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Just For Today

Up Or Down

'This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day.... This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer.'

Basic Text, p. 35-36

Our spiritual condition is never static; if it's not growing, it's decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual progress will lose its upward momentum. Gradually, our growth will slow, then halt, then reverse itself. Our tolerance will wear thin; our willingness to serve others will wane; our minds will narrow and close. Before long, we'll be right back where we started: in conflict with everyone and everything around us, unable to bear even ourselves.

Our only option is to actively participate in our program of spiritual growth. We pray, seeking knowledge greater than our own from a Power greater than ourselves. We open our minds and keep them open, becoming teachable and taking advantage of what others have to share with us. We demonstrate our willingness to try new ideas and new ways of doing things, experiencing life in a whole new way. Our spiritual progress picks up speed and momentum, driven by the Higher Power we are coming to understand better each day.

Up or down - it's one or the other, with very little in between, where spiritual growth is concerned. Recovery is not fueled by wishing and dreaming, we've discovered, but by prayer and action.

Just for today: The only constant in my spiritual condition is change. I cannot rely on yesterday's program. Today, I seek new spiritual growth through prayer and action.

pg. 238

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Methamphetamines

Methamphetamines HISTORY

Methamphetamines are synthetic amphetamines or stimulants that are produced and sold illegally in pill form, capsules, powder, and chunks. Two such Methamphetamines are crank and ice.

Crank refers to any form of methamphetamine. Ice is a crystallized smokeable chunk form of methamphetarnine that produces a more intense reaction than cocaine or speed. Ice has an appearance that is clear and crystal-like, and resembles frozen ice water.

Methamphetamines stimulate the central nervous system, and the effects may last anywhere from 8 to 24 hours.

Crank and ice are extremely addictive and produce a severe craving for the drug.

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS

increased alertness
sense of well-being
paranoia
intense high
hallucinations
aggressive behavior
increased heart rate
convulsions
extreme rise in body temperature (as high as 108 degrees which can cause brain damage and death)
uncontrollable movements (twitching, jerking, etc...)
violent behavior
insomnia
impaired speech
dry, itchy skin
loss of appetite
acne, sores
numbness

EFFECTS ON THE MIND

disturbed sleep
excessive excitation
excessive talking
panic
anxiousness
nervousness
moodiness and irritability
false sense of confidence and power
delusions of grandeur leading to aggressive behavior
uninterested in friends, sex, or food
aggressive and violent behavior
severe depression

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

fatal kidney and lung disorders
possible brain damage
depression
hallucinations
disorganized lifestyle
permanent psychological problems
violent and aggressive behavior
weight loss
insomnia
behavior resembling paranoid schizophrenia
decreased social life
malnutrition
poor coping abilities
disturbance of personality development
lowered resistance to illnesses
liver damage
stroke
death

Methamphetamines cause a severe crash after the effects wear off. The crash, or low feeling is more intense and longer lasting than both speed and cocaine.

The effects are not only long lasting, but continue to cause damage to the user long after use has stopped. Methamphetamine abuse can also lead to legal, financial, and social problems. Addiction to methamphetamine can be very strong, therefore withdrawal symptoms are likely when use of the drug is discontinued.

WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

severe craving
insomnia
restlessness
mental confusion
depression

The Twelve Steps		The Twelve Traditions
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptlym admitted it. 11. Sought though prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.		1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity. 2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. 3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. 4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole. 5. Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. 6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. 7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. 8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers. 9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. 10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy. 11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films. 12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.