DAILY REFLECTIONS - April 18 2026

SELF-HONESTY

The deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves. . . . When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God.

~ AS BILL SEES IT, p. 17 ~

When I was drinking, I deceived myself about reality, rewriting it to what I wanted it to be. Deceiving others is a character defect—even if it is just stretching the truth a bit or cleaning up my motives so others would think well of me. My Higher Power can remove this character defect, but first I have to help myself become willing to receive that help by not practicing deception. I need to remember each day that deceiving myself about myself is setting myself up for failure or disappointment in life and in Alcoholics Anonymous. A close, honest relationship with a Higher Power is the only solid foundation I’ve found for honesty with self and with others.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-HONESTY

The deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves. . . . When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God.

~ AS BILL SEES IT, p. 17 ~

When I was drinking, I deceived myself about reality, rewriting it to what I wanted it to be. Deceiving others is a character defect—even if it is just stretching the truth a bit or cleaning up my motives so others would think well of me. My Higher Power can remove this character defect, but first I have to help myself become willing to receive that help by not practicing deception. I need to remember each day that deceiving myself about myself is setting myself up for failure or disappointment in life and in Alcoholics Anonymous. A close, honest relationship with a Higher Power is the only solid foundation I’ve found for honesty with self and with others.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc 

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ARE THERE BETTER PATHS TO SOBRIETY?

Self-Honesty

Now that alcoholism recovery has been well established, alternatives to the AA program are being developed. These are designed to appeal to those who either will not or cannot accept AA.

Nobody in AA should feel threatened by these new programs. We should, in fact, be delighted if ways are found to reach those whom we are unable to help. The need is so great that we should welcome anything that helps alcoholics.

The only real test for any program is that it works. More important, it must work for us. No program is useful to us if we cannot apply it in our own lives.

If we have found sobriety in AA, we have no need to look further. If AA was able to help us in our hour of desperate need, it can help us as the days unfold into the future.

I’ll be thankful today for the sobriety AA has given me. I’ll also remember that my need for help in maintaining sobriety will never end.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation

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SINCERITY AT THE BEGINNING

Self-Honesty

We were told at our first AA meeting that half-measures will avail us nothing. What’s needed is a sincere desire to stop drinking and seek a new way of life.

As we continue in the program, we learn that sincerity is an ingredient for success in everything we do. Quite often, we may find that we’re failing in something simply because our heart isn’t really in it.

We can’t force ourselves into a sincere posture. Instead, the answer is to know ourselves well enough to know just how we feel about everything we do.

We’ll learn to be careful about attempting to do something when our heart is not really in it. We may be doing something we dislike merely for the recognition and money it gives us. For real sincerity, we need more than that, and the truths of the program will help us find it.

I’ll be conscious today of the sincerity I have about the things I am attempting to do. There may be some things I need to abandon or at least change.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation

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ARE THERE BETTER PATHS TO SOBRIETY?

Self-Honesty

Now that alcoholism recovery has been well established, alternatives to the AA program are being developed. These are designed to appeal to those who either will not or cannot accept AA.

Nobody in AA should feel threatened by these new programs. We should, in fact, be delighted if ways are found to reach those whom we are unable to help. The need is so great that we should welcome anything that helps alcoholics.

The only real test for any program is that it works. More important, it must work for us. No program is useful to us if we cannot apply it in our own lives.

If we have found sobriety in AA, we have no need to look further. If AA was able to help us in our hour of desperate need, it can help us as the days unfold into the future.

I’ll be thankful today for the sobriety AA has given me. I’ll also remember that my need for help in maintaining sobriety will never end.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation 

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WALK IN DRY PLACES #essentialsofrecovery

SINCERITY AT THE BEGINNING

Self-Honesty

We were told at our first AA meeting that half-measures will avail us nothing. What’s needed is a sincere desire to stop drinking and seek a new way of life.

As we continue in the program, we learn that sincerity is an ingredient for success in everything we do. Quite often, we may find that we’re failing in something simply because our heart isn’t really in it.

We can’t force ourselves into a sincere posture. Instead, the answer is to know ourselves well enough to know just how we feel about everything we do.

We’ll learn to be careful about attempting to do something when our heart is not really in it. We may be doing something we dislike merely for the recognition and money it gives us. For real sincerity, we need more than that, and the truths of the program will help us find it.

I’ll be conscious today of the sincerity I have about the things I am attempting to do. There may be some things I need to abandon or at least change.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation 

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Honesty #Self-Honesty #Recovery

The junkie can never start to cure himself until he recognizes his true condition.

~ Malcolm X 

Now we know what the problem Is. Now we can do something about it. The truth of our problem is, we can’t handle alcohol or other drugs. They handle us. They control us. The Steps ask us to face the truth. And the truth sets us free. What a wonderful gift! We feared the truth, but now it’s our friend. It’s a relief. Facing the truth means we’re honest. And honesty is our best friend in recovery. It’s like a cozy fire on a winter’s night. Honesty is how we get well. It’s also what will keep us well. Do I truly believe I can’t use alcohol or other drugs?

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me see my illness for what it is. It’s my enemy. Help me see that honesty is my best friend.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll take fifteen minutes to think about what my true condition was when I was drinking and drugging. And I’ll think about what my true condition is now.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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  24
November

ARE THERE BETTER PATHS TO SOBRIETY?

Self-Honesty

Now that alcoholism recovery has been well established, alternatives to the AA program are being developed. These are designed to appeal to those who either will not or cannot accept AA.

Nobody in AA should feel threatened by these new programs. We should, in fact, be delighted if ways are found to reach those whom we are unable to help. The need is so great that we should welcome anything that helps alcoholics.

The only real test for any program is that it works. More important, it must work for us. No program is useful to us if we cannot apply it in our own lives.

If we have found sobriety in AA, we have no need to look further. If AA was able to help us in our hour of desperate need, it can help us as the days unfold into the future.

I’ll be thankful today for the sobriety AA has given me. I’ll also remember that my need for help in maintaining sobriety will never end.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Acceptance

  9
November
ACCEPTANCE


“Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.”

— Henry Fielding

The acceptance of my disease has brought me into recovery. If I had not known and confronted the disease of addiction in my life, I would not know the joys of sobriety and serenity. Spirituality involves facing my disease.

Today I believe that had I not seen my dishonesty, I could not fully appreciate honesty. If I had not recognized the lies and games in my life, I could never have appreciated the “openness” and freedom of sobriety. Owning my violence brought me to peace and tolerance. Facing my hell gave me a glimpse of paradise.

The disease was not only my prison but when accepted, became the key to recovery. Spirituality, finding God in our lives, requires a “rigorous honesty” that uses the past pain to experience today’s gratitude.

God, it is through the acceptance of my failings that I can love the world.

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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Honesty

 24
October


Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all.

—Oliver Wendell Homes

Lying, above anything else, brings us close to getting crazy again. Lying is what addicts do. In our addiction, our whole life was a lie.

Lying creates danger because it creates secrets. Secrets keep us from others. To stay sober, we need to stay close to people. We can’t make it on our own.

Lying creates danger because it creates shame. A lie, like a drink, may make us feel good for the moment. But in the long run, it creates shame.

Do we still lie to deal with the world? Lies are like drinks—one leads to another.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to live today free of lies.

Action for the Day: For the next twenty-four hours, I will tell no lies. If I do I’ll go back and do Step Ten. I will remember that lies can lead to relapse.

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Today’s Gift from Hazelden #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Honesty

   3
September

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

— Eric Hoffer

When we’re not honest with others, we’re not being honest with ourselves. In recovery, we’re taught how to heal our hearts. We admit we’re wrong, and we do it quickly. We let our spirit speak out. We listen to our spirit. We let our spirit have the loudest voice. This way, lies lose power over us. We find a way to be true to our spirit.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, You have a soft, quiet voice inside of me. Help me, through meditation, to hear You better. Yours is the voice I want to follow.

Action for the Day

I’ll listen to my Higher Power. I’ll list any lies I’ve been telling myself and others lately. Then I’ll find someone I trust and tell that person what I’ve lied about.

From the book:

Keep It Simple by Anonymous

Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

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22
August 

A.A. Thought For The Day

“Those who do not recover are people who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault. They seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover, if they have the capacity to be honest.” Am I completely honest with myself and with other people?

Meditation For The Day

You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings. It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it. Take your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of them to help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same troubles. Then something good will come out of your suffering and the world will be a better place because of it. The good you do each day will live on, after the trouble and distress have gone, after the difficulty and the pain have passed away.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may make good use of my mistakes and failures. I pray that some good may result from my painful experiences.

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Honesty

 8
August 

No self-deception
Honesty

Most of the time, other people don’t really deceive us. We deceive ourselves by refusing to face life realistically. We often believe false information simply because we want to believe it.

Living on a 12 Step basis should enable us to face reality without becoming cynical or pessimistic. If a friend appears to be lying to us, for example, we can accept this as a single lie, not as a complete betrayal. In addition, we learn not to lie to ourselves. This helps us avoid shaky business schemes and unrealistic hopes.

At the same time, we can still retain our capacity for believing in wonders and miracles. We have experienced enough miracles to prove that they really happen.

I’ll use my head as much as possible today to help keep my heart from getting me into trouble, but I’ll remember that it’s what’s in my heart that counts.

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Truth #Recovery #Addiction #OA

15
July 

~ SELF-TRUTH ~


“You cannot be true to God or to anyone else until you are true to yourself.”

–Sr. Jeanne Koma, H.M.

I have spent much of my life role-playing. As spouse, parent, employee, addict, I have often lost myself. Who am I? Why am I here? If I played none of those roles, would I still exist?

It wasn’t until I took the time to discover the ‘real’ me, the person God created, that I was able to be a better spouse, parent, and employee. And it was through this discovery that the addict in me began taking a back seat to the child of God that I truly am.

I cannot do God’s will nor be supportive of others if I am dishonest about who I am.

When Moses asked God who He was, God replied, “I am who I am.” I am also who I am. I have nothing of which to be ashamed.

One Day at a Time . . .
I must be true to myself if I wish to be of service to anyone else.

~Debbie~

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11
July

Reflection For The Day

Someone once defined the ego as “the sum total of false ideas about myself.” Persistent reworking of the Twelve Steps enables me to gradually strip away my false ideas about myself. This permits nearly imperceptible but steady growth in my understanding of the truth about myself. And this, in turn, leads to a growing understanding of God and other human beings. Do I strive fro self-honesty, promptly admitting when I’m wrong?

Today I Pray

God, teach me understanding; teach me to know truth when I meet it; teach me the importance of self-honesty, so that I may be able to say, sincerely, “I was wrong.” along with, “I am sorry.” Teach me that there is such a thing as a “healthy ego” which does not require that feelings be medicated by mood-alters. May I — slowly, on my tightrope– move toward the ideal of balance, so I can do away with the nets of falsehood and compulsion.

Today I Will Remember

To keep my balance.

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