God Grant Me . . .

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

What do we see when we look at people? What do we look for? Our society seems to tell us that how people look is the most important thing. If we believe that, we will miss out on their qualities that are really important. These qualities include how they treat people, whether they have a sense of humor, or if they're honest.

We must remember that material things don't have anything to do with friendship or love or trust. They don't offer us support or understanding. They don't teach us how to fill the loneliness in our hearts and offer love to others.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Help me be a real human being, Higher Power. Help me know with my heart what is truly important.

TODAY'S ACTION
Today I will sit down and list my qualities. I will work to be more invested in the spiritual way than in the materialism that surrounds me.

The persistent human cry is, "Hold me tight."
DONALD JOY

We need to be loved. We need to be held tight, and we need to hold others tight. Many of us are scared, and for good reasons. During our using years, we held tight to addiction, but this attachment created serious wounds.

In recovery, first we let go of old behaviors, attitudes, and ideas. Then we grab hold and hold tight to the Steps, our sponsor, the fellowship, and the principles of the program. The tighter we attach to recovery, the quicker its care and love become part of our being. The tighter we hold, the deeper the values of recovery get planted in our minds, hearts, and souls.

It is, then, our job to hold on tight and allow the safety of recovery to hold us tight. We need to go to meetings, call our sponsor, read, pray and meditate regularly, allowing the care found in the Third Step to grab hold of us and heal our wounds.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, I need Your love. Plese hold me tight, especially when I'm scared or when I'm angry. Hold me until I can feel Your love.

TODAY'S ACTION
Today I will meditate on how I can tighten my grip on recovery and how I can let recovery hold me tighter.

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
STEVEN WRIGHT

We need to make careful choices about how we spend our time. It's important to ask: Am I happy with the things I spend my time on? Do I find meaning in the things I spend time on?

When we are working, do we put our attention into our work? Do we spend enough time taking care of ourselves and our family? Do our friends add quality to our lives?

Addiction has taught us to waste our time on hurting ourselves. And it did become the most important thing in our lives. Taking back our lives, with the help of our Higher Power, means taking back our time to spend on the things that give--not take--life. One day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, there are so many dangerous moments in my day when my Addict wants to take me back to using or to using people and places. Please fill my time today with healthy thoughts and help me spend my time on living well, not on the slow death of addiction.

TODAY'S ACTION
Today I will make a list of the things that I need and want to spend my time on in order to be healthy and live a life I like and am proud of. Then I will consider how I can spend more time on these things.

Humans are smarter than people think.
EDDIE IZZARD

As addicts, we could be very ingenious at using our wits to create mischief or to manipulate things to our advantage. Now in recovery, we seem to get smarter when we can come together for the greater good, such as being of service to others. Recovery gives us back our brains and also gives us the gift of choice.

Recovery asks that we use our smarts to create miracles. We need to let our minds be guided by spiritual forces and then use them for good. When we do, we will surprise even ourselves at how smart we can be. We must ask ourselves, "Am I using my brain to make the world a better place or for selfish motives?"

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, You have given me back my brain; this is one of the gifts of recovery. Now help me use it, not in selfish ways, but for good.

TODAY'S ACTION
Today I will think of three specific ways I can be of service to others.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
WILLIAM JAMES

Our first job in recovery is to become sober. Our second job is to become smart so we can stay sober. Our third job is to learn how to make the most of our life.

Becoming sober takes awhile. Our ability to think clearly is impaired for a long time after our last use of alcohol or drugs. When we can think clearly enough to look for help, the program is there to help us. All we have to do is work for it.

Wisdom comes in as we learn to quiet the voice of our addiction and pay attention, instead, to the things in life that are truly important: our spirituality, our mental and physical health, and our relationships. We come to understand that we matter, to the people who love us and to our Higher Power.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, the Addict in me wants to make a big deal of all the wrong things, tempting me to relapse. Please help me quiet the voice of my Addict and pay attention, instead, to the important thing--living in Your care for me today.

TODAY'S ACTION
What Step am I working on today? This is a good thing to pay attention to. I will talk with my sponsor about it.

He who requires urging to do a noble act will never accomplish it.
KAHLIL GIBRAN

The Third Step speaks of willingness. Willingness puts our hearts and souls into the task at hand. Willingness doesn't get rid of the fears, but it helps us find the courage to work through them. Willingness doesn't give us the knowledge to solve the problem, but it may give us the energy to leave our isolation and seek out others with the knowledge. Willingness doesn't do away with ego; it just shows us an alternative to ego. Willingness is the voice of our Higher Power saying, "I believe in you and want you to do the same." Willingness is the seed wanting to break through the soil to see the light of day, to be what it is meant to be.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
I pray for willingness to do the next right thing. I seek courage, knowledge, the support of others, and my Higher Power's guidance.

TODAY'S ACTION
I will work to notice how willingness is behind all actions. I will work today to be a willing participant in my own life, and in my own recovery.

Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
MARK TWAIN

When we take Step Eight, we think about people we have harmed and make a list of them. We may have cheated, lied to, beaten up, or stolen money from these people. Some are people we asked to love us.

When we love someone, it changes us forever. It changes how we think about our lives. Loving someone makes up open and raw and tender and real. It makes us loyal and attached to one person.

If we asked someone to love us, we must pay attention to how our disease has affected him or her. Perhaps we couldn't help it, but this person was probably hurt very badly. How can we help him or her heal? How can we help this special individual trust again and love again?

This is one of the hardest problems we face in recovery. We can get help from professional counselors as well as our recovery friends when dealing with tough relatinship issues.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, help me face the pain my disease has caused those who love me. Help me careefuly decide how to make amends.

TODAY'S ACTION
Who are the people in my life that I am attached to? Is it a good attachment? What can I do about the attachments that are harmful?

The pleasure of criticizing robs us of the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things.
JEAN DE LA BRUYERE

Criticizing others is a defense against joy. Addicts become afraid of joy because this is what our illness attacks. Just as lung cancer attacks the lungs, addiction attacks joy and intimacy. Anything important to us will have to be betrayed or surrendered to our addiction. Over time, we become afraid to find joy in anything.

When fear overwhelms us and we seek refuge in the negative, let us remember our program. Recovery shows us through the Steps how to change bad into good, pain into joy. Being willing to invest in joy again will make us vulnerable. And that means we can be hurt again.

But now we don't stand alone. If we lose our joy, we know where to go to find it or whom to ask to help us create more. Are we willing to risk again, or do we hide in negativity because we're afraid to step back into life?

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, help me turn away from my desire to be negative. Help me be an example of joy in motion.

TODAY'S ACTION
Today I will think about the last time I was critical of something. I will talk to my sponsor about it and try to find the ways I was using being negative as a defense. How could I use the program to change that?

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
ee cummings

One of the true gifts of recovery is that we learn to laugh again. No matter how beat up our spirits have been by our addiction, no matter how heavy or hard our hearts have become, one day we find ourselves laughing. The lightness in our hearts lets us know life is good.

It may happen in a meeting as we suddenly stop taking ourselves so seriously. It may happen as we learn to socialize again and share a joke or score a goal in a group of our new friends. It may happen as we look into the eyes of someone who loves us and our hearts bubble over with joy.

Laughter heals us. It is one of our heart's songs. There is always some in our life, somewhere--and we need only look in order to find it.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Higher Power, please give me something today that will tickle me with joy or humor. Help me give in to the urge to laugh. I know my laughter is music to Your ears.

TODAY'S ACTION
When I notice something to laugh or smile about today, I will share it with others. Humor and joy are meant to be shared.

(please note that the author cited above actually used lower case signature in this format - he was a poet and painter. )

[She] didn't want her kindness returned. She wanted it passed on.
KAREN T. TAHA

Pass It On. Keep Nothing--Especially the Joy and Happiness You Experience. How crazy these types of statements sounded when we first heard them. We may have even said to ourselves, "Cheap little slogans." Now they echo in our minds and offer us comfort during troubled times. Now they are a way of life. Why? Because we're sefish and love joy and happiness--and working to make others happy about life creates more happiness for us! Recovery taught us that cheap little slogans were, in reality, challenges.

Our slogans teach us to Keep It Simple. When things get tough, Easy Does It is the way to proceed. When we want to hide in the past or in the future, we hear the challenge, Just for Today. When we get afraid and think that a lifetime of recovery will be too hard for us, cheap little slogans will save our lives One Day at a Time.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Others have given me their joy and kindness when I had none. Higher Power, help me to Pass It On.

TODAY'S ACTION
Today I will seek not to receive kindness, but to give it, expecting nothing in return, Just for Today.