Motivational Recovery Services, Inc.

We all need a little help sometimes. LA County has made extra resources are available around the holidays. We can help with free resources like: food, flu shots and COVID-19 testing Learn more: COVIDhelpla.org

As COVID cases rise, it's important to stay safe. If you have symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID, free testing is available county-wide.Remember, a test will not protect you from getting COVID, but it will help you make healthy choices!

2020 has been tough for our communities. Stay safe at home this holiday season by celebrating in-person only with people you live with. Our work this month is the key to keeping our communities safe from COVID-19. Learn more: COVIDhelpla.org

April 24, 2017 Twelve steps of life Page 118... "Through abstinence and through working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous, our lives have become useful." Basic Text, p. 8 Before coming to Narcotics Anonymous, our lives were centered around using. For the most part, we had very little energy left over for jobs, relationships, or other activities. We served only our addiction. The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous provide a simple way to turn our lives around. We start by staying clean, a day at a time. When our energy is no longer channeled into our addiction, we find that we have the energy to pursue other interests. As we grow in recovery, we become able to sustain healthy relationships. We become trustworthy employees. Hobbies and recreation seem more inviting. Through participation in Narcotics Anonymous, we help others. Narcotics Anonymous does not promise us that we will find good jobs, loving relationships, or a fulfilling life. But when we work the Twelve Steps to the best of our ability, we find that we can become the type of people who are capable of finding employment, sustaining loving relationships, and helping others. We stop serving our disease, and begin serving God and others. The Twelve Steps are the key to transforming our lives. Just for Today: I will have the wisdom to use the Twelve Steps in my life, and the courage to grow in my recovery I will practice my program to become a responsible, productive member of society. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

February 08, 2017 What is a sponsor? Page 40... "...an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us." IP No. 11, Sponsorship, Revised What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your first meeting. That generous soul who keeps sharing recovery experience free of charge. The one who keeps amazing you with stunning insight regarding your character defects. The one who keeps reminding you to finish your Fourth Step, who listens to your Fifth Step, and who doesn't tell anyone how weird you are. It's pretty easy to start taking all this stuff for granted once we're used to someone being there for us. We may run wild for a while and tell ourselves, "I'll call my sponsor later, but right now I have to clean the house, go shopping, chase that attractive..." And so we end up in trouble, wondering where we went wrong. Our sponsor can't read minds. It's up to us to reach out and ask for help. Whether we need help with our steps, a reality check to help us straighten out our screwy thinking, or just a friend, it's our job to make the request. Sponsors are warm, wise, wonderful people, and their experience with recovery is ours - all we have to do is ask. Just for Today: I'm grateful for the time, the love, and the experience my sponsor has shared with me. Today I will call my sponsor. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

February 01, 2017 Hardships Page 33... "We felt different... Only after surrender are we able to overcome the alienation of addiction." Basic Text, p. 22 "But you don't understand!" we spluttered, trying to cover up. "I'm different! I've really got it rough!" We used these lines over and over in our active addiction, either trying to escape the consequences of our actions or avoid following the rules that applied to everyone else. We may have cried them at our first meeting. Perhaps we've even caught ourselves whining them recently. So many of us feel different or unique. As addicts, we can use almost anything to alienate ourselves. But there's no excuse for missing out on recovery, nothing that can make us ineligible for the program- not a life-threatening illness, not poverty, not anything. There are thousands of addicts who have found recovery despite the real hardships they've faced. Through working the program, their spiritual awareness has grown, in spite of-or perhaps in response to those hardships. Our individual circumstances and differences are irrelevant when it comes to recovery. By letting go of our uniqueness and surrendering to this simple way of life, we're bound to find that we feel a part of something. And feeling a part of something gives us the strength to walk through life, hardships and all. Just for Today: I will let go of my uniqueness and embrace the principles of recovery I have in common with so many others. My hardships do not exclude me from recovery; rather, they draw me into it. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

December 29, 2016 Through others' eyes Page 379... "When someone points out a shortcoming, our first reaction may be defensive....[But] if we truly want to be free, we will take a good look at input from fellow addicts." Basic Text, p.36 At some point in our recovery, we come to the awkward realization that the way we see ourselves is not necessarily the way others do. We are probably neither as bad, as good, as beautiful, or as ugly as we think we are-but we are too close to ourselves to really tell for sure. That's where our friends in the program come in, caring enough to share with us what they see when they look in our direction. They tell us the good things about ourselves we might not know-and they tell us the hard things, too, that we might not be able to see. We may react defensively to such "help"-and, in some cases, justly so. However, even malicious remarks about our supposed shortcomings can shed light on aspects of our recovery that we cannot see ourselves. Wherever a useful insight comes from, for whatever reason it is offered, we cannot afford to discount it. We don't need to wait for others to spontaneously offer their insight. When we spend time with our sponsor or other NA members we trust, we can make the first move and ask them to tell us what they see about particular areas of our lives to which we are blind. We want a broader vision of our life than just our own; we can have that vision by seeing ourselves through the eyes of others. Just for Today: I seek to see myself as I truly am. I will listen to what others say about me, and see myself through their eyes. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

December 23, 2016 New Ideas Page 373... "We reevaluate our old ideas so we can become acquainted with the new ideas that lead to a new way of life." Basic Text, p.94 Learning to live a new way of life can be difficult. Sometimes, when the going gets especially hard, we're tempted to follow the path of least resistance and live by our old ideas again. We forget that our old ideas were killing us. To live a new way of life, we need to open our minds to new ideas. Working the steps, attending meetings, sharing with others, trusting a sponsor - these suggestions may meet our resistance, even our rebellion. The NA program requires effort, but each step in the program brings us closer to becoming the kinds of people we truly want to be. We want to change, to grow, to become something more than we are today. To do that, we open our minds, try on the new ideas we've found in NA, and learn to live a new way of life. Just for Today: I will open my mind to new ideas and learn to live my life in a new way. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

December 12, 2016 Fear Of Change Page 362... "By working the steps, we come to accept a Higher Power's will.... We lose our fear of the unknown. We are set free." Basic Text, p. 16 Life is a series of changes, both large and small. Although we may know and accept this fact intellectually, chances are that our initial emotional reaction to change is fear. For some reason, we assume that each and every change is going to hurt, causing us to be miserable. If we look back on the changes that have happened in our lives, we'll find that most of them have been for the best. We were probably very frightened at the prospect of life without drugs, yet it's the best thing that's ever happened to us. Perhaps we've lost a job that we thought we'd die without, but later on we found greater challenge and personal fulfillment in a new career. As we venture forth in our recovery, we're likely to experience more changes. We will outgrow old situations and become ready for new ones. With all sorts of changes taking place, it's only natural to grab hold of something, anything familiar and try to hold on. Solace can be found in a Power greater than ourselves. The more we allow changes to happen at the direction of our Higher Power, the more we'll trust that those changes are for the best. Faith will replace fear, and we'll know in our hearts that all will be well. Just for Today: When I am afraid of a change in my life, I will take comfort from knowing that God's will for me is good. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

December 02, 2016 Recovery: our first priority Page 352... "We have to keep our recovery first and our priorities in order." Basic Text p. 82 Before coming to NA, we used many excuses to justify our use of drugs: "He yelled at me." "She said this." "My partner left." "I got fired." We used these same excuses for not seeking help for our drug problem. We had to realize that these things kept happening because we kept using drugs. Only when we made recovery our first priority did these situations begin to change. We may be subject to the same tendency today, using excuses for not attending meetings and being of service. Our current excuses may be of a different nature: "I can't leave my kids." "My vacation wore me out." "I have to finish this project so I can impress my boss." But still, if we don't make recovery our first priority, chances are that we won't have to worry about these excuses anymore. Kids, vacations, and jobs probably won't be in our lives if we relapse. Our recovery must come first. Job or no job, relationship or no relationship, we have to attend meetings, work the steps, call our sponsor, and be of service to God and others. These simple actions are what make it possible for us to have vacations, families, and bosses to worry about. Recovery is the foundation of our lives, making everything else possible. Just for Today: I will keep my priorities in order. Number One on the list is my recovery. Copyright (c) 2007-2016, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved