Today's Thought - September
 

September 1

AA Thought for the Day

When we came to our first AA meeting, we looked up at the wall at the end of the room and saw the sign: "But for the grace of God." We knew right then and there that we would have to call on the grace of God in order to get sober and get over our soul-sickness. We heard speakers tell how they had come to depend on a Power greater than themselves. That made sense to us and we made up our minds to try it. Am I depending on the grace of God to help me stay sober?
Meditation for the Day

Share your love, your joy, your happiness, your time, your food, your money gladly with all. Give out all the love you can with a glad, free heart and hand. Do all you can for others and back will come countless stores of blessings. Sharing draws others to you. Take all who come as sent by God and give them a royal welcome. You may never see the results of your sharing. Today they may not need you, but tomorrow may bring results from the sharing you did today.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make each visitor desire to return. I pray that I may never make anyone feel repulsed or unwanted.

Today's reading is from the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day: A Spiritual Resource with Practical Applications for Daily Life*

September 2

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

~Mother Goose

Poor Humpty ended up such a scrambled egg. Maybe that's what comes from sitting too long in one place, choosing neither this way nor that, playing both sides against the middle. Maybe he played too much politics, got too much advice, had too much to think about.

When the centipede was asked which leg he first moved when setting out on a stroll, he got those legs all tangled in his mind and couldn't walk at all. It is better to be simply moved by those around us, or by our Higher Power, with faith and love. When our thoughts fail, their hearts, hands, and eyes will show the way.

Do I sometimes decide my fate by refusing to decide?

Today's reading is from the book Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families*

September 3

In my view, we of this world are pupils in a great school of life.

~Bill W.

Our addiction has taught us much. It has taught us how far we can drift from ourselves, our Higher Power, and those who love us. Hopefully, we've learned we can't go it alone. Do I allow myself to learn from the bad things that happened?

Recovery has much to teach us too. We need to be students of life. We need to be open to learning. Our spirits can grow if we’re willing to do three things: First, we listen. Second, we think about what we've learned. Third, we turn what we've learned into action. Listening, combined with thought and action, will help us learn life’s best lessons.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, You'll test me so I can learn. Help me accept the tasks You give me. And help me learn from them.
Action for the Day

I will view today as a class. I will do three things: listen, think, act.

Today's reading is from the book Keep it Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve Step Beginnings and Renewal*

September 4

Time never challenged anyone or worked against them. Time was for silently marking the passing of the seasons. It was a thing to be enjoyed.

~Tim Giago

We have a choice as to how we view the passage of time. We can look at it as a gift to be enjoyed, marking the transitions and cycles of life. Or we can think of time as a long, thin string of pressures and frustrations - specific minutes and hours that we try to speed up or slow down. Our relationship to time is a very important part of our recovery.

We are learning to live in the present, one day at a time. We are letting go of the past. The future we place in trust to our Higher Power. Time doesn't work against us or challenge us, it just flows. This day need not be painless or close to paradise for us to live in the present moment. Being aware of our lives without struggling against time makes the day rich and full of meaning.

Today, rather than wrestling with time, I will be aware of my experiences and let time flow.

Today's reading is from the book Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men*

September 5

Caring for Our Physical Selves

One of the most important things I have figured out in recovery is that taking care of my body is good for more than just my physical health; it improves my psychological, emotional, and spiritual health. Importantly, I've also had to learn that caring for my body is not about changing my body; I accept my shape and my weight and no longer waste time wishing that either were different.

These days, I focus on things that make me feel better in my body. I try to get enough sleep at night, but I am also really into naps. I move my body - usually slowly - but I also like to get my heart rate up. I eat foods that make me feel good, but I no longer subscribe to the belief that food itself can be good or bad. I hydrate. And I follow a maintenance plan not unlike the one my car is on, with annual checkups, regular dental and eye examinations, mammograms, and even colonoscopies (because I had colon cancer that one time). I am not a master at physical health care, but one day at a time, I do my best. What do you do for your physical self-care?

Daily attention to the container that holds my life matters; so far, it's running pretty well.

Today's reading is from the book She Recovers Every Day: Meditations for Women*

September 6

Coping with fear

After getting sober, we may suddenly become very fearful. Situations that never bothered us in our using days loom up at us. Some of us feel terror when riding with a careless driver. Some of us feel panicky at the thought of a burglar. Some of us fear losing our jobs for no good reason.

As we regain our sanity, we may feel our lives become extraordinarily valuable. This is good, but it will help if we can practice trusting in our Higher Power and the fellowship.

In time, our fears will diminish. Am I learning to handle fear?

Higher Power, help me to believe that my process is normal and that I am not alone.

I will deal with my fear today by…

Today's reading is from the book Day by Day: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts*

September 7

Perseverance and Emotional Sobriety

Being sober in the military requires perseverance. Some days I don't have sobriety; I'm just dry. I'm pissed off, I am hot. It's 130 degrees, I'm wearing seventy pounds of battle rattle, and it feels like my brain is melting under this Kevlar.

I can't say in those moments that I'm feeling happy, joyous, and free. But what I do have is perseverance. The thing is, I know this is going to end. I know that I'm going to be able to get done with this tour; I know that I'm going to be able to get back to Minnesota where I'm going to freeze my ass off and have the polar opposite of 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Today I will remember perseverance, which can carry us through when we don't have that emotional sobriety.

~J. D., U.S. Army, 1985–1993/1998–2018

Today's reading is from the book Leave No One Behind: Daily meditations for Military Service Members and Veterans in Recovery*

September 8

Reflection for the Day

We are told in the program that no situation is hopeless. At first, of course, we find this hard to believe. The opposites - hope and despair - are human emotional attitudes. It is we who are hopeless, not the condition of our lives. When we give up hope and become depressed, it's because we're unable, for now, to believe in the possibility of a change for the better. Can I accept this: "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced"?
Today I Pray

May I remember that, because I am human and can make choices, I am never "hopeless." Only the situation I find myself in may seem hopeless, which may reduce me to a state of helpless depression as I see my choices being blocked off. May I remember, too, that even when I see no solution, I can choose to ask my Higher Power's help.
Today I Will Remember

I can choose not to be hopeless.

Today's reading is from the book A Day at a Time: Daily Reflections for Recovering People*

September 9

Prompt amends are easier to make.

The longer we avoid making amends, the harder it is, or so it seems. By doing a mini-inventory every evening and owning who we have been all day long, we get in the habit of "seeing" ourselves before the baggage piles up. Admitting our shortcomings immediately also keeps us aware of the progress we've made in changing our behavior.

It sometimes seems the founders of the Twelve Step program thought of everything. They emphasized that as important as cleaning up the past is, keeping the present free of new messes is even more important. We have been given a second chance for a really good life. Regardless of who we are sharing life with - people who are still actively using or people who are abstinent - our own lives will be what we make of them. Getting into the habit of admitting when we are wrong and asking for forgiveness will make every other part of our journey easier and a closer match to God’s will.

I am eager to change. My first task is to recognize at least one thing I need to do differently and to go about doing it today.

Today's reading is from the book A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance*

September 10

The Soul selects her own Society—

~Emily Dickinson

Some of us have open, loving, mutually supportive relationships with our families of origin; some of us are on a long, slow path of amends and reconciliation that we trust will bring healing where there has been conflict and pain; still others may have good reasons for choosing to maintain a healthy distance from our families of origin.

We are discovering profound connections with new friends. We have begun making deep connections based not on the accident of birth or the need for institutional or community approval, but on freedom, mutual trust, and loyalty. We are developing our families of choice and the communities that support and strengthen us.

Today, I am creating a family and community of my choice.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

September 11

I've started to realize that waiting is an art, that waiting achieves things.

~The Courage to Change,
Dennis Wholey

The people who are most successful at living and loving are those who can learn to wait successfully. Not many people enjoy waiting or learning patience. Yet, waiting can be a powerful tool that will help us accomplish much good.

We cannot always have what we want when we want it. For different reasons, what we want to do, have, be, or accomplish is not available to us now. But there are things we could not do or have today, no matter what, that we can have in the future. Today, we would make ourselves crazy trying to accomplish what will come naturally and with ease later.

We can trust that all is on schedule. Waiting time is not wasted time. Something is being worked out - in us, in someone else, in the Universe.

We don't have to put our life on hold while we wait. We can direct our attention elsewhere; we can practice acceptance and gratitude in the interim; we can trust that we do have a life to live while we are waiting - then we go about living it.

Deal with your frustration and impatience, but learn how to wait. The old saying, "You can’t always get what you want" isn’t entirely true. Often, in life, we can get what we want - especially the desires of our heart - if we can learn to wait.

Today, I am willing to learn the art of patience.

Today's reading is from the book The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency*

September 12

Yesterday's answer has nothing to do with today's problem.

~Stu B.

As little kids, many of us learned to disconnect from pain rather than to stay attached. We separated ourselves from the action around us in order to survive. Over time, what we did is what we became - separate. Having almost literally burned the bridge between us and others, we see now that we are stranded. The isolation that was meant to keep anyone from getting at us also keeps anyone from getting to us.

We need to rebuild the bridge. People, like islands, need ways to see and reach and touch hands over all that separating water. Making connections is the only way. Unless we can hear each other singing and crying, unless we can comfort each other's failures and cheer each other's victories, we are missing out on the best that life has to offer. The only real action takes place on the bridge between people.

Today, I ask my Higher Power for the courage to build another bridge.

Today's reading is from the book Days of Healing, Days of Joy: Daily Meditations for Adult Children*

September 13

It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

~J. K. Rowling

Many people with great abilities make bad choices. We just need to look around the rooms at meetings and we will see it. As addicts, we regularly chose alcohol or drugs over our family, Higher Power, and community. Our choices also affected our abilities. Then, at some point, we lost our choices, and our illness made our choices for us. This is what addiction is - the loss of choice.

Recovery gives back our sense of choice. Today we make different choices. We choose to go to meetings, even when we don’t want to. We choose to do service work. We learn a new way to walk through the world, a more human way. People see that we are making new choices, and over time they come to trust us again. This is another gift of recovery.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I choose to turn my life and will over to you. Please give me the wisdom to make good choices.
Today's Action

Today I will make a list of the everyday bad choices I made during my using years. Then I will ask myself, "Am I making the same choices today?"

Today's reading is from the book God Grant Me: More Daily Meditations from the Authors of Keep It Simple*

September 14

Anger

Anger is but one letter away from danger.

~Anonymous

Many of us once nursed long-standing resentments. Every time we thought about them, we got angry. What makes anger so dangerous is that it burns without consuming. It feeds on itself until it overwhelms all other emotions. Anger is poison.

When anger takes over, it acts with uncontrollable rage. We say things, feel things, and do things way out of line. Anger is emotional drunkenness. It leads to resentments, and it is a dangerous setup for a relapse.

Because we are in recovery doesn't mean we won't get angry, but the Steps give us a process of working through anger. We learn that what usually fuels anger is fear and guilt. When we deal with fear and guilt, we can dissolve anger. The remedy for fear is faith, for faith means courage.

When I replace my anger with faith, the fear and guilt that cause the anger are worked through, and the anger is reduced.

Today's reading is from the book Easy Does It: A Book of Daily Twelve Step Meditations*

September 15

All the good that has ever been or will ever be has its beginnings in God.

~Daily Word, July 11, 1988

Our inspiration to do small kindnesses for friends, our desire to express love for those persons dear in our life, our inclination to offer a smile to a stranger - all are reminders that God is working in our life. Our willingness to let God's will be felt by us and then expressed through us is the most complete contribution each of us can make to this spirit-filled world that is our home.

However, none of us is yet free from our ego that, at times, pushes us to act in self-centered, mean-spirited ways. When we aren't thinking of God first, we often aren't inclined toward expressing our better selves. Fortunately, our program helps us remember God throughout the day and, in turn, God gives us opportunities to exercise our willingness to be kind rather than mean and show we're thinking of others' needs before our own. With God's help each of us will share in making this a better world for all.

I will do my part toward a better world today by thinking of God during each encounter I have with another person.

Today's reading is from the book In God's Care: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery*