Today's Thought - February

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February 16

You can either be a host to God, or a hostage to your ego. It's your call.

~Wayne Dyer

Some of us are fond of saying "the devil made me do it" when we've done something we're not too proud of. We might as well say "the ego made me do it" because the ego is our own personal "devil."

Sometimes we like to claim that we weren't in complete control of our actions, that we were overcome by an irresistible urge. We can't, however, say that with a clear conscience. At one time in our addictive past, maybe, but not now. Now, we can be responsible. An urge can overcome us only to the extent that we let it - only as we give it the power of believing in it.

We have a choice. We can listen to the voice of our ego, or the voice of God. How can we tell the difference? By how we feel. The ego's urgings always leave us with some misgivings. God's guidance assures us.

I choose to listen to the voice of assurance.

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

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February 17

The Seventh Promise

Self-seeking will slip away.

~Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

When we were using, constant self-seeking was our whole existence. Being forced to cut down or stop was impossible to imagine. It was an invasion of our right to live as we wished. It didn't matter that our choice was creating physical suffering and mental anguish for us and those who loved us.

We were always on the defensive. Our answer to any accusation or plea to quit was always "it’s none of your business," or "let me live my own life."

With abstinence, we began to practice understanding, humility, gratitude, caring and sharing with others, open-mindedness, faith in our program's recovery Steps, love of others, and belonging in a world of positiveness and action. We are beginning to attain a life where we realize we are truly people who need people.

When I became abstinent, I learned that making constant spiritual progress is what life is truly all about, and the self-seeking slipped away.

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

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February 18

I am a part of all that I have met.

~Alfred Tennyson

Too often we lose our way by forgetting that we are part of a community, a society, a world. When we were in our addiction, we closed ourselves off from others and drifted along alone. Fantasy, rituals, and acting out took us not out of ourselves, but deeper into loneliness.

As we go through life we make contact with others even if we don't always realize it. Looking, talking, smiling, touching, eating, walking, working, playing - all these activities are likely to bring us into contact with others. And the way we act and react does make a difference. Often a simple smile can make someone else's day. A hug breaks the ice of solitude. A kind word strikes a chord and is remembered.

Yes, we are part of humanity, and we get love and power from knowing this.

I want to feel part of a community of people in recovery.

Today's reading is from the book Answers in the Heart

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February 19

My thoughts guide my day. Noticing how I awake can help me save the day.

~Kelley Vickstrom

We may envy friends who seem happy and peaceful. Why aren't they troubled as we so often are? The fact is, we can take actions to become more content too. One of the simplest is to ask our Higher Power for a positive attitude before we even throw back the bed covers.

Being in charge of what we dwell on is easier than we might imagine. We can practice the art of focusing our minds on the positive. Begin by stopping a thought, any thought, in midsentence. Think, instead, of how lucky we are to be in recovery. Focus on a blessing that is obvious today. Any time an unhealthy thought surfaces, drop it, replacing it with a blessing. This can become a way of life if we make the choice.

We have felt enough pain and experienced enough harm. Today can be much better. And it will be, if we carefully select our thoughts.

I am as happy as I truly want to be today. No one can steal peacefulness from me if that’s what I really want.

Today's reading is from the book A Woman's Spirit: More meditations for Women*

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February 20

It’s often safer to be in chains than to be free.

~Franz Kafka

Some days we wish we could have stayed in a nice, safe detox unit or treatment center forever. Our choices and decisions were easier, and the temptations were farther away. Freedom is a challenge for us. We can do anything we want with it. But we had better choose a path and do what we really want to do, or our freedom will be our downfall.

Why? Because living with our freedom is like riding a bicycle. As long as we are willing to pedal our bike, we can go many places. If we stop pedaling, sooner or later we will fall over. We can do many things with our lives as long as we are willing to do the work. We can coast a bit to rest, but too much coasting means we fall over or go downhill.

Our recovery program teaches us to pedal - to do the work we need to do to stay free - and to use our freedom in the best possible ways.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, thank you for the freedom to choose what I make of my life. Please guide me as I pedal and help me find my pace and my path.
Today's Action

Today I will think about the times in my life when I enjoyed the ride. What choices was I making about how to use my freedom? What happened? I will talk about it with a friend and ask how it was for him or her.

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 21

AA Thought for the Day

I'm grateful that I found a program in AA that could keep me sober. I'm grateful that AA has shown me the way to faith in a Higher Power, because the renewing of that faith has changed my way of life. And I've found a happiness and contentment that I had forgotten existed, by simply believing in God and trying to live the kind of a life that I know He wants me to live. As long as I stay grateful, I'll stay sober. Am I in a grateful frame of mind?
Meditation for the Day

God can work through you better when you are not hurrying. Go very slowly, very quietly, from one duty to the next, taking time to rest and pray between. Do not be too busy. Take everything in order. Venture often into the rest of God and you will find peace. All work that results from resting with God is good work. Claim the power to work miracles in human lives. Know that you can do many things through your Higher Power. Know that you can do good things through God who rests you and gives you strength. Partake regularly of rest and prayer.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not be in too much of a hurry. I pray that I may take time out often to rest with God.

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 22

In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.

~Anne Frank

In the face of being hunted for extermination, Anne Frank could write this from her hiding place in an attic. Was she naive? No. She deeply believed in the goodness of creation and the goodness of all creatures, including those who persecuted and murdered her people.

Somehow, young as she was, Anne Frank knew a truth we sometimes lose: that it is not what people do that makes them good or evil. It is who they are. And for Anne Frank, all people are made in the image of God - and therefore, deep down at their core, must be good. She was able to see through the brutality and hatred to that true creation of God.

We are left in awe at such faith and love. But we can draw from it too, and when our brother or sister or parent or child does something to hurt us, we can remember Anne Frank's ability to see what is good. We can look beneath the hurtful actions and forgive.

Can I forgive someone who has hurt me today?

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

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February 23

Life didn't promise to be wonderful.

~Teddy Pendergrass

Life doesn't promise us anything, except a chance. We have a chance to live any way we like. No matter how we choose to live, we'll have pain and we'll have joy. And we can learn from both.

Because of our recovery program, we can have life's biggest wonder - love. We share it in a smile, a touch, a phone call, or a note. We share it with our friends, our partners, our family. Life didn't promise to be wonderful, but it sure is full of little wonders! And we only have to open up and see them, feel them, and let them happen.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me see the wonders of life today, in nature, in people's faces, in my own heart.
Action for the Day

I can help make wonderful things happen for others, with a smile, a greeting, a helping hand. What "little" things will I do for someone today?

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

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February 24

The body is the soul's house. Shouldn't we therefore take care of our house so that it doesn't fall into ruin?

~Philo Judaeus

Some men think it is a mark of a strong man to abuse his body and pay no heed to his health. Have we done this through drug use or abuse of food? Have we neglected our physical condition or health because of addictions or obsessions with other people?

To end abusive cycles, we need to act in self-respecting ways - sometimes before we feel self-respecting. Recovery and spiritual awakening involve the body, mind, and spirit. We need nutrition, exercise, sleep, and health care. Treating ourselves as worthwhile men helps us feel worthwhile. Tuning in to how we feel physically may give us some direction. As we sense how we feel, do we get some physical messages to guide our recovery?

I will yield to the messages I get from myself so I can enjoy the physical pleasures of recovery and give my soul a better home.

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

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February 25

Obstacles

Everybody encounters obstacles in life. There are the structural or societal obstacles that are difficult to break through unless you have the right amount of privilege and power. There are also the health and genetic obstacles that we can't control. But what about the obstacles that we can control?

Usually, it's easier to recognize external obstacles or limiting forces outside of ourselves than to acknowledge the obstacles that are self-imposed or self-created. Insecurity and self-doubt are the biggest self-imposed obstacles that I've had to overcome.

We can look at obstacles as signposts and indicators. We can observe them and be clear about them, but I've figured out the importance of not bulldozing or pushing through our obstacles. Rather, we can find a resting place to reflect and then design the best way forward. Sometimes obstacles are not meant to be overcome. I know this because I have been my own greatest obstacle throughout my life.

What obstacles do you face today? We may not be able to control all of them, but we can choose how we cope with them.

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

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February 26

Solving problems

If we start the morning feeling hopeless, our day doesn't stand a chance. But if we ask our Higher Power for help in the morning and then accept the help throughout the day, we won't have to solve any problems alone.

We will see that problems can be resolved, and we are responsible only for our efforts.

Do I leave the solutions to my Higher Power?

Higher Power, grant me the strength to ask for help and simply to do my part well.

Today I will work on three problems and leave the solutions to my Higher Power. The problems are...

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

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February 27

New Routine

I think we all still have a little manipulation left in us, no matter where we're at in sobriety. The Navy highly recommended I attend meetings, and I had to go get that stupid paper signed. I picked the treatment center director's wife to be my sponsor, because I thought it would look good on my record. They would be at the meetings, but I didn't know they didn't keep a record of my attendance. I honestly thought there was some chart or whatever.

Well, the thing is, they adopted me and treated me like a daughter. My first sponsor even coached me through labor with my oldest son. We developed such a close bond that, as the years went by, people new to the area thought my sponsor and her husband were my parents.

They spoiled me. They fed me. They picked me up and we'd go to their miniature farm. They'd have barbecues, meetings, and Easter egg hunts there. I told myself, Let's just try this on for size, because what's happening now is way better than what was happening. I can deal with this.

As I travel the road of recovery, I willingly welcome new people and new horizons into my life.

~Mary H., U.S. Navy, 1984–2004

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

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February 28

Reflection for the Day

Before we came to recovery, fear ruled our lives. Tyrannized by our addictions and obsessions, we feared everything and everybody. We feared ourselves and, perhaps most of all, feared fear itself. These days, when I am able to accept the help of my Higher Power, it makes me feel capable of doing anything I am called upon to do. I am overcoming my fears and acquiring a comfortable new confidence. Can I believe that "courage is fear that has said its prayers"?
Today I Pray

May my Higher Power help me overcome my obsessive fears. I have been running scared for so long it has become a habit. Higher Power, help me to see that I may be purposely clinging to my fears to avoid making decisions, perhaps even to shirk the responsibility of success.

Today I Will Remember

Fear keeps me safe from risk taking.

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

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February 29

Making a decision to let God give us guidance eases our burdens.

Our first introduction to Step Three scares many of us. "You mean I can't do what I want anymore, that I'm no longer in charge of me?" we ask. What we come to understand from the shared wisdom of other people is that a caring God, however we define God, will give us comfort, direction, and the sense that we are no longer ever alone. And once we have grown used to relying on our Higher Power for help, we won't want to go back to how we lived before.

How many years did we struggle to make the right decision? Oftentimes our decisions affected more people than just ourselves. We fretted over the long-term effects. But no longer do we need to lose sleep over any situation. Our reliance on the guidance we have been promised will take the worry out of our lives, giving us time to accomplish goals that have been long forgotten.

I feel as if I’ve been given a new lease on life. What a good landlord my Higher Power is.

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