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

September 08, 2026

Rebellion

Page 262

“We need not lose faith when we become rebellious.”

Basic Text, p. 35

Many of us have lived our entire lives in revolt. Our initial response to any type of direction is often negative. Automatic rejection of authority seems to be a troubling character defect for many addicts.

A thorough self-examination can show us how we react to the world around us. We can ask ourselves if our rebellion against people, places, and institutions is justified. If we keep writing long enough, we can usually get past what others did and uncover our own part in our affairs. We find that what others did to us was not as important as how we responded to the situations we found ourselves in.

Regular inventory allows us to examine the patterns in our reactions to life and see if we are prone to chronic rebelliousness. Sometimes we will find that, while we may usually go along with what is suggested to us rather than risk rejection, we secretly harbor resentments against authority. If left to themselves, these resentments can lead us away from our program of recovery.

The inventory process allows us to uncover, evaluate, and alter our rebellious patterns. We can’t change the world by taking an inventory, but we can change the way we react to it.

Just for Today: I want freedom from the turmoil of rebelliousness. Before I act, I will inventory myself and think about my true values.

Spiritual Principal A Day

September 09, 2026

Humility Is Living in Reality

Page 261

“Humility is most easily identified as an acceptance of who we truly are–neither worse nor better than we believed we were when we were using, just human.”

NA Step Working Guides, Step One, “Spiritual Principles”

In early recovery, we often find ourselves going from unrealistic, grandiose self-perception to believing we are the worst person in history. It’s that familiar addict pendulum swing–from one extreme to the other (with an optional sound effect):

I’m a spiritual giant deserving of high praise–WHOOSH!–I’m a worthless piece of trash. I’m the hottest person here–WHOOSH!–I’m repulsive and don’t deserve to live. I’m the only parent who knows what they’re doing–WHOOSH!–I’m going to screw up my kid worse than my parents screwed me up.

Torchbearer of overblown self-importance–WHOOSH!–barren self-pity farm. Hero–WHOOSH!–zero.

Getting clean and working the Twelve Steps of NA can slow our addict pendulum and greatly narrow the distance of its swing. The humility that ensues from working Steps will help us to find that serene sweet spot somewhere in the middle. This place is where our true selves reside. Here lives reality.

Humility is like kryptonite to our self-indulgence, jealousy, and entitlement. It allows us to accept the beautiful muddle of our humanity, the truth of our perfectly imperfect selves, and our authentic place in the world. We can have reasonable expectations of ourselves and let others be who they are without our interference. We can find humor in our shortcomings and try to do better when criticized, instead of wanting to annihilate ourselves when we make a mistake.

Perhaps most crucially, we don’t boast about our spiritual growth, especially in comparison to other members, nor do we overindulge in denigrating who we “used to be” when we were using. We were human then, and we’re human now.

I will try to be mindful of where my pendulum is swinging today. Though I can accept where I am, I’ll still try to move toward the center because that’s what’s real.