Twenty-four hours

Every night the river sings a new song.

~Eva-Lis Wvorie

Ours is a program of twenty-four hours. We are to live “One day at a time.” We are to live in the moment, for only in the moment can we connect with our Higher Power. How? By bringing life to the spiritual principles our Higher Power has given to us. By choice.

By choosing to live by spiritual principles, moment by moment, we stay connected to our Higher Power. We work to keep the channel open in order to receive the gifts our Higher Power wants us to embrace. To stay open and to live by spiritual principles is hard. Our instinctual side wants us to take the easier, softer way. In addition, we addicts are afraid of the future. We tend to focus on the entire journey instead of what is right in front of our face.

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

Surrender

From "God Is Good":

"Before A.A., I could not, or would not, admit I was wrong. My pride would not let me. And yet I was ashamed of me. Caught in this conflict, I banished God from my life because I felt He asked me to adhere to a behavior pattern too high for a man of my human frailty. Somehow, I believed that there could be no forgiveness of any failure, that God required me to be all good. The moral of the story of the Prodigal Son eluded me.

Since I thought trying was not enough, I stopped trying.

Forthright and Generous

As soon as we begin to feel confident in our new way of life and have begun, by our behavior and example, to convince those about us that we are indeed changing for the better, it is usually safe to talk in complete frankness with those who have been seriously affected, even those who may be only a little or not at all aware of what we have done to them. The only exceptions we will make will be cases where our disclosure would cause actual harm.

Perfectly Fine

After all this time, after all the practice I’ve had perfecting what should by now be perfected, I still don’t do it—anything—perfectly right. I am a perfect example of imperfection, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Perfection is an overrated and impossible goal—in fact, the act of chasing perfection makes perfect imperfect. Perfectionism sucks all the fun out of giving life a whirl.

Perfectionism is not a happy road to follow; it is harsh and demanding, full of judgment and fear.