Created in God’s image, with the breath of God in my nostrils, my body the Temple of the Holy Ghost, called by the Christ a child of God, surely, I could walk with angels if I could only live up to my heritage.Man has fallen short of his goal mostly because he has not thought he could do it. He timidly denies his own divine origin; he fails to credit the existence of God in him.He is like the man who wants to fly but not so high that he can’t keep one foot on the ground. His eyes are fixed on the skies but his feet are planted solidly on the earth.
Published by Hazelden
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GOAL: SANITY
“. . . Step Two gently and very gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can’t say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a Power greater than myself, but I certainly have that belief now.”~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 27 “Came to believe!” I gave lip service to my belief when I felt like it or when I thought it would look good. I didn’t really trust God. I didn’t believe He cared for me. I kept trying to change things I couldn’t change. Gradually, in disgust, I began to turn it all over, saying: “You’re so omnipotent, you take care of it.” He did. I began to receive answers to my deepest problems, sometimes at the most unusual times: driving to work, eating lunch, or when I was sound asleep. I realized that I hadn’t thought of those solutions—a Power greater than myself had given them to me. I came to believe.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc
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Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.
—Eleanor RooseveltMost of us want to be happy. We just don’t know how. We aren’t sure what happiness is. We’ve learned the hard way that some things we wanted didn’t make us happy. We’re learning that happiness comes when we live the way our Higher Power wants us to live. That’s when we’re honest. When we do our best work. When we are a true friend. We make happiness; we don’t find it. Sometimes we don’t even know we’re happy. We’re too busy with our work, our recovery program, our friends and family. We need to slow down and know that when we do what we need to, happiness comes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know that I’m most happy when I listen to You and do Your will. You know better than I do what makes me happy.
Action for the Day: What parts of my program am I most happy about? Today I’ll think of these and enjoy myself.
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BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FORChoosing the Right Goals“Be careful what you pray for,” the Old-Timers said, for you are likely to get it. While this sounds exciting, it’s really an important warning. Prayers are currents of thought directed toward a goal. The goal must be something we want to live with once it is achieved. What often happens, unfortunately, is that we seek things that turn out to be shallow and even harmful after we get them. Such disillusionment has been the stuff of countless morality tales.Our bitter experience with alcohol can also furnish lessons about the kinds of goals we should strive for in sobriety. Let’s take an inventory if we find ourselves thinking that our happiness depends on certain people, places, or things. Our true happiness comes from our Higher Power and the right combination of love and service. With the right attitude, we can actually be happy under many kinds of conditions and with all sorts of people.What, then, should we pray for? “Knowledge of [God’s] will for us and the power to carry that out” is a prayer that puts things in proper order. Seek to do God’s will, and you might be utterly amazed at the results. After all, it is God’s pleasure to give you good things.I’ll pray for knowledge of God’s will today, while exercising prudence in all my affairs. I’ll be willing to let myself be surprised by the interesting things that can happen.
© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
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It is often the case that great scholars make the acquiring of knowledge a goal instead of a means to a goal.
If you thoroughly learned all the lessons in AA by heart and made no use of it, you would find it but a waste of time and effort.
You must put your new-found knowledge to work, you must pass it on or it will be not only valueless to humanity but, in all probability, of no material help to you.
Copyright Hazelden Foundation
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Establishing goals and following through on them help women build self-confidence.
~ Sharon Walters ~
Alcohol and other drugs created the illusion of confidence for many of us before our recovery. Some of us held prominent positions in corporations. Others of us raised children and held jobs too. All of us took on responsibilities that might have overwhelmed us had we lacked the false security that drugs could offer. But their time ran out. Luckily for us, their time ran out.
Since giving up our drugs, we have had to develop new ways to build confidence. Fortunately, having this program and the Steps as guides, we have been able to make progress. The confidence we are building now through reliance on our Higher Power is substantive and real, not illusionary and temporary. We are learning who we are through our inventories, and that has made it possible to determine what we want to do with our lives. Our goals and our ability to follow through on plans are manifestations of our hard work. Self-confidence is the lasting reward.
My confidence will not waver today if I remember to let God help me handle each responsibility.
© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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GOALS OF GREATNESS
Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
~ Shakespeare ~
In our 12 Step Program, greatness comes through humility and gratitude. It is simply a matter of becoming willing and able to work with others toward a goal where each person can be happy in the freedom from addiction. Greatness is becoming a winner instead of a loser in the competition between addiction and making our lives manageable. It all comes from concentration on spiritual progress.
Greatness can be ours in many different ways. We can measure the amount of greatness by our own ability and willingness to take the vital Steps in our Program. We can measure the amount of greatness we either are born with, have thrust upon us, or rise to when we surrender to the reality that we have no power over our addiction or obsession.
The true measure of greatness lies in my ability to understand just where I am at any point in my recovery.
©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden
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God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful.
—Mother Teresa
It’s probable we have never equated success with faith. Being successful meant accomplishing worthy goals and receiving the expected praise. We may have even considered that relying on faith to help us was a cop-out. Fortunately, so much about how we interpret life has changed since joining this journey through recovery. In Step Three we learn that God wants us to have faith. We are coming to see, in fact, that acting as if we have faith begins to feel like faith. Coming to believe that God’s only expectation is that we turn within for guidance makes every circumstance far less threatening. Practicing faith promises that we will begin to feel successful in all our experiences because we are walking through them peacefully, trusting fully that God is at hand. Believing in God, being truly faithful, can be the greatest success of our lives.
I can be faith-filled today if I turn my life and my will over to the care of God. I will remind myself of this every time I get in the “driver’s seat.”
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GOALS
One who fears, limits their activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more wisely begin again.
~ Henry Ford ~
In sharing with others, especially with our fellow members, we must never be timid about discussing goals, both for a lifetime and for short duration. When we are afraid of failure, we may take no action in setting goals. No one will be scornful of us if we fall short of a mark.
There is more worth in aiming at a target and missing than in shooting blindly. When others encourage us and refuse to let us be depressed by failures, we can take aim and try again. If our goals are realistic, we will reach them. If we tall short, we know we have at least made progress toward our target. The important thing is to aim for the things we need and do our best to get there.
I will set myself realistic goals and work to reach them, but I won’t be let down and quit if I fall short. I’ll just take better aim next time.
©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden
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A SWELLED HEAD
The true snob never rests; there is always a higher goal to attain, and there are, by the same token, always more and more people to look down upon.
~ Russell Lynes ~
Recovery feels good! It feels good to get a good night’s sleep, eat right, have friends, and be more at peace. After a while on the Program our foggy minds cleared up. We could actually read and remember what we read. Our emotions calmed down. We felt proud of our progress.
At moments like these we must remember by whose Power we achieve such joy. It is not our own. If we let ourselves think we did it all on our own, pride swells our head and stops our growth. We can become cocky, thinking we’ve got it made, and drift back to slippery people and places.
A swelled head has no place in my Program. I must keep in mind that I didn’t get this far to rest and stop growing.
©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden
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Something can’t happen every day. You get up, go to work, come back, eat again, enjoy some leisure, go back to bed. Now that’s plenty for most folks.
Ntozake Shange
When we were all little kids, before we started school, the days felt so long it seemed like we had time for everything.
But when we started school, we had to start living by the clock, and in this way, we became very grown up. Sometimes we feel angry about living by the clock, all of us who are first grade and older! But there are things we can do to help us live with these limits.
First, we can learn to set a goal for each day, and once we have reached that goal–whether it’s doing spelling homework, mopping the floor, or writing three business letters–we can announce to whoever happens to be around, “Now that I’ve completed that, I don’t have to worry about one more thing to feel worthwhile.”
Second, we can believe what we said! We can relax, do something fun, enjoy the pleasures that the day offers.
What is my goal for today?
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Establishing goals and following through on them help women build self-confidence.Sharon Walters ~Alcohol and other drugs created the illusion of confidence for many of us before our recovery. Some of us held prominent positions in corporations. Others of us raised children and held jobs too. All of us took on responsibilities that might have overwhelmed us had we lacked the false security that drugs could offer. But their time ran out. Luckily for us, their time ran out.Since giving up our drugs, we have had to develop new ways to build confidence. Fortunately, having this program and the Steps as guides, we have been able to make progress. The confidence we are building now through reliance on our Higher Power is substantive and real, not illusionary and temporary. We are learning who we are through our inventories, and that has made it possible to determine what we want to do with our lives. Our goals and our ability to follow through on plans are manifestations of our hard work. Self-confidence is the lasting reward.My confidence will not waver today if I remember to let God help me handle each responsibility.© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful.
—Mother Teresa
It’s probable we have never equated success with faith. Being successful meant accomplishing
worthy goals and receiving the expected praise. We may have even considered that relying on
faith to help us was a cop-out. Fortunately, so much about how we interpret life has changed
since joining this journey through recovery.
In Step Three we learn that God wants us to have faith. We are coming to see, in fact, that acting
as if we have faith begins to feel like faith. Coming to believe that God’s only expectation is that
we turn within for guidance makes every circumstance far less threatening.
Practicing faith promises that we will begin to feel successful in all our experiences because we
are walking through them peacefully, trusting fully that God is at hand. Believing in God, being
truly faithful, can be the greatest success of our lives.
I can be faith-filled today if I turn my life and my will over to the care of God. I will remind
myself of this every time I get in the “driver’s seat.”
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THE PATH OF LOVE
All the old traditions tell us that there is more than one path to the great Goal. Just as there is more than one road up every great mountain, and yet all roads meet at the top, so in the spiritual quest there are several roads, all of which lead in due season to the one great End.There is the path of knowledge. True knowledge of divine things is one of the appointed paths to attainment; but that path is by no means for everyone. And there is the pathway of action—of organized activity—and the world needs this too; but this again usually calls for a special gift, and special circumstances in which to apply it. And there are others.The shortest and the easiest pathway of all is the pathway of Love. It is the one pathway that is open to all, irrespective of what their personal conditions or circumstances may be. For everyman, everywhere, the true attainment awaits through the yoga of Love, for yoga means union and it is our union with God that makes the attainment possible.There is no fear in love; but Perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. . . (1 John 4:18).. . . God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). © 1931 by Emmet Fox
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RISING ABOVEOur greatest glory is not in never failing,
but in rising up every time we fail.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson One of the major premises of our recovery program is “progress, not perfection.” No one but me expects me to be perfect. I have a history of driving myself in the quest for perfection. I’ve set goals that are so lofty that I could never acheive them. In that respect, I’m probably my own worst enemy.However, I can also be my own best friend. I don’t have to set standards that are impossible for me to meet. In fact, we’re told we need to live one day at a time. If I can do that, then I don’t need to live up to my impossibly high standards. My goals aren’t so out-of-reach if I can see them as daily things.What happens if I fail to meet even the “one day at a time” goal? I start over, knowing that I don’t have to stay down. I can rise up and begin again. That, for me, is the greatest thing.One Day at a Time . . .I will rise above my failures and shortcomings, and know that I’m making progress. I don’t have to be perfect any more.~ Jeff
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5
October
What can Sobriety Bring?
Living SoberThe single goal of staying sober is so all-important in AA that side benefits are often overlooked. There is even a tendency to warn members about the hazards of attaching importance to anything except sobriety.
But we do have to become responsible people in all things, not just sober people. We can expect real sobriety to bring the confidence and well-being we expected from the bottle, but never received.
Sobriety is not likely to give us the equivalent of the euphoria we got from drinking, but a great sense of well-being based on realistic expectations is more satisfying than the ridiculous mental states we sought in drinking. Living the right kind of life will bring its own rewards.
Alone with staying sober today, I’ll meet all my responsibilities to my family and friends. Sobriety does not promise miracles, but it does bring a good life.
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5
September
Reflection For The DayWe’re often told that alcoholics and other addictive persons are perfectionists, impatient about any shortcomings — especially our own. We tend to set impossible goals for ourselves, struggling fiercely to reach our unattainable ideals. Then, of course — since no person could possibly meet the extremely high standards we demand of ourselves — we find ourselves falling short. Discouragement and depression set in; we angrily punish ourselves for being less than superhuman. The next time around, rather than setting more realistic goals, we set them even higher. And we fall farther, then punish ourselves more severely. Isn’t it about time I stopped setting unattainable goals for myself?Today I PrayMay God temper my own image of myself as a super-person. May I settle for less than perfection from myself, as well las from others. For only God is perfect, and I am limited by being human.
Today I Will RememberI am not God; I am only human.
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15
July
The Possible Dream
Reaching objectives.Although we hear people ridicule the practice of daydreaming, we also hear them express admiration for people who pursued and realized their dreams. How do we know when we are pursing the right dreams?
Useful, effective dreams may seem farfetched, but they still have a possibility of fulfillment. In some ways, they’re tied to what we can do if we have the right opportunities and use our talents properly.
Fantasies, or useless dreams, can never happen. Fantasies are often based on our past and how it might have been different. It’s also useless to fantasize about feats that are completely beyond anything we could ever do. These dreams are a waste of time and energy.
What’s exciting, however, is that very person can find dreams that are possible and based on reality. It’s important to pursue these dreams and bring them into realization.
I’ll keep my realistic dreams very much alive today, knowing they’re the patterns I need for reaching my long-term objectives.
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14
May
“Prayer is the best answer to all of the trials that face us, because without prayer, even if we succeed in accomplishing some great goal in the eyes of men, we have failed in our sacred responsibilities, and thus we have failed in what is truly important.”
–Thomas Yellowtail, CROWWhat are our sacred responsibilities? One is to be of maximum service to the Creator, and two is to serve the people. In a way, it’s like the Great Spirit is the employer and we are the employees. We live each day, do what we do, accomplish our goals, face our difficulties, overcome them all to the Glory of the Creator. We do these things to make Him proud! Even if we work for a company, agency or tribe, they are not really our employer; the Creator is our employer. Working for the Creator is better than working for a human being, because each night we can talk to the Creator and ask Him, “Well, how did I do today?”. He answers back each night, “I’m proud of you, my child; sleep well, and in the morning I’ll give you a new set of growing experiences.”.
Great Spirit, today, let me work for you. You will be my new boss.
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9
April
The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day a time.
–Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln did great things for the United States. He took life One Day at a time.. He broke the future into manageable pieces. We can do the same. We can live in the present and focus on the task at hand.Spirituality comes when we focus this way. When we stay in the present we find choice. And we worry less about the future. Still, we must have goals. We must plan for the future.Goals and plans help us give more credit to the present than to the future. And when we feel good about the present, we feel good about the future.Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me focus. Help me keep my energy in the present. Have me live life One Day at a Time.Action for the Day: When I find myself drifting into the future, I’ll work at bring myself back to the present.
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