Progress rather than perfection

Reflection for the Day

On studying the Twelve Steps, many of the first members of the program exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.” “Do not be discouraged,” we’re told at meeting after meeting. “No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” Can I believe, in the words of Browning,that my business is not to remake myself, but to make the absolute best of what my Higher Power made?

Today I Pray

Even if I am an old hand at the program, may I not forget that the Twelve Steps do not represent an achievement that can be checked off my “things to do” list. Instead, they are a striving for an ideal, a guide to getting there. May I keep my mind open to deepening interpretations of these principles.

Today I Will Remember

Progress rather than perfection.

From the book A Day at a Time, Daily Reflections for Recovering People