Gibson Serenity Home

14/04/2026

14/04/2026

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April 14

*👀 A New Vision 👀*

*"Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear?"*

*Basic Text, p. 34*

*_Why do we call them "shortcomings?" Perhaps they should be called "long-goings" because that's often what it takes for them to fade from our lives. Some of us feel that our shortcomings are the very characteristics that saved our lives when we used. If this is true, then it is little wonder that we sometimes cling to them like old, dear friends._*

*_If we are having trouble with resentment, anger, or fear, we may want to envision what our lives could be like without these troubling defects. Asking ourselves why we react in a certain manner can sometimes root out the fear at the core of our conduct._* "Why am I afraid to step beyond these aspects of my personality?" we ask ourselves. "Am I afraid of who I will be without these attributes?"

*_Once we have uncovered our fear, we are able to move beyond it. We try to imagine what our lives could be like without some of our more glaring shortcomings._* This gives us a feeling for what lies past our fear, providing the motivation we need to push through it. Our Higher Power offers us a new vision for our lives, free of our defects. *_That vision is the essence of our own best, brightest dreams for ourselves. We need not fear that vision._*

*Just for Today:*

*I will imagine what my life would be like without my character defects. I will ask for the willingness to have God remove my shortcomings.*

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14/04/2026

GBR (Gray Book Reflection)
4/14

"Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our angers, our fears?"

Gray Book, p. 46
Lines 20-21
Step Six

Our Basic Text tells us that there's a certain distorted security in familiar pain. We sometimes hold on to these defects because at one time that's all we knew. These defects even saved our lives or enabled our using at best. Letting go can be painful, it's almost like giving up an old friend. Steps Four, Five, Six, and Seven helps us identify and replace these old survival skills. These survival tools are no longer needed in this New Way Of Life. In Narcotics Anonymous we are given a Spiritual Toolbox. We keep these Tools effective by using them in our everyday Life. The Spiritual Principles contained in the Steps and Traditions make us better people. They also give other addicts Hope, in that they too can find a New Way To Live. We find that when we Trust defects, we end up in pain and hurting others. When we Trust Spiritual Principles our lives and the lives of those around us benefit. We can carry an effective Message, because we're Living it. With the Help of our Higher Power, our Sponsors and the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous, we live clean and productive lives. We are no longer fighting anger or depression. We Surrender to the Process and our Lives are Anew. We can only keep this Precious Gift, if we give it away.

In This Moment; We will Let go and Let God do what we can't do for ourselves.

13/04/2026

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April 13

*🤥People - Pleasing🎭*

*"...approval-seeking behavior carried us further into our addiction..."*

*Basic Text, p. 14*

*_When others approve of what we do or say, we feel good; when they disapprove, we feel bad. Their opinions of us, and how those opinions make us feel, can have positive value._* By making us feel good about steering a straight course, they encourage us to continue doing so. *_"People-pleasing" is something else entirely. We "people-please" when we do things, right or wrong, solely to gain another person's approval._*

*_Low self-esteem can make us think we need someone else's approval to feel okay about ourselves. We do whatever we think it will take to make them tell us we're okay we feel good for awhile. Then we start hurting. In trying to please another person, we've diminished ourselves and our values._* We realize that the approval of others will not fill the emptiness inside us.

*_The inner satisfaction we seek can be found in doing the right things for the right reasons. We break the people pleasing cycle when we stop acting merely to gain others' approval and start acting on our Higher Power's will for us. When we do, we may be pleasantly surprised to find that the people who really count in our lives will approve all the more of our behavior. Most importantly, though, we will approve of ourselves._*

*Just for Today:*

*Higher Power, help me live in accordance with spiritual principles. Only then can I approve of myself.*

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13/04/2026

GBR (Gray Book Reflection)
4/13

"This approval-seeking got us back where we started from, or worse."

Gray Book, pg. 24
Lines 30-31
Chapter Three

People pleasing is a defect of character; we used this tool in our active addiction to get what we wanted, more drugs. Approval seeking behavior is a form of manipulation and control. Sometimes it disguises itself as Kindness, but it's all ego based. As using addicts we wore many masks, with each mask worn, our real selves continued to disappear. Toward the end of our using, we were no longer present, it was our disease. One of the symptoms of the disease is our low self-esteem. Since as long as we can remember, we never felt as though we were enough. We've always tried to fit in, even if it meant sacrificing ourselves and our values. When it came to the drugs, all bets were off. We used this defect of character as a tool to enable our using, and it worked. In Narcotics Anonymous, the real value is in being our true selves. As we progress in our Recovery, we Recover ourselves. This Journey, with the help of the Steps, takes us back to the people we were supposed to be all along. The process of Self-Acceptance leads to Self-Approval and we are finally comfortable in our own skins. We no longer seek things outside ourselves, to make us feel good about ourselves. We no longer need people, places, or things to validate us. Our Faith is in our Higher Power, not in people. Each day we ask God to remove our shortcomings. We pray to be the best people we can become. Just For Today.

In This Moment; "Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live."

11/04/2026

GBR (Gray Book Reflection)
4/11

"Change involves the unknown, the great source of fear."

Gray Book, p. 148
Line 8
Chapter Nine

They say most people fear the unknown. For us addicts, our whole lives have been centered in fear. Fear based living leaves no room for Faith, no room for Growth. We used because we knew how we were going to feel after the drugs entered our system. We controlled our feelings with the use of drugs. We didn't want to feel Reality. After arriving to Narcotics Anonymous, we were told that F.E.A.R. was F.alse E.vidence A.ppearing R.eal. Most of us identified with that because most of the time what we feared, never took place. Our fears existed because of a lack of Faith in our Lives. Fear comes when we live in the future. In Narcotics Anonymous we're told to Live Just For Today. As we Live in the moment, our worries subside, and we start to feel Hope. Sharing and Caring with others the N.A. Way, we get a sense that all will be well. With each Step we take, we develop Faith; we start building Relationships with ourselves, others, and a God Of Our Understanding. We start to get a sense and a Glimpse of what our Lives could be in this New Way Of Life. We no longer fear the unknown because we know that what's waiting for us, is better than what we have now, or what it has ever been. We start and end our days with Gratitude for what we have been Granted. We make each day count, and we Live it to the fullest. Fear today stands for F.ace E.verything A.nd R.ecover. We no longer have to go through anything by ourselves. Today we have the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous and Faith in a Higher Power.

In This Moment; We will Let Go and Let God, we no longer dread or fear the future. Today we Live in Faith, not fear.

11/04/2026

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April 11

*🤯A Closed Mind🤯*

*"A new idea cannot be grafted onto a closed mind... Open-mindedness leads us to the very insights that have eluded us during our lives."*

*Basic Text, p. 96*

*_We arrived in NA at the lowest point in our lives. We'd just about run out of ideas. What we needed most when we got here were new ideas, new ways of living, shared from the experience of people who'd seen those ideas work. Yet our closed minds prevented us from taking in the very ideas we needed to live._*

*_Denial keeps us from appreciating just how badly we really need new ideas and new direction. By admitting& our powerlessness and recognizing how truly unmanageable our lives have become, we allow ourselves to see how much we need what NA has to offer._*

*_Self-dependence and self-will can keep us from admitting even the possibility of the existence of a Power greater than ourselves._* However, when we admit the sorry state self-will has gotten us into, we open our eyes and our minds to new possibilities. *_When others tell us of a Power that has brought sanity to their lives, we begin to believe that such a Power may do the same for us._*

*_A tree stripped of its branches will die unless new branches can be grafted onto its trunk. In the same way, addiction stripped us' of whatever direction we had. To grow or even to survive, we must open our minds and allow new ideas to be grafted onto our lives._*

*Just for Today:*

*I will ask my Higher Power to open my mind to the new ideas of recovery.*

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10/04/2026

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April 10

*🍸Too Busy👩‍❤️‍👨*

*"We must use what we learn or we will lose it, no matter how long we have been clean."*

*Basic Text, p. 85*

*_After putting some clean time together, some of us have a tendency to forget what our most important priority is. Once a week or less we say, "I've gotta get to a meeting tonight. It's been... "_* We've been caught up in other things, important for sure, but no more so than our continued participation in Narcotics Anonymous.

*_It happens gradually. We get jobs. We reunite with our families. We're raising children, the dog is sick, or we're going to school at night. The house needs to be cleaned. The lawn needs to be mowed. We have to work late. We're tired. There's a good show at the theater tonight. And all of a sudden, we notice that we haven't called our sponsor, been to a meeting, spoken to a newcomer, or even talked to God in quite a while._*

*_What do we do at this point? Well, we either renew our commitment to our recovery, or we continue being too busy to recover until something happens and our lives become unmanageable. Quite a choice! Our best bet is to put more of our energy into maintaining the foundation of recovery on which our lives are built. That foundation makes everything else possible, and it will surely crumble if we get too busy with everything else._*

*Just for Today:*

*I can't afford to be too busy to recover. I will do something today that sustains my recovery.*

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10/04/2026

GBR (Gray Book Reflection)
4/10

"We must use what we learn or we will lose it and probably relapse, no matter how long we have been clean."

Gray Book, p. 123
Lines 14-15
Chapter Seven

One of our predecessors wrote that, "Knowledge is not a substitute for Surrender." This means that we suffer from a Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Emotional disease. The drug use was just a symptom of this disease. We needed a deeper Solution. Since addiction affects every area of our Lives, we must Live by Spiritual Principles in every area of our Lives. Our Admittance must be followed with Complete and Total Abstinence to make Recovery possible. We had to unlearn our old ways. We had to be re-informed after being misinformed all our Lives. Our Basic Text says that, "Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work." That's why we hear in meetings, "it works, if you work it," not if you know it. Just like a doctor practices medicine, and a lawyer practices law, as addicts in Recovery we have to Practice Spiritual Principles. We suffer from a fatal, progressive disease which there's no known cure. We only arrest our disease and Practice Spiritual Principles on a Daily Basis. It's a Just For Today Program, a Daily Reprieve that depends on our Daily Maintenance. Our Recovery Process ceases when we stop working a Living Program. The relapse process requires no work. Another member wrote, "If the Program was about simple Abstinence, N.A. would have little to offer. The Steps bring about a New Way To Live - Happy, Joyous and Free. The Promise of the Steps is far more than simple Freedom from active addiction; it is the Promise of a Complete and Total Spiritual Awakening."

In This Moment; If we are to keep what we have, we have to make the Effort to keep it. We can't keep it unless we give it away.

09/04/2026

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April 9

*😫Acting Out😢*

*"We learn to experience feelings and realize they can do us no harm unless we act on them."*

*IP No. 16, "For the Newcomer"*

*_Many of us came to Narcotics Anonymous with something less than an overwhelming desire to stop using. Sure, the drugs were causing us problems, and we wanted to be rid of the problems, but we didn't want to stop getting high. Eventually, though, we saw that we couldn't have one without the other Even though we really wanted to get loaded, we didn't use; we weren't willing to pay the price anymore._* The longer we stayed clean and worked the program, the more freedom we experienced. *_Sooner or later, the compulsion to use was lifted from us completely, and we stayed clean because we wanted to live clean._*

*_The same principles apply to other negative impulses that may plague us._* We may feel like doing something destructive, just because we want to. We've done it before, and sometimes we think we've gotten away with it, but sometimes we haven't. *_If we're not willing to pay the price for acting on such feelings, we don't have to act on them._*

It may be hard, maybe even as hard as it was to stay clean in the beginning. But others have felt the same way and have found the freedom not to act on their negative impulses. *_By sharing about it and seeking the help of other recovering people and a Power greater than ourselves, we can find the direction, the support, and the strength we need to abstain from any destructive compulsion._*

*Just for Today:*

*It's okay to feel my feelings. With the help of my sponsor, my NA friends, and my Higher Power, I am free not to act out my negative feelings.*

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