Today's Thought - February

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February 1

AA Thought for the Day

We can depend on those members of any AA group who have gone all out for the program. They come to meetings. They work with other alcoholics. We don’t have to worry about their slipping. They’re loyal members of the group. I’m trying to be a loyal member of the group. When I’m tempted to take a drink, I tell myself that if I did I’d be letting down the other members who are the best friends I have. Am I going to let them down, if I can help it?
Meditation for the Day

Wherever there is true fellowship and love between people, God’s spirit is always there as the Divine Third. In all human relationships, the Divine Spirit is what brings them together. When a life is changed through the channel of another person, it is God, the Divine Third, who always makes the change, using the person as a means. The moving power behind all spiritual things, all personal relationships between people is God, the Divine Third, who is always there. No personal relationships can be entirely right without the presence of God’s spirit.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be used as a channel by God’s spirit. I pray that I may feel that the Divine Third is always there to help me.

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

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February 2

A person can grow only as much as his horizon allows.

~John Powell

Should you be a doctor or perhaps an astronaut? Maybe being a writer or an athlete appeals to you. Dreaming of what to be can be useful. It helps us set our goals and learn our values. Also, using our imagination lets us "try on" a future role. We learn about our life's direction through our dreams of where to go and what to do.

Not all dreams are helpful, however. Sometimes we daydream about other things when we really do need to listen. Learning how to use our imagination to guide our plans for growing up takes practice.

Imagining ourselves happy and brave will help us feel both. Imagining ourselves as failures can be just as powerful. Let's respect the power of the imagination and use it to form good images of our future.

How can I build goodness and success into my future today?

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

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February 3

Keep coming back.

~AA program slogan

Life is full of things we don’t want to do. Yet when all parts of us (mind, body, spirit) show up, things go okay. By being there, we can learn about ourselves and help others.

Showing up means we care about our program. It means we speak up at meetings. It means we care about our family, our friends, the world. It means we listen when a friend has a bad day. It means seeing ourselves in others. It means we talk to someone who bothers us. Showing up means we laugh when something seems funny. It means we cry when we feel sad. We’re important, and we need to bring our mind, body, and spirit with us—wherever we go. Have I learned to show up, all of me?
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me show up for my life. Help me show up to do my part in Your plan today.
Action for the Day

As I go through my day, I’ll think about how I’m showing up for my life. I’ll be proud of myself for doing my part.

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

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February 4

The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.

~Edward R. Murrow

We may reduce our difficulties with others to communication problems, yet the remedy may remain unclear. How can we become more responsible for our share of the communication? Can we stop blaming others?

When we improve in those ways, our relationships get better. Clear, specific, and direct language will help us be more responsible and less blaming. We can use simple words that expose the truth rather than words that hide or sugarcoat it. We can use specific examples and give details rather than generalities or hints. We can be more direct by using you and me language. In the process, we yield to the truth within ourselves—and become more honest.

Today, I will be aware of communicating clearly, specifically, and directly.

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

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February 5

Letting go of self-will

Self-will is what brought us to our knees. We must realize now that we can either make our will one with our Higher Power or we can remain separate. When we exercise uncontrolled self-will, things crumble before us, and often we find ourselves in the streets again. But this need not happen because now we know the difference; we have a choice.

When we let go and make our will one with our Higher Power’s, we have no trouble avoiding mood-altering substances.

Have I turned my will over?

I pray that I might let my will become one with my Higher Power.

Today I will let go of my self-will by…

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

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February 6

Reflection for the Day

Little by little, I’m getting over my tendency to procrastinate. I always used to put things off till tomorrow, and, of course, they never got done. Instead of “Do it now,” my motto was “Tomorrow’s another day.” When I was loaded, I had grandiose plans; when I came down, I was too busy getting “well” to start anything. I’ve learned in the program that it’s far better to make a mistake once in a while than to never do anything at all. Am I learning to do it now?
Today I Pray

May my Higher Power help me cure my habitual tardiness and “get me to the church on time.” May I free myself of the self-imposed chaos of lifelong procrastination: library books overdue, appointments half-missed, assignments turned in late, schedules unmet, meals half-cooked. May I be sure if I, as an addict, led a disordered life, I, as a recovering addict, need order. May my Higher Power give me the serenity I need to restore order and organization to my daily living.
Today I Will Remember

I will not be put off by my tendency to put off.

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

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February 7

To listen is to hear with one’s heart.

Keeping silent while a friend is talking should not be confused with listening. Dialogue can fill our minds even when friends are sharing the most intimate details of their lives. Why is it so difficult to listen?

Our listening impairment probably began in childhood. We feared we didn’t measure up, so we were constantly obsessed with what other people thought of us. Worry became a way of life, and we seldom distinguished between the trivial and the important. We learned to keep our minds trapped in thought.

Listening with our heart is a new skill. When we try it, we’ll first be touched by the emotion contained in the message being shared. Then our own worry thoughts will recede. Letting another’s pain or joy reach our hearts will enrich us. We will come to understand that paying loving attention to someone’s story will offer us answers we didn’t even know we needed.

It’s not coincidental if a friend comes to me in need today. I’ll receive the guidance I need through what is shared.

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

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February 8

It often seems that parents are always wrong, doing too much or too little, but never just enough. While it is true that they are often in error, they are usually doing the best they can, given their own upbringing and challenges. Every child receives both gifts and wounds from their parents. As we grow and evolve, our job is to learn to appreciate the gifts, even as we do what we can to heal the emotional injuries. As we learn in recovery, we cannot change the past, but we can alter our relationship to it. We do this by being willing to explore the darkness of some of the difficult things we experienced and by slowly connecting the dots to see how those early episodes still influence us.

Everyone harbors a shadow, where they tuck away things they would prefer not to see. It takes both courage and support to look at parts of our self that were rejected by our parents, society, and even us. Our shadow is a natural part of the self, a reservoir of human darkness, but also the wellspring of creative expression. We must first acknowledge and access it before we can accept it—thus bringing us closer to wholeness.

Shining the light of awareness upon the shadow of my family wounds helps diminish the pain.

Today's reading is from the book Cornerstones, Daily Meditations for the Journey into Manhood and Recovery

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February 9

Enjoying the Good Days

Good feelings can become a habitual part of our life.

There is absolutely no virtue in the unnecessary suffering, which many of us have felt for much of our life. We don’t have to allow others to make us miserable, and we don’t have to make ourselves miserable.

A good day does not have to be the “calm before the storm.” That’s an old way of thinking we learned in dysfunctional systems.

In recovery, a good day or a good feeling doesn’t mean we’re in denial. We don’t have to wreck our good times by obsessively searching for or creating a problem.

Enjoying our good days doesn’t mean we’re being disloyal to loved ones who are having problems. We don’t have to make ourselves feel guilty because other people aren’t having a good day. We don’t have to make ourselves miserable to be like them. They can have their day and their feelings; we can have ours.

A good feeling is to be enjoyed. More than we can imagine, good days are ours for the asking.

Today, I will let myself enjoy what is good. I don’t have to wreck my good day or good feeling; I don’t have to let others spoil it either.

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

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February 10

People may doubt what I say, but they always believe what I do.

~Ellie E.

It’s maddening and frustrating when people don’t believe what we say. Not that they think we’re liars, exactly—just that they don’t believe us. When we tell them we’ve made a commitment, for example, they may just roll their eyes as if to say, “Oh sure, tell me another one.”

Actions speak a lot louder than words. Before, maybe many times before, we might have told the same people about making the same commitment. And then we gave it up almost as soon as we said it. Eventually our words have no credence to anyone—including ourselves. If we want people to believe us, we have to follow up on what we say. If we say we won’t tolerate abuse, we have to do what it takes to stop it. If we say we are going to take better care of ourselves, we have to make a plan of action and stick to it. Talk is cheap.

It is amazing how quickly we can regain credibility when we walk our talk.

Today, I will be aware of talking a better game than I play. I will not say a thing today that I can’t back up with action.

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

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February 11

When all else is lost, the future still remains.

~Christian Bouee

Ours is a program of hope. We sit in meetings and give each other hope. For no matter how long we have been sober—five days or thirty years—there will be times when we feel horrible. This is life. In everyone’s life there are times of wonderful joy, but also times of incredible pain.

If we act from our values and the spiritual principles given to us by our Higher Power, pain will be transformed into growth and new understanding. Pain is transitory and softens with time.

These are the lessons of recovery. Bad times can be transformed into growth and joy.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I give you my pain and I ask you to show me the lessons I’m to learn. I ask for your help in holding on to hope. Help me to never forget that you and others are with me.
Today's Action

Today I will list the times during my active addiction that I felt most hopeless. Then I will think of what lessons I learned from these moments. How did others, my Higher Power, and I transform these moments?

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

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February 12

Only by caring for and loving ourselves can we feel safe. Many fears are born of self-loathing.

~Anonymous

The need to feel safe is primary within each of us. Without safety, life is frightening and overwhelming. Not feeling safe can even affect our will to live. Why go on when we feel alone in a hostile world?

As addicts who have been buffeted by our own and others’ actions, we need to put feeling safe at the top of our priority list. Safety involves setting boundaries between ourselves and other people. It means having our needs met. It involves affirming that we are competent and that we are lovable. It also requires inviting our Higher Power into what has been the void of our life. We can’t feel safe living in a void. We have to fill it with something meaningful, and the choices we make will determine whether we live or merely exist.

I am acknowledging my need for safety, and I am working to balance it with my desire for risk.

Today's reading is from the book Answers in the Heart, Daily Meditations for Men and Women Recovering from Sex Addiction

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February 13

Character

Character is what you are in the dark.

~Dwight L. Moody

We’re not born with character. We have to build it through patience, self-esteem, and humility. Character is never revealed by what we think or say, no matter how wise our thoughts or our words may be sometimes. Character is what we are underneath all the layers of our defenses that we show the world.

Character is an outer show of an inner glow that reaches others or pleases ourselves. It is a reserve force for all of us. Its usefulness goes beyond talent. Its greatest energy comes from personal relations with others.

Character permits us to welcome healthy criticism. It is a force that respects truth and develops will and spirit. It is positive. It stresses action and makes all of these qualities clear to others.

Let me examine my character and develop it with patience, self-esteem, and humility.

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

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February 14

Self-love is not opposed to the love of other people. You cannot really love yourself and do yourself a favor without doing other people a favor, and vice versa.

~Dr. Karl Menninger

Self-love is not the same thing as egotism. As recovering people, we hated ourselves for so long that we were crippled by it. Learning to love ourselves again becomes a form of therapy—and appreciation for God’s creation. And the delightful thing we learn is that we don’t love ourselves without loving others, and we can’t love others without loving ourselves. How wonderful!

We can’t begin to love ourselves, however, without other people. People are essential, and so is God, from whom all love flows. We are thankful for God’s love and ask God to teach us how to love others. And the more we practice doing loving acts for others, the more love we feel for ourselves.

I will practice loving myself today by loving others.

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

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February 15

Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.

~Amelia Earhart

We have learned from experience that a wave of peacefulness washes over us after we have successfully finished a task that was difficult to face. Courage has its reward. However, from time to time, and from task to task, we find we need the reminder that peace will come once the loose ends have been tied by us.

Our search for peace was desperate and unending in past years. Our fears overwhelmed us more often than not. Courage was seldom displayed. Tasks were often left half done or not done at all. Challenges went unmet. And peace eluded us.

We are so lucky that the program found us, and that we found the program! We are looking forward, at last, with the courage that trusting a higher power has given us. Peace is ours, now and always, as we go forth with the strength of the program to bolster us. New jobs, new friends, new situations may still elicit our old fears. But their hold on us is gone. We have learned that we face nothing alone. What relief that simple truth brings.

Courage is one of the program's gifts. I will have courage to go forward: to meet the new day, to handle whatever confronts me. Peace is coupled with courage, now and forever.

Today's reading is from the book Each Day a New Beginning, Daily meditations for Women