Welcome to the County Line Area
of Narcotics Anonymous
Serving: Agoura Hills, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake Village in Ventura County, California
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Serving: Agoura Hills, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake Village in Ventura County, California
NA 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.
There are no strings attached to NA. We are not affiliated with any other organizations. We have no initiation fees or dues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to anyone. We are not connected with any political, religious, or law enforcement groups, and are under no surveillance at any time. Anyone may join us regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion.
We are not interested in what or how much you used or who your connections were, what you have done in the past, how much or how little you have, but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help. The newcomer is the most important person at any meeting, because we can only keep what we have by giving it away. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.
For more information on Narcotics Anonymous,
please go to the: Narcotics Anonymous World Services Website
August 18, 2026 |
"How long do I have to go?" |
| Page 240 |
| "The way to remain a productive, responsible member of society is to put our recovery first." |
| Basic Text, p. 106 |
| The meetings have been great! Each night we've attended, we've gathered with other addicts to share experience, strength, and hope. And each day, we've used what we've learned in the meetings to continue in our recovery. Meanwhile, life goes on. Work, family, friends, school, sport, entertainment, community activities, civic obligations--all call out for our time. The demands of everyday living sometimes make us ask ourselves, "How long do I have to go to these meetings?" Let's think about this. Before coming to Narcotics Anonymous, could we stay clean on our own? What makes us think we can now? Then there's the disease itself to consider--the chronic self-centeredness, the obsessiveness, the compulsive behavior patterns that express themselves in so many areas of our lives. Can we live and enjoy life without effective treatment for our disease? No. "Ordinary" people may not have to worry about such things, but we're not "Ordinary" people--we're addicts. We can't pretend we don't have a fatal, progressive illness, because we do. Without our program, we may not survive to worry about the demands of work, school, family, or anything else. NA meetings give us the support and direction we need to recover from our addiction, allowing us to live the fullest lives possible. |
| Just for Today: I want to live and enjoy life. To do that, I will put my recovery first. |
We experience peace of mind and freedom when we consistently work on our spiritual fitness. We get in a groove of daily inventories, prayer and meditation, and helping other addicts. The results are obvious, and it feels great to be comfortable in our own skin, connected to a Higher Power and to others in recovery. It's a beautiful thing--until we sabotage it!
Just as it's easier to keep a home tidy after we've done a thorough cleaning, steady work on our recovery yields consistently good results. And yet, it's so flipping easy to skip our daily inventory and, before we know it, several days or weeks or months have passed. It's no surprise when we lose perspective and our lives become unmanageable again. We sit down, reluctantly, and recommit to our Tenth Step. A sense of relief returns. Maybe next time, we'll only wait a few days before we sit down to write. Progress!
We may not be hardwired to persevere, but we get better at it with practice. We can start again at any time. We don't need to devolve into a state of desperation before we reach for solutions; today, we can be inspired to do the work of ongoing recovery. We notice the sense of ease we enjoy when we stay immersed in the process. We put one foot in front of the other and persevere.
Each of us develops a routine that works for us, built from the suggestions shared in the experience of others. "When I see a member struggling, I always tell them that my best days start with a quick prayer before my feet hit the floor," one member shared. Another shared about their eclectic approach to meditation: "A couple of deep breaths in the shower or a long walk after dinner does it for me." The trick is sticking with it and, when that fails, getting back to it.