience overcoming these things. We are here to help and walk you through these things, ONE DAY AT A TIME!

12:30 Drop-In Center NA meeting
6:00 NA

August 14, 2025
Letting go of our limitations
Page 236

"We don't have to settle for the limitations of the past. We can examine and reexamine our old ideas."

Basic Text, p. 11

Most of us come to the program with a multitude of self-imposed limitations that prevent us from realizing our full potential, limitations that impede our attempts to find the values that lie at the core of our being. We place limitations on our ability to be true to ourselves, limitations on our ability to function at work, limitations on the risks we're willing to take--the list seems endless. If our parents or teachers told us we would never succeed, and we believed them, chances are we didn't achieve much. If our socialization taught us not to stand up for ourselves, we didn't, even if everything inside us was screaming to do so.

In Narcotics Anonymous, we are given a process by which we can recognize these false limitations for what they are. Through our Fourth Step, we'll discover that we don't want to keep all the rules we've been taught. We don't have to be the life-long victims of past experiences. We are free to discard the ideas that inhibit our growth. We are capable of stretching our boundaries to encompass new ideas and new experiences. We are free to laugh, to cry, and, above all, to enjoy our recovery.

Just for Today: I will let go of my self-imposed limitations and open my mind to new ideas.

08/13/2025

08/13/2025

Just a reminder:

We have a "noon" meeting available Monday-Friday at 12:30, after lunch.

This meeting starts at 12:30