Bonfire Costume Party
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
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.
How do we pray? With little experience, many of us don't even know how to begin. The process, however, is neither difficult nor complicated.
We came to Narcotics Anonymous because of our drug addiction. But underlying that, many of us felt a deep sense of bewilderment with life itself. We seemed to be lost, wandering a trackless waste with no one to guide us. Prayer is a way to gain direction in life and the power to follow that direction.
Because prayer plays such a central part in NA recovery, many of us set aside a particular time each day to pray, establishing a pattern. In this quiet time, we "talk" to our Higher Power, either silently or aloud. We share our thoughts, our feelings, our day. We ask, "What would you have me do?" At the same time we ask, "Please give me the power to carry out your will."
Learning to pray is simple. We ask for "knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." By doing that, we find the direction we lacked and the strength we need to fulfill our God's will.
One member shared their favorite NA metaphor: "Fighting our addiction without recovery is like entering the ring with the boxing world champion. We think we can get in just one good punch, but repeatedly we're pummeled to the ground. After many tries, we finally concede that the disease will eventually knock our lights out permanently. Admitting powerlessness is the first of many strategies we'll need to fight it."
It didn't matter how practiced we were in our fancy footwork of denial. No matter our clever cunning, our brute strength, or our fearlessness in the face of danger, we did not succeed in managing our drug use. We lost that fight and came to NA cut, bruised, and beaten down. Admitting "I am an addict" the first time and many times thereafter is a big step, but to fully concede our powerlessness, we go deeper than that honest admission.
Our first approach to Step One shows the value of getting honest. Honesty loosens our grip on denial and unlocks surrender. In time, the same line of attack will help us examine other areas of our lives. As we work the Steps, we discover more truths about our innermost selves. Other members help us make sense of what we find and, eventually, we're able to help others do the same.
The member continued with their metaphor: "The recovery process involves struggle, strategy, and triumph. Striving for complete honesty and ongoing surrender, we have a fighting chance. But we never fully retire from the ring."
Years on, we'll struggle with new (or old) areas of our lives where our nemesis of denial rears up again. We get in the ring--and bam! We get hit with a lights-out combo of relationships, sex, or other compulsive behaviors. Confronting our denial about these issues, surrendering and admitting powerlessness in these arenas--and doing the necessary work--furthers our progress in recovery. To stay clean, we have to.
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
