Readings

Today's For Today:

"Strong hope is a much greater stimulant of life than any single realized joy could be." Friedrich Neitzsche

..."Hope brought me to Overeaters Anonymous. I needed to believe that I had within me the power to change, to grow.
"The joy of life today is in the constant flowering of hope.A problem is solved and immediately there is hope that an even tougher one will go the same way. When I most despair of finding a solution, the answer appears.
For today: There is powerful hope in admitting defeat, in giving up my mad exertions to control situations that are not mine to control.

Today's Voices of Recovery:

"True comfort is to be found in the balance and sanity of abstinence. So deep and pure is this comfort that it is well worth whatever trouble or pain i might have to pass through to attain it." For Today p. 253

"When I became newly abstinent, I went through a difficult time experiencing the pain which had been buried under food and fat. i felt it mostly at night." Yes! That's me! "Up came all the aches of the past: terrors, regrets, and deep, deep sadness." Okay, so I'm not the only one! There is hope! "I exorcised those ghosts with the help of my OA friends and the Twelve Steps. I used the tools of telephone and writing a lot. The support I redceived was incredible. I'm so grateful!
"Now true comfort for me is waking up with that clean, happy feeling, knowing I was abstinent the day before. True comfort is:
Hearing the birds sing
Breathing the sweet breath of life
Thrilling to the beauty of nature
Loving this moment
Loving the people I'm with
Being grateful all the time.
So deep and pure and satisfying is abstinence. i wouldn't trade it for anything."

So true.

Today's In This Moment:

"In This Moment, I feel whole"
And my online friends here have told me I would, and I do, often now.

"Often, I feel weary and depressed, dragging myself through daily life. I feel 'less than,' sad, and codependent.

"Not today!...My soul is filled with gratitude for CoDA friends and a Higher Powered experience."

Today's Language of Letting Go:

"Nurturing Self-Care
"...there isn't a guidebook for setting boundaries. Each of us has our own guide inside ourselves. If we continue to work at recovery, our boundaries will develop. They will get healthy and sensitive. Our selves will tell us what we need to know, and we'll love ourselves enough to listen." Beyond Codependency

"What do we need to do to take care of ourselves?
Listen to that voice inside. What makes you angry? What have you had enough of? What don't you trust? What doesn't feel right? What can't you stand? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you want? Need? What don't you want and need? What do you like? What would feel good?
In recovery, we learn that self-care leads us on the path to God's will and plan for our life. Self-care never leads away from our highest good; it leads toward it.
Learn to nurture that voice inside. We can trust ourselves. We can take care of ourselves. We are wiser than we think. Our guide is within, ever-present. Listen to, trust, and nurture that guide. Today, I will affirm that I am a gift to myself and the Universe. I will remember that nurturing self-care delivers that gift in its highest form."