Today's Thought - April

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April 16

Nothing is worth more than this day.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Life—each day of it, each minute of it—is such a miracle. Let’s stop and think about it for a minute. Where does it come from? Why was it given to each of us?

Life is not the same for any two people. Every person has a life that is different from everyone else’s. Yet in some ways it is the same for all of us. We are all born, and we all die. We all lose people we love and welcome new people to love into our lives.

The flavor of life today—the exact mix of sunshine and clouds, happiness and sadness, courage and fear, love and loneliness—will never be the same again. Not tomorrow or the next day.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me appreciate the beauty of your world and the richness of my life today.
Today's Action

Today I will smile—at everyone.

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

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April 17

It is an old and ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.

~Rollo May

Our boundaries are both inside and outside ourselves. No one can set them for us; only we can set them. When we come into recovery, boundaries are often unfamiliar. We may wonder, what are they? How do we use them? Many of us come from families where, as children, our boundaries were disregarded, creating a pattern we continue to act on as adults.

Starting to set boundaries for ourselves takes time and practice. Because the experience is unfamiliar, we may often find ourselves veering between two extremes—holding back for fear of blurring our boundaries or acting as if we have no boundaries at all. But our willingness to set boundaries and stick with them brings us a clearer sense of who we are. We begin to learn where we start and end. We learn the same about other people. With boundaries come a new sense of self-respect as we affirm to ourselves that we are not objects to be trampled on or used, but we are human beings with dignity.

I know my own limits, and if I don’t, I have every right to learn them.

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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April 18

Touching Hands

If only all the hands that reach could touch.

~Mary A. Loberg

When we were using, we may have been surrounded by people, but we felt alone. When we were beaten down to the pits of despair, we reached for helping hands. We found many extended to touch ours.

We can never stand so tall as when we stoop to reach the searching hands of those who may need our help. We know that the hands we touch will give us still more strength to work our program and carry our message of love.

Now we, too, are willing to reach out to help others who are still suffering, whether they’re in the program or not. We want to give them the “hand up” we got from our friends and sponsor.

Unless my hands touch others, my recovery program will not survive. This union of hands is one of the secrets of its success.

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

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April 19

Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.

~Anonymous

Surges of anger may come to us unbidden, but we don’t have to let anger lead us around by the nose. Allowing anger to color our attitudes and control our behavior is entirely up to us. Many of us are ruled by anger. This is destructive, both physically and spiritually. Not only is anger a corrosive emotion that eats at our stomach lining and our serenity, it also separates us from our Higher Power.

Many of us find relief from anger in our Twelve Step recovery programs. We learn to accept things we can’t change. Our furious reactions to people, places, and things that are not under our control subside when we turn them over to God.

Many of us suppress our anger. We would do better to acknowledge it and forgive. Above all, we need to ask for help. It works. God offers us freedom from anger, which is the same freedom we received from addiction.

If I can’t turn off my anger, I can turn it over to God.

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

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April 20

All of us have unique talents and gifts. No obstacle, be it physical, mental or emotional, has the power to destroy our innate creative energies.

~Liane Cordes

Believing this fully is difficult at times; for some of us, most of the time. But it is true. What each of us can con*tribute to the world is unlike every other contribution. Each talent is slightly different from every other talent and they are all needed. We are all needed.

Creativity—any kind—writing, photography, cooking, child care, weaving, managing, woodworking—nourishes the self that feels isolated and worthless. And as the self is nourished, it grows; it recovers.

Recovery means changing our lifestyle. It means reaching out to others and being there for one another. It means rejoining the human race by giving of ourselves. Our talents are the gifts the human race awaits—needs, in fact. Do we know our talents?

l will search out my secret dreams today. In them lie my talents. l will develop them. Help awaits me.

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

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April 21

Gossip needn’t be false to be evil—there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.

~Frank A. Clark

To be a friend is a trust placed in us. Naturally, as we get to know someone better, and we grow closer over time, he lets us into his more private and personal world, and he does that in a spirit of trust. In a sense, he is saying we may come past the fence that keeps most people out because he trusts us. Maybe he even lets us know some guarded secrets about his life. We need to be sure that we live up to the trust placed in us. Our self-respect and our character are at stake: how loyally do we honor that trust?

When we attend our meetings, we hear many things that are spoken in trust. Hearing someone’s story is a privilege and an honor, and with that comes our duty to honor and protect the privacy of our fellow members. When someone takes us into his privacy, it becomes our job to protect it. If we fail to keep his trust, it reflects on us as not worthy of the honor.

Today, I am grateful for the chance to know other men and women so well that they share their private lives with me. I honor that trust by protecting their privacy.

Today's reading is from the book Stepping Stones, More Daily Meditations for Men

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April 22

AA Thought for the Day

In AA we often hear the slogan “Easy does it.” Alcoholics always do everything to excess. They drink too much. They worry too much. They have too many resentments. They hurt themselves physically and mentally by too much of everything. So when they come into AA, they have to learn to take it easy. None of us knows how much longer we have to live. It’s probable that we wouldn’t have lived very long if we had continued to drink the way we used to. By stopping drinking, we have increased our chances of living for a while longer. Have I learned to take it easy?
Meditation for the Day

You must be before you can do. To accomplish much, be much. In all cases, the doing must be the expression of the being. It is foolish to think that we can accomplish much in personal relationships without first preparing ourselves by being honest, pure, unselfish, and loving. We must choose the good and keep choosing it, before we are ready to be used by God to accomplish anything worthwhile. We will not be given the opportunities until we are ready for them. Quiet times of communion with our Higher Power are good preparation for creative action.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may constantly prepare myself for better things to come. I pray that I may only have opportunities when I am ready for them.

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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April 23

An oak and a reed were arguing about their strength. When a strong wind came up, the reed avoided being uprooted by bending and leaning with the gusts of wind. But the oak stood firm and was torn up by the roots.

~Aesop

Within each of us, as in the reed and the oak, is a single characteristic which is both our strongest and weakest trait. The bending which keeps the reed alive makes it weak, we might think. Some of us see both sides of every argument and are good team players, fair judges, and compassionate friends. But like the reed—always bending to the needs of others—we may never know what we want or who we are.

Some of us believe we are like the oak: strong and tough and successful in the face of most difficulty. But we may never learn to accept flaws in ourselves.

We are wise to remember that no trait is strong or weak, but we make it so by how we use it. We can use our strength to stand straight in the face of hardship, and we can use our strength to bend.

What is my strongest and weakest trait?

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

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April 24

One of the most important parts of the AA program is to give our drink problem to God honestly and fully.

~Twenty-Four Hours a Day

We don’t handle our drinking or other drug problem. We don’t take care of this problem by ourselves. We turn our problem over to our Higher Power. We need to be very clear about this; we can’t handle our drinking or other drug problem! Our Higher Power keeps us sober through the Steps and the fellowship of the program.

Our job is to hand over our problem to our Higher Power. We do this daily by acting like sober people.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I know I can’t handle drinking and using other drugs. I turn my problem over to You. Please take from me the urge to drink or use.
Action for the Day

Today, I’ll remember why I can’t handle or take care of my problem with alcohol or other drugs. And I’ll remember why my Higher Power can.

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

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April 25

It is extraordinary how extraordinary the ordinary person is.

~George F. Will

At our meetings, we often hear stories of the courage of ordinary people and their triumph against great odds. When we hear of a person’s life being restored, we are witnesses to miracles. Our friends are heroes, and so are we. As a man describes his passage from insanity to recovery, we are moved.

Whenever we are truly open to knowing the people around us, whether at a meeting or in getting to know a neighbor, we will see heroism. It is amazing that when we get to know most people, and hear what their lives have been like, we find so much to admire and respect. It is a privilege to have such friends. It is amazing that they are so abundant when we open ourselves to them. God truly does speak to us through others.

I am grateful when I think about the extraordinary people around me and the courage in each of them. I am grateful to be among them.

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

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April 26

Overcoming indecision

We often find it difficult to make simple decisions in our everyday lives. Sometimes the major decisions are easier to make than minor ones. But it is good practice to ask for help on any issue we need help with, major or minor, simple or complex.

Over time our Higher Power will help us see life situations with increasing clarity. Over time everyday decisions will become easier to make, and everyday irritations will stop paralyzing our thinking.

Am I conquering my indecision?

Higher Power, I pray for greater self-awareness and the willingness to ask for help with everyday indecision.

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

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April 27

Reflection for the Day

When a person wakes up each morning and rises through sweaty nausea to face frightening reality with bones rattling and nerves screaming; when a person stumbles through the day in a pit of despair, wishing to die, but refusing to die; when a person gets up the next day and does it all over again—well, that takes guts. That takes a kind of real, basic survival courage, a courage that can be put to good use if that person ever finds their way to recovery. That person has learned courage the hard way, and when that person finds recovery, they discover new and beautiful ways to use their courage. Have I the courage to keep trying, one day at a time?
Today I Pray

May I put the “guts-to-survive” kind of courage left over from my drinking and using days into good use through my recovery. If I was able to “hang on” enough to live through the miseries of my addiction, may I translate that same will to survive into my recovery program. May I use my courage in new, constructive ways.
Today I Will Remember

My Higher Power preserved me to help carry out my life’s true purpose.

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

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April 28

Loving others begins with respect.

So many books have been written on “how to love” that many of us assume we don’t know how and maybe will never learn. We can simplify the process, however, by focusing on the Golden Rule. For starters, we can treat others as respectfully as we’d like to be treated. People respond well to respect, and they often pay us respect in return.

Next, let’s put the needs of at least one other person ahead of our own today. It’s imperative that we do it willingly, not resentfully. We can ask God to help us. We’ll discover an unexpected benefit: Not being self-absorbed for a change is really quite refreshing.

Finally, we can ask God for freedom from the thinking that keeps us from loving others. Each person who enters our circle of experience today can be loved by us if we are willing to turn to God for help.

Loving others is easier if I keep it simple. I will focus on courtesy today.

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

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April 29

The inner magician knows that getting comfortable with uncertainty is a very useful skill. We are, in fact, dancing an eternal tango with the unfamiliar. Those many moments on our life journey when the universe does not seem to be aligned with our vision can be painful and obstructive. And it can be overwhelming when we’re faced with a big life decision. Thoughts of a new job, the next step in a relationship, moving to a new place, a big health decision, or the leap of committing to be a father can paralyze us. These large choices can unearth lots of fear and unfinished business—and sometimes push us back into our addictive patterns.

There are very specific steps that can help us to get unstuck. The first is to honor and accept uncertainty as our teacher. Uncertainty accompanies our most dogged attempts to figure things out. Not knowing what to do happens so often in life, we’d think everyone would get good and more relaxed about inhabiting our uncertain lives. A really common barrier to life’s flow is that most of us repeatedly respond to uncertainty with fear and withdrawal rather than curiosity and openness.

I will start to notice how I normally react to uncertainty in my life.

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

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April 30

Finding Our Own Truth

We must each discover our own truth. It does not help us if those we love find their truth. They cannot give it to us. It does not help if someone we love knows a particular truth in our life. We must discover our truth for ourselves. We must each discover and stand in our own light. We often need to struggle, fail, and be confused and frustrated. That’s how we break through our struggle; that’s how we learn what is true and right for ourselves.

Each of us has our own share of truth, waiting to reveal itself to us. Each of us has our own share of the light, waiting for us to stand in it, to claim it as ours. Encouragement helps. Support helps. A firm belief that each person has truth available—appropriate to each situation—is what will help. Each experience, each frustration, each situation, has its own truth waiting to be revealed. Don’t give up until you find it—for yourself. We shall be guided into truth, if we are seeking it. We are not alone.

Today, I will search for my own truth, and I will allow others to do the same. I will place value on my vision and the vision of others. We are each on the journey, making our own discoveries—the ones that are right for us today.

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