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Step 11 of Narcotics Anonymous
By Terry
After applying
the knowledge that we’ve gained from all the previous Steps, we are now
ready and geared up to seek out our Higher Power’s will for our lives. To
work Step 11 in Narcotics Anonymous, we seek through prayer and meditation
to strengthen our relationship with our Higher Power, and to live in
accordance with His will for our lives. For this Step to be carried out,
we have to strengthen our conscious contact with God through the two
options available for us to utilize: Prayer and Meditation. By increasing
our conscious contact with our Higher Power, we will acquire the essential
knowledge necessary to carry out His will for our lives. By praying for
knowledge and guidance, our Higher Power will reveal to us the way we
should go. We will acquire direction, ability, understanding, and
strength through increased conscious contact.
Conscious
contact means being aware, mindful, and awake to align ourselves with God,
as we understand Him. We gain all-knowing knowledge and perception of the
way to truth – our destined path to success, happiness, and peace of
mind. To have conscious contact with God is to be alert with our inner
essence. We gain awareness and attentiveness to our chosen path to
freedom. We gain the familiarity and knowledge to live in accordance with
God’s will for our lives. When we become aware of the Light of God’s love
through prayer and meditation, we become at peace with ourselves, our
life’s direction, and of our newfound life within. To experience
conscious contact brings with it a great amount of healing elements that
will give us the serenity that we seek. Our life’s path becomes a
positive, insightful, and joyous adventure.
Our Higher
Power resides within, but we acquire the knowledge of His will from our
inner being, and from without. Deep within us we find the serenity that
we once thought was impossible to achieve. Our Higher Power has been with
us from the start. He has been guiding us thus far through the Steps, and
now our Higher Power desires for us to strengthen the conscious contact
necessary to continue growing in our recovery, among many other things.
Through prayer
we seek God and find Him; and through meditation, we find His presence
from within. Both prayer and meditation are the suggested tools to use to
succeed with improving our conscious contact with God. Through prayer and
meditation, we not only become aware of our Higher Power, but we also
become alert to reality, to ourselves, and to others. Our overall
attentiveness expands to enlighten us to the direction we should follow –
God’s will for our lives. We experience peace, faith, love, tranquility,
calmness, and a positive mindset that will lead us to the victory that we
seek. Faith and acceptance reigns. Responsibility and accurate
perception becomes a way of life. We become more aware of our strengths
and weakness. We acquire the ability to rise above the challenges we
encounter on our quest for personal freedom. We achieve freedom in many
areas of our lives, but the most important freedom that we gain, is
freedom from active addiction – the freedom to never have to use again,
even if we want to. We seek out God’s will for our lives, and we are led
to victory. Persistence in recovery becomes a way of life, and we finally
begin to enjoy and cherish all the marvelous wonders of this world.
Through the
process of Step 11, we become in connection with truth from mind, body,
and spirit. Total enlightenment transforms us into spiritual beings.
This process is achieved through prayer and meditation. Through prayer,
we communicate with our Higher Power, and we ask that His will be done,
and also that He give us the power, knowledge, and ability to carry it
out. The answers will be revealed as He shows us the way. We’ve already
learned through working the previous Steps that if we become reliant on
ourselves, insanity will result, which will lead us to unmanageability and
total chaos. Our Higher Power has Ultimate Knowledge, and as we tap into
that source through improved conscious contact, we gain direction and
life, as it should be. As we establish an improved relationship with our
Higher Power, we become God-centered, less selfish and self-seeking, and
we thrive in life, and in our recovery.
Obtaining
conscious contact doesn’t have to be a complicated issue. To achieve
conscious contact, we become honest and open, we pray and meditate, and we
not only love ourselves, but we show love to others. Remember, it is
suggested that we keep it simple. It can be difficult and vague to
distinguish God’s will for our lives. Knowing this, we remember the fact
that our Higher Power only wants the best for our lives. In life, we are
given free will, so it’s up to each of us to decide if we want to travel
along the right path. If we live in disobedience, then obtaining the
knowledge of God’s will is impossible.
Why is God’s will so
vague sometimes? Well, God’s will is life and truth, and He tends to show
us the direction through Steps. We show our obedience to Him by
succeeding with the small tests that are always given to us. We comply
with, and respect the knowledge that is given to us. We then will be led
to great triumph. We recognize God’s will for our lives by His voice from
within, by the events in our lives, and by the experiences of others who
succeed.
By living with
conscious contact, it is imperative that we take it one day at a time, and
one step at a time. To achieve the fourth step on our journey, we have to
take the first three Steps in faith and obedience. And as we follow the
suggestions of the program, we take the 12 Steps one Step at a time, and
then we’re led to victory. The more we are obedient to God’s will, to the
direction that is shown to us, then the more we’ll accomplish on our
path. To be disobedient to God’s will is to reject life. Doing so will
derail us to disaster.
To succeed and
grow in our recovery, we choose to abide by the direction that is shown to
us. If we love God by choice, then our Higher Power will show love and
guidance in return. If we set our priorities to live in accordance with
God’s will, we are shown the Light of love, and the course to freedom.
So, in summary, to achieve God’s will for our lives, we stay accepting and
obedient to the path revealed before us, as we continue to seek through
prayer and meditation the knowledge of His will. In due course, the Light
is shown to us. Its illuminescent radiance will show us the way to
victory in our recovery. After strengthening our conscious contact with
God, and seeking out the knowledge to live in accordance with His will, we
are ready to continue on to the last Step on Narcotics Anonymous. Thank
you, my name is Terry, and I am an addict.
If you
have any questions on recovery, or the N.A. program, then you can contact
me by
Clicking Here. Thank
you for allowing me to be of service. My name is Terry, and I am an
addict.
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