The Twelve Traditions
The traditions portion of It Works: How and Why serves as a resource for NA groups and the individual member. The book seeks to explore the spiritual principles within the traditions, engage members with the spirit—not the law—of the traditions, and provide a basis for thought and discussion about the traditions. This portion of the book is not meant to fulfill every need for every group or every member; rather, it is to be a book that will generate discussion and allow for local interpretation of the practical application of the principles contained in the traditions.
TRADITION THREE
“The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.”
Narcotics Anonymous offers recovery to addicts around the world. We focus on the disease of addiction rather than any particular drug. Our message is broad enough to attract addicts from any social class or nationality. When new members come to meetings, our sole interest is in their desire for freedom from active addiction and how we can be of help.
The Third Tradition helps NA offer recovery to so many addicts by freeing us from having to make judgments about prospective members. It eliminates the need for membership committees or applications. We are not asked to make decisions about anyone’s fitness for recovery. Since the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using, we as members have no reason to judge each other.
Desire is not a measurable commodity. It lives in the heart of each individual member. Because we can’t judge the sole requirement for membership, we are encouraged to open wide the doors of our meetings to any addict who wishes to join. We are asked to extend to others the care and concern that helped each of us find a sense of belonging. The Third Tradition helps NA grow by encouraging us to welcome others.
Membership is a personal decision reached by each individual. We can do a lot to allow addicts the freedom to make that decision and reaffirm their commitment to recovery. We can help them feel comfortable in our groups by greeting them at the door, sharing with other addicts before or after the meeting, and exchanging telephone numbers. We try to make sure that any addict who attends our meeting is not turned away. To the extent that it’s possible, we choose the most accessible location for our meetings. We may choose a format that reflects an invitational tone. Most of all, we encourage every addict to keep coming back.
The strength of any member’s desire is not necessarily connected to any outside circumstance. What makes one addict stay clean while another returns to using? No one of us can judge who will stay to recover and who will return to active addiction. There are no guarantees based on types of drugs used or using history. We cannot predict a higher success rate for addicts of a certain age, or those who used for a certain number of years, or women over men, or any other external factor. Just as we are not capable of measuring another’s desire to stay clean, neither are we equipped to decide who should join. We are free to offer welcome instead of judgment.
We look for ways to help instead of judge. Our task is to fan the flame of desire, not dampen it. Any addict who walks into a meeting, even a using addict, displays a level of willingness that cannot be discounted. While maintaining an emphasis on the importance of total abstinence, still-using addicts are welcomed into our meetings with special encouragement to keep coming back. Many recovering addicts do not have access to regular meetings because of incarceration, geography, physical disability, or employment. These addicts are members in every respect as long as they have the desire to stop using, and they are entitled to the same consideration and support as any other member.
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Addicts attend their first meeting for many reasons. Our motives for coming to NA aren’t particularly important. The desire to stop using may not be clearly realized; it may be no more than a subtle yearning for relief from pain. But that yearning often drives us to seek solutions we might otherwise never consider. Often the experience of hearing other addicts share about recovery will ignite the desire to stop using. Others come to a meeting, hear the message, and return to active addiction. Those who return to meetings after relapse often say their desire to stop using was born from the pain of relapse. We come to NA for many reasons, but we stay to recover when we find and keep the desire to stop using.
The group is not the jury of desire. We cannot measure or arbitrate willingness. Any addict’s willingness to come to a meeting ought to be a sufficient indication of desire. It may take a while for an addict to find the desire that will keep her or him in Narcotics Anonymous. No addict should be denied an opportunity to stay long enough to develop that desire. We can nurture that desire with loving acceptance.
The wording of the Third Tradition reflects the broad focus of our First Step. It’s written simply enough to include addicts of all countries and cultures, no matter what drugs they used. Before finding recovery in NA, many addicts don’t think that alcohol is a problem.
Others abuse prescription medication, thinking that “legal” drugs are okay. Because of the wording of this tradition, we are able to attract and welcome addicts who might think they didn’t use the “right” drugs to qualify for membership in NA. Each addict should be allowed to decide if NA is the answer for him or herself. We cannot make the decision for others.
Although the Third Tradition is written simply, we know that when it talks about “a desire to stop using,” it means using drugs. We understand that NA is a program of recovery for drug addicts. Although addiction takes on a broader meaning for many of us as we continue in recovery, it’s important to remember that we first came to NA because of our drug problems. If new members are to feel that they belong in NA, they need to hear something they can identify with. They find that identification in the fellowship of recovering addicts in Narcotics Anonymous.
Many of us know when we walk into our first meeting that we’re addicts. It’s not something we have to decide; it’s just a fact of life. Membership, however, means more than just being an addict; it means making a decision. If we identify with what we hear in NA and relate with the people we meet, we will want what NA offers. So long as we have a desire to stop using, we are free to make the decision to join Narcotics Anonymous. Then, once we’ve made that decision, we need to follow it with a commitment to the principles of NA. With that commitment, we set ourselves squarely on the road of recovery.
Applying spiritual principles
The Third Tradition encourages freedom from judgment. It leads us on the path of service toward an attitude of helpfulness, acceptance, and unconditional love. As we’ve seen in the previous traditions, our path of service arises from the application of principles. Some of the principles that support this tradition include tolerance, compassion, anonymity, and humility.
Tolerance reminds us that judgment is not our task. The disease of addiction does not exclude anyone. NA, likewise, cannot exclude any addict who desires to stop using. We learn to be tolerant of addicts from different backgrounds than ours, remembering that we are not better than any other addict in a meeting.
Addiction is a deadly disease. We know that addicts who don’t find recovery can expect nothing better than jails, institutions, and death. Refusing admission to any addict, even one who comes merely out of curiosity, may be a death sentence for that addict. We learn to practice tolerance of addicts who don’t look like us, think like us, or share like us. We teach by example. Pressuring new members to talk or act like we do may send them back to the streets. It certainly denies them the right to recover and learn in their own way.
Compassion lends kindness to all our efforts in service to others. With compassion as the foundation of our actions, we learn to support members through any difficulties they may experience. All too often, we are quick to judge the quality of another’s recovery or willingness. Tradition Three asks us to set aside our self-righteousness.
Because the only requirement for membership is a quality we cannot measure, the right to judge another’s desire is denied us. Our attitude ought to be one of loving acceptance toward all addicts, regardless of any other problems they may experience. Generous application of compassion is more therapeutic to the suffering addict than a free application of judgment.
Humility reminds us that we are not God; we cannot predict another’s readiness to hear the message. We try to remember our own fear and confusion in our first meeting. We need each other’s help and encouragement, not criticism or rejection. Our awareness of our own shortcomings, exercised in humility, helps us remember this. The self-acceptance that often accompanies humility makes us reluctant to judge others harshly.
Anonymity is the principle that supports the openness of our groups and our freedom to welcome everyone as equals. NA has no classes of membership and no second-class members. The common denominator in NA is the disease of addiction. We are all equally subject to its devastation. We share an equal right to recovery.
The practice of anonymity ensures the integrity of Tradition Three. In the spirit of anonymity, we remember that no individual member or group is more important than the message we carry. The single requirement for membership helps ensure that no addict need die without having a chance to recover. We celebrate our equality and the freedom we share by welcoming any addict who has the desire to stop using.
Tradition Three spells freedom for the members of NA. It sets the sole requirement for membership in the heart of each individual member. We don’t have to decide for anyone else. We don’t have to expend time and energy on deciding who should stay or who we should help. Instead, we are free to extend loving assistance to anyone who walks into a meeting desiring freedom from addiction.
taken from -
It Works How And Why,
The Twelve Steps And Twelve Traditions Of Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Chatsworth, California