March 16

If necessity is the mother of invention, then imagination is the father of creative endeavor. It is critically important not to let our inner editor get ahead of our inner artist. So many of us have developed patterns of self-criticism and judgment that can quash our creative imagination before it even begins to find its flow. We know how destructive such tendencies can be and how they have sometimes thwarted our attempts at sobriety.

Imagination exercises our intelligence. It is a vast playground that is the foundation of all innovation and invention. It is where additional possibilities are allowed to incubate, to marinate in our mind, to arise from subterranean and unconscious outposts we don’t normally visit.

What can we imagine for ourselves now that we are in recovery? What lives might we live that are now just flights of fancy, preludes to what might be created? Think about what singing or poetry does to words. We can do that to our own destiny—we just have to start by conceiving it. Those who most inspire us to imagine ourselves at our best are often those who have been through the fire and survived bleak circumstances. We can call upon them to help our inner artist emerge.

I use my imagination to envision a spectacular future for myself.

Today's reading is from the book Cornerstones

March 17

Recovery is…looking for more than relief from pain.

~Anonymous

Pain is a pretty powerful motivator. If your foot is caught in a trap, you don’t worry very much about whether you’ll get that promotion at work—let alone about whether your hairstyle suits you. You just want out of that trap. All energies and thoughts are focused on that foot.

So it is with us when we first approach recovery. If we’re really hurting, all we want to do is escape the paralyzing pain. And for starters, that’s enough. Then, as we go along working a consistent program, the intense pain lessens. We find we don’t have to work as hard as we did to stay comfortable. Other concerns blur our focus on recovery.

Then we have a decision to make. Shall we stay where we are, balanced between dreadful pain and basically defensive living? Or shall we set a new, higher goal, and reach for more than survival?

When the worst of the pain is under control, what then? Recovery is stretching for all that is possible.

Today, I see possibilities that I couldn’t have seen yesterday.

Today's reading is from the book Days of Healing, Days of Joy

March 18

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

~Mohandas Gandhi

We live in a fast-paced world. It will not be slowing down. And as addicts, we often enjoyed the intensity and drama that living a fast-paced life creates. The rhythm of addiction is fast and chaotic.

Recovery has a different rhythm, a different pace. We need to go at a pace that allows us to stay connected. Connected to others, connected to our Higher Power, connected to our values. In recovery, we reduce our speed. We meditate. We sit in meetings and adjust ourselves to the pace of the meeting. In slowing down, we start to see the details of life; it is in the details that we find meaning, answers, solutions, and the beauty of life. We need to resist the pace of the world around us and embrace the pace of the spirit.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me slow down to your pace. Yours is a steady, sure pace like the sun moving across the sky, slow and steady. Help me resist the temptations of this world, one of them being speed.
Today's Action

Today I will work to be conscious of the pace I move at. I will ask this question throughout my day: “Am I moving at a pace that allows me to stay connected to my Higher Power and to recovery?”

Today's reading is from the book God Grant Me

March 19

Nurturing new growth

Spring is a time of new and beautiful growth. There can be growth for us, too. We have spent too long in the fall and winter of our lives, the mind-altering substances filtering the sunshine and fading the flowers. Finally, our lives appeared empty and dead.

But like earth at the end of winter, there is still life within us. And when we make the conditions suitable, using abstinence, patience, and love, our lives will again bring forth new growth.

Am I returning or preparing for new growth?

Higher Power, may I feel your love shine down on me to help me grow.

I will prepare for new growth today by…

Today's reading is from the book Day by Day

March 20

Courage

God, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I together can’t handle.

~Anonymous

Courage is what makes us do the right thing even when nobody else is doing it. We can find happiness while surrounded by darkness; we can be loving in the middle of hate and envy, and serene when surrounded by chaos, fear, and anger.

The principles of our program help us face impossible odds. We learn that any act of courage may produce future victory for ourselves and others. The courage that we want takes its strength from faith, not from bravery or physical strength.

Foolish, unthinking courage, though, can be destructive to us or to others. Sensible courage never fails because it is made up of truth and faith.

Let truth and faith give me courage, so that when fear knocks, no one is there.

Today's reading is from the book Easy Does It

March 21

To give and to receive are one in truth.

~A Course in Miracles

Giving our love away, honoring someone in need by giving our full attention, will usually bring kindness and concern in return. And unkindness and neglect on our part are likely to result in the same from others. We will usually elicit that which we’ve so thoughtfully or thoughtlessly given.

Not many elements in our life are so fully in our control as how we choose to treat other people. There are few among us who aren’t moved by another’s expression of pure, unconditional love. We are humbled by it and feel valued. We can honor the existence of our fellow travelers by our open, willing love for them, too.

We need to feel appreciated. And yet, to express appreciation is such a simple act, one that has profound effects for all concerned. Acts of kindness multiply very quickly; we contribute to a world favoring our true humanity when we give out loving thoughts even as we receive them.

I will extend the hand of love to a friend today and thus help to make a better world.

Today's reading is from the book In God's Care

March 22

You’re never too old to grow up.

~Shirley Conran

A child’s view of adults is that they have arrived at some fixed point where they are emancipated and have all the tools necessary for life. An adult knows that we never stop growing. Many of us have been stuck in an immature level of development. Our life stresses and our addictions took us off the track of emotional growth. We found substitutes and evasions for truly dealing with the normal life problems. Now we are back on the much more rewarding path of truly living and growing.

We accept the adult wisdom that we all need help and we all continue to learn and grow throughout our life span. We finally feel like adults because we take responsibility for our actions. We don’t blame others for our problems, and when our days feel challenging, we can ask for help. Back on our path, we are never alone.

Today, I am grateful to be on the path of dealing with my life and continuing to grow truly stronger.

Today's reading is from the book Stepping Stones

March 23

AA Thought for the Day

Getting sober was a long and painful journey, but we can truthfully say it was worth it. We know now that all we’ve been through has led us to AA and was part of our spiritual journey. We found in AA what we had been vainly seeking in the bottle. We’ve learned that our journey goes on as we continue to deal with our shortcomings and the human problems everybody must face. And when we reach a crossroads or a roadblock, we know that our Higher Power will come to our aid in making the right choices and surmounting all obstacles. Do I turn to my Higher Power to sustain me as I continue the spiritual journey that brought me to AA?
Meditation for the Day

As I continue on my spiritual journey, I will seek and follow Divine Guidance and know there is always a place prepared for me. Nothing but my own pride and fear can keep me from my dwelling place with God. I need not strain or struggle to obtain that which God wants me to have. My only responsibility is to accept God’s guidance and follow the highest principles in all my affairs.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I’ll continue to seek guidance as my spiritual journey continues today. I pray to trust that I am always doing the right thing and am in the right place when my Higher Power is leading me.

Today's reading is from the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

March 24

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.

~The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

If we follow the Twelve Steps, we’ll leave failure behind. We may have tried and tried to be sober, good people, but we failed if we were doing it our own way. Now is the time to stop listening to ourselves and to start listening to the pros, those who have gone before us.

When we follow their lead, exciting changes happen. First, we stay sober. We regain self-respect. We meet people we respect and become friends. Our families start to trust us again. And why? Because we gave up doing it our way and listened. We listened to the experts.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, allow me to become an expert listener.
Action for the Day

Today I’ll find someone I respect and ask how they work their program. I’ll ask them to share their wisdom.

Today's reading is from the book Keep it Simple

March 25

Clean Sweep

Clean it up, clear it out. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to sweep up all the old resentments and all the things that have made me feel wronged. I’m going to brush them aside without looking and toss them anywhere that falls outside of the inside of my head. I’m going to make a clean sweep with the broom of forgiveness so I am freshened and freed, not stuck in the same old mud.

The slaps-in-the-face and stabs-in-the-back came at the hand of someone who most likely did the deed and never looked back. So, by hanging on to anger and grudges, I’m poisoning only myself with a poison of my own making. How stupid.

While I’m at it, while I’m tidying things up, I’m going to forgive new wrongs as they come. Forgiveness doesn’t mean I will accept new wrongs as they come; it means I will turn and walk away from kicks-in-the-teeth instead of carrying a vendetta in my soul. In embracing forgiveness, I’m no longer going to store toxins in my head and heart…or life. I’m booting them out.

Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behavior. Forgiveness pre* vents their behavior from destroying your heart.

Today's reading is from the book Tending Dandelions

March 26

One should learn to enjoy the neighbor’s garden, however small; the roses straggling over the fence, the scent of lilacs drifting across the road.

~Henry Van Dyke

There are many gifts around us that we overlook when we’re busy dealing with our anxieties and obligations. We talk about burning out from our high-intensity lifestyles. We act as though nothing would get done if we didn’t do it ourselves. We get so engrossed in fighting with the frustrations of life that we fail to see the good things coming our way that took no effort on our part.

As we look around us this very moment, what good things do we find? Has a friend given a warm hello? Is the sun shining? The rain falling? Has the traffic flowed smoothly? We have no claim on these generous events, and we can’t say God smiles on us when we have them or frowns when we don’t. We can say there are always generous forces coming our way that comfort and heal us. We only need to take time to enjoy them.

Today, I will take some quiet moments to notice the good things coming my way. I will be grateful for them.

Today's reading is from the book Touchstones

March 27

Working Today

As we approach a new year, many of us feel fear. We look back on the past and worry about the future. But if we remember we only have today, we can work to make that future better. We have found true friends in our fellowship, and this is a time to be with them.

Am I ensuring a fruitful future by working with all I’ve got today?

Higher Power, I pray for guidance for today and for freedom from worry about tomorrow.

Today I will work for the fellowship by…

Today's reading is from the book Day by Day

March 28

Reflection for the Day

“What you have may seem small; you desire so much more. See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, striving to pull out the sweets. If they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out, and then they fall to tears. When they let go a few, they can draw out the rest. You, too, let your desire go; covet not too much,” wrote Epictetus.

Let me expect not too much of anyone, particularly myself. Let me learn to settle for less than I wish were possible and be willing to accept it and appreciate it. Do I accept gratefully and graciously the good that has already come to me in the program?
Today I Pray

May I search my soul for those little hankerings of want that may keep me from delighting in all that I have. If I can just teach myself not to want too much, not to expect too much, then when those expectations are not satisfied, I will not be let down. May I accept with grace what the grace of my Higher Power has provided.
Today I Will Remember

I, alone, can grant myself the “freedom from want.”

Today's reading is from the book A Day at a Time

March 29

Loving others is directly proportional to how much we love ourselves.

Do we really love ourselves? Do we forgive ourselves when we blatantly judge others or when we fail on the job or in a relationship? Expecting perfection of ourselves is setting a standard that is unachievable. To love means to accept ourselves wholly, failings and all.

We can practice forgiving ourselves and others. Forgiving ourselves for our transgressions, regardless of what they are, will get easier with practice. Forgiving others will remove the barriers that separate us and prevent us from knowing love.

Our Higher Power asks very little of us. Careers aren’t dictated. We can live almost anywhere we want. We may choose to have children or remain childless. All that’s really asked is that we live our lives with love in our hearts. Being willing to love ourselves helps us love others too.

If I’m feeling hateful or judgmental toward someone today, I’m not loving myself either.

Today's reading is from the book A Life of My Own

March 30

If our life is a book, and our current situation a chapter, what might be their titles? It can be fun to come up with some entertaining and insightful answers. Our inner pathfinder asks us to frequently reflect on where we are on our journey. Taking an eagle-eyed view can help us truly understand the larger perspective and appreciate the progress we have made.

Is my life better than it was a year ago? Has my progress in recovery opened up new horizons, allowing me to navigate the low valleys more easily? Creating time once a month to contemplate the simple question “How am I doing?” and then journaling our insights can be very helpful. This practice is similar to regularly consulting a map when on a long expedition.

Such check-ins help us examine if we are indeed living what we say is most important to us. We notice where we stray from our desired path and how we inevitably manage to get back on track again. Just as an airplane is constantly course-correcting as it flies from one place to another, our journaling allows us to adjust our direction.

Regular writing about my life helps clarify and reinforce my core values.

Today's reading is from the book Cornerstones