Just For Today - 27th September 2025

Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.   

Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.      

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Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.     

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.    

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.   

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.  

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Today’s Gift #essentialsofrecovery

The price of dishonesty is self-destruction.

—Rita Mae Brown

There once was a woman who told her husband what she thought he wanted to hear. She told him she was happy when she wasn’t. She told him she liked his friends when she didn’t. She tried to figure out what he wanted so she could do it for him. She felt hurt when he didn’t do the same for her. She felt he should also try to read her mind and do what she wanted without her having to express it. She was scared to tell him how she really felt.

However, her pain and resentment grew so much she couldn’t stand it any longer, so she told him her true feelings. He was so used to hearing her lies that he called her a liar when she told the truth. Now she knew how much she had hurt herself by trying to please him at the cost of her own honesty and needs.

Honesty is necessary for a good relationship with anyone. When we lie to ourselves, we cannot tell the truth to others. By being honest, we open our doors to others, we trust them with our true feelings, and they love us for who we really are.

Who can I tell how I really feel today?

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Right Back Up

“There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure.” 

Basic Text, p.77

“Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I’ve fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!” Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Life isn’t like that anymore. True, sometimes we still stumble; at times we even fall. Sometimes we feel like we can’t move forward in our lives, no matter how hard we try. But the truth of the matter is that, with the help of other recovering addicts in NA, we find a hand to pull us up, dust us off, and help us start all over again. That’s the new refrain in our lives today. No longer do we say, “I’m a failure and I’m going nowhere!” Usually, it’s more like, “Rats! I hit that same bump in the road of life again. Pretty soon I’ll learn to slow down or avoid it entirely!” Until then, we may continue to fall down occasionally, but we’ve learned that there’s always a helping hand to set us on our feet again.

Just for today: If I begin to cry failure, I’ll remember there is a way to move forward. I will accept the encouragement and support of NA.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Step by Step #essentialsofrec

“Have I ever wanted a drink during these years? Only once did I suffer from a nearly overpowering compulsion to take a drink. Oddly enough, the circumstances and surroundings were pleasant. I was at a beautifully set dinner table. I was in a perfectly happy frame of mind. I had been in AA a year, and the last thing in my mind was a drink. There was a glass of sherry at my place. I was seized with an almost uncontrollable desire to reach out for it. I shut my eyes and asked for help. In 15 seconds or less, the feeling passed.” 

– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three,” Ch 9 (“The Man Who Mastered Fear”), p 285.

Today, this excerpt from the Big Book is a reminder that, ironically, my life has been relatively good if and when I have been tempted to drink and, second, what the sight of a drink does to me. That the temptation sneaks on me when my life is relatively good begs the question if I still harbor self-destructive traits or if my ego is such that I think I “deserve” a “reward” of a drink. And when I see a CC and Coke or whiskey sour or a drink that has a soft inviting golden glow, do I think about the “good” times I had with drinking? Or do I remember that a drink has always led me to waking the next morning to that same golden color – in my vomit – or the headache so overpowering that it is beyond the aspirin cure and a stomach churning so violently that the smell of coffee is enough to trigger the dry heaves? Do I remember that the sight of a drink represents another DUI arrest and maybe another night in the county jail’s drunk tank? Whatever! If and when I am tempted, I can and must do what I have to do if I don’t want to take that first drink: “shut my eyes and ask for help.” Today, I will be strong enough to ask for help, and I will not forget where the first drink will take me. And our common journey continues.

 Step by step. – Chris M. 

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Step by Step #essentialsofrec

Today, I’m fed up – filled to the rim with those self-destructive, self-absorbed character defects like anger, self-pity and anxiety about what’s been said and done, and what’s ahead. And, today, I’m sick of carrying the garbage, the excess baggage that I acquired in my drinking days and may still be toting even without the booze. I want what the Program promises – if I work for it. That means, finally, getting out from under the ponderous weight of that chip on my shoulder, and letting go means letting God and working with the Program so as not to take that weight back. Even if in sobriety I can rationalize or justify whatever resentment and any other ill feeling I harbor for someone or something, the Program commands that it has no role in my recovery and, in fact, can derail it like a super-train jumping its track at 200 mph. The predictable outcome? Total self-destruction. I didn’t come this far this long to fall apart or to implode because of whatever self-destructive trap I set. Today, I need to know how it feels to be free of anger, self-pity, worry and resentment and, today, I’m fed up enough to get with the Program. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M. 

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