NA Daily Meditations

NA Meitations

Feel free to read one of our 2 daily meditations.

Just For Today
Spiritual Principle A Day

Just For Today

November 24, 2025

Gratefully recovering

Page 342

“We entertained the thought that staying clean was not paying off and the old thinking stirred up self-pity, resentment, and anger.“

Basic Text, p. 102

There are days when some of us wallow in self-pity. It’s easy to do. We may have expectations about how our lives should be in recovery, expectations that aren’t always met. Maybe we’ve tried unsuccessfully to control someone, or we think our circumstances should be different. Perhaps we’ve compared ourselves with other recovering addicts and found ourselves lacking. The more we try to make our life conform to our expectations, the more uncomfortable we feel. Self-pity can arise from living in our expectations instead of in the world as it actually is.

When the world doesn’t measure up to our expectations, it’s often our expectations that need adjusting, not the world. We can start by comparing our lives today with the way they used to be, developing gratitude for our recovery. We can extend this exercise in gratitude by counting the good things in our lives, becoming thankful that the world does not conform to our expectations but exceeds them. And if we continue working the Twelve Steps, further cultivating gratitude and acceptance, what we can expect in the future is more growth, more happiness, and more peace of mind.

We’ve been given much in recovery; staying clean has paid off. Acceptance of our lives, just for today, frees us from our self-pity.

Just for Today: I will accept my life, gratefully, just as it is.

Spiritual Principal A Day

November 24, 2025

Hospitality Counters Self-Centeredness

Page 339

“Simply making eye contact or offering a hug to a newcomer can make all the difference to them–and to us.”

Guiding Principles, Tradition Three, “Spiritual Principles”

To those of us accustomed to being unwelcome nuisances to family, friends, and others, the hospitality we encounter in NA can be both unexpected and unfamiliar. “People I used with stopped wanting me around even when I was willing to share my drugs,” one member shared. “Talk about feeling like an outcast!”

That special welcome we felt as newcomers in NA inspires many of us to go out of our way to help other newcomers feel welcome. “When I was in early recovery, I asked my sponsor how to be a home-group member,” one addict wrote. “My sponsor told me I could start by making sure that no one new to the meeting ever leaves without being welcomed.”

The act of welcoming others has a big impact on us, too. For people prone to self-centeredness, it’s a great relief to put our own wants, needs, and feelings on the back burner long enough to concern ourselves with how others feel. Our sense of attention and concern expands, allowing us to notice who is around and what they might be feeling. As many of us have heard, we build self-esteem by doing esteemable things. We don’t even need to do much to help anxious, scared, or alienated addicts begin to feel calm, safe, and welcome in NA–and doing so rewards us in ways we cannot measure.

My feeling of connection and belonging in NA increases by leaps and bounds when I welcome others. I will go out of my way to make someone feel welcome today.