Welcome Home

OUR HOPE IS

That no addict seeking recovery need ever die from the horrors of addiction.

OUR MESSAGE IS

That an addict, any addict can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.

N.A. is a non-profit fellowship of recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using.

The Greater Pensacola Area of Narcotics Anonymous serves Escambia, Santa Rosa, & Okaloosa Counties of North West Florida.

Need help now?

Call our 24 Hour NA Hotline: 850-990-HOPE (4673) to talk to an addict in recovery or get information on upcoming meetings texted your phone.

You can also text your zip code to the helpline to receive meeting information near you.

Find a Meeting

View our online meeting schedule or print a schedule at home to find a meeting near you in the Greater Pensacola Area.

We have NA meetings in Escambia, Santa Rosa, & Okaloosa Counties.

Click here to submit a meeting schedule change.

The H.O.W.L.

The H.O.W.L. is GPANA’s annual spiritual retreat, held the first weekend of October.

Join us as we celebrate the freedoms of recovery surrounded in Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness, and Love!

Looking for birthdays and other local events?

Check out our calendar and local events page for more information!

Literature Highlight

Read today’s Spiritual Principle a Day daily meditation or subscribe to receive daily emails.

Read today’s Just For Today daily mediation or subscribe to receive daily emails.

Mental Health in Recovery IP (English, Spanish)

Suggestions for Everyone

DON’T USE no matter what
Ask your Higher Power to keep you clean
Come early and stay late
Get a homegroup
Go to 90 meetings in 90 days
Read NA literature daily
Get and use a sponsor
Work the NA steps with your sponsor
Use the PHONE
KEEP COMING BACK!
IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT.

Fun in the Sun

F.I.T.S. is the Alabama Northwest Florida Region (ALNWFL) of Narcotics Anonymous annual convention held in April. Find more information here!

Surrender in the Mountains

Surrender in the Mountains is the Alabama Northwest Florida Region (ALNWFL) of Narcotics Anonymous annual spiritual retreat held in September. Find more information here!

ALNWFL Region of NA

Find more information about meetings, activities, the Regional Service Committee (SRC), and more in the Alabama Northwest Florida Region of Narcotics Anonymous here.

“Addiction is a disease that does not discriminate, and neither does the program of NA… Our members come from every walk of life. We are not contained within political or geographic boundaries, nor are we limited by any individual differences in faith or philosophy. No matter what conflicts are unfolding in the world at large, we aspire to an ideal of unity: Our common welfare should come first. Our text explains that this unity of purpose helps us “to achieve the true spirit of anonymity” where all of us are equal as members of this group. With that as our foundation, we as individual recovering addicts are each able to find our own distinct voice and to sing a song that is uniquely ours.”

Preface to the Basic Text 6th Edition, BT pg xvii & xix

Just For Today

April 28, 2024
Who really gets better?
Page 122
"We can also use the steps to improve our attitudes. Our best thinking got us into trouble. We recognize the need for change."
Basic Text, p. 55

When new in recovery, most of us had at least one person we just couldn't stand. We thought that person was the rudest, most obnoxious person in the program. We knew there was something we could do, some principle of recovery we could practice to get over the way we felt about this person--but what? We asked our sponsor for guidance. We were probably assured, with an amused smile, that if we just kept coming back, we'd see the person get better That made sense to us. We believed that the steps of NA worked in the lives of everyone. If they could work for us, they could work for this horrible person, too.

Time passed, and at some point we noticed that the person didn't seem as rude or obnoxious as before. In fact, he or she had become downright tolerable, maybe even likeable. We got a pleasant jolt as we realized who had really gotten better. Because we had kept coming back, because we had kept working the steps, our perception of this person had changed. The person who'd plagued us had become "tolerable" because we'd developed some tolerance; he or she had become "likeable" because we'd developed the ability to love.

So who really gets better? We do! As we practice the program, we gain a whole new outlook on those around us by gaining a new outlook on ourselves.

Just for Today: As I get better, so will others. Today, I will practice tolerance and try to love those I meet.

Spiritual Principle a Day

April 28, 2024
Inspired to Understand
Page 122
"We begin to understand that other people have real feelings and that we are capable of hurting them if we are careless."
It Works, Step Nine

Active addiction causes us shame, and shame feels lousy. We learned to shut down our feelings, to turn our backs to our emotional well-being. Before drugs were a problem, they were our solution. Our preferred state—a drug-induced haze—made it easier to shut down those pesky feelings.

When we get to NA, we start to feel better; we start to feel everything better. Early recovery can seem like a feelings roller coaster that takes us from uncomfortable to exhilarated with every turn. Since numbing our feelings isn't a viable option, we take a stab at understanding ourselves and the effects of the disease. Step One helps us to see how powerlessness and unmanageability shaped our every attempt to control our drug use. We begin to identify our feelings and verbalize our thoughts and emotions. When members nod and laugh in recognition as we share, we experience how good it feels to be understood.

We are inspired to be more understanding and empathetic. We practice being thoughtful and kind, and others reciprocate. We gain an awareness of how our behavior affects others. We learn to practice discretion and keep our unsolicited opinions to ourselves at times. This is new! Where once we were careless, practicing understanding calls on us to be considerate of others.

We gain valuable insight as we inventory our behavior. Most of us find that we've been on both sides of hurt feelings. This brings our understanding of ourselves and others to a whole new level.

We gain additional clarity in the amends process. We rally the courage and willingness to meet with the people we have harmed, to own our mistakes, and to change our behavior. We apply the principle of understanding by moving through our lives with more care and concern. Because we're human, there will be missteps, but as members of NA we have a process for staying clear and current.

———     ———     ———     ———     ———
I have a choice about my behavior today. I choose to be considerate of other people's feelings and my own emotional well-being. I will allow understanding to influence my actions.