Readings

Today's For Today:

"If i slip, I will try again. Practice makes perfect, and I expect to practice abstinence until I 'get it.' What is the alternative?
It's an encouraging sign to be able to give myself a chance to go back and do things differently, without judgment or self-condemnation. For example, did I really hear - and act upon - program suggestions and slogans such as 'half measures availed us nothing'; 'willing to go to any lengths'; 'keep it simple'; 'one day at a time'? Whether I am struggling with abstinence or personality defects, those are words on which I can rely.

For today: i will not waste time blaming myself, but instead, try again."

--

Today's Voices of Recovery:

"Each morning brings a new surrender, a new admission of powerlessness, and a new commitment to abstinence through Steps One, Two, and Three. It is a quiet time, a new beginning, a new day." Lifeline Sampler p. 69

"How am i going to spend today? Will I waste it by looking at my past mistakes, or by daydreaming, about what the future may hold? Living in today is often difficult. Once I let go of yesterday and tomorrow, I can live today to its fullest. Planning and dreaming will not change what my Higher Power has in store for me tomorrow, so I will turn that over and rest in the knowledge that I will be taken care of. This frees me to accept the gift of the present. It is what I do today that really matters. I can only be happy by spending today gratefully accepting who I am, what I have, and what I can do in this moment to better myself. Today will eventually become tomorrow, without my worrying or interfering with my Higher Power's plans. Let me live as if tomorrow is just another word in the dictionary. Let me live in today.

--

Yesterday's In This Moment:

"In This Moment, I am getting off the pity pot.

Early in my recovery, I resented that phrase, 'get off the pity pot.' I clung fiercely to my self-pity. It was mine. I earned it, and it was nobody else's business. In some vague way, I realized it was about the only shred of self that I had left. As time passed and I worked my program, I began to recover more of my authentic self. I had less need for my self-pity to survive and I came to see how destructive it is. In my codependency, I needed self-pity to survive, but in my recovery, self-pity only keeps me stuck in my misery.

In this moment, I let go of self-pity. Using the Steps and Traditions leads me to faith, acceptance, and serenity."

Today's In This Moment:
"In This Moment, I'm asking God.

I've been thinking about how often I complain to me Higher Power, whom I choose to call God. i say things like, 'I"m grateful for this, God, but...' or, 'I know I'm powerless, but...' Then the thought came to me: Don't tell God what to do! I describe the problem, turn it over, and then ask what I need to do.

When I do this with faith, God shows me what, if anything, I need to do. I trust that God's answer is better than any I could come up with myself.

--

Yesterday's The Language of Letting Go:

"Finding Balance

The goal of recovery is balance - that precious middle ground.
Many of us have gone from one extreme to another: years of taking care of everyone but ourselves, followed by a time of refusing to focus on anyone's needs by our own.
We may have spent years refusing to identify, feel, and deal with our feelings, followed by a period of absolute obsession with every trace of emotional energy that passes through our body.
We may succumb to powerlessness, helplessness, and victimization, then we swing to the other extreme by aggressively wielding power over those around us.
We can learn to give to others while taking responsibility for ourselves. We can learn to take care of our feelings, as well as our physical, mental, and spiritual needs. We can nurture the quiet confidence of owning our power as equals in our relationships with others.
The goal of recovery is balance, but sometimes we get there by going to extremes.

Today, I will be gentle with myself, understanding that sometimes to reach the middle ground of balance, I need to explore the peaks and valleys. Sometimes, the only way I can extricate myself from a valley is to jump high enough to land on a peak, and then slowly ease myself down."

Today's The Language of Letting Go:

"Good Feelings

When we talk about feelings in recovery, we often focus on the troublesome trio - pain, fear, and anger. But there are other feelings available in the emotional realm - happiness, joy , peace, contentment, love, closeness, excitement.
It's okay to let ourselves feel pleasurable feelings too.
We don't have to worry when we experience good feelings; we don't have to scare ourselves out of them; we don't have to sabotage our happiness. We do that, sometimes, to get to the more familiar, less-joyous terrain.
It's okay to feel good. We don't have to analyze, judge, or justify. We don't have to bring ourselves down, or let others bring us down, by injecting negativity.
We can let ourselves feel good.

Today, I will remind myself that it is my right to feel as good as I can. I can have many moments of feeling good; I can find a balanced place of feeling content, peaceful, and good."