Keep It Simple

I don’t believe in the life afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear.

—Woody Allen


Most of us have many questions about a Higher Power. Sometimes we have more questions than answers. No matter how much we believe about God, there are always questions. Why do bad things happen if God is good? Does God punish people?

Is God called Jesus, Buddha, the Great Spirit? Perhaps we’ve chosen a name for our Higher Power, or maybe we haven’t. Yet, we know there is some Power great than ourselves that’s helping us in recovery.

We know what we need to know about God for today. We know how to ask for help, and how to accept help.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to know You more clearly. There’s much I’m not sure about. For now, I will act as if the help I get comes from You.

Action for the Day: I’ll think of three ways my Higher Power has done just the right thing for me.

Just For Today - May 29 2026

Carry Me

“We believe that our Higher Power will take care of us” 

Basic Text, p. 55

We all have times when it seems as though our lives are falling apart. There are days, or even weeks, when it seems that everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Whether it’s the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or the end of a relationship, we doubt that we’ll survive the changes taking place in our lives.

It’s during the times when the world is crashing down around our ears that we find our greatest faith in a loving Higher Power. No human being could relieve our suffering; we know that only God’s care can provide the comfort we seek. We feel broken but we go on, knowing that our lives will be repaired.

As we progress in our recovery and our faith in our Higher Power grows, we are sure to greet the difficult times with a sense of hope, despite the pain we may be in. We need not despair, for we know that our Higher Power’s care will carry us through when we can’t walk on our own.

Just for today: I will rely on God’s care through the painful times, knowing that my Higher Power will always be there.

One Day At A Time - May 28 2026

HIGHER POWER


“Think not because no man sees, such things will remain unseen.”

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Recently at a meeting I heard a person share that they weren’t sure that the program would work for them because they did not believe in God. They were very distressed. I wanted to get out the Big Book and quote to them from page 47, “When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. This applies too, to other spiritual expressions which you find in this book. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him.”

Many of us have a problem with God in the beginning of our program. We may be atheists, agnostics, or simply have had bad experiences regarding God or His/Her people. We can choose the group, or the Higher Power of another, to be our Higher Power until we are able to begin, bit-by-bit, to define and establish a relationship with our own Higher Power. I know that when I came into the program I was very angry with God. I used the group as my Higher Power at first. Then I used my sponsor’s God of her understanding as my Higher Power because He was so loving and full of grace. We had many talks about her God. This helped me greatly until I was able to reconnect to my relationship with the God of my understanding. Today I have a full, rich and intimate relationship with my God.

One day at a time…
I will be tolerant of others’ conception of their Higher Power and will continue to grow in my relationship with the God of my understanding.

~ Carolyn H.

Step By Step - May 28 2026

“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” 

– Step Two
Today, whether a newcomer or veteran of the Program, if the term Higher Power discourages me because my faith has been ravaged by alcohol or the less than serene episodes of sobriety, let me re-read and understand the literal interpretation of Step Two. We are not asked or mandated by this Step to believe, but “come to believe” in the possibility of a Higher Power. If I shrug off the possibility of some being stronger and greater than myself, I need only look to why I came to AA in the first place: by doing that, I also reached out for the possibility that some help that I need desperately exists. By the same measure, if I cannot yet grasp the concept of a stronger power, let me believe that Step Two is telling me that coming to believe in and accept a Power greater than myself is a dynamic process, one that requires ongoing change. Just as I did not become sober after my last drink and probably needed weeks, months or longer to move from being dry to being sober, so it goes with developing an understanding of the principles of all Twelve Steps. Today, I will not give up if I do not believe in that Higher Power; instead, I will proceed with the promise of Step Two that I will one day find my Higher Power. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M.,

Walk in Dry Places - May 18 2026

No Limits on our Higher power
The Spiritual Way

One ancient saying claims that “with God, all things are possible.” That’s quite a statement, one we may claim to believe without living as though we do.

What it really mens is that God exists outside the conditions and restrictions that make our own lives so limited. The more we can move into conscious contact with God, the more freedom and power we will experience.

It might be said that all real human progress is the same order. Every advancement in science really reveals more information about God and the universe. We are always discovering new possibilites for humankind as we stretch the frontiers of knowledge.
Our most serious lag is in learning to understand ourselves and each other. It is humbling to realize taht the ideas we’re using in Twelve Step programs have been around for centuries. Fced with impossible problmes, we must remember that God can solve these problmes if only we ask.


I’ll follow today the old idea of working as if everything depended on me and believing as if everything depended on God.

Keep It Simple - May 17 2026

Each day provides its own gifts.

—Ruth P. Freedman

Spiritual growth is the greatest gift we can receive. And we earn it through taking risks. There is much risk involved in working the Steps: The risk of admitting that we’re out of control. The risk of turning our will and lives over to a Power greater than ourselves. The risk of letting go of character defects. The risk of making amends to people we’ve harmed. The risk of admitting our wrongs. The risk of telling our stories as we carry the message of hope. To grow spiritually, we need these adventures. These challenges. These risk.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to take the risks that I need in order to grow.

Action for the Day: I will look at today as an adventure with my Higher Power. I will list the fears I’ll need to let go of.

Just For Today - May 16 2026

Our Higher Power’s Will

“God’s will for us becomes our own true will for ourselves.”

Basic Text, p. 46

The Twelve Steps are a path to spiritual awakening. This awakening takes the form of a developing relationship with a loving Higher Power. Each succeeding step strengthens that relationship. As we continue to work the steps, the relationship grows, becoming ever more important in our lives.

In the course of working the steps, we make a personal decision to allow a loving Higher Power to direct us. That guidance is always available; we need only the patience to seek it. Often, that guidance manifests itself in the inner wisdom we call our conscience.

When we open our hearts wide enough to sense our Higher Power’s guidance, we feel a calm serenity. This peace is the beacon that guides us through our troubled feelings, providing clear direction when our minds are busy and confused. When we seek and follow God’s will in our lives, we find the contentment and joy that often elude us when we strike out on our own. Fear or doubt may plague us when we attempt to carry out our Higher Power’s will, but we’ve learned to trust the moment of clarity. Our greatest happiness lies in following the will of our loving God.

Just for today: I will seek to strengthen my relationship with my Higher Power. I know from experience that knowledge of my Higher Power’s will provides a sense of clarity, direction, and peace.

Step by Step - May 13 2026

” …The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. …His defense must come from a Higher Power.”

 – Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 3, p 43.

Today, the words of the Big Book warn me that it is foolish at best and suicidal at worst to rely on my own defenses if the temptation for that mythical first drink rises up. My refuge and perhaps only defense is my faith, trust and loyalty to the Higher Power of my understanding. By His grace, my I internalize for the current 24 Hours that my past as a drinking alcoholic smashes the lie of just one drink and that all my morning after’s became progressively worse, never better. Let me remember just as much if not more that drinking, in the end, is a choice, that there are consequences for every choice I make and that I – and only I – will be responsible to those consequences. The question, then, is if I am willing to be responsible to the consequences of my choice to drink. My history is proof that the cost, for me, is too high. Today, I will not depend on myself to ward off the con of a first drink; instead, I will have faith in my Higher Power. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M.

Keep It Simple - May 9 2026

The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.

—Frank Lloyd Wright

For many for us, life was a burden while using alcohol and other drugs. As our illness went on, life was more ugly. We grew further from our friends, family, and Higher Power. In recovery, our eyes and hearts open a little more each day. We see the beauty that life holds. We now see the beauty that life holds. We now see that before recovery, we weren’t living—we were dying. In recovery, we again feel happy when we hold a baby. We again may feel joy when we see a sunset. This happens mainly because we’ve chosen to be with people who love life, people who’ve been given a second chance. Once we’ve almost lost something important, it becomes more precious. We almost lost our lives. Now our lives are special.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for a second chance. Thank-you for opening my eyes and heart. Give me the strength to keep them open.

Action for the Day: I’ll list the most beautiful parts of my life. I’ll open my heart today to the joy in store for me.

A Day At A Time - May 9 2026

Reflection For The Day

“Perfect courage,” wrote La Rochefoucauld, “means doing witnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on.” As we grow in The Program, we recognize persistent fear for what it is, and we become able to handle it. We begin to see each adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage which is born of humility, rather than of bravado. Do I realize that whistling to keep up my courage is merely good practice for whistling?

Today I Pray

May I find courage in my Higher Power. Since all things are possible through Him, I must be able to overcome the insidious fears that haunt me — so often fears of losing someone or some thing that has become important in my life. I pray for my own willingness to let go of those fears.

Today I Will Remember

Praying is more than whistling in the dark.

KEEP IT SIMPLE - - April 25 2026

You’re never too old to grow up.
~ Shirley Conran ~
Some of us have spent many years trying not to grow up. As children, we watched the adults around us. They may not have seemed happy. “Is life all hard work for grown-ups?” we wondered.

No, it’s not all hard work. There are lots of good things about growing up. We can take charge of our life. We can learn to take care of ourselves. We can learn to share our feelings with good friends. We can make our world safe enough for us to express feelings again. We can learn how to love others. We do have choices.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me grow Growthup into a happy, grateful adult.

Action for the Day

There are happy grown-ups. I’ll find one to be my sponsor.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

Twenty-Four Hours A Day - - April 24 2026

A.A. Thought For The Day

It’s been proved that we alcoholics can’t get sober by our
willpower. We’ve failed again and again. Therefore I believe
there must be a Higher Power which helps me. I think of that
power as the grace of God. And I pray to God every morning
for the strength to stay sober today. I know that power is
there because it never fails to help me. Do I believe that
AA. works through the grace of God?

Meditation For The Day

Once I am “born of the spirit,” that is my life’s breath.
Within me is the life of life, so that I can never perish.
The life that down the ages has kept God’s children through
peril, adversity, and sorrow. I must try never to doubt or
worry, but follow where the life of the spirit leads. How
often, when little I know it, God goes before me to prepare
the way, to soften a heart, or to overrule a resentment. As
the life of the spirit grows, natural wants become less
important.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that my life may become centred in God more than in self. 

I pray that my will may be directed toward doing His will.

KEEP IT SIMPLE - April 17 2026

We create revolution by living it.

~ Jerry Rubin ~

There’s a lot wrong in the world – Child abuse, homeless and hungry people, pollution. Our old way of dealing with these troubles was to break the rules or to “drop out” by using chemicals. Now we have a new way to change the world. We’re changing ourselves. One Day at a Time, we’re acting like the caring , responsible people we want to be. We use the ideas of the program in our lives.

We’re kinder. We’re more honest. We stand up for ourselves and for others who need our help. What if the whole world started working the Steps? What a wonderful world this would be!

Prayer for the Day:

Higher Power, please work through me today. Help me make the world a little better place.

Action for the Day:

I’ll list one thing that bothers me about the world today. How can using the ideas of the program help solve that problem? Remember, the program tells us to look at our own behavior.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

KEEP IT SIMPLE - April 16 2026

No human creature can give order to love.
~ George Sand ~
If we are trying to get others to love us, all we’re really doing is trying to be in control. Trying to control others can be a powerful drug. Remember, we can’t control others. We can’t make others love us.

Our Higher Power has control, not us. So, what do we need to do? Turn things over to our Higher Power and just be ourselves. Sure, it can scare us to just be ourselves. The truth is, not everyone will love us. But if we’re honest about who we are, others will respect us. We’ll like ourselves better. And we’ll have a better chance of loving others and being loved.

Prayer for the Day:
I pray to have my need for control lifted from me. I pray to be rid of self-will.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll list five ways my self-will – my need to control – has gotten me in trouble.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

AS BILL SEES IT - April 14 2026

~ Page 104 ~

Our New Employer

We had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well.

Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life.

As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 63 ~

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

KEEP IT SIMPLE - April 14 2026

It is enough that I am of value to somebody today.

~ Hugh Prather ~
Even in recovery, we addicts often feel we are not enough. Maybe it’s leftover shame from our using days. But we are enough. We are of great value. We all need each other to stay sober.

Each of us needs other recovering people to help us remember the hell of addiction. We can forget how bad it was, but telling our stories makes us remember. When you feel you don’t want to stay sober for yourself, then stay sober for your brothers and sisters in the program. They need you.

You’re their recovery, as they’re yours. There may be days you don’t feel glad to be sober. But your friends in this fellowship are glad you’re sober. They thank-you for your sobriety.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, may Your will, not mine, be done.

Action For the Day:
I’ll stop and think of all the people I’m glad for. I’ll start telling them today.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

ONE DAY AT A TIME - April 14 2026

FEARLESS

“As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind,
as we discovered we could face life successfully,
as we became conscious of His presence,
we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.”

~ The Big Book ~

I refuse to be frightened to the point of missing the opportunities my Higher Power has provided for me. I will no longer hurt myself by avoiding being hurt. When I avoid risks because I’m afraid the outcome will be painful, I am stuck – not safe.

By working my program I have discovered that many times when I’m engulfed in fear, I am not trusting my Higher Power. The more I practice the Serenity Prayer, the more serene I become. From my new perspective I can see numerous occasions in which my Higher Power did things for me which I could not do by myself. Possibly a doomed relationship I couldn’t end, and my Higher Power ended for me by having the other person walk away. Maybe a financial crisis that was suddenly alleviated from an unexpected source. How about the ability to detach from a loved one’s issues without feeling responsible for “fixing” everything or taking their struggles personally. In order to surrender my control over these things, I choose to be fearless in trusting my Higher Power.

Today I will be grateful even for the painful times because sometimes they are the lesser of two hurts: the easiest being when God steps in to protect me, and the hardest being when my will prevents me from letting go of something that isn’t good for me.

One day at a time…

I will trust my Higher Power and know that where I am today is right where I need to be. I don’t have to have all the answers.

~ Sandee S.

Step by Step - April 8 2026

 Today, I will have absolute and unquestionable faith in my Higher Power that He will give me what I think I want or need when He, not I, decides if and when I should receive. I can reach into my yesterdays to cement my faith that, when in my darkest days, I saw no hope but was delivered from active alcoholism and the damage to others and things like my job, credibility and faith. But it was only when I “admitted (I am) powerless” and “came to believe” that I began to emerge from the alcoholic shadows and only when I had reached the point when I was able to begin to live as an alcoholic in recovery. Today, sober, if I am anxious, angry, frustrated or resentful that I do not have what I think I deserve or need, let me be reminded that it was only when I was taken to the point to be responsible that my Higher Power delivered. And maybe in recovery I’ve learned to be careful not to get what I wish for: I might get it. And our common journey continues.

Step by step. – Chris M.

ONE DAY AT A TIME - April 7 2026

HIGHER POWER

If you spend all your time looking for Him,you might miss Her when She shows up.

~ Neale Donald Walsch ~

Our program of recovery teaches us that we each must lean on a Higher Power. This Higher Power is also known as “the God of my understanding.” There is nothing in this Twelve Step program of ours that says that my Higher Power must be the same as your Higher Power. For some, the Higher Power in their life is a deity. The program itself, or a weekly meeting, might be the Higher Power for someone else. It doesn’t matter what or who each person has for a Higher Power.

Recovery is possible for everyone. Those who believe in one God can come together with those who believe in many Gods, or maybe no God at all. The atheist has just as much chance of recovery as a very religious person. The beauty of this program is that it works for everybody, regardless of their approach to the spiritual aspect. That is why it is imperative that we accept each other’s ideas of a Higher Power. What works for one individual might not work for another. But one thing is sure … the program that works if you work it, regardless of which Higher Power you decide on.

One Day at a Time . . .

I will work my program with my Higher Power, the God of my understanding, and allow others to work their program with the God of their understanding.

~ Jeff ~ 

Just For Today - 20th March 2026

Higher Power


“Most of us have no trouble admitting that addiction had become a destructive force in our lives. Our best efforts resulted in ever greater destruction and despair. At some point, we realized that we needed the help of some Power greater than our addiction.”


Basic Text p. 24

Most of us know without a doubt that our lives have been filled with destruction. Learning that we have a disease called addiction helps us understand the source or cause of this destruction. We can recognize addiction as a power that has worked devastation in our lives. When we take the First Step, we admit that the destructive force of addiction is bigger than we are. We are powerless over it.

At this point, our only hope is to find some Power greater than the force of our addiction—a Power bent on preserving life, not ending it. We don’t have to understand it or even name it; we only have to believe that there could be such a Higher Power. The belief that a benevolent Power greater than our addiction just might exist gives us enough hope to stay clean, a day at a time.
 I believe in the possibility of some Power that’s bigger than my addiction.