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*

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

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*

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*

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*

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

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*

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*

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*

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*

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*

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*

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*

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*

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*