I was cured until I decided to be uncured. I willedaway the beneficence. I had known since, thatdevices ultimately would fail. Somehow, I hadto talk myself into getting smoke-free—or let-ting myself be talked into getting there. What Ivaguely knew then and more fully know nowis that I had to find a spiritual solution.

Almost three years ago, a pretty girl came upto me as I was smoking a cigarette after a churchmeeting for another program. She said “I gaveup smoking—You want to know how?!?” Real-izing I was kind of trapped, I weakly replied,“OK.” She said she had three months free of thenasty weed, and that the way she had gottenclean was through the magic/miracle of Nico-

tine Anonymous—which,incidently, she said, meetsThursdays at 7:30 East of theViaduct on Route 25A inRoslyn at the red-brick Trin-ity Episcopal Church. Partof me had known for a longtime that I had to quit—Iwas a pariah—but my heartwasn’t in it. Nevertheless, as

someone else so succinctly put it, I wanted towant to quit.

I attended one meeting a week, at first. Later,I tried a second meeting, the one in Wantaghon Tuesdays and then the Saturday late morn-ing meeting in North Bellmore. I liked the peo-ple I met and heard at the meeting. Theydescribed much of my story—they smoked foryears and years. Smoking was an escape fromfeelings, from dealing with people — from deal-ing with life. Finally, with the help of a sponsor

Ismoked for three-eighths of a century span-ning two millennia. In a million years on my

own, I felt I would always continue to put offdoing something about my addiction at leastuntil next week, and more likely until nextmonth or next year.

I remember the date I started smoking: May19, 1963. (How weird is that?) And it was gor-geous spring day in New Hampshire. I was a dis-affected freshman in college bent on rebellingagainst expectations of me. Over ensuing years,I remember seeing anniversaries of my smok-ing history come up and sweep me over like aninexorable tide—20 years, 25 years, 35 years. Iwas utterly discouraged as all those years inex-haustibly claimed more thanhalf of all the years of mylife. At least ten years beforequitting, I was diagnosedwith chronic bronchitis. Iwas always hacking andcoughing. Even the catwould move away when Ismoked. I knew I was dis-gusting—hell, I was dis-gusted with myself. My wife and daughtermoved out of the house (though not just becauseof my smoking). I more or less wrote off anykind of sociability with non-smokers. My daugh-ter, at the age of 12, on the front steps of hermother’s house, for all within earshot to hear,one day announced, “Pop, you smell!” She was-n’t telling me anything I didn’t already know.

I had tried hypnotism. It worked for aboutfive days. I tried the patch. It worked for theweekend back in May 1994 when I didn’t wantto hack and cough singing with 375 otheralumni at a school reunion concert. In each case,

Let Go or Be DraggedLadd, Long Island, NY

In This Issue

1Let Go or Be Dragged

by Ladd

3From the Chair,

Jan F.

7Sun, Sea, and Nicotine Free

in Santa Monica

8I Struggled Toward

the MiracleChristine

9The Book of Daily

MeditationsJennifer M., and Kate W.

10Can’t Wait for the

Conference!Ani M.

NAWS Statement ofCash Flows

11Letter from the Editor

Catherine C.

SEVEN MinutesVolume XIV March 2003 Number 1

The Nicotine Anonymous Quarterly

A Forum for Nicotine Users Who Don’t Use

continued on page 4

2 ■ Seven Minutes ■ March 2003

1. We admitted we were powerless over nicotine— that our liveshad become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restoreus to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care ofGod, 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 char-

acter.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,

promptly admitted it.11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious

contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowl-edge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, wetried to carry this message to other nicotine users and to practicethese principles in all our affairs.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous1. 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, promptly

admitted it.11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with

God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us andthe power to carry it out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carrythis message to other alcoholics and to practice these principles in all ouraffairs.

The Twelve Steps reprinted and adapted here with the permission of Alcoholics Anony-mous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps does notmean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery fromalcoholism—use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs and activities whichare patterned after A.A., but which address other problems, does not imply otherwise.

Our PreambleNicotine Anonymous is a fellowshipof men and women helping eachother to live our lives free of nicotine.We share our experience, strengthand hope with each other so that wemay be free from this powerful addic-tion. The only requirement for mem-bership is the desire to stop usingnicotine. There are no dues or fees forNicotine Anonymous membership;we are self-supporting through ourown contributions. Nicotine Anony-mous is not allied with any sect,denomination, political entity, orga-nization or institution; does notengage in any controversy, neitherendorses nor opposes any cause. Ourprimary purpose is to offer support tothose who are trying to gain freedomfrom nicotine.

Reprinted for adaptation with permis-sion of the A.A. Grapevine

Send letters to the editor, articles,stories, poems, artwork, or othermaterial for Seven Minutes to:

Seven Minutesc/o NAWSO

419 Main St., PMB #370Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Subscription requests, circulationadditions and deletions may be sent

to the same address.

Material can sent by e-mail to:

<SevenMinutesEditor@nicotine-anonymous.org>

All articles accepted for publicationmay be reprinted in outside

publications in their entirety at thediscretion of the chair and editor.

Your trusted servants, Donna E., PublisherCatherine C., EditorJoe S., Subscriptions

The Twelve Steps of Nicotine Anonymous

nicotine. Next, we want to make it easyfor visitors to navigate our Web site andwe want to stress a limited number ofitems on the home page. We want visitorsto our site to immediately be able to:

• Find a meeting,• Find out how to start a meeting, and • Buy our books and literature.

In addition, we wanted to solve a long-term problem we have always had withkeeping the information on our Web sitecurrent.

The What’s New Section is one of three“Client Content Management Areas” thatare incorporated in the site. The other areaswe have designated for this capability arePublic Outreach and Archives. These areasprovide us with the ability to post to andremove information from the Web sitewith a small utility the developer has pro-vided us. The individual performing thiswork does not have to be a programmer.For the first time an average individualwith average computer skills will be ableto keep our Web site current and up-to-

Nicotine-Anonmous.org

Hi, my name is Jan F. and I am power-less over nicotine. By the time you

read this, our new Web site will have beenoperational for several days. I am veryexcited about the potential of our new site.I would like to explain some of its aspects.However, before I get started talking aboutthe new site, I want to take a moment tothank two of the pioneers in our Webexperience who got us to where we aretoday. They are Bill P. who created our firstsite and Bill H. who created our secondsite. These gentlemen put in a great dealof effort to get a web presence for the fel-lowship and we owe them a debt of grat-itude. They, in fact, created most of thecontent used for the creation of our newsite.

We had several goals in mind for thedesign of our Home Page (see figure atright). We want the graphics of the newsite to convey a sense of freshness and free-dom. The graphics of the site are designedin a manner which we hope successfullyconveys those feelings. I believe we allexperience an incredible feeling of free-dom when we are no longer chained to

March 2003 ■ Seven Minutes ■ 3

From the Chair . . .Jan F., Newport Beach, California

continued on page 5

The new Nicotine Anonymous Home Page.

Here is the “Meetings” page. Finding a meeting in your area has been streamlined and is easier andfaster than ever. You can also make changes to your meetings on this page.

4 ■ Seven Minutes ■ March 2003

and a quit plan, they gave up smoking. Itwasn’t easy at first, but they stuck with themeetings, used their sponsors, and leanedon others in the rooms of NicA as a sup-port group. To a person, these now smoke-free souls had easy smiles, gratitude fortheir new-found freedom, and a tantaliz-ing peace that I could almost taste. Adrumroll started in my mind.

Week after week, I went to meetings—incredulous at all these people who weresmoke-free— some for only days, weeks,or months, and some for years. Such calm-ness, freedom, and happiness they had. Iwanted what they had. I craved their con-tentment. But—even after eight monthsof going to meetings—I hadn’t given upa single cigarette —not one! I wanted whatthey had! It wasn’t like I wanted themoon—these successful quitters were peo-ple just like me. I thought: There’s nomagic in this—all I’ve got to do is to stickaround long enough and I’ll catch on—or this new lifestyle will rub off on me. Ijust have to keep coming around. Theyreminded me—Don’t leave before the mir-acle starts. Anyhow, I’m a solid subscriberto the Rule of Living that 80 percent of lifeis showing up. Wow, I thought: All I gottado is show up!

In the first few weeks of meetings, I wasgiven chips as tokens—or messages— aWelcome chip, a Desire chip, a One-hourchip. About eight months into my meet-ings, I was given a Willingness chip. Thatwas it! I thought I had been hit with ahouse-full of feathers —all-encompassing,but painless—some kind of giant kiss ofkindness. Finally, I realized that all I hadto do was to let go. I had to open myselfto suggestibility of a new life-style. Aftersavoring vicariously the wonderful clean,free, joyous experiences of those who werenicotine-free in the rooms—I realized thatthis new way of life was there for the ask-ing —all I had to do was drop my guard—all I had to do was to let go of the old meand embrace a new me! As the saying goes,Let go, Let God. And the alternative, Letgo or be dragged (pun intended). God says,

Let there be light. He didn’t push, pull,and tug to make light. All my efforts atstrong-willedness, gritting of teeth, andclenching of fists to get my life right werefor naught. Changing my life involved nota cinching up but rather a letting go. Thatsimple, but, oh, how difficult!

Wow! What a relief! My Higher Poweris not a task-master—I was the task-master.And my Higher Power was found to be inthe warm, welcoming, wonderful peopleI found in the rooms of NicA. All I had todo was to emulate this terrific bunch ofquietly dedicated people. They were myrole models. I didn’t have to reinvent thewheel after all.

Instead of devising a 5-year, 117-stagewithdrawal plan, I simply decided on a Fri-day afternoon to buy one more pack ofcigarettes. I would smoke one half intothat night, and the other half Saturdaymorning with my pot of coffee— savingthe last cigarette for just before the 11:30North Bellmore NicA meeting. It worked!I had my last cigarette at 11:20 that morn-ing, November 4, 2000. My further planwas to wear a 14-mg patch for the ensu-ing several weeks, or until I could weanmyself from nicotine. So that afternoon,after the meeting I put on a patch. Thatnight I removed it.

The next morning, I thought I’d havemy pot of coffee, take a shower, and thenput on my next patch. I didn’t feel an urge,so I decided to go until I felt an irresistibleurge for nicotine. That overwhelming urgenever came again! THAT’S a MIRACLE!

I had smoked a carton of cigarettes (acombination of light and extra light) everyweek for the previous —God knows—twenty years? (Prior to that I smoked more,and stronger, cigarettes.) Inside of 24hours, all these bad habits disappeared—they were lifted from me: cup of coffee,hit my shirt pocket for my pack of ciga-rettes and lighter, pull one out and lightit up; telephone rings at home: hit my shirtpocket for my pack of cigarettes andlighter, pull one out and light it up. (Atwork, I was in a smoke-free building onthe 38th floor, and, because I’m a stock-broker, I couldn’t leave the office to havea cigarette between market hours—and

then some—8:45–4:15; I likened the lock-out from smoking to flying to Hawaii fivedays a week.); when I stopped in my carfor a traffic light (or anything else), hit myshirt pocket for my pack of cigarettes andlighter, pull one out and light it up.

My Higher Power thinks I’m a wuss, I’mconvinced of that. He made it so easy forme—once I let go. My requirement ofmyself to stay nicotine-free is to remem-ber I had precious little to do with myrelease from this obsession. All I did wasshow up, and give time, time. And if lift-ing the obsession meant showing up, thenstaying nicotine-free means continuing toshow up—and helping other nicotineaddicts. The Twelfth Step says I can’t keepit unless I give it away.

In the first months of being smoke-free,I had a wonderful, relaxing feeling of sail-ing aboard a massive ocean liner on a calmsea, in beautiful, clear weather. As we sailedsmoothly and inexorably away, the shoresof my former smoke-filled life retreatedsteadily in the distance. As time went on,I was struck by how comfortable I hadbecome in social situations. Formerly, Ihad always been on edge, looking for anopportunity, at most within an hour, usu-ally less, to indulge my habit. With help,the bondage of self is being relieved. Theincredible feeling of growing up—clearlyseeing, accepting, and liking reponsibil-ity—has struck me. I get this wonderfulsensation of life, not in black and whiteany more, but in living color.

I am in awe that, against all odds, I’mnow 2 years and 2 months nicotine-free.I pray that I will always be grateful to thebeautiful, caring people of NicA for myrelease from the obsession of nicotine andfor my new-found clean, joyous, and freelife.

Let Go or Be Draggedcontinued from page 1

March 2003 ■ Seven Minutes ■ 5

date. I posted a couple of flyers myself andit took me no longer than five minutes tobe trained. When the dust clears we willbe looking for volunteers to do this work.

The Find A Meeting section in the mid-dle of our home page takes the visitor toour searchable meeting databases. Thesearch functions from our old site areduplicated here. The third link, Start aMeeting takes the visitor to our StarterKit and all the other great information weprovide for those individuals who want toget a meeting going in their area.

Our Store gives members of our fellow-ship for the first time the ability to placeorders online. This section of the Web siteis secure due to the confidential nature ofthe credit card information. When youvisit the site you will notice that the creditcard information is on a separate securepage from the order. We have the mostcurrent level of security available on theInternet. When a visitor completes anorder it is forwarded to our office and ful-fillment center for processing. I am suresome of you would agree that our orderform is not the easiest one in the world tounderstand. I hope this capability willmake it extremely easy and efficient forour members to place orders by automat-ically computing quantity discounts, ship-ping charges and sales taxes in California.

The bottom right panel on the HomePage contains a feature I hope we can havesome fun with. This panel contains threeimages. Each time a visitor visits the HomePage he or she will see one of these threechanging images which continue to cyclethrough. Perhaps in the future we cansolicit new images from the members forthis section!

Looking across the top of the Home Pageone finds the main sub-pages presented:About Us, Outreach, Meetings, Publicationsand Service.

About Us contains useful informationabout our structure, etc. The Outreach sec-tion is one of those areas for which we have

From the Chaircontinued from page 3

Now you can easily go online to order literature, tapes, directories,and other supplies. This is the NicA Online Store Page.

continued on page 6

won’t have to keypunch any original data!I am confident this Web site will live up

to my expectations over the long-term. Itis now easier for a visitor to find a meet-ing, start a meeting, and buy our litera-ture. Over time as we learn how to takeadvantage of its capabilities we will findways to save our volunteers a significantamount of time while actually providingbetter information. I hope you share myenthusiasm for this valuable resource forour fellowship. Thank You, Jan.

contain all or portions of our book. The Meet-ings section also contains some interestingand useful features. Our members can nowfill out forms to Add, Change, or Delete ameeting online. Once an Add form is com-pleted and submitted, it is forwarded to theMeeting List Coordinator. When she is sat-isfied with its accuracy, she hits the “Update”icon and the Meeting List Database is imme-diately updated with the current informa-tion. If all new meeting forms were submittedon the Web our Meeting List Coordinator

big plans. We want our members and vol-unteers to be able to share experiences, postinstructions and ideas, and provide as muchuseful information as possible to make yourefforts successful in this area of paramountimportance.

The Publications page contains ourpamphlets in English as well as five otherlanguages. The pages for other languages also

6 ■ Seven Minutes ■ March 2003

From the Chaircontinued from page 5

Register Now! for

SUN, SEA AND SERENITYNicotine Anonymous World Services Conference XVIII

APRIL 25–27, 2003Santa Monica, California

Hosted by the Southern California Intergroupof Nicotine Anonymous

Share in the fellowship, participate in the workings ofWorld Services, meet other NicA members from all overthe country, share your experience strength and hope!

COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION FORM AT THE RIGHT AND MAIL IT IN!

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS: Delegates voting on newofficers and the recommended 2005 Conference site; featured speakers;inspirational gratitude meeting Friday night; Saturday business meeting and Saturday evening Banquet; Sunday sunrise meeting and

Brunch; Marathon meeting over the weekend; Hospitality suite; Post-conference cruise of Marina Del Rey on Sunday afternoon.

Items Cost # TotalConference Registration $15

Spouse, Family, Friend $ 5

Saturday Banquet– Steak $55

– Sea Bass $55

– Vegetarian $55

Sunday Brunch $30

Post Conference Cruise $35

Tee Shirts (Indicate qty by size) $10

___S___M___L___XL___XXL

Total

Name:

Address:

City, State Zip

E-mail address:

Telephone:

Delegate: Yes No

Please indicate which Intergroup:

NicA Conference XVIIIRegistration Form

Please make checks payable to SCINAMail to: 19744 Beach Blvd., #247, Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Registration Contact: Gary M., gbmgary@cox.netConference Chair: Nicholas V., ConferenceChair2003@nicotine-anonymous.org ; 310.391.3020

It was a humbling eight months. Manya meeting all I could do was cry. I thoughtthe miracle would never come—I was tooweak, too undeserving. But no one in themeetings ever said that. In fact, all I heardwas “keep coming back.” That much Icould do. Then I started hearing aboutpraying for the willingness to go throughthe pain. I could do that too. So I did. Ialso agreed to show up early to make cof-fee for the meetings. I joined a homegroup. And I prayed some more.

Then on April 20, 1992, I woke up andhad no cigarette. I went all day withoutone. And then the next, and the next.

It’s still that way. I show up each daywith just me and my Higher Power. No

nicotine. No smokes. Amiracle? Oh yes. It’s atleast that. Was it easy?Hardly! Especially not atfirst. But the difficulty haspassed. One day at a time,it’s gotten easier and eas-ier. Having the support ofmy meetings helpedtremendously. Knowingthat what I was goingthrough was normal andtypical of drug with-drawal helped too. Work-ing the steps helped. Andprayer most definitelyhelped.

Living life on life’s terms instead ofdrug-medicated has been a challenge tobe sure, but so worth it. Better than I’dimagined!

I am an addict, this I’ve come to know.I am one cigarette away from the insan-ity. But I also know that I don’t have tohave that one cigarette. There are manythings I can do instead. And my Programshows me that I needn’t even get near thatinsane wanting if I keep clear on God’s willfor me daily. And that knowledge is therefor the asking. Thank you God!

Next I contacted Nicotine Anonymousand began attending meetings. I knewfrom other Twelve Step experience it wasmy best bet for quitting.

I kept the gum up for about thirty days,but also smoked intermittently throughthat time. I knew the gum was a waste ofmoney and hope, so I didn’t get morewhen it ran out. Besides, by then I’d beento enough Nicotine Anonymous meetingsto know that for me, program was the onlyway to go anyway.

All I could do for a long time was go tomeetings and listen. I went to hear thetruth about cigarettes and about smoking.I went to find the magic that would helpme quit. I went to see the smiles and hearthe joy from peoplewith actual freedomfrom the drug. Ineeded to knowthat existed! Ineeded to see Icould feel OK againsomeday!

For eight monthsI went with little orno success. I’d notsmoke for a day,then smoke againfor two. I’d notsmoke for half a day,then buy a pack byafternoon. On andon it went, back and forth, up and down,wrestling with the demon nicotine. I’dsteal one from people at work too, or mymother, or bum one from a stranger. I stillthought somehow just one more wouldhelp, would make the withdrawal easier. Ifinally learned that only God would makeit easier. No cigarette ever could.

I also saw that I most surely was anaddict, for no sane person would steal likethat to hide their shame of having to use.Only an addict behaves like that. Only andaddict has to use. And that addict was me.

Inever thought I’d seriously consider quit-ting cigarettes, let alone actually DO it.

The idea was so scary, I’d put the thoughtout of my mind as soon as it came. Butthere I was, age 37, twenty (plus) years ofsmoking under my belt, actually thinkingit was time to quit.

I had worked a Recovery program forcodependency for nearly four years. I’dgrown in some real positive ways, butcould see that cigarettes were inhibitingmore growth. I wasn’t yet ready to admitto being an addict, but I’d learned thatsmoking was numbing my emotions. That,plus the fact that forty was right aroundthe corner, made me take a good, hardlook. I didn’t want to go into middle agestill smoking, and I didn’t want to staystuck in my Recovery. I was hooked on get-ting healthy—spiritually, emotionally, andphysically!

Of course deciding and doing are twodifferent things! It took eight more monthsof pain and struggle before I could actu-ally put down the cigarettes. I see now thatevery minute of that struggle, every suc-cess, and every failure was so important ingetting me where I needed to be to quitand to stay quit.

My first move, of course, was to try aneasier, softer way. I headed straight for thedoctor for a nicotine gum prescription. Heobliged, warning me that I’d still have to putthe cigarettes down and now the gum too!I figured I’d cross that bridge when it came.

My first “quit morning” arrived and Ipopped the gum instead of a cigarette. Notbad. I did this for seven days, gum insteadof a smoke. (Pretty non-stop chewing, Imight add!) Then on the seventh day I gotupset about something, reached into myboyfriend’s pack and smoked a cigarette.My whole week’s effort down the drain!And yet I could not stop myself. Thoughracked with remorse and guilt, I didn’t giveup. I did realize then though, that quit-ting was not going to be easy.

8 ■ Seven Minutes ■ November 20028 ■ Seven Minutes ■ March 2003

I Struggled Toward the MiracleChristina

March 2003 ■ Seven Minutes ■ 9

“We knew we would have to quit thedeadly business of living alone with ourconflicts, and in honesty confide theseto God and to another human being.”

—TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE

TRADITIONS, ALCOHOLICS

ANONYMOUS

Iwas having trouble sleeping, I justgenerally didn’t feel good. I had been

calling my sponsor every day for overfive months, but I was reluctant to lethim know how I was really feeling. Mysponsor had the tendency to ask me toread the literature when I wasn’t doingwell, and I didn’t want to bother withthat.

Finally I leveled with my sponsor,who pointed out I was trying to bargainwith God. I was saying, “God, if youjust let me have my way on this onething, I’ll continue to surrender to Yourwill for me.” I was refusing to surrender,and my sponsor told me I sounded quitemiserable. He was right. I was miser-able, but wanted desperately to behappy, joyous and free. Instead of giv-ing me the answers again, my sponsorsaid the answer was in the book if Iwanted to read it.

I was reminded I need to pray onlyfor God’s will, not mine, and continueto pray throughout the day whenever Ifind myself insisting on my way. Ifound relief.

Today, I thank God for my sponsor andall those who hold up a mirror so I cansee myself as I truly am.

h

The deepest need of man is the need toovercome his separateness, to leave theprison of his aloneness.

—ERICH FROMM

Peer pressure, the loneliness of lowself-esteem, and the sexual entice-

ment alluded to in movies may have allplayed a part in our early encounterswith smoking. A young person is tryingto develop an identity and a relationshipwith the world. This is usually doneawkwardly, often foolishly, sometimeseven desperately.

A youth wants to be somebodyimportant enough to have a connectionwith a group. To be denied this, ispainful; a living death to some. With thefocus on tobacco instead of their inse-cure selves, users may bond more easilybetween themselves. It was: light up andbe let in.

One of the strengths of a recoveryprogram is that each member is impor-tant and useful. There is a bondingthrough the courage to show up. Withsharing, the bond grows. Those stillsmoking keep the danger fresh for thosewho have put the drug down. Thosewho are clean offer hope to those whoaspire. Recovery becomes our new con-nection. We bond in celebrating ourdream, living free of nicotine.

Today, any sense of aloneness is com-forted by a Fellowship of support andcontact with a Higher Power.

h

"But" is a fence over which few leap.—GERMAN PROVERB

Take a moment and consider all thebig and little things you have

thought about doing during your life,"but." How many times have we put a"but" in our way and turned aside? Howmany times have we put a "butt" in ourmouths and turned aside? And howmany times have we felt like an ass or abutt because we turned and missed anopportunity?

Okay, take a good breath, this pro-gram is not about feeling more shame.Many of us have been trying too long tonumb ourselves from that. However, our"buts" list could be added to our FourthStep inventory. The more we see wherewe turned away, the more we see wherewe need to head.

I want to live my life without anymore "ifs, ands, or buts" . . . or butts!

May my detours be lifted so that I canmove more freely towards my desires.

h

The Book of Daily Meditationsedited by Jennifer M., and Kate W.

Following are three of the sixty-four submissions to the Book of Daily Meditations that were approved at the April2002 Nicotine Anonymous World Conference in Brooklyn. You are encouraged to share your experience, strength,and hope with others by writing for this book. Please consider contributing your own personal prayer, meditation, orfavorite quote.

10 ■ Seven Minutes ■ March 2003

� Birthday Gratitude �Name:

The above-named member of Nicotine Anonymous stopped using nicotine on _____________________,

and has ______ years of freedom!

Amount Enclosed $___________________ From: _______________________________________If you wish to remain anonymous, put “anonymous”

Mail to: Nicotine Anonymous World Services,419 Main St, PMB#370Huntington Beach, CA 92648 USA.

NAWS Statement ofCash Flows

January through November 2002

Ramona F., San Jose, CaliforniaSTATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Net Income 953.40

Adjustments to reconcile Net Income

to net cash provided by operations:

1200 · Accounts Receivable 1,141.98

1205 · Advances to Conference –500.00

1209 · Advance to Fulfillment 100.00

1120 · Inventory Asset 116.55

2000 · Accounts Payable –384.06

2200 · Sales Tax Payable –19.53

Net cash provided by Operating Activities 1,408.34

Cash at beginning of period 51,285.26

Cash at end of period 52,693.60

Thanks for sharing your birthday with us!

In two months I’ll be headingsouth from the Bay Area tothe 18th NicA conference inSanta Monica. I can’t wait! Irecall the 2001 conference wehosted here in Berkeley andthe fun I had. I met wonder-ful folks from all overthe country, heardinspiring and upliftingshares at the GratitudeMeeting and sharedmy gratitude, too. I had sixmonths clean time and wasso blown away by / enamoredby / jealous of the peoplewith two or more years. NowI have 21⁄2 years myself andam a very different person.

I’ll be attending this year’sconference in this new lovingrelationship with myself. Iam no longer killing myselfwith cigarettes, I am caringfor myself with honesty,healthy choices and love for

myself. I look for-ward to sharing myexperience,strength, and hopeat the conference

and attending the businessmeetings to help decide NicApolicy. I am so blessed to be apart of this family of NicA,this family devoted to shar-ing the truth about our livesand healing ourselves.

Can’t Wait for theConference!

Ani M., Berkeley, CaliforniaNorthern California Intergroup Chair,

BirthdayCongratulations

Congratulations andthanks to:Jim M., whose anniversarydate is 9/21/93:9 years nicotine free!

Send this in for yourself or a friend! Your birthday will be listed in Seven Minutes.

your friend’s) name will be listed in thefollowing issue of Seven Minutes.

Board Meeting in JanuaryI was fortunate to attend the quarterlyboard meeting in January, which washosted by my local Northern CaliforniaIntergroup. What fun! I enjoyed meeting(again) the members in attendance, andwatching World Services in action. It wasa long and information-packed day ofcompleting tasks, updating informationon current projects, unveiling the Web site,and sharing fellowship. I think what wasthe most fascinating to me was seeing theSteps and Traditions in action.

For me there was a feeling of being ina regular NicA meeting. Those present lis-tened to each other, everyone was free tospeak his/her mind, and a consensus wasarrived at in every issue.

There were none of the judgementalfeelings or power plays I have experiencedwhile working for large and small compa-nies in my past work life. There was respectand openness and everyone seemed to get

along really well! (I heard that this isn’talways the case, but I’ll have to see it tobelieve it!)

I was telling someone about my servicefor Nicotine Anonymous and how I some-times feel guilty taking time from my per-sonal life and relationship to be a part of thisorganization. My friend said to me that itsounded like I had chosen to be part of a suc-cessful family. What a concept! As an addictwho comes from a family of addicts, whatan amazing thing to realize that I am asso-ciating myself with a new family, a familythat respects each other, listens to each other,and shares their experience, strength andhope with each other. I am grateful to myfriend for pointing that out me, and I amgrateful to Nicotine Anonymous for show-ing me how to be part of a healthy family.

Hey! Where’s Your Submission?I’m still waiting to publish your story, poem,or cartoon. How many times have youshared your story in a meeting? Considersharing it here on these pages. Give hope toothers who aren’t able to get to a meeting.

Hello again from rainy California,where many of us are looking forward

to the upcoming conference in Santa Mon-ica. I hope to see and meet you there.

The Grand Opening of the WebSiteGo check out the new Web site! It’s fabu-lous! Jan and the board did a fabulous jobof revising the existing Web site, and mak-ing it very attractive and user-friendly.Hopefully this will make finding a meet-ing and ordering literature a lot easier! Besure to submit posters and information forupcoming events in your area. http://www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Birthday GratitudeYou’ll see on page 10 a new form calledthe Birthday Gratitude form. Please con-sider sending in a donation to World Ser-vices in gratitude for your years of freedomfrom nicotine. One suggestion is to sendin $1.00 for each year off nicotine, or ifyou’re feeling generous, send in more! Givethe coupon as a gift for a friend. Your (or

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