Just for today

Self-esteem

“Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.”

––––=––––

Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, “You’re worthless!” Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-esteem very early in our recovery. Some of us may feel that our feelings of inferiority were where all our problems began.

Whether we learn this low self-esteem in our families or through our interactions with others, in NA we learn the tools for reclaiming ourselves. Building up our fractured self-esteem sometimes begins by simply accepting a service position. Or perhaps our phone begins to ring, and for the first time people are calling just to see how we are. They don’t want anything from us but to reach out and help.

Next we get a sponsor, someone who teaches us that we are worthwhile and believes in us until we can believe in ourselves. Our sponsor guides us through the Twelve Steps where we learn who we really are, not who we have built ourselves up or down to be.

Low self-esteem doesn’t go away overnight. Sometimes it takes years for us to really get in touch with ourselves. But with the help of other members of NA who share our same feelings, and by working the Twelve Steps, we blossom into individuals whom others and, most importantly, we ourselves respect.

––––=––––

Just for today: I will remember that I am deserving of my Higher Power’s love. I know that I am a worthy human being.

Walk In Dry Places

Self-esteem in responsible work
self-confidence.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,” goes an ancient saying. However long ago this was said, it applies to our work here and now.

Part of recovery lies in doing useful and satisfying work. We can’t wait until the “perfect” job appears. Our success will come in doing the very best we can in our present situation. If we’re unemployed, we can still be useful and active in ways that will help us find the right situation.

And as we work for a living, we’ll find that another important benefit of our work will be greater self-esteem. We’ll have more respect for ourselves as we continue to be both productive and active.

Whatever my job is, I’ll give it my best today. I’ll be grateful for having the opportunity to work productively.

Today’s Gift. Self-Esteem

Cultivate your garden. Let it take root in you until your thousand eyes open like violets to morning light.

 –Nancy Paddock

In our imaginations we can mix images and ideas from all over the world–imagine the thousand eyes of a peacock growing among the purple violets, or babies that grow on trees! In our imaginations we can also nurture feelings of love, affection, self-esteem.
All of us–not just writers–can learn to see the images in our own minds. We can do this by breathing slowly, relaxing, and looking at the movie in our minds. We may see a field of wildflowers, or find ourselves wading across a stream in the mountains. We might see happiness as wildflowers and grass coming up through the sidewalk, breaking the concrete into chunks and sand, growing so slowly yet with such great power. It may help us appreciate our growth today to look at it this way.

Can I visualize my happiness right now? What does it look like?

Walk In Dry Places - 27th August 2025

Finding Our Real Selves
Building Self-esteem

Many of us sold ourselves short while we were drinking. We wanted approval and acceptance, but often felt unworthy of it, even accepting the unfavorable opinions others had toward us. We resented such opinions, but secretly feared that our critics were right.

In the Twelve Step program, however, we discover a higher and better self that hadn’t found expression during active drinking. We no longer have to impress anybody, we no longer need applause, and we no longer crave the false camaraderie that passes for friendship among problem drinkers. We can, in many ways, become new people.

When we experience such change and growth, we may come to wonder how we ever could have been so deluded by the sick self of our drinking years. We feel relief when we realize that we no longer have to live and think that way…. if we continue in the program and make sobriety our highest priority. We will realize too that the self we find in sobriety is the real self…. a person who was there all along but was crowded out and suppressed by the demands of our sick nature. This real self is what we were created to be, and sobriety brought its discovery.

I’ll go about my affairs today knowing that my real self is what God wants me to be. Being sober, I can now find answers and opportunities that were beyond my reach when I was still drinking. 

One Day At A Time - 6th August 2025

SELF-ESTEEM

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

–Eleanor Roosevelt

I always used to feel “less than” everyone else, so I’d eat and feel even worse. Without true love for myself I was dead in the water. I would compare the facts I knew about myself against the impression I had of you. I never seemed to measure up. Without self-love, I was unable to ask for, expect or accept love from others.

When I love myself and treat myself lovingly, it Doesn’t matter what others think of me; what matters is that I do not think less of myself.

One day at a time …

I ask my Higher Power to show me little ways
to act lovingly toward myself and to know deep within
that I am worthy of being loved by others.

~ Melissa S.   

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrecovery

By embracing the unfair, I no longer feel fear or rejection or lack of self-esteem.

~ Eileen Fehlen ~

It’s so human to quickly label an unwanted situation as unfair and to assume we know what’s best for us. We reason that if God would answer our prayers, our lives would unfold appropriately. It’s also terribly human to have to relearn repeatedly that God’s will and God’s timetable don’t always match our own; however, without fail they serve us well.

Learning to appreciate the good in everything that comes our way makes us courageous. In time few things will fill us with fear, and that is measurable progress. We were tormented by fear for so many years that we never expected this rebirth of spirit. Life is beginning to feel inviting, exciting, and safe. Let’s step forth together.

I can be certain that God will give me only what is right for me today.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation 

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EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-ESTEEM

We can help one another find out the meaning of life. But in the last analysis, each is responsible for finding himself.

~ Thomas Merton ~

“Because of my changed attitude, I am today he best me I’ve ever been.” The ability to say those words at any moment is one of the many rewarding experiences of recovery. Those words are not boastful. They describe a newly found self-esteem.

Those words go beyond satisfaction for our ability to correct character defects and make amends. They are more than an appreciation of character growth. They are a daily personal challenge to make every tomorrow a day on which we can repeat the words, “I am the best me ever.”

Whatever progress I make will not come to me as a gift. I need to work for every inch of growth. Others can show me the way to be the “best me ever,” but I have to do the work.

©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden 

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrecovery

A woman who maintains fitness in her life has earned a Ph.D. in self-esteem.

~ Anne Marie Nelson ~

The word fitness covers a lot of ground. It’s related not only to how we take care of our bodies, but also to how we eat, think, behave, plan for the day ahead, and pray. Every avenue of our lives is either fit or it isn’t.

Our Twelve Step program can serve as our manual for fitness. For some of us, the decision to exercise and eat right is an easy one. Decisions about how we think and how we behave, however, may be more difficult and require more discipline. Fortunately, the Fourth and Tenth Steps keep us in touch with our individual characteristics. We can make conscious choices about which ones to exercise in every situation.

My fitness today is within my grasp. The Steps will anchor me.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation 

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrecovery

Finding Our Real Selves
Building Self-esteem

Many of us sold ourselves short while we were drinking. We wanted approval and acceptance, but often felt unworthy of it, even accepting the unfavorable opinions others had toward us. We resented such opinions, but secretly feared that our critics were right.

In the Twelve Step program, however, we discover a higher and better self that hadn’t found expression during active drinking. We no longer have to impress anybody, we no longer need applause, and we no longer crave the false camaraderie that passes for friendship among problem drinkers. We can, in many ways, become new people.

When we experience such change and growth, we may come to wonder how we ever could have been so deluded by the sick self of our drinking years. We feel relief when we realize that we no longer have to live and think that way…. if we continue in the program and make sobriety our highest priority. We will realize too that the self we find in sobriety is the real self…. a person who was there all along but was crowded out and suppressed by the demands of our sick nature. This real self is what we were created to be, and sobriety brought its discovery.

I’ll go about my affairs today knowing that my real self is what God wants me to be. Being sober, I can now find answers and opportunities that were beyond my reach when I was still drinking.   

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

One Day At A Time

SELF-ESTEEM

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

–Eleanor Roosevelt

I always used to feel “less than” everyone else, so I’d eat and feel even worse. Without true love for myself I was dead in the water. I would compare the facts I knew about myself against the impression I had of you. I never seemed to measure up. Without self-love, I was unable to ask for, expect or accept love from others.

When I love myself and treat myself lovingly, it Doesn’t matter what others think of me; what matters is that I do not think less of myself.

One day at a time …

I ask my Higher Power to show me little ways
to act lovingly toward myself and to know deep within
that I am worthy of being loved by others.

~ Melissa S.  

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Just For Today #essentialsofrec

The Masks Have To Go

“… we covered low self-esteem by hiding behind phony images that we hoped would fool people. The masks have to go” 

Basic Text, p.32

Over-sensitivity, insecurity, and lack of identity are often associated with active addiction. Many of us carry these with us into recovery; our fears of inadequacy, rejection, and lack of direction do not disappear overnight. Many of us have images, false personalities we have constructed either to protect ourselves or please others. Some of us use masks because we’re not sure who we really are. Sometimes we think that these images, built to protect us while using, might also protect us in recovery.

We use false fronts to hide our true personality, to disguise our lack of self-esteem. These masks hide us from others and also from our own true selves. By living a lie, we are saying that we cannot live with the truth about ourselves. The more we hide our real selves, the more we damage our self-esteem.

One of the miracles of recovery is the recognition of ourselves, complete with assets and liabilities. Self esteem begins with this recognition. Despite our fear of becoming vulnerable, we need to be willing to let go of our disguises. We need to be free of our masks and free to trust ourselves.

Just for today: I will let go of my masks and allow my self esteem to grow. 

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofec

Sensing Rejection
Self-Esteem and Maturity

We laugh when a recovering person tells how he “learned to quit just before he got fired.” We sometimes can tell when a rejection is coming, and we take steps…. such as quitting.. To avoid further pain and humiliation.

In the recovery process, there still may be times when we sense a coming rejection. If it does come, we must remember that rejections is part of living. People receive rejection for all sorts of reasons, including wrong ones.

When we do sense any kid of a rejection in the works, our best course is to let it happen, accept it, and put it behind us. If we are living our program, we don’t need to feel pain or humiliation, as rejection is simply part of normal human experience.

I’ll try today to be as accepting as possible in everything I do. If others choose to reject me, I will also accept this without resentment or self-reproach.

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

Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofec

Sensing Rejection
Self-Esteem and Maturity

We laugh when a recovering person tells how he “learned to quit just before he got fired.” We sometimes can tell when a rejection is coming, and we take steps…. such as quitting.. To avoid further pain and humiliation.

In the recovery process, there still may be times when we sense a coming rejection. If it does come, we must remember that rejections is part of living. People receive rejection for all sorts of reasons, including wrong ones.

When we do sense any kid of a rejection in the works, our best course is to let it happen, accept it, and put it behind us. If we are living our program, we don’t need to feel pain or humiliation, as rejection is simply part of normal human experience.

I’ll try today to be as accepting as possible in everything I do. If others choose to reject me, I will also accept this without resentment or self-reproach.

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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Self-esteem #NA

Self-esteem

“Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.” 

Basic Text, p. 112

Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, “You’re worthless!” Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-esteem very early in our recovery. Some of us may feel that our feelings of inferiority were where all our problems began.

Whether we learn this low self-esteem in our families or through our interactions with others, in NA we learn the tools for reclaiming ourselves. Building up our fractured self-esteem sometimes begins by simply accepting a service position. Or perhaps our phone begins to ring, and for the first time people are calling just to see how we are. They don’t want anything from us but to reach out and help.

Next we get a sponsor, someone who teaches us that we are worthwhile and believes in us until we can believe in ourselves. Our sponsor guides us through the Twelve Steps where we learn who we really are, not who we have built ourselves up or down to be.

Low self-esteem doesn’t go away overnight. Sometimes it takes years for us to really get in touch with ourselves. But with the help of other members of NA who share our same feelings, and by working the Twelve Steps, we blossom into individuals that others and, most importantly, we ourselves respect.

Just for today: I will remember that I am deserving of my Higher Power’s love. I know that I am a worthy human being. 

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

Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Self-esteem

Self-esteem in responsible work
self-confidence.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,” goes an ancient saying. However long ago this was said, it applies to our work here and now.

Part of recovery lies in doing useful and satisfying work. We can’t wait until the “perfect” job appears. Our success will come in doing the very best we can in our present situation. If we’re unemployed, we can still be useful and active in ways that will help us find the right situation.

And as we work for a living, we’ll find that another important benefit of our work will be greater self-esteem. We’ll have more respect for ourselves as we continue to be both productive and active.

Whatever my job is, I’ll give it my best today. I’ll be grateful for having the opportunity to work productively. 

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

Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Self-Esteem

Pats on the back
Self-esteem

Recovery from a compulsive illness such as alcoholism often brings “pats on the back.” This praise is a welcome change from the criticism our problems once raised.

We should accept such pats on the back graciously, but without taking the personal credit this sort of praise implies. We can become addicted to praise seeking, and we may even invite it as a way of building up self-esteem.

Moreover, much of our challenge is still ahead of us. The real victory may be in learning how to live after we’ve established our initial freedom. We learn that all human beings must face issues such as boredom and pain, which we tried to avoid with our drinking. We may get few pats on the back for our success in this everyday living, but our healthier lifestyle is reward enough.

If I receive praise today, I’ll acknowledge it graciously, knowing that such praise is not necessary for my well-being. 

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One Day At A Time

SELF-ESTEEM

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

–Eleanor Roosevelt

I always used to feel “less than” everyone else, so I’d eat and feel even worse. Without true love for myself I was dead in the water. I would compare the facts I knew about myself against the impression I had of you. I never seemed to measure up. Without self-love, I was unable to ask for, expect or accept love from others.

When I love myself and treat myself lovingly, it Doesn’t matter what others think of me; what matters is that I do not think less of myself.

One day at a time …

I ask my Higher Power to show me little ways
to act lovingly toward myself and to know deep within
that I am worthy of being loved by others.

~ Melissa S.   

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

A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrec #Rejection #self-esteem

By embracing the unfair, I no longer feel fear or rejection or lack of self-esteem.
~ Eileen Fehlen ~
It’s so human to quickly label an unwanted situation as unfair and to assume we know what’s best for us. We reason that if God would answer our prayers, our lives would unfold appropriately. It’s also terribly human to have to relearn repeatedly that God’s will and God’s timetable don’t always match our own; however, without fail they serve us well.

Learning to appreciate the good in everything that comes our way makes us courageous. In time few things will fill us with fear, and that is measurable progress. We were tormented by fear for so many years that we never expected this rebirth of spirit. Life is beginning to feel inviting, exciting, and safe. Let’s step forth together.

I can be certain that God will give me only what is right for me today.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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

EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrec #Self-Esteem #Attitude

SELF-ESTEEM

We can help one another find out the meaning of life. But in the last analysis, each is responsible for finding himself.

~ Thomas Merton ~

“Because of my changed attitude, I am today he best me I’ve ever been.” The ability to say those words at any moment is one of the many rewarding experiences of recovery. Those words are not boastful. They describe a newly found self-esteem.

Those words go beyond satisfaction for our ability to correct character defects and make amends. They are more than an appreciation of character growth. They are a daily personal challenge to make every tomorrow a day on which we can repeat the words, “I am the best me ever.”

Whatever progress I make will not come to me as a gift. I need to work for every inch of growth. Others can show me the way to be the “best me ever,” but I have to do the work.

©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #]essentialsofrec #Recovery #Self-esteem #Fitness

A woman who maintains fitness in her life has earned a Ph.D. in self-esteem.

~ Anne Marie Nelson 

The word fitness covers a lot of ground. It’s related not only to how we take care of our bodies, but also to how we eat, think, behave, plan for the day ahead, and pray. Every avenue of our lives is either fit or it isn’t.

Our Twelve Step program can serve as our manual for fitness. For some of us, the decision to exercise and eat right is an easy one. Decisions about how we think and how we behave, however, may be more difficult and require more discipline. Fortunately, the Fourth and Tenth Steps keep us in touch with our individual characteristics. We can make conscious choices about which ones to exercise in every situation.

My fitness today is within my grasp. The Steps will anchor me.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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