Worthy and lovable

 

Every day is a fresh opportunity to love ourselves a little bit more and judge ourselves a little bit less. Growing up with overly critical parents, as many of us did, has made it hard to believe we're okay. But here, in a Twelve Step program, we receive the affirmation we deserve on a daily basis.

We are never going to be perfect. We can't even define what that means. Perhaps God is perfect. Elements of nature appear perfect. But we humans are flawed. And yet we are all okay just as we are.

Focus on others

 

This sums up how we used to live. We were all wrapped up in ourselves. We had to be on center stage. Our self-will ran riot.

Recovery pulls us out of that world. We learn to focus on others. We learn to reach out to them with love. This is the best way to love ourselves.

This doesn't mean that we live our lives through others. It means we invite others into our lives. It also means we ask to be invited into their lives. Recovery breaks down our self-will. It makes room for others in our lives.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I give You my self-will. I know that by giving this piece of myself up, You will help me do better.

Action for the Day

I'll list three ways my self-will has messed up my life. How am I doing at turning over these things to my Higher Power?

Surrender

 

After we've made a surrender, the drinking problem is out of our hands and in the hands of God. The thing we have to do is to be sure that we never reach out and take the problem back into our own hands. Leave it in God's hands. Whenever I'm tempted to take a drink, I must say to myself: "I can't do that. I've made a bargain with God not to drink. I know God doesn't want me to drink and so I won't do it." At the same time, I say a little prayer to God for the strength needed to keep the bargain with Him. Am I going to keep my bargain with God?

Meditation for the Day

Resentments

Resentments keep us in the past, a past that can never be relived. Resentments keep a stranglehold on our mind. They keep us from appreciating the beauty of a moment. They stop us from hearing the loving voices of friends. We forget that we have a mission to fulfill God's Divine plan for our life.

Fortunately, we can shake this hold on us, and our freedom comes when we decide to forgive whatever transgressions are made against us. This decision, with some practice, can become second nature.

Clearly the choice to resent no one is our opportunity to free our mind and heart for the real activities God hopes we'll attend to. Our purpose in this life goes unfulfilled when we're consumed by resentments. Now we have a program of recovery to help us develop a forgiving heart and find the peace and joy that are part of God's will for each of us.

Holding resentments against others hurts me. Forgiveness can make me glad I'm alive today.

 

Let me learn to really see

 

We human beings seem to prefer to be in the light. Most of us rely on the daylight to move around safely and do our work. In the light we feel like we have more control. At night, when the world is dark, we feel less in control. We do two things: we turn on the lights so we can continue our daytime activity, or we go to sleep.

But darkness has gifts for us—different gifts than we get from light. Darkness changes how we see things. In the dark we see less, but we pay better attention. As we let go of our fears and let our eyes adjust to the dark, we find that we can see more than we first thought.