Nicotine Anonymous
WELCOME
It is not necessary for you to have already stopped using nicotine in order to come to these meetings. All you need to bring is your desire to stop using nicotine. It is suggested you come to at least six meetings before deciding if this program can help you. First come to meetings, then come to understand, then come to believe. Take what you need for now and leave the rest for another time.
Most people come with a sense of fear that they will not be able to live their lives without nicotine. They have difficulty even imagining the possibility. Often, it's been a long time since most of us have spent any time without our "companion", so we accept these feelings as a normal reaction. However, we've come to learn that this perception can change after attending meetings for a while.
There is no pressure or shame from the group to get you to quit. We've all been there, we understand. If you need time to come to believe it is possible to live without nicotine or to set a quit date. . then take your time. Listen and then share your story, read the literature, use the phone, study the steps in the book, keep showing up! ... Recovery is a process that we practice each day. Keep in mind that many have come before you with just as much fear and doubt and now live free and clean.
Some of the "tools" we use to help us get free of nicotine are meetings, the Twelve Steps, and the phone list. For now, if you're still using nicotine, it may be more important to just focus on showing up at the next meeting. Try not to worry about when or if you are going to stop smoking. It is our experience that those who continue to regularly attend meetings will eventually stop using nicotine.
The Twelve Steps are the heart of our program of recovery. They suggest a spiritual approach to gaining and then maintaining freedom from nicotine. By spiritual we do not mean religious. Our reference to God in the Steps is our way of involving a power greater than ourselves in our recovery. Each person comes to his or her own understanding of a Higher Power without anyone else's urging or influence.
Between meetings, the phone list is possibly the most effective tool we can give you. Use it when you want to smoke. We have found that none of us can do this alone. We really want you to call us. If one of us is not available, call someone else. It will make a difference in not using nicotine!
One of the purposes of our Twelve Traditions is to encourage a safe place for each individual by stressing the importance of group unity. When each of us can express our point of view without criticism or conversion we create group unity. From the humility of this unity comes strength for all to share in. Anonymity is essential because it provides confidentiality and keeps the focus on the principles of this program rather than on individual and sometimes conflicting personalities-
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." As nicotine users trying to stop smoking or taking nicotine by other methods, we cannot change the cravings for this powerful drug. But, even if we can't change the craving, we can accept it. This is a program of rigorous honesty. WIe cannot make ourselves stop the craving, but we can live with it. So, we pray for the courage to change the things we can. And the thing we can change is our unwillingness to live, even for a short time, with the craving for the next "fix", or cigarette. If you continue to use nicotine even though you say this prayer, then say it again! Keep saying it as you reflect on what it means to you, a nicotine user. Eventually it will work, as it has for thousands of others.
Copyright © 1999 Nicotine Anonymous World Services Huntington Beach, California Rev 07-2002
