Today's Thought - September

[bluidkiti]

September 1

AA Thought for the Day

When we came to our first AA meeting, we looked up at the wall at the end of the room and saw the sign: "But for the grace of God." We knew right then and there that we would have to call on the grace of God in order to get sober and get over our soul-sickness. We heard speakers tell how they had come to depend on a Power greater than themselves. That made sense to us and we made up our minds to try it. Am I depending on the grace of God to help me stay sober?
Meditation for the Day

Share your love, your joy, your happiness, your time, your food, your money gladly with all. Give out all the love you can with a glad, free heart and hand. Do all you can for others and back will come countless stores of blessings. Sharing draws others to you. Take all who come as sent by God and give them a royal welcome. You may never see the results of your sharing. Today they may not need you, but tomorrow may bring results from the sharing you did today.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make each visitor desire to return. I pray that I may never make anyone feel repulsed or unwanted.

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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September 2

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

~Mother Goose

Poor Humpty ended up such a scrambled egg. Maybe that's what comes from sitting too long in one place, choosing neither this way nor that, playing both sides against the middle. Maybe he played too much politics, got too much advice, had too much to think about.

When the centipede was asked which leg he first moved when setting out on a stroll, he got those legs all tangled in his mind and couldn't walk at all. It is better to be simply moved by those around us, or by our Higher Power, with faith and love. When our thoughts fail, their hearts, hands, and eyes will show the way.

Do I sometimes decide my fate by refusing to decide?

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

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September 3

In my view, we of this world are pupils in a great school of life.

~Bill W.

Our addiction has taught us much. It has taught us how far we can drift from ourselves, our Higher Power, and those who love us. Hopefully, we've learned we can't go it alone. Do I allow myself to learn from the bad things that happened?

Recovery has much to teach us too. We need to be students of life. We need to be open to learning. Our spirits can grow if we’re willing to do three things: First, we listen. Second, we think about what we've learned. Third, we turn what we've learned into action. Listening, combined with thought and action, will help us learn life’s best lessons.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, You'll test me so I can learn. Help me accept the tasks You give me. And help me learn from them.
Action for the Day

I will view today as a class. I will do three things: listen, think, act.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 4

Time never challenged anyone or worked against them. Time was for silently marking the passing of the seasons. It was a thing to be enjoyed.

~Tim Giago

We have a choice as to how we view the passage of time. We can look at it as a gift to be enjoyed, marking the transitions and cycles of life. Or we can think of time as a long, thin string of pressures and frustrations - specific minutes and hours that we try to speed up or slow down. Our relationship to time is a very important part of our recovery.

We are learning to live in the present, one day at a time. We are letting go of the past. The future we place in trust to our Higher Power. Time doesn't work against us or challenge us, it just flows. This day need not be painless or close to paradise for us to live in the present moment. Being aware of our lives without struggling against time makes the day rich and full of meaning.

Today, rather than wrestling with time, I will be aware of my experiences and let time flow.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 5

Caring for Our Physical Selves

One of the most important things I have figured out in recovery is that taking care of my body is good for more than just my physical health; it improves my psychological, emotional, and spiritual health. Importantly, I've also had to learn that caring for my body is not about changing my body; I accept my shape and my weight and no longer waste time wishing that either were different.

These days, I focus on things that make me feel better in my body. I try to get enough sleep at night, but I am also really into naps. I move my body - usually slowly - but I also like to get my heart rate up. I eat foods that make me feel good, but I no longer subscribe to the belief that food itself can be good or bad. I hydrate. And I follow a maintenance plan not unlike the one my car is on, with annual checkups, regular dental and eye examinations, mammograms, and even colonoscopies (because I had colon cancer that one time). I am not a master at physical health care, but one day at a time, I do my best. What do you do for your physical self-care?

Daily attention to the container that holds my life matters; so far, it's running pretty well.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 6

Coping with fear

After getting sober, we may suddenly become very fearful. Situations that never bothered us in our using days loom up at us. Some of us feel terror when riding with a careless driver. Some of us feel panicky at the thought of a burglar. Some of us fear losing our jobs for no good reason.

As we regain our sanity, we may feel our lives become extraordinarily valuable. This is good, but it will help if we can practice trusting in our Higher Power and the fellowship.

In time, our fears will diminish. Am I learning to handle fear?

Higher Power, help me to believe that my process is normal and that I am not alone.

I will deal with my fear today by…

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

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September 7

Perseverance and Emotional Sobriety

Being sober in the military requires perseverance. Some days I don't have sobriety; I'm just dry. I'm pissed off, I am hot. It's 130 degrees, I'm wearing seventy pounds of battle rattle, and it feels like my brain is melting under this Kevlar.

I can't say in those moments that I'm feeling happy, joyous, and free. But what I do have is perseverance. The thing is, I know this is going to end. I know that I'm going to be able to get done with this tour; I know that I'm going to be able to get back to Minnesota where I'm going to freeze my ass off and have the polar opposite of 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Today I will remember perseverance, which can carry us through when we don't have that emotional sobriety.

~J. D., U.S. Army, 1985–1993/1998–2018

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

[bluidkiti]

September 8

Reflection for the Day

We are told in the program that no situation is hopeless. At first, of course, we find this hard to believe. The opposites - hope and despair - are human emotional attitudes. It is we who are hopeless, not the condition of our lives. When we give up hope and become depressed, it's because we're unable, for now, to believe in the possibility of a change for the better. Can I accept this: "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced"?
Today I Pray

May I remember that, because I am human and can make choices, I am never "hopeless." Only the situation I find myself in may seem hopeless, which may reduce me to a state of helpless depression as I see my choices being blocked off. May I remember, too, that even when I see no solution, I can choose to ask my Higher Power's help.
Today I Will Remember

I can choose not to be hopeless.

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

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September 9

Prompt amends are easier to make.

The longer we avoid making amends, the harder it is, or so it seems. By doing a mini-inventory every evening and owning who we have been all day long, we get in the habit of "seeing" ourselves before the baggage piles up. Admitting our shortcomings immediately also keeps us aware of the progress we've made in changing our behavior.

It sometimes seems the founders of the Twelve Step program thought of everything. They emphasized that as important as cleaning up the past is, keeping the present free of new messes is even more important. We have been given a second chance for a really good life. Regardless of who we are sharing life with - people who are still actively using or people who are abstinent - our own lives will be what we make of them. Getting into the habit of admitting when we are wrong and asking for forgiveness will make every other part of our journey easier and a closer match to God’s will.

I am eager to change. My first task is to recognize at least one thing I need to do differently and to go about doing it today.

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

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September 10

The Soul selects her own Society—

~Emily Dickinson

Some of us have open, loving, mutually supportive relationships with our families of origin; some of us are on a long, slow path of amends and reconciliation that we trust will bring healing where there has been conflict and pain; still others may have good reasons for choosing to maintain a healthy distance from our families of origin.

We are discovering profound connections with new friends. We have begun making deep connections based not on the accident of birth or the need for institutional or community approval, but on freedom, mutual trust, and loyalty. We are developing our families of choice and the communities that support and strengthen us.

Today, I am creating a family and community of my choice.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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September 11

I've started to realize that waiting is an art, that waiting achieves things.

~The Courage to Change,
Dennis Wholey

The people who are most successful at living and loving are those who can learn to wait successfully. Not many people enjoy waiting or learning patience. Yet, waiting can be a powerful tool that will help us accomplish much good.

We cannot always have what we want when we want it. For different reasons, what we want to do, have, be, or accomplish is not available to us now. But there are things we could not do or have today, no matter what, that we can have in the future. Today, we would make ourselves crazy trying to accomplish what will come naturally and with ease later.

We can trust that all is on schedule. Waiting time is not wasted time. Something is being worked out - in us, in someone else, in the Universe.

We don't have to put our life on hold while we wait. We can direct our attention elsewhere; we can practice acceptance and gratitude in the interim; we can trust that we do have a life to live while we are waiting - then we go about living it.

Deal with your frustration and impatience, but learn how to wait. The old saying, "You can’t always get what you want" isn’t entirely true. Often, in life, we can get what we want - especially the desires of our heart - if we can learn to wait.

Today, I am willing to learn the art of patience.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 12

Yesterday's answer has nothing to do with today's problem.

~Stu B.

As little kids, many of us learned to disconnect from pain rather than to stay attached. We separated ourselves from the action around us in order to survive. Over time, what we did is what we became - separate. Having almost literally burned the bridge between us and others, we see now that we are stranded. The isolation that was meant to keep anyone from getting at us also keeps anyone from getting to us.

We need to rebuild the bridge. People, like islands, need ways to see and reach and touch hands over all that separating water. Making connections is the only way. Unless we can hear each other singing and crying, unless we can comfort each other's failures and cheer each other's victories, we are missing out on the best that life has to offer. The only real action takes place on the bridge between people.

Today, I ask my Higher Power for the courage to build another bridge.

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

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September 13

It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

~J. K. Rowling

Many people with great abilities make bad choices. We just need to look around the rooms at meetings and we will see it. As addicts, we regularly chose alcohol or drugs over our family, Higher Power, and community. Our choices also affected our abilities. Then, at some point, we lost our choices, and our illness made our choices for us. This is what addiction is - the loss of choice.

Recovery gives back our sense of choice. Today we make different choices. We choose to go to meetings, even when we don’t want to. We choose to do service work. We learn a new way to walk through the world, a more human way. People see that we are making new choices, and over time they come to trust us again. This is another gift of recovery.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I choose to turn my life and will over to you. Please give me the wisdom to make good choices.
Today's Action

Today I will make a list of the everyday bad choices I made during my using years. Then I will ask myself, "Am I making the same choices 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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September 14

Anger

Anger is but one letter away from danger.

~Anonymous

Many of us once nursed long-standing resentments. Every time we thought about them, we got angry. What makes anger so dangerous is that it burns without consuming. It feeds on itself until it overwhelms all other emotions. Anger is poison.

When anger takes over, it acts with uncontrollable rage. We say things, feel things, and do things way out of line. Anger is emotional drunkenness. It leads to resentments, and it is a dangerous setup for a relapse.

Because we are in recovery doesn't mean we won't get angry, but the Steps give us a process of working through anger. We learn that what usually fuels anger is fear and guilt. When we deal with fear and guilt, we can dissolve anger. The remedy for fear is faith, for faith means courage.

When I replace my anger with faith, the fear and guilt that cause the anger are worked through, and the anger is reduced.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 15

All the good that has ever been or will ever be has its beginnings in God.

~Daily Word, July 11, 1988

Our inspiration to do small kindnesses for friends, our desire to express love for those persons dear in our life, our inclination to offer a smile to a stranger - all are reminders that God is working in our life. Our willingness to let God's will be felt by us and then expressed through us is the most complete contribution each of us can make to this spirit-filled world that is our home.

However, none of us is yet free from our ego that, at times, pushes us to act in self-centered, mean-spirited ways. When we aren't thinking of God first, we often aren't inclined toward expressing our better selves. Fortunately, our program helps us remember God throughout the day and, in turn, God gives us opportunities to exercise our willingness to be kind rather than mean and show we're thinking of others' needs before our own. With God's help each of us will share in making this a better world for all.

I will do my part toward a better world today by thinking of God during each encounter I have with another person.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 16

When I feed on resentments and anger, I am giving someone else rent-free space in my head.

~Kathy Kendall

Becoming consumed by our emotions is all too familiar. It was a favorite pastime before we got clean and sober, and it still may "own" us. Much to our dismay, sponsors remind us that we're getting a payoff or we wouldn't continue the practice. They also tell us it's never too late to give it up.

We can begin immediately. Let's breathe in the positive. It takes the same effort as dwelling on resentments, and the outcome is so much healthier. Let's bring our blessings to mind first. Breathe in the images of friends and the smiles we share. Breathe in the image of our Higher Power and those comforting arms. Breathe in the bright light of healing that is the program's gift. Breathe in the peace that comes with knowing all is finally well.

Giving our minds over to loving images heals us. The hurts of the past can reach us no more if we breathe in the good.

I will breathe in my Higher Power today. I will dwell on the safety and serenity of my journey.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 17

I don't have to be what you want me to be.

~Muhammad Ali

We only truly become ourselves from the inside out. During our active addiction, many of us tried so hard to please others that we lost any sense of who we were, or we created an external image that would get others to like us. Some of us lost ourselves in codependently taking care of others. So much focus on others never led us to know ourselves or truly develop our interior private self.

This program, with its twelve suggested Steps, is really a road map for the formation of a true self. At the beginning, we may feel empty inside, as if hardly any self exists. But at least some small, undeveloped self is always there, and it will grow. By taking inventory of ourselves, by becoming accountable for our actions, and by developing our spirituality, we become truly whole.

Today, I will be the person I know from inside myself and not try to create an image to please others.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 18

AA Thought for the Day

Another of the mottoes of AA is "Live and let live." This, of course, means tolerance of people who think differently than we do, whether they are in AA or outside of AA. We cannot afford the luxury of being intolerant or critical of other people. We do not try to impose our wills on those who differ from us. We are not "holier than thou." We do not have all the answers. We are not better than other good people. We live the best way we can, and we allow others to do likewise. Am I willing to live and let live?
Meditation for the Day

"And this is life eternal, that we may know Thee, the only true God." Learning to know God as best you can draws the eternal life nearer to you. Freed from some of the limitations of humanity, you can grow in the things that are eternal. You can strive for what is real and of eternal value. The more you try to live in the consciousness of the unseen world, the gentler will be your passing into it when the time comes for you to go. This life on earth should be largely a preparation for the eternal life to come.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may live each day as though it were my last. I pray that I may live my life as though it were everlasting.

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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September 19

It is better to be wanted too much than not at all.

~Anonymous

It may seem that so many people want our time and love. Parents say we don't call often enough. Children demand our time. Our partner says we're gone too much. Our sponsor tells us to check in more often.

When we feel put off balance by all these people, we need to stop and rest. We need to remember how lonely we were when we were using. No one wanted our time and love then! Now we’re important to others again.

We can handle all this by giving people what they need and ask for, within reason - not what we think they need, which may be way too much. Maybe we need Al-Anon too, to learn to love others while still taking care of ourselves.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me put my time and energy to best use today. Help me find the balance I need between work, play, loving others, and self-care.
Action for the Day

When I feel I have to give too much today, I'll stop and ask my Higher Power for guidance.

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

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September 20

A man can stand a lot as long as he can stand himself.

~Axel Munthe

Sometimes we're mistaken about the source of our unhappiness. We walk around with a short fuse, ready to explode if anyone crosses our path. Then, when we do explode, we think it is the other person's fault. At other times we have frightening physical reactions and worry that something is wrong with our bodies. But we are not aware that the problem is caused by a deeper feeling of not being able to stand ourselves.

Most of us have problems accepting ourselves. When we make peace with our conscience, some of our problems vanish. Other problems may never disappear, but our pain is eased because our inner battle has ceased, and we have the energy we need to cope.

I am grateful for the gift of self-respect this program gives me.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 21

Simple Things

Life was very complicated for me at one point, which is why I am so drawn to the simplest things today. The word simple, means “easily understood and done.” It took me a while, but I understand simple now, and I do it quite well most days. It doesn’t mean I don’t add things to my life; I just add them in an intentional way.

Several years ago, I bought myself a milk frother so I could enjoy a creamy coffee or tea latte whenever I liked. It still brings me the greatest joy. I love reading and buy a lot of books but also treasure my trips to the public library. Having a novel on the go every day of my life is simple but entirely satisfying. A sunrise, a sunset, flannel pajamas, a puzzle (but not over one thousand pieces), playing with my little grandkids, or lighting a fire in the fireplace - these things fill me up more than any grandiose plans or projects ever could. Laura Ingalls Wilder said, “It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” I can’t argue with that. How do you do simple?

I’m grateful for the simple things that I’ve learned to love in recovery.

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

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September 22

Accepting misfortune

We all know that misfortune, great or small, is a part of life. But what we may not realize is that it involves both defeat and victory.

It’s not always easy to do what is necessary today, but it’s impossible to change yesterday or to guarantee what tomorrow will bring. Our year will unfold better by living each day as it comes instead of regretting the past or anticipating the future.

Am I learning to accept misfortune?

Higher Power, help me to accept the fact that there is great mystery in life.

Today I will work on accepting my misfortune by...

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

[bluidkiti]

September 23

Stars have always helped me to get things into perspective … I tried to let the starlight heal something deep in me that hurt.

~Madeleine L'Engle

For a long time, people have used stars to find their way in the dark. Many a lost soul has been guided by the North Star or the Big Dipper.

If we watch the sky at night, we can see thousands of twinkling stars. They are our friends. They remind us how small we are. They remind us of the vastness of the universe, of the power and beauty that surround us.

Starlight in the sky, or reflected on a lake, can comfort us when we hurt. With safe and open arms, nature accepts our sorrow, no matter how we express it. Starlight, like all of nature, reflects a light that comes from way beyond us. It is that light that heals us in a deep and quiet way.

How has nature comforted me when I am troubled?

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

[bluidkiti]

September 24

Tag Team

Some people get ten feet tall when they drink. When I got drunk, I grew five inches taller. I was gorgeous. I was beautiful. I had a personality that wouldn't stop. I was all that and then some.

When I wasn't drinking, I was five foot three, quiet and hurt. I had that sore heart. It's because of the sore that I drank - to stop the pain. All I wanted was for it to stop, so I got help and started attending AA.

Now my twin sister and I have the same amount of time in recovery. She said if I could do it, she could do it. We kind of tag-teamed each other. But she still had to do her recovery work, and I did mine.

Today I remove the heart sore with healing and love rather than a drink or a drug.

~Stephanie C., U.S. Navy, 1978–1983

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

[bluidkiti]

September 25

Reflection for the Day

For a considerable period of time after I reached the program, I let things I couldn't do keep me from doing the things I could. If I was bothered by what a speaker or other people said, I retreated, sulking, into my shell. Now, instead of being annoyed or defensive when someone strikes a raw nerve, I try to welcome it - because it allows me to work on my attitudes and perceptions of my Higher Power, self, other people, and my life situation. We may no longer have active addictions, but we all certainly have an active thinking problem. Am I willing to grow - and grow up?
Today I Pray

May my Higher Power give me courage to test my new wings - even a feather at a time. May I not wait to be entirely whole before I re-enter the world of everyday opportunity, for recovery is ongoing, and growth comes through challenges. May I no longer make desperate stabs at perfection, but keep my aims in sight and develop as I live - a day at a time.
Today I Will Remember

Things I can't do should not get in the way of things I can.

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

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September 26

Humility means being teachable.

Step Seven suggests that we humbly ask God to help us with our shortcomings, not other people's. Perhaps we fail to see our shortcomings on many occasions, or, when we do see them, we self-righteously justify them. We have honed in on other people's shortcomings far more often. Nevertheless, we can discover our own if we begin tracking our inner feelings. They are excellent indicators of the behavior(s) we need to change.

With God's help we can change or give up any behavior that hinders our lives and relationships. We don't have to yell in anger or pout over hurt feelings. Withholding our love or plotting revenge can be removed from our bank of reactions. We can ask God for freedom from any behavior we no longer want. And if we are willing to be free of the behavior, it will be removed - on God's timetable.

If I really want God's help in getting free of troubling behaviors, I simply have to ask. Help will come.

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

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September 27

I wanted my hands to be rain for her to wash away all hurt.

~Minnie Bruce Pratt

Stories of others' suffering move us to want to help, to make the world a safer place, to share the healing we have experienced. We may feel powerless when we encounter others' suffering in the face of sickness, loss, or violence. We may be tempted to try to offer a "quick fix" so that we don't have to live with the anxiety another's pain causes us. We may feel frustrated that our love and concern can't make everything better. Or we may withdraw, overwhelmed by problems we know no way of solving.

At such times we can affirm that healing is a natural tendency and that others have a Higher Power working in their lives. We can offer unconditional love and moral support. If it's appropriate, we can share our experience, strength, and hope.

It doesn't help others when we're more active than they're willing to be in attempting to solve their problems, or when we neglect our own lives in the process.

Today, I offer love and understanding without trying to fix others.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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September 28

Surrender to the pain. Then learn to surrender to the good. It's there and more is on the way.

~Beyond Codependency

Our goal in recovery is to make ourselves feel comfortable, peaceful, content. Happy. We want to be at peace with ourselves and our environment. Sometimes, to do that, we need to be willing to face, feel, and get through discomfort.

I am not talking here about being addicted to misery and pain. I am not talking about creating unnecessary pain. I'm talking about the legitimate discomfort we sometimes need to feel as we heal.

When we have surgery, the pain hurts most the day after the operation. When we do the kind of work we are facing in recovery, we are doing an emotional, mental, and spiritual surgery on ourselves. We're removing parts of us that are infected and inflamed. Sometimes the process hurts.

We are strong enough to survive discomfort and temporary feelings of emotional pain. Once we are willing to face and feel our discomfort and pain, we are almost to the point of release.

Today, I am willing to face my discomfort, trusting that healing and release are on the other side.

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

[bluidkiti]

September 29

We don't have time not to have time.

~Gary Burke

To develop the habit of reflection means to take the time, regularly and often, to listen to ourselves, to ask how things are going, to think about what things we did today that were successful, and what things we did that were not so successful. When we reflect, we bend back to see where we have been so we can know where to go next.

Reflection breeds insight. "I never thought of it that way," can become a way of life, a limitless opportunity. But we must stand in the way of it if we want to see life and its possibilities in a new way. We have to make the time to reflect, and we have to stick with it until the thoughts flow. At times, our minds have to be literally pried open to make room for the fresh air of new ideas: reflection is the tool to use.

I will daily examine my life to see if I have taken the time to walk my road of recovery.

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

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September 30

Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important.

~T. S. Eliot

Humility is a wonderful gift for us addicts. We tend to think we are better or worse than everyone else. We are not. Humility is simply knowing that we have a right to be alive and breathing as much as anyone else and no more.

Of course, we are different in some ways. We have different talents and gifts. We each have a great deal to offer, and that is good because there are a lot of needs in the world. Our job is to pitch in and make the work lighter for everyone.

Humility means taking on the role of showing up for life and doing our best. We don't expect others to do all the work for us. We don't stand outside the group feeling that we are not good enough to join in. We show up, suit up, and get to work.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, thanks for helping me enjoy being part of the human race, for showing me that I'm a person who has gifts and talents that I need to share.
Today's Action

Today I will list the talents and gifts I bring to people. Then I will ask two people, "When you see me coming, what do you expect me to bring to whatever is going on?" I will write down what they say.

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