Can you remember a time when you looked at the addicts recovering in NA and wondered, "If they aren't using drugs, what on earth do they have to laugh about?" Did you believe that the fun stopped when the using stopped? So many of us did; we were certain that we were leaving the "good life" behind. Today, many of us can laugh at that misconception because we know how full our life in recovery can be.

Many of the things we enjoy so much in recovery are gained by actively participating in the Fellowship of NA. We begin to find true companionship, friends who understand and care about us just for ourselves. We find a place where we can be useful to others. There are recovery meetings, service activities, and fellowship gatherings to fill our time and occupy our interests. The fellowship can be a mirror to reflect back to us a more accurate image of who we are. We find teachers, helpers, friends, love, care, and support. The fellowship always has more to offer us, as long as we keep coming back.

In active addiction, dishonesty was organic to how most of us functioned in the world. We did what we had to do to stay high; stealing and being manipulative and deceitful were among our strategies to meet that goal. We were chameleons more adept at figuring out who others wanted us to be than being ourselves. Our skewed perception was that the risk of being real outweighed its benefits.

Lifelong habits die hard. In early recovery, we often find ourselves embellishing our using careers or whitewashing our wrongdoings. We are quick to justify our behavior, blame others, and minimize our feelings. Some of us continue to steal, cheat to get ahead, or promote a clean date that isn't quite . . . accurate. But every time we come to a meeting, we hear that honesty is essential to recovery. We know that we're setting ourselves up for relapse if we don't start telling the truth and acting with integrity. We hear that lesson in others' stories.

So, we practice being honest in all of our affairs. We identify with other members—and vice versa—which encourages us to be more open. Our sponsor helps us to see that being honest is actually the solution to our problems. We adjust our stories to match the truth.

Gradually, as our behavior shifts, so does our comfort level with the truth. The perceived danger we felt at being truly ourselves is replaced by the gift of participating in reality and receiving support from our fellow members.

Like any defect, the impulse to lie comes back. Though it's not as habitual, dishonesty may be that rusty old tool we reach for in a jam. Nowadays, when we pop off a lie, it's painful. Our denial and justification wound us. Knowing ourselves and our defects well allows us to put some time between impulse and action. We are able to investigate the urge, forgive ourselves, and humbly ask for help to avoid acting on it.