Join us Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 7pm as Northwest Area Special Events hosts a free event! Please bring a chair as we gather around the bonfire, accompanied by free hot cocoa and a speaker at 8 pm. 3400 Wilhelm Ln, Manchester, MD 21102 For more information, Contact Michelle H
FREESTATE REGIONAL CONVENTION XXXI “KEYS TO FREEDOM!” NOVEMBER 28 – 30, 2025Hyatt-Regency Inner Harbor300 Light Street | Baltimore, Maryland ALL 5 MEALS including BANQUET $134.00Profits from last year lowered food prices this year(Meals are not sold on-site, only during pre-registration) $10 for members with less than 3 years clean$20 for
Northwest Area Special Events Present: Fellowship Field Day, full of fun & games! -FREE- Sunday, August 10, 2025 10am-2pm Dutterer Family Park Westminster, MD 21157 Kickball Tournament Cornhold Exhibition Polish Horsehoes Food and drinks provided – 100% FREE!!! Bring the whole squad.
FSRCNA XXXI Logo Contest– The winning logo must include the words: – The submission must be in a high-resolution format such as PDF, JPG, etc. – The logo should be clean and simple in design so that it can be easily reproduced on any merchandise the convention creates. – Submissions
Welcome to the Northwest Area of Narcotics Anonymous! We are a community of individuals who have come together to support one another in our journey of recovery from addiction. Our doors are open to anyone seeking a safe and supportive environment to begin or continue their path of recovery. We invite you to explore our website and learn more about the resources and events we offer. Together, we can overcome the challenges of addiction and find the strength to live a fulfilling, drug-free life.
When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the same dilemma. What is there left to do? There seems to be this alternative: either go on as best we can to the bitter ends—jails, institutions, or death—or find a new way to live. In years gone by, very few addicts ever had this last choice. Those who are addicted today are more fortunate. For the first time in man’s entire history, a simple way has been proving itself in the lives of many addicts. It is available to us all. This is a simple spiritual—not religious—program, known as Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.) 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. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.
November 14, 2025 |
Not just surviving |
| Page 332 |
| "When we were using, our lives became an exercise in survival. Now we are doing much more living than surviving." |
| Basic Text, p. 52 |
| "I'd be better off dead!" A familiar refrain to a practicing addict, and with good reason. All we had to look forward to was more of the same miserable existence. Our hold on life was weak at best. Our emotional decay, our spiritual demise, and the crushing awareness that nothing would ever change were constants. We had little hope and no concept of the life we were missing out on. The resurrection of our emotions, our spirits, and our physical health takes time. The more experience we gain in living, rather than merely existing, the more we understand how precious and delightful life can be. Traveling, playing with a small child, making love, expanding our intellectual horizons, and forming relationships are among the endless activities that say, "I'm alive." We discover so much to cherish and feel grateful to have a second chance. If we had died in active addiction, we would have been bitterly deprived of so many of life's joys. Each day we thank a Power greater than ourselves for another day clean and another day of life. |
| Just for Today: I am grateful to be alive. I will do something today to celebrate. |
| Copyright (c) 2007-2025, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
November 14, 2025 |
Living Lives Worthy of Self-Respect |
| Page 329 |
| "As we clean up our wreckage and live differently, we can respect our actions and find respect for ourselves in the process." |
| Living Clean, Chapter 2, "Connection to Ourselves" |
| Many of the stories we tell about our active addiction depict us thriving on our lack of respectability. Who needs a real job, an education, a place to live, or even a bath? We scoffed at others' boundaries, the rule of law, authority, and institutions. We turned our backs on many of the values we were taught by our families, cultures, and society. Hiding all our fears behind bravado, a lot of us paid a steep price. We jeopardized relationships and careers, if we had any. In many cases, we lost our freedom. Did we lose our self-respect, too? Or did we just have none to start with? When we get clean, the rebel in us may be tempted to dismiss "meeting etiquette" as an attempt to make us conform. At some point, most of us notice that being a rebel in NA doesn't have the payoff it did on the streets. We don't gain credibility by being disrespectful. "I thought I was a badass but came to find out that it was just a front to protect myself," one member shared. Once we start to listen in meetings, get to work on Steps, and are of service, we find ourselves inspired to loosen our grip on our past lifestyles and the version of ourselves in the stories we tell. We want to move on from the past, and our willingness to understand it and grow from it increases. We take actions that build our lives and help other people. We set boundaries for ourselves and respect those held by others. Our dignity and self-respect are being restored, like our sanity. Perhaps for some of us, this is the first time we have experienced these feelings or this state of being in our lives. Not only do we change our actions, but many of us find we have to alter the stories we tell about ourselves. We focus less on being the product of our wreckage and more on being the product of our recovery. We learn that we are worthy of the lives we have now. We begin to live a life that reflects values we can be proud of. That's pretty respectable. And before recovery, who knew we'd ever want that? |
| Today I'll step back for a moment and look at the life I'm building with some pride and self-respect. It's working, and I'm worthy of it. |
| Copyright (c) 2007-2025, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Join us Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 7pm as Northwest Area Special Events hosts a free event! Please bring a chair as we gather around the bonfire, accompanied by free
FREESTATE REGIONAL CONVENTION XXXI “KEYS TO FREEDOM!” NOVEMBER 28 – 30, 2025Hyatt-Regency Inner Harbor300 Light Street | Baltimore, Maryland ALL 5 MEALS including BANQUET $134.00Profits from last year lowered food
