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Remember how scared we were when we walked into our first NA meeting? Even if we walked in with a friend, most of us recall how difficult it was to attend that first meeting. What was it that kept us coming back? Most of us have grateful memories of the welcome we were given and how comfortable that made us feel. When we raised our hand as a newcomer, we opened the door for other members to approach us and welcome us.
Sometimes the difference between those addicts who walk back out the door of their first meeting, never to return to NA, and the addicts who stay to seek recovery is the simple hug of an NA member. When we have been clean awhile, it’s easy to step back from the procession of newcomers-after all, we’ve seen so many people come and go. But members with some clean time can make the difference between the addict who doesn’t return and the addict who keeps coming back. By offering our phone numbers, a hug, or just a warm welcome, we extend the hand of Narcotics Anonymous to the addict who still suffers.
Remember how scared we were when we walked into our first NA meeting? Even if we walked in with a friend, most of us recall how difficult it was to attend that first meeting. What was it that kept us coming back? Most of us have grateful memories of the welcome we were given and how comfortable that made us feel. When we raised our hand as a newcomer, we opened the door for other members to approach us and welcome us.
Sometimes the difference between those addicts who walk back out the door of their first meeting, never to return to NA, and the addicts who stay to seek recovery is the simple hug of an NA member. When we have been clean awhile, it’s easy to step back from the procession of newcomers-after all, we’ve seen so many people come and go. But members with some clean time can make the difference between the addict who doesn’t return and the addict who keeps coming back. By offering our phone numbers, a hug, or just a warm welcome, we extend the hand of Narcotics Anonymous to the addict who still suffers.
In any society, including Narcotics Anonymous, there’s a natural tension between addressing the common good and getting our individual needs met. That tension may be more pronounced in a society made up of addicts who are trying to stay clean. We each live at the center of our own world, each with our own intricate history and collection of uniquely expressed defects of character—and assets too, lest we forget. The delivery of our NA message of hope depends in part upon the relationships that we create, nurture, and sustain among us. This is an extraordinary and sublimely beautiful challenge.
Unity takes up this challenge for the common good of NA. This means we prioritize carrying the NA message over our individual desires and our personal opinions of other members. We commit to the conscious action of coming together for a common cause. We serve with members we dislike or have valid cause to distrust, as well as those we find appealing and trustworthy.
Harmony is the recognition and appreciation that there’s reverence and beauty in facing the challenges to unity. It’s what we mean when we say, “I get to practice unity, instead of I have to.” Or we don’t practice it, and we run the risk of alienating our fellows. Harmony emerges when we practice unity despite our differences, and we try to do this with a sense of serenity and peacefulness. It’s the essence of “we don’t have to like each other to work together, but we have to love each other.”
In service, conflicts sometimes arise. Aggression and retreat are absolutely natural reactions in the face of conflict, but they don’t solve it. It takes effort to practice the principles of love, compassion, and understanding in harmony with unity, responsibility, and interdependence.
In any society, including Narcotics Anonymous, there’s a natural tension between addressing the common good and getting our individual needs met. That tension may be more pronounced in a society made up of addicts who are trying to stay clean. We each live at the center of our own world, each with our own intricate history and collection of uniquely expressed defects of character—and assets too, lest we forget. The delivery of our NA message of hope depends in part upon the relationships that we create, nurture, and sustain among us. This is an extraordinary and sublimely beautiful challenge.
Unity takes up this challenge for the common good of NA. This means we prioritize carrying the NA message over our individual desires and our personal opinions of other members. We commit to the conscious action of coming together for a common cause. We serve with members we dislike or have valid cause to distrust, as well as those we find appealing and trustworthy.
Harmony is the recognition and appreciation that there’s reverence and beauty in facing the challenges to unity. It’s what we mean when we say, “I get to practice unity, instead of I have to.” Or we don’t practice it, and we run the risk of alienating our fellows. Harmony emerges when we practice unity despite our differences, and we try to do this with a sense of serenity and peacefulness. It’s the essence of “we don’t have to like each other to work together, but we have to love each other.”
In service, conflicts sometimes arise. Aggression and retreat are absolutely natural reactions in the face of conflict, but they don’t solve it. It takes effort to practice the principles of love, compassion, and understanding in harmony with unity, responsibility, and interdependence.
Virtual-space meetings (blue), physical-space meetings (orange), and hybrid meetings (purple) are viewable below.
For navigating to a physical-space meeting – using the Map button will provide you with precise GPS co-ordinates.
NA Meetings can be attended by anyone who thinks they may have a problem with substance abuse. You don’t need to make an appointment, just show up.
“NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. 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.” – From the NA White Booklet.
As of Tuesday 7th June 2022 We now have an Open Format meeting of NA in Belfast. It operates on the first Tuesday of every Calendar month at 77 University Street Belfast.
“Open NA meetings are just that—open to anyone who wants to attend. Some groups have open meetings once a month to allow nonaddict friends and relatives of NA members to celebrate recovery anniversaries with them. Groups that have open meetings may structure their format in such a way that opportunities for participation by nonaddicts are limited only to short birthday or anniversary presentations. Such a format allows the meeting to retain its focus on recovery shared one addict to another. It should be made clear during the meeting that NA groups do not accept monetary contributions from nonaddicts.” – From the Group Booklet
As of Tuesday 7th June 2022 We now have an Open Format meeting of NA in Belfast. It operates on the first Tuesday of every Calendar month at 77 University Street Belfast.
“Open NA meetings are just that—open to anyone who wants to attend. Some groups have open meetings once a month to allow nonaddict friends and relatives of NA members to celebrate recovery anniversaries with them. Groups that have open meetings may structure their format in such a way that opportunities for participation by nonaddicts are limited only to short birthday or anniversary presentations. Such a format allows the meeting to retain its focus on recovery shared one addict to another. It should be made clear during the meeting that NA groups do not accept monetary contributions from nonaddicts.” – From the Group Booklet
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