Today's Thought - July

[bluidkiti]

July 1

Once I realized it was okay for me to think about and identify what I wanted, remarkable things began to take place in my life.

~Melody Beattie

Do we think we can't be happy until others are happy? Then nobody is happy. Our unhappy friends won't take our advice. They say, "Why should I do what you say? You are not happy either." And we answer, "I'll be okay when you're happy." We make them responsible for our happiness. What a mess!

We can only make one person happy - ourselves. How? By living as our Higher Power leads us. By working the Steps. By being grateful for the good things in our lives. By loving ourselves and others, just as we are.

And maybe when we’re happy, our friends will learn from us. They can be happy too. But only our friends can make themselves happy.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, as I do my part in Your plan today, help me feel connected to You and to life.

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July 2

If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more.

~Jules Renard

Spiritual and emotional growth is a process of raising our awareness. Reflecting on our growth as men, before this program and after, we see different levels of consciousness. Some of us might say we weren't at all conscious of what it meant to be a man by the time we entered the adult world.

Now we are forming an awareness of manhood. We see ourselves more as recovering, caring, strong, vulnerable men in relationships with others. We have an increased sense that our actions make a difference in our lives as sons, fathers, husbands, lovers, and friends. Our increased understanding of ourselves makes it possible to fulfill our potentials for growth. It is not idle fantasy to imagine beginning life again because, in a sense, we have. In recovery, it seems we have begun life again, only with our eyes a little more open.

Help me live this day with all of my awareness.

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

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July 3

Sharing our program

Sharing is truly valuable. It doesn't simply help the other guy; it helps us, too. By sharing how our program is working, we get the feedback we need (positive or negative) to see clearly. It helps us to see regularly how we are doing. We can spare ourselves unnecessary pain if we take our experiences to meetings for feedback. As we develop our lives, it helps to know what others are doing to develop theirs.

Am I sharing my problems and progress with others?

Higher Power, help me truly share my recovery so that I can help myself and others.

Today I will share my program with...

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

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July 4

I Will Use My Freedom Wisely

When I left the military and returned home, I had too much downtime. That is when I started drinking. At the time I believed drinking and partying was the best way to use my newfound freedom. But addiction is not freedom. Addiction controls us. We are powerless in its grasp.

Sobriety gives us the opportunity to find our own freedom. A truer version of freedom. Use this freedom to strengthen yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally. Use this freedom to serve your community. Use this time to connect with a purpose bigger than yourself.

You get to decide how to use your freedom.

Sobriety gives me the freedom I sought through my addiction. I am grateful for that freedom and will be mindful of how I use it every single day.

~Anonymous, U.S. Army, 2009–2016

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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July 5

Reflection for the Day

Long experience has proven that the program and the Twelve Steps will work for any person who approaches them with an open mind. We have to remember that we can't expect miracles overnight; after all, it took years to create the situation in which we find ourselves today. I'll try to be less hasty in drawing judgmental conclusions. I'll hang on to the expectation that the program can change my entire life as long as I give it a chance. Have I begun to realize that my ultimate contentment doesn't depend on having things work out my way?
Today I Pray

I pray for a more receptive attitude, for a little more patience, for a little less haste, and for more humility in my judgments. May I always understand that change will come - it will all happen - if I will listen for my Higher Power's will. Higher Power, grant me perseverance, for sometimes I must wait a while for the program's Steps to take effect.
Today I Will Remember

Patience.

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

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July 6

We find strength and hope when we share them.

When we first hear that we have to give it away, we are confused. What is it? And to whom do we give it? But listening to the men and women in Twelve Step programs clarifies many things for us. We teach each other the principles for easier living. We learn that by sharing our own experience of strength and hope, we make another’s journey easier. Even more importantly, we come to realize that what we share with others is oftentimes what we need a reminder of as well.

The program works and we all get better because of our willingness to listen to and share with others. Isolation no longer appeals to us. The joy we feel at not being alone with our troubles helps us give it away and receive it too.

I will look for an opportunity to share with a friend or even a stranger today. We will both get the help we need!

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

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July 7

God wants nothing of you but the gift of a peaceful heart.

~Meister Eckhart

The ability to keep peace within us is indeed a gift. We can cultivate the art of keeping peace in our hearts despite problems or challenges we encounter, despite others' words or actions.

One path to peace is remembering the difference between things we can and can't control. When we take actions that are appropriate in a given circumstance and let go of trying to predict or control their outcome, we will have mastered a major challenge to maintaining a peaceful way of life. Another path to peace is not to blame people or events for our negative feelings and attitudes, but instead to be willing to look at what we ourselves may have contributed to creating our own discomfort.

We don't have to be saints to create peace in our hearts. At any time during the day, we can step back from conflict within us or around us and breathe slowly, rhythmically, and deeply. We will be surprised at the calm that soon reenters our thoughts and visions of the world. Our serenity will help others to find the reservoir of peace in their hearts.

Today, let peace on earth begin with my peaceful heart.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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July 8

Insisting on the Best

We deserve the best life and love have to offer, but we are each faced with the challenge of learning to identify what that means in our life. We must each come to grips with our own understanding of what we believe we deserve, what we want, and whether we are receiving it.

There is only one place to start, and that is right where we are, in our current circumstances. The place we begin is with us.

What hurts? What makes us angry? What are we whining and complaining about? Are we discounting how much a particular behavior is hurting us? Are we making excuses for the other person, telling ourselves we’re "too demanding"?

Are we reluctant, for a variety of reasons, especially fear, to tackle the issues in our relationships that may be hurting us? Do we know what's hurting us and do we know that we have a right to stop our pain, if we want to do that?

We can begin the journey from deprived to deserving. We can start it today. We can also be patient and gentle with ourselves, as we travel in important increments from believing we deserve second best, to knowing in our hearts that we deserve the best, and taking responsibility for that.

Today, I will pay attention to how I allow people to treat me, and how I feel about that. I will also watch how I treat others. I will not overreact by taking their issues too personally and too seriously; I will not underreact by denying that certain behaviors are inappropriate and not acceptable to me.

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

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July 9

The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

~From Luke 16:8

When we think of our child within, many of us sense only the wounded child - the child who feels afraid, inadequate, needy, and shut out. It is true, of course, that we all have a child within. But that child is wise and strong, as well as wounded.

Beneath the fears and doubts, deeper than the guilt and shame, our inner child knows some truths that our adult selves aren't always sure of. That child, like all children, wants to imagine and play, to unconditionally love and be loved, to find out what's really important and to care about it. Even if the child was not allowed to act out those wants, the wants remain, stored away. Our child within still wants, craves, and reaches out for the eternal truths of successful living. We need to pay heed to our child's sense of wisdom and trust, as well as to give that child within us our adult capacity for sympathy and comfort.

I can allow myself a childlike wonder and curiosity. I will look at the world today with new eyes.

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

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July 10

Man loves company even if only that of a small burning candle.

~Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Our illness kept us alone. As it got worse, we placed alcohol or drugs ahead of people more and more often. And we ended up more and more alone. Even people we care about refused to be around us because of the way we acted. There were places we were not welcome anymore. Many of us got to a place where we couldn’t even stand our own company.

Being part of the fellowship of recovery means we never have to be alone again. This can scare those of us who learned how to survive alone. We pretended we didn't need others. We now need to allow ourselves to embrace our new friends and the fellowship of recovery. Within the fellowship, we will find people to be with. We'll also find the answers on how to live productive, joyous lives. The light of each of our candles burning together lights our way.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, you have brought me into recovery for a purpose. I don't always know the purpose, but I know I'm to help and nurture the fellowship. I'm to help others feel not so alone.
Today's Action

Today I will think of ways I may still be keeping myself alone. I will talk with my sponsor or group about how I can move deeper into the fellowship.

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

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July 11

Human misery must somewhere have a stop: There is no wind that always blows a storm.

~Euripides

It is easy to think we will always be in the same boat, that our characters are fixed, our habits unalterable. "This is who I am. You can take me or leave me." When we say that, we often really mean "when you know who I really am, you will leave me." And that's the ultimate position of the addict.

But no one is predestined to be a certain person or to behave in a particular way. And no one stops growing and changing. We have to have faith in the immense possibilities of movement and growth.

Life itself is more than winds and storms. It can be calm, changeable, hot, dry, mellow, promising, gloomy, bright, and serene, and we can match its immense diversity of moods. For we are part of life, part of all this wondrous change and diversity, and if we are not afraid to let ourselves go, we can be as varied and as flexible as life.

I don't believe that I am fixed in my ways or stuck in my addiction. I am learning to be open to all the changes that life can offer.

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

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July 12

Frustration

Nothing is unthinkable, nothing impossible to the balanced person, provided it arises out of the needs of life and is dedicated to life’s further developments.

~Lewis Mumford

In recovery we walk one foot in front of the other. We live life "One day at a time." We "Live and let live." These slogans we have in the program help with the frustrations we experience in everyday living. The fact of the matter is, most of us have spent so many years forcing our will on each situation that it is difficult to stop.

It takes practice and patience to slow down and let life come to us, rather than rushing off to make things happen. Our Higher Power has a sense of time and timing that will be revealed to us slowly. Frustration will not move a clock forward, change a traffic light from red to green, or make us younger. Frustration will only block our serenity.

The Steps teach me that it is sometimes necessary to do absolutely nothing. I can hear better when I am quiet.

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

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July 13

God is in charge.

~Daily Word, November 10, 1987

A basic truth in our life, about which we need never be concerned, is that we are in the care of a loving God - always. And we can feel and unquestioningly know this presence if we choose to acknowledge it. When we take a moment to reflect on our past good fortunes - that we found this program, that our relationships with others are on the mend, that we harbor deep-seated fear far less often - we can use them to bolster our faith that our Higher Power is here, now, and will remain our constant, caring companion.

For some of us, faith in a greater Power comes easily. But many of us begin to have faith only through Acting As If. By quieting our mind, visualizing a loving presence, and breathing in the warmth and comfort, we can find the peace that is God. Through "practicing the presence," we’ll strengthen our faith and ensure our peacefulness.

I can feel the peace I desire today through my own efforts to remember God.

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

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July 14

I like to look at perfection as continual expansion. It's only when I stagnate and am afraid of change that I am imperfect.

~Carlotta Posz

Perfection is a coat of many colors. Some people think we are perfect just as we are, simply because we are children of God. Others think that perfection is an unattainable goal because we must release all shortcomings and strengthen all assets to attain it. From sponsors we learn that any effort to live more peace-filled lives heightens our sense of a more perfect existence.

Perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Luckily, we are surrounded by loving friends who can help us see our progress when we are blind to all but our failed attempts.

Our attempts to grow, learn, change, and love others more fully will satisfy our Higher Power completely. These acts, repeatedly made, will cultivate in us the only perfection that truly counts.

I will do the best I can today toward my loved ones and all others I meet. If I do that, God will view my actions as "perfect."

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

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July 15

Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.

~Earl Warren

We have avoided conflict and sometimes taken the easier way when we should have stood up for what we believed in. We have procrastinated on difficult matters to keep the peace. Sometimes our fear of offending someone led us into dishonesty. We knew that if we said what we thought, or if we let others know our true feelings, we would have to deal with their reactions.

Great men do things that don't please everyone all the time. When we have true definition as a man, our boundaries will give others a target if they are looking for one. Perhaps, at work or at home, we have something we feel needs to be said, but we know it will displease others. Even our Twelve Step meetings take inventory on what is going well and what is not. So we learn to stand up for our beliefs and our principles. If no one ever gives us hell, we are probably not doing our best.

Today, I will act on my true beliefs and express my honest feelings.

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

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July 16

AA Thought for the Day

Until we came into AA most of us had tried desperately to stop drinking. We were filled with the delusion that we could drink like our friends. We tried time and again to take it or leave it, but we could do neither. We always lapsed into ceaseless, unhappy drinking. Families, friends, and employers threw up their hands in hurt, in bewilderment, in despair, and finally in disgust. We wanted to stop. We realized that every reason for drinking was only a crazy excuse. Have I given up every excuse for drinking?
Meditation for the Day

Many things can upset you, and you can easily get off track. But remember that God is near you all the time, ready to help you if you call on Him. You cannot forever stand against God's will for you, nor can you forever upset God's plan for your life, even though God's plan may be postponed by your willfulness and deliberate choice of evil. A whole world of men and women cannot permanently change God's laws or His purpose for the universe. The sea of life may look very rough to us, but we can believe that our Captain steers the boat on a straight course.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to steer a straight course. I pray that I may accept God's direction in my life's journey.

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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July 17

In uplifting, get underneath.

~George Ade

A sandpile in the summer is deceiving. The topmost sand burns hot on our feet. But as we push down toward the center, we come to a damp, cool place that soothes and oozes between our toes.

The nature of most things is not revealed at the surface. Like the sandpile, many people and situations we encounter are, on the surface, downright uncomfortable. The reward is in digging deeper - to the essential goodness, the core or meaning, the true friend. It takes time, a little knowledge, and abundant trust that we will not be burned.

What have I discovered by digging a little lately?

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

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July 18

When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade.

~Dale Carnegie

Our illness is one big lemon, but our recovery is lemonade! None of us signed up to be drunks or druggies, but we all signed up for recovery. That's when the happiness began. Yes, there will be pain, but the joy will far outweigh the pain. The sweet joy of recovery becomes our drink - our lemonade. And, do we drink!

We have new friends. We love ourselves, our Higher Power, our family, and much more. We are creative when we give joy, love, and help to others and to ourselves. If your lemonade isn't sweet enough, add more of your program to it.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, it's easy to forget how much You've given me. Thank you for all the joy and love You have given me.
Action for the Day

Today I'll write down what part of recovery I really enjoy. I will then share this list with my group or a friend.

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

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July 19

How should one live? Live welcoming to all.

~Mechthild of Magdeburg

Welcoming is a spiritual practice we met when we came to this program. We may recall our first meetings and how welcome we felt in this group of fellow sufferers. The group gave us hope when we felt desperate and continues to provide us with a nourishing place to grow.

To be welcoming means to accept others as they are, without passing judgment on their worth. It means to encourage them when they are despairing and to accept that they have a rightful place in our world. Welcoming is being generous with our resources.

We do not have to feel close to someone to be welcoming. We can welcome a stranger. As we practice this attitude toward others, regardless of their status in life, regardless of their good or bad actions, we are changed inside. We learn from the people we welcome, and we are reminded that in the sight of God we are all loved as equals.

Today, I will practice a welcoming attitude toward everyone I meet.

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

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July 20

Showing empathy

When we first got into recovery, most of us were quite unhappy. We were in pain; we were vulnerable. We were angry and impatient. We probably didn't like ourselves very much and may not have liked other people much. But what if others had treated us according to these feelings? Weren't we forgiven? Accepted? (And if we weren't, wouldn't it have been better if we had been?) Today, we see that we are the same as everyone else who is struggling to achieve or maintain a drug-free life.

If we treat everyone well, it will help us recover. Am I practicing generosity and compassion?

Higher Power, help me to treat others as I would want to be treated.

Today I will be especially compassionate toward...

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

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July 21

Hope

Recovery was always in the back of my mind, but I had given up on the idea of being able to recover. I didn't know where help was, and I didn't know how to get it. No one offered it to me. I thought you had to have people who cared about you. I thought you needed people to personally reach out and get you help.

I didn't believe it at the time, but law enforcement was trying to help me. One of the officers had told me so at one of my arrests. He said, "We’re going to get you the help you need today." I was just so mad at him. I was mad at the whole world. In reality, they were the ones who cared about me. Every time I caught another charge, I would get one step closer to being where I needed to be.

My probation officer was the one who finally did the intervention that I always wanted and needed. For that, I’m so grateful.

I have to be part of my recovery. God will help me move mountains, but I have to bring the shovel.

~Emil C., U.S. Navy, 1995–1997

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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July 22

Reflection for the Day

Self-pity is one of the most miserable and consuming defects I know. Because of its interminable demands for attention and sympathy, my self-pity cuts off my communication with others, especially communication with my Higher Power. When I look at it that way, I realize that self-pity limits my spiritual progress. It's also a very real form of martyrdom, which is a luxury I simply can't afford. The remedy, I've been taught, is to have a hard look at myself and a still harder one at the program's Twelve Steps to recovery. Do I ask my Higher Power to relieve me of the bondage of self?
Today I Pray

May I know from observation that self-pitiers get almost no pity from anyone else. Nobody - not even my Higher Power - can fill their outsize demands for sympathy. May I recognize my own unsavory feeling of self-pity when it creeps in to rob me of my serenity. May my Higher Power keep me wary of its sneakiness.
Today I Will Remember

My captor is my self.

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

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July 23

Living one day at a time simplifies our lives.

Honestly reflecting on our past convinces us that most situations we worried ourselves sick over didn't turn out as badly as we had imagined. Or if they did, our Higher Power helped us get through them. Generally, we worry about what we anticipate might happen tomorrow or next month. Our focus is seldom on this day.

If we could develop the willingness to live just the twenty-four hours before us, we'd hardly ever worry. However, we go through each day almost oblivious to its events. Our minds are somewhere else. Bringing them back to now benefits us in many ways. We can appreciate the sacredness of each interaction that God has given us; we can marvel at the beauty of life surrounding us. We can glean our experiences for God's special messages; we can feel how special our lives are in the grand plan designed by the Creator. None of this can we appreciate if we are not here, now.

Today is it. I can't be sure of tomorrow or next year. Thus I will keep my focus on the treasures God gives me today. They are meant for my special journey.

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

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July 24

I can bear witness only to the things which I myself endured and saw.

~Primo Levi

Each of us has a unique body of experiences, whether of suffering or of joy. In sharing with others what our past was like, we increase the store of truth in the world. It's a kind of generosity not to edit the truth by making things better or worse than they were. We help make it possible for others to identify with us emotionally and to remember events they've forgotten - to clarify the nature of their own experiences.

Honest sharing is a tool of healing and recovery for ourselves and for those with whom we trust our truth. When we bear witness today, whether in speaking to members of our chosen family, to the larger community, or to a lover or friend, we are setting a powerful example that helps liberate us and the people who hear us.

Today, I bear witness to my own experience.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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July 25

We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have turns it into more.

~Codependent No More

Say thank you, until you mean it. Thank God, life, and the universe for everyone and everything sent your way.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Gratitude makes things right. Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude's power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work its magic. Say thank you, until you mean it. If you say it long enough, you will believe it.

Today, I will shine the transforming light of gratitude on all the circumstances of my life.

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

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July 26

It was the worst time of my life. I couldn't go forward and I couldn't go back.

~Cherry F.

Some decisions are very hard to make. But indecision is hard too. It fixes us, in fact, right at the point of pain. Not to decide is not to go on. In the end, it causes more pain than making the hard decision.

To waffle back and forth between yes and no, stop and go, is to walk right up to the brink and then back off. Rather than trusting ourselves to do what has to be done, we fight the same battle again and again. Postponement isn't relief. Indecision isn't a solution.

Decisions about whether or not we need to make amends, whether we should get into or stay in a relationship, whether now is a good time to start that diet or stop smoking - all carry price tags. There is probably no decision for change that isn't difficult to make. But indecision guarantees that change won't happen. With practice, we can learn to trust in our ability to shape our lives.

I pray for clear insight about my own decision-making process. I pray for courage to take care of business.

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

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July 27

Service is the rent you pay for room on this earth.

~Shirley Chisholm

As active addicts, we became very self-centered, acting as if we were the center of the universe. We demanded free rent. Many of us forgot why we were placed on this earth: we are here to be of service. What does being of service mean? It means being available, and it means doing. It is action, not just thoughts of action. We are to be doers. In our program, we help others get and stay sober. But we also clean coffee pots, answer phones, and attend meetings. We see a need, and we address it.

Outside of our program, we are to help those in need. If we have a friend who is hurt and can't get around, maybe we do some of this person's chores. If we have an elderly neighbor who can't get out, maybe we offer to do his or her shopping. Or maybe it means volunteering at a local agency. Service helps us by freeing ourselves of ego - if we let go. We need to pay our rent, and we need to pay it on time.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me to be of service. I often forget my true purpose in life, which is to be of service to you and others. Help me to remember.
Today's Action

I will make a list of four things I can do today to help others. I will do all four 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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July 28

The real sin against life is to destroy beauty, even one's own - even more one's own, for that has been put in our care, and we are responsible for its well-being.

~Katherine Anne Porter

A good way to start each day is by asking, "What can I do to take care of myself today?" To ask and answer that question is to affirm our belief that we’re worth taking care of. It also requires looking within ourselves with honesty. Is it hard to admit we're struggling with our addiction? Or that we're feeling sick? Or that such feelings as rage, sorrow, or fear are predominant? Or that we're working through incest, sexual, physical, or emotional abuse issues?

Meeting our needs with gentleness and compassion softens the task of being good to ourselves. It may take a long time of asking, "What can I do to take care of myself?" before we actually know how to or want to. But just as a good parent thinks of how to take care of his or her child, we can learn to do the same for ourselves. Each time we do, we move closer to higher self-esteem.

What can I do to take care of myself today?

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

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July 29

Humility

The Twelve Step way of life is humble, not necessarily meek.

~Anonymous

The picture many of us get of a humble person is someone afraid of their own shadow, whose self-image is so low they’re afraid to stand up for themselves. We learn that this image of humility is not what is meant in the program. We realize that the people who have stayed abstinent for some time are all humble.

For those who have made progress in the program, humility is simply a clear recognition of what and who they are. They have gotten down to their own right size. Humility is understanding that they're worthwhile. It's the middle ground between the extremes of grandiosity and intense shame. They have a sincere desire to be and become the best they can be.

Today I will remember that humility is not being meek. It's being me. Humility for me means staying my "right size."

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

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July 30

Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible.

~William Sloane Coffin Jr.

For many of us, the past is sprinkled with endeavors that were never pursued to completion. Perhaps some pursuits were more complicated than we were equipped to handle. But it's likely that, at times, we gave up the idea, or ran from the struggle, before we'd experienced the first major barrier. Then, unlike now, we were short on hope, vision, and confidence. Most of all, we probably lacked faith that a power greater than ourselves could guide our steps and help us make the decisions that would bring our efforts to completion.

By working our program, we gain confidence and new vision. As our faith grows, so does our connection to God. God is the source of hope, of all the strength and understanding we need for any challenge or creative endeavor.

With hope, nothing is so overwhelming that we can't move forward, and nothing we really need will be beyond our grasp.

I will make use of God's gift of hope to overcome any barriers I meet today.

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

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Ju;y 31

Almost everyone wants something for nothing.

~Marsha Sinetar

Bargains attract. Finding a good value excites us, and we share the news quickly. Wanting anything for free is human nature perhaps. However, many of us have had to learn again and again that you get what you pay for. This is true of human interactions too.

Why do we think that others will be there for us if we aren't available for them? Having friends means being a friend, even if it's time-consuming. Although friendship's rewards are indisputable, we still tend to wait, letting the other person make the first move. Getting the other person to commit first reduces our effort, perhaps, but we will still receive according to what we give.

Knowing and utilizing this principle simplifies our lives. Once we master it, we never forget it. And what we bring to our relationships will be given back to us.

I am willing to give to others what I want in return today. Their efforts will match my own.

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