Today's Thought - March

[bluidkiti]

March 1

Positive Energy

It's so easy to look around and notice what's wrong. It takes practice to see what's right.

Many of us have lived around negativity for years. We’ve become skilled at labeling what's wrong with other people, our life, our work, our day, our relationships, ourselves, our conduct, our recovery.

We want to be realistic, and our goal is to identify and accept reality. However, this is often not our intent when we practice negativity. The purpose of negativity is usually annihilation.

Negative thinking empowers the problem. It takes us out of harmony. Negative energy sabotages and destroys. It has a powerful life of its own.

So does positive energy. Each day, we can ask what’s right, what’s good - about other people, our life, our work, our day, our relationships, ourselves, our conduct, our recovery.

Positive energy heals, conducts love, and transforms. Choose positive energy.

Today, God help me let go of negativity. Transform my beliefs and thinking, at the core, from negative to positive. Put me in harmony with the good.

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

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March 2

All things work together for good to them that love God.

~From Romans 8:28

Sometimes it's very hard to believe that God knows what He's doing. We are told to stop trying to control everything, so we do. We "let go." We "turn it over." We pry our grip off people, places, and things. As much as we want to hang on, we force ourselves to let God run the show. Then we wait and watch for the good things to start happening.

Most of the time, events continue to unfold as unevenly as they always did. Accidents happen while setbacks, injustices, and evil get rewarded, and good goes begging. We feel that our letting go is mocked, that God isn't doing a better job than we did. Why isn't He performing?

But God can write straight with crooked lines. God's timetable may well not be the same as ours. What is asked is that we learn to believe without seeing and to trust when it seems we could do so much better.

Today, I pray for the faith to go the distance. Like a child leaping into a parent's arms, I know that I am too precious to drop.

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

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March 3

He who helps a friend in woe is like a fur coat in the snow.

~Russian Proverb

We came in from a very hard life when we came into recovery, kind of like coming in from a blizzard in Siberia! The old life was dangerous, cold, and lonely, and it forced us to use all our energy just to survive. Sooner or later it would have killed us. We were definitely in woe.

Someone - a family member, a friend, a boss, a probation officer - offered us a chance to get sober. That person saved our life, as surely as if he or she walked out into a blizzard and wrapped around us like a warm coat. Thanks to our Higher Power, we accepted the help this time.

In the future we will have the chance to help others who are still out there freezing in the blizzard of addiction. We can offer them the kind of help that saved our life. We can't make them accept our help though. We just keep it handy, like a fur coat, in case they reach out to accept it.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I am willing to help another addict. I will be ready when you put someone in front of me.

Today's Action

Is there an alcoholic or an addict in my life I wish I could help? I realize that my example is the best way to show them recovery. I will talk with my sponsor about this person and how I am best able to help him or her today.

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

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March 4

Humankind owes to the child the best it has to give.

~United Nations Declaration

We need to be committed to recovery for ourselves, but there may be others in our lives for whom our recovery is also vital: our children, for example. The Twelve Step program's wisdom says that our children start recovering the same day we do. No matter what our family's past has been, when we recover, we know we have broken the cycle of addiction not only for ourselves, but for the children we cherish.

Our children can grow up healthy with the Twelve Step program to guide and educate them in the realities of addiction. They'll have a greater opportunity to flourish in the love and new way of life we are learning. To see them serene and reaching their potential can be one of the happiest gifts of our recovery.

God, with your help, my children will shine like the sun. Please hold them today in the palm of your hand.

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

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March 5

Sponsors: Have one, use one, be one.

~Anonymous

Before we were in the program very long, it was suggested we find a sponsor. We found an individual who had the kind of recovery we wanted. The purpose of finding a sponsor was to have someone who would guide us through the Twelve Steps and help us apply the Steps to problems we encountered.

Sponsorship is one of the important ways of carrying the message. Sponsors share their experience of working the program freely. They do not nag or manage our lives. At times, sponsors may appear to be very strict, but they're only trying to pass on their knowledge. They have a deep concern about our recovery.

The first thing my sponsor said to me was "Get a check-up from the neck up." I followed the advice. I am grateful for all the help my sponsor has given me.

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

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March 6

You must be holy in the way God asks you to be holy. God does not ask you to be a Trappist monk or a hermit. He wills that you sanctify the world and your everyday life.

~St. Vincent Pallotti

When we get interested in spirituality, few of us have any intention of getting carried away with it. We don't consider ourselves holy. We want simply to make use of the power we have learned is available to us for the asking.

But once embarked on this spiritual journey, we find that something is required of us. The love, the peace, and the joy that come to us - we have to pass on. This, however, does not mean we have to completely change our way of living. In fact, those of us new to living a spiritual life are advised to make no major moves at all. Maybe sometime in the future we will be called upon to turn in a different direction, but for now it is enough that we "brighten the corner where we are." If we submit ourselves to God’s guidance in our everyday life and see where it takes us, we will be doing all we need to.

I can live spiritually in the simple acts of daily living.

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

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March 7

As I recover, I am learning to detach with love and mind my own business with dignity.

~Kathy Kendall

Very few situations actually need our input. On most occasions we can contribute most by observing or listening. Although controlling how others live and think may still appeal to us, we are learning from our friends and sponsors the wisdom of detachment and the necessity for boundaries between ourselves and others.

Our desire to "help" friends make decisions may be rooted in love: we don't want to see our friends get hurt by making wrong choices. But the wisdom of the program tells us that we hurt our friends more by doing for them what they need to do for themselves. While this may be hard to believe at first, we can learn to trust that it is true. It is enough to live our own lives thoughtfully. We have been given a second chance through getting clean and sober. Now it's time to give our lives all of our attention.

Let's free other people to do the same.

I have enough to do just to live my life today. I can show my love for others best if I let them live their lives too.

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

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March 8

The problem is this: skills learned in danger require the presence of danger to be effective.

~Wayne Muller

Many of us had stressful childhoods. Some of us lived in chaotic households. Some of us were badly treated by the people we relied on to take care of us. Life often felt dangerous, but we developed skills to deal with the chaos. Some of us learned to keep things to ourselves, some of us learned to please those around us, and some of us learned to avoid all confrontation or disagreement.

These childhood skills, learned through hard lessons in the presence of danger, may have become fixed in our immature minds. But in our adult lives, those dangers may no longer be present. No one is beating us up anymore, but we are still flinching. The door is open for us to walk out, but we now must learn the skills of living in a safer world. We can take small steps by saying how we feel, by opening our hearts to trusted friends, and by asking for what we would like and being generous with others. These skills can be learned. As we gain this knowledge, we have more and more rewarding lives.

Today, I will take some risks that are my privilege as an adult, even if they seem risky.

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

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March 9

AA Thought for the Day

Since I’ve been in AA, have I made a start toward becoming more loving to my family and friends? Do I visit my parents? Am I more appreciative of my spouse than I was before? Am I grateful to my family for having put up with me? Have I found real understanding with my children? Do I feel that the friends I've found in AA are real friends? Do I believe that they are always ready to help me, and do I want to help them if I can? Do I really care now about other people?
Meditation for the Day

Not what you do so much as what you are, that is the miracle-working power. You can be a force for good, with the help of God. God is here to help you and to bless you, here to keep company with you. You can be a worker with God. Changed by God's grace, you shed one garment of the spirit for a better one. In time, you throw that one aside for a yet finer one. And so from character to character, you are gradually transformed.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may accept every challenge. I pray that each acceptance of a challenge may make me grow into a better person.

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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March 10

I never dreamed of so much happiness when I was the ugly duckling.

~Hans Christian Andersen

The ugly duckling was not really ugly at all; he was just different. The other ducks teased and pecked and even bit him until the ugly duckling flew away. He wandered around for a year, and was treated as an outcast everywhere. In the spring, he saw a group of swans on a lake, and wanted very much to join them. As he swam out toward them, he was astounded to notice his reflection in the water - he was a swan! The other swans welcomed him warmly, and found him to be beautiful.

Most of us go through times when we feel different from those around us. These are painful and lonely times, but it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with us. Like the ugly duckling, we will come into a time when we will be loved. All the pain and loneliness we have felt will help us fully appreciate the acceptance when we find it.

How can I treasure the ways I am different from others today?

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

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March 11

A person wrapped up in himself makes a small package.

~Harry Emerson Fosdick

This sums up how we used to live. We were all wrapped up in ourselves. We had to be on center stage. Our self-will ran riot.

Recovery pulls us out of that world. We learn to focus on others. We learn to reach out to them with love. This is the best way to love ourselves.

This doesn't mean that we live our lives through others. It means we invite others into our lives. It also means we ask to be invited into their lives. Recovery breaks down our self-will. It makes room for others in our lives.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I give You my self-will. I know that by giving this piece of myself up, You will help me do better.
Action for the Day

I'll list three ways my self-will has messed up my life. How am I doing at turning over these things to my Higher Power?

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

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March 12

There seemed not to be another living thing in all the world. There was something of bliss in this stillness, and something ominous too. It was the kind of stillness that beckons us to turn inward, toward the beginnings of our existence.

~Paul Gruchow

We cannot create profound stillness. We can allow it. We can move into it. We can receive it. Many of us have been frightened by such a stillness because we are not familiar with the spiritual moment. We felt moved, awestruck, and we may have run to escape that inward moment. Some men are endlessly busy just keeping the stillness at a comfortable distance. Many recovering men have unwittingly thrown themselves into a workaholic life because they were frightened by their emerging spirits.

We can change this pattern by allowing ourselves a little quiet at a time. At first, it may be just a few minutes alone. We may be more able to meet the stillness outdoors, or we can learn to be still in the presence of someone else. The stillness is a moment of meditation. It is contact with God.

God, give me the courage to allow spiritual experiences to be part of my life.

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

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March 13

Getting in touch with our feelings

When we were using alcohol and other drugs, we lost our moral path. It caused us anguish to feel one way but act another. Eventually we got so confused that we wondered how we really felt.

But now in the program, we want to get honest with ourselves. We want to know our feelings and be able to express them. After a while, those around us will begin to feel that they can trust us and depend on us.

Can I reveal my true feelings?

Higher Power, give me the courage to be honest with myself and others about how I am feeling, especially if it's not how I wish I felt.

The true feelings I will disclose today are…

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

[bluidkiti]

March 14

A Higher Purpose

One of my friends from the National Guard invited me to join her in Alaska for the summer. I left Oregon, sold everything, and went up there for the summer. Here I had this brand-new bachelor's degree, and I ended up being her babysitter. It wasn't what I expected or needed at that time in my life.

So I went back to Oregon, got employment. I found that my services were needed in the Job Corps. I wasn't the person who did the program, but I was the person who took the kids to meetings. This form of service work for youth contributed to my sobriety both personally and professionally.

Listening to others share their stories in sobriety is a form of service work - for them, for me, for all of us.

~Gayle C., U.S. Army National Guard, 1976–1980/1984

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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March 15

Reflection for the Day

All of us are faced with the troubles and problems of daily living, whether we've been in recovery for two days or twenty years. We'd sometimes like to believe we could take care of all our problems right now, but it rarely works that way. If we remember the slogan "Easy does it" when we are ready to panic, we may come to know that the very best way to handle all things is "easy." We put one foot in front of the other, doing the best we are capable of doing. We say, "Easy does it," and we do it. Are the program's slogans growing with me as I grow in recovery?
Today I Pray

May even the words "Easy does it" serve to slow me down in my headlong rush to accomplish too much too fast. May just that word easy, be enough to make me ease up on the accelerator that plunges me into new situations without enough forethought, ease off on the number of hours spent in material pursuits. May I hark to the adage that Rome wasn't built in a single day. Neither can I build solutions to my problems all at once.
Today I Will Remember

Easy does it.

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

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March 16

Becoming quiet brings the search for answers to an end.

Problems are opportunities for growth. They let us experience the wisdom of other people when we ask for help. They assure us a better connection to our Higher Power if we want it. And they give us chances to practice inner silence and find the place where all answers ultimately reside. Going within offers us profound calm, the love and the secure comfort of our Higher Power. Until we have sampled that gift, we can't fathom what we have missed in life. Acknowledging the presence of God changes every situation we encounter. It changes every detail of every day.

Let's not fear problems. Instead, let's see them as mere reminders that we have forgotten to remember the presence of our Higher Power. Taking a few moments to travel within will bring us clarity and comfort. Peace will come along with the problem's resolution.

I will receive the answer I need if I look in the right place.

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

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March 17

Whoever degrades another degrades me, and whatever is done or said returns at last to me, And whatever I do or say I also return.

~Walt Whitman

At times we feel profoundly alone. Although we've begun to understand the depth and importance of our connection to other human beings, that connection can still elude us.

Some of us feel anger, remembering ways we may have been treated by family, teachers, employers, mates, or acquaintances. Some of us feel guilt and regret about our own behavior toward others. As we work the Twelve Steps and feel supported and included by new friends in recovery, our hearts expand; we reach out to others, sharing our experience, strength, and hope. Over time, we begin to feel compassion for our former selves and even for those we believe harmed us.

Anger and shame don't end just because we enter recovery, but today we don't have to react with words or actions that disparage others. When negative feelings arise, we now can be conscious of the impact of what we say and do.

Today, I speak and act consciously, with respect for myself and others.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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March 18

Clarity and Direction

In spite of our best efforts to work our programs and lean on God's guidance, we sometimes don't understand what's going on in our life. We trust, wait, pray, listen to people, listen to ourselves, and the answer still does not come.

During those times, we need to understand that we are right where we need to be, even though that place may feel awkward and uncomfortable. Our life does have purpose and direction.

We are being changed, healed, and transformed at levels deeper than we can imagine. Good things, beyond our capacity to imagine, are being prepared and brought to us. We are being led and guided.

We can become peaceful. We do not have to act in haste or urgency just to relieve our discomfort, just to get an answer. We can wait until our mind is peaceful. We can wait for clear direction. Clarity will come.

The answer will come, and it will be good for us and those around us.

Today, God, help me know I am being guided into what's good about life, especially when I feel confused and without direction. Help me trust enough to wait until my mind and vision are clear and consistent. Help me know that clarity will come.

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

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March 19

I finally figured out that my dad's opinion was no better than his information. And his information was wrong.

~Dana J.

Until we embrace recovery, our opinion of ourselves is often based on faulty information. Usually, this is information we got long ago from people who didn't know the truth about what life could be, about their own worth and value, or about the beauty of other people.

When we received that faulty information, we used it to form an opinion not only of ourselves, but of other people and the world around us. Too often, those opinions hardened into "facts," and those "facts" entombed us in the past. We adult children are called to break out of that hardened emotional cement. We are called to understand the truth - that those who gave us that faulty information did not always know what the truth was. They just passed on what was passed to them.

We come to see a new truth: The world around us is largely made up of our own attitudes.

Today, I ask myself: Are my opinions really mine or were they given to me by someone else? On what truths are these opinions based?

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

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March 20

Perhaps nature is our best assurance of immortality.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Everything in nature contributes to something else - like the hundred-year-old tree that stood tall until a wind storm. The protection it gave to thousands of birds and squirrels it now gives to insects and fungi. As it slowly decays, it nourishes the ground, and from the enriched soil grow several other trees.

We human beings are part of this eternal cycle, our ideas and actions enriching those around us and influencing generations yet to come. Being part of this vast plan gives us comfort, and faith that everything that happens is meant to be. Our hearts fill with joy with the knowledge that we are needed, just as every tree is needed.

How do I fit into nature's plan today?

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

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March 21

Many brave men lived before Agamemnon, but all unwept and unknown, they sleep in endless night, for they had no poets to sound their praises.

~Horace

A recovering person told this story at a meeting: "I was living in a city with a large population of homeless and poor. Each day it was painful to notice the contrast between the beautifully dressed, seemingly self-confident people and the poor who shared the streets with them.

"One day I realized I could empathize with how those homeless people felt. I’d lived my whole life feeling I didn't belong, with no family I could turn to, and not knowing if I would survive another day in my addiction. The compassion I felt was a reminder to me not to form my opinions about people by how they look. It doesn't matter what people think they see in me, or anyone else. Each one of us is wounded. It's just that some wounds are on the inside instead of the outside."

Today I'll remember that we are all in this world together and for a purpose, no matter the circumstances of our lives.

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

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March 22

Friendship

The only reward for virtue, the only way to have a friend is to be one.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friendship is not a one-word motto to be hung on a wall. Friends are not statues to decorate a mantle. Friendships are as real to us as love and gratitude, and friends are as much a part of all our lives as the air we breathe.

Without friends, we could not enjoy the full benefits of recovery. All the truths we follow daily we receive from friends through hearing or reading their messages but mostly by watching them in action. Our primary goal is to add to our wisdom by giving. Without friendships, our caring and sharing would be empty gestures.

None of us needs ever to be alone again because each of us in our own way works for the good of others. We are bound together by a common problem and work together on the solution.

If I permit myself to become incapable of friendship, I will find that I will be unable to reveal myself to others and to my inner self.

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

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March 23

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.

~C. S. Lewis

In this hectic life, demands are constantly made on us - demands on our time, our attention, our skills. There are demands on all our resources, both spiritual and material. How can we meet all the demands? When we try, aren't we in danger of spreading ourselves too thin and not being able to satisfy anybody, including ourselves?

We learn, though, both from God and from experience, that the secret of happiness is in giving. It is the heart and soul of our spiritual life. We are always happiest when we are giving - of ourselves, our possessions, our money, our time, our attention, our tolerance, our patience, our appreciation, and our love.

It is hard to give too much. The more we give of ourselves, the more we give to ourselves.

I will give as much as I can, and a little bit more.

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

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March 24

Make lists; take action.

~Connie Hilliard

Our responsibilities can seem overwhelming if we let them pile up in our minds. Worrying about what needs to be done rather than doing it feeds our fear of inadequacy. We came into recovery certain that we didn't measure up, but if we use the program we can conquer those fears.

Focusing on "First things first" gets us moving in the proper direction. That slogan, coupled with "Keep it simple," can change how we respond to every challenge. We feel overwhelmed because we look at the whole, rather than at the individual tasks that need specific, manageable bits of attention.

This program and these Twelve Steps were created to help us stay clean and sober. But they can do so much more. They are a blueprint for handling every minute of the day, every person we encounter, every task that deserves our attention. Nothing piles up if we follow the guidance of the program’s architects.

I will not be overwhelmed if I keep it simple today. Doing one thing at a time is all that's expected.

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

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March 25

Solitude is important to man … It is his refuge when the very foundations of his life are being shaken by disastrous events.

~Margaret E. Mulac

In the modern world, it's much easier to pursue the busy hectic life of work and responsibilities than to pursue solitude. Even though we have often felt very alone, we have been afraid to be alone with ourselves. But it is in those quiet moments alone that we honestly meet ourselves and lay the groundwork to learn from our experiences.

When we are so busy with our intense daily lives, perhaps dealing with crises, and do not take any quiet time for ourselves, we cannot look at where we are going, and we cannot learn from all that experience. Just a few minutes to simply let ourselves breathe is a valuable gem of time set aside that enriches the whole day.

My quiet moments of solitude are precious elements in my growing sobriety.

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

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March 26

AA Thought for the Day

After we've been in AA for a while, we find out that if we're going to stay sober, we have to be humble people. The men and women in AA who have achieved sobriety are all humble people. When I stop to think that, "But for the grace of God," I might be drunk right now, I can't help feeling humble. Gratitude to God for His grace makes me humble. When I think of the kind of person I was not so long ago, when I think of the person I left behind me, I have nothing to be proud of. Am I grateful and humble?
Meditation for the Day

I must arise from the death of sin and selfishness and put on a new life of integrity. All the old sins and temptations must be laid in the grave and a new existence rise from the ashes. Yesterday is gone. All my sins are forgiven if I am honestly trying to do God’s will today. Today is here, the time of resurrection and renewal. I must start now, today, to build a new life of complete faith and trust in God and a determination to do His will in all things.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may share in making the world a better place to live in. I pray that I may do what I can to bring goodness a little nearer to the earth.

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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March 27

Looking for happiness is like clutching a shadow or chasing the wind.

~Japanese Proverb

We don't enter recovery and find that we are happy right away. Our program tells us that if we really work on the Steps, we will know a new freedom and a new happiness after we take Step Nine.

How do we get there? By trying to race straight to Step Nine so that we can get to the happy part faster? No. If we skip some Steps or work them poorly, our program is weak.

Working the Steps is like building a house for ourselves to live in. When we do it right, the house is strong and safe and warm.

Like a solid house, our life becomes a safer place to be when we work the Steps. By the time we work Step Nine, we have straightened out our big mistakes as best we can. We have gotten to know ourselves much better and learned to act in line with our values. We can be proud of ourselves. What do you know? We’re happy!
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I want to be happy. Help me do the things that will get me there, one step and one day at a time.
Today's Action

I will list five things I am happy about in my recovery. I will tell a friend what is special about these things.

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

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March 28

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

~Step Four

We avoid the Fourth Step. We put it off. We're scared of what we will find inside of us. We may find out we're mean, angry, selfish, afraid. We might see how badly we've acted to others, to ourselves. We have power to hurt, and we've used it. We all have these things inside of us.

We also have love, trust, faith, and hope. We love art, music, nature, or sports. We have power to heal, and we have used it too.

The Fourth Step helps us to know our inner power. As we learn about our own power, we can use it carefully, on purpose, to do good.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, as I get ready to look at my true nature, help me surrender to your power and allow it to flow through me.
Action for the Day

Today I'll watch my own actions and words. I'll see how my power affects others. I'll talk about this with my sponsor.

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

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March 29

Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart - it's all a man has.

~Hubert Humphrey

Some of us have doubted our inner voice so completely that we abandoned it totally. Many of us have discovered in recovery that by our denial we had violated our inner voice with lies, even to ourselves. Now we question whether we can trust our instincts, and we may not know what we feel.

Masculine spiritual recovery is a return to our guts and our heart. Standing up and speaking from our heart may be difficult at times, but our self-respect rises as we do. That is where we go for our final decision making. We develop better reception for the inner voice as we live this program. We accept that we are never absolutely right. We continue with humility, knowing we may be wrong and listening to others and our Higher Power. Yet we must live with our choices.

I will seek the courage to be faithful to my own instincts.

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

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March 30

Letting go of false pride

What’s going on when we say that some things aren't good enough for us? Some of us feel that if we can’t "win" at work, romance, or sports, we won't even play. This is called false pride.

If we are operating with false pride, chances are we'll also refuse help from others, the very help that might save our lives. If we can't accept anything from anybody, how can we expect to recognize and receive our Higher Power's big gifts for us? We need to work on false pride by accepting little things from others.

Am I letting go of false pride?

Higher Power, help me open up so that I can accept things from others, whether simple or grand.

Today I will work on my false pride by …

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

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March 31

Grateful for Recovery

I can connect the dots from when I had my first drunken blackout at nineteen until now. From that night on, alcohol was always a problem. I could never just have a drink and then go about the rest of my day. So as long as alcohol was in my life, I was never going to be as good a naval flight officer or as devoted a husband as I could have been sober.

Getting on the other side of active alcoholism and moving on to my life as a sober person has had many wonderful perks. My patient wife is much happier with me now. I'm now better able to reach my full potential in the Navy, because I didn't fully have my head together when I was drinking.

The other thing I didn't realize before I got sober is how many resources are available to individuals who are in recovery. Also, if you surround yourself with like-minded people who understand you, recovery will get a lot easier very quickly. I'm grateful for that too.

Today I will be grateful for the gifts of recovery.

~Guy C., U.S. Navy, 2005–Currently Serving

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