Just For Today May 23 2026

 Amends And Sponsors

“We want to be free of our guilt, but we don’t wish to do so at the expense of anyone else.”

 Basic Text, p. 39

Let’s face it: Most of us left trails of destruction in our wakes and harmed anyone who got in our way. Some of the people we hurt most in our addiction were the people we loved most. In an effort to purge ourselves of the guilt we feel for what we’ve done, we may be tempted to share with our loved ones, in gruesome detail, things that are better left unsaid. Such disclosures could do much harm and may do little good.

The Ninth Step is not about easing our guilty consciences; it’s about taking responsibility for the wrongs we’ve done. In working our Eighth and Ninth Steps, we should seek the guidance of our sponsor and amend our wrongs in a manner that won’t cause us to owe more amends. We are not just seeking freedom from remorse—we are seeking freedom from our defects. We never again want to inflict harm on our loved ones. One way to insure that we do not is by working the Ninth Step responsibly, checking our motives, and discussing with our sponsor the particular amends we plan to make before we make them.

Just for today: I wish to accept responsibility for my actions. Before making any amends, I will talk with my sponsor.

Daily Reflections - May 16 2026

WE FORGIVE . . .

Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors or spiritual adviser that we first felt truly able to forgive others, no matter how deeply we felt they had wronged us. Our moral inventory had persuaded us that all-round forgiveness was desirable, but it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew we’d be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 58

What a great feeling forgiveness is! What a revelation about my emotional, psychological and spiritual nature. All it takes is willingness to forgive; God will do the rest.

Keep It Simple #essentialsofrecovery

God loves the world through us—Mother Teresa

In Step Three, we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. How do we feel God’s care, God’s love? We feel God’s care and love through how people treat us. Our Higher Power works through people who love us back to life. With time, we begin returning this care and love to others. We feel this warm love flow right through us and out to others. We’re kind without trying to be. We smile at others for no reason. We comfort those who hurt just by holding them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, use me to make Your love real to someone today.
Action for the Day: Fear sometimes keeps me from loving. I’ll list three things I’m afraid will happen if I’m “to loving.”

I’ll share these fears with my sponsor. 

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrec #Sponsor #Risk

Trusting a Sponsor-Worth the Risk

“In seeking a sponsor, most members look for someone they feel they can learn to trust, someone who seems compassionate…”

~ IP No. 11, “Sponsorship, Revised” ~

The idea of sponsorship may be new to us. We have spent many years without direction, relying only on self-interest, suspecting everyone, trusting no one. Now that we are learning to live in recovery, we find we need help. We can’t do it alone any more; we must take the risk of trusting another human being.

Often, the first person we take that risk with is our sponsor-someone we respect, someone we identify with, someone we have reason to trust.

As we open up to our sponsor, a bond develops between us. We disclose our secrets and develop confidence in our sponsor’s discretion. We share our concerns and learn to value our sponsor’s experience. We share our pain and are met with empathy. We get to know one another, respect one another, love one another. The more we trust our sponsor, the more we trust ourselves.

Trust helps us to move away from a life of fear, confusion, suspicion, and indirection. In the beginning, it feels risky to trust another addict. But that trust is the same principle as apply in our relationship with a Higher Power-risky or not, our experience tells us we can’t do without it. And the more we take the risk of trusting our sponsor, the more open we will feel about our lives.

Just for today: I want to grow and change. I will risk trusting my sponsor and find the rewards of sharing.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrec #Sponsorship #Recovery #NA

That One Special Person

“A sponsor is not necessarily a friend, but may be someone in whom we confide. We can share things with our sponsor that we might not be comfortable sharing in a meeting.”

~ IP No. 11, “Sponsorship, Revised” ~

We’ve asked someone to sponsor us, and the reasons we have for asking that particular person are as many as the grains of sand on a beach. Perhaps we heard them share at a speaker meeting and thought they were funny or inspiring. Perhaps we thought they had a great car and we would get one by working the same program they work. Or maybe we live in a small town and they were the only person who had the time available to help.

Whatever our initial reasons for getting the sponsor we have, we’re sure to find that our reasons for keeping them are quite different. Suddenly they’ll amaze us with some stunning insight, making us wonder whether they’ve been sneaking peeks at our Fourth Step. Or maybe we’re going through some sort of life crisis, and their experience with the same problem helps us in ways we never dreamed possible. We call them in pain, and they come up with a special combination of caring words that provide genuine comfort.

None of these remarkable feats on the part of our sponsor are mere coincidence. They’ve simply walked the same path before us. A Higher Power has placed that one special person in our lives, and we are grateful for their presence.

Just for today: I will appreciate that one special person in my life — my sponsor.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrec #Sponsorship #Sponsor #Recovery

SPONSORSHIP

Sponsors: Have one, use one, be one.

~ Anonymous ~

Before we were in the Program very long, it was suggested we find a sponsor. We found an individual who had the kind of recovery we wanted. The purpose of finding a sponsor was to have someone who would guide us through the 12 Steps and help us apply the Steps to problems we encountered.

Sponsorship is one of the important ways of carrying the message. Sponsors share their experience of working the Program freely. They do not nag or manage our lives. At times, sponsors may appear to be very strict, but they’re only trying to pass on their knowledge. They have a deep concern about our recovery.

The first thing my sponsor said to me was, “Get a check-up from the neck up.” I followed the advice. I am grateful for all the help my sponsor has given me.

©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden

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DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Laughter #Sponsor

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER

At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs.

~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26 ~

Before my recovery from alcoholism began, laughter was one of the most painful sounds I knew. I never laughed and I felt that anyone else’s laughter was directed at me! My self-pity and anger denied me the simplest of pleasures or lightness of heart. By the end of my drinking not even alcohol could provoke a drunken giggle in me.

When my A.A. sponsor began to laugh and point out my self-pity and ego-feeding deceptions, I was annoyed and hurt, but it taught me to lighten up and focus on my recovery. I soon learned to laugh at myself and eventually I taught those I sponsor to laugh also. Every day I ask God to help me stop taking myself too seriously.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

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What Is A Sponsor?

“…an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us.”

~ IP No. 11, “Sponsorship, Revised” 

What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your first meeting. That generous soul who keeps sharing recovery experience free of charge. The one who keeps amazing you with stunning insight regarding your character defects. The one who keeps reminding you to finish your Fourth Step, who listens to your Fifth Step, and who doesn’t tell anyone how weird you are.

It’s pretty easy to start taking all this stuff for granted once we’re used to someone being there for us. We may run wild for a while and tell ourselves, “I’ll call my sponsor later, but right now I have to clean the house, go shopping, chase that attractive.” And so we end up in trouble, wondering where we went wrong.

Our sponsor can’t read minds. It’s up to us to reach out and ask for help. Whether we need help with our steps, a reality check to help us straighten out our screwy thinking, or just a friend, it’s our job to make the request. Sponsors are warm, wise, wonderful people, and their experience with recovery is ours — all we have to do is ask.

Just for today: I’m grateful for the time, the love, and the experience my sponsor has shared with me. Today, I will call my sponsor.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Amends And Sponsors

“We want to be free of our guilt, but we don’t wish to do so at the expense of anyone else.”

Basic Text, p. 39

Let’s face it: Most of us left trails of destruction in our wakes and harmed anyone who got in our way. Some of the people we hurt most in our addiction were the people we loved most. In an effort to purge ourselves of the guilt we feel for what we’ve done, we may be tempted to share with our loved ones, in gruesome detail, things that are better left unsaid. Such disclosures could do much harm and may do little good.

The Ninth Step is not about easing our guilty consciences; it’s about taking responsibility for the wrongs we’ve done. In working our Eighth and Ninth Steps, we should seek the guidance of our sponsor and amend our wrongs in a manner that won’t cause us to owe more amends. We are not just seeking freedom from remorse—we are seeking freedom from our defects. We never again want to inflict harm on our loved ones. One way to insure that we do not is by working the Ninth Step responsibly, checking our motives, and discussing with our sponsor the particular amends we plan to make before we make them.

Just for today: I wish to accept responsibility for my actions. Before making any amends, I will talk with my sponsor. 

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Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

That One Special Person

“A sponsor is not necessarily a friend, but may be someone in whom we confide. We can share things with our sponsor that we might not be comfortable sharing in a meeting.”

—IP No. 11, “Sponsorship, Revised”

We’ve asked someone to sponsor us, and the reasons we have for asking that particular person are as many as the grains of sand on a beach. Perhaps we heard them share at a speaker meeting and thought they were funny or inspiring. Perhaps we thought they had a great car and we would get one by working the same program they work. Or maybe we live in a small town and they were the only person who had the time available to help.

Whatever our initial reasons for getting the sponsor we have, we’re sure to find that our reasons for keeping them are quite different. Suddenly, they’ll amaze us with some stunning insight, making us wonder whether they’ve been sneaking peeks at our Fourth Step. Or maybe we’re going through some sort of life crisis, and their experience with the same problem helps us in ways we never dreamed possible. We call them in pain, and they come up with a special combination of caring words that provide genuine comfort.

None of these remarkable feats on the part of our sponsor are mere coincidence. They’ve simply walked the same path before us. A Higher Power has placed that one special person in our lives, and we are grateful for their presence.

Just for today: I will appreciate that one special person in my life—my sponsor.

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Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

What Is A Sponsor?

“ … an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us.” IP No. 11, “Sponsorship, Revised”

What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your first meeting. That generous soul who keeps sharing recovery experience free of charge. The one who keeps amazing you with stunning insight regarding your character defects. The one who keeps reminding you to finish your Fourth Step, who listens to your Fifth Step, and who doesn’t tell anyone how weird you are.

It’s pretty easy to start taking all this stuff for granted once we’re used to someone being there for us. We may run wild for a while and tell ourselves, “I’ll call my sponsor later, but right now I have to clean the house, go shopping, chase that attractive.” And so we end up in trouble, wondering where we went wrong.

Our sponsor can’t read minds. It’s up to us to reach out and ask for help. Whether we need help with our steps, a reality check to help us straighten out our screwy thinking, or just a friend, it’s our job to make the request. Sponsors are warm, wise, wonderful people, and their experience with recovery is ours — all we have to do is ask.

Just for today: I’m grateful for the time, the love, and the experience my sponsor has shared with me. Today, I will call my sponsor.

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrecovery

Returning our sponsor’s kindness

“Our earliest involvements with others often begin with our sponsor”

~ Basic Text p. 55 ~
Our sponsor can be an abundant source of recovery information, wisdom, and loving words. They’ve done so much for us. From the late night telephone calls to the hours spent listening to our recovery writing, they’ve believed in us and invested their time to prove it. They’ve lovingly and firmly shown us how to be honest. Their boundless compassion in times of turmoil has given us the strength to go on. Their way of helping has prompted us to seek our answers within ourselves, and we’ve become mature, responsible, confident individuals as a result.

Though our sponsor has given so generously and has never demanded repayment, there are things we can do to show our appreciation. We treat our sponsor with respect. They are not a trash can designed for us to dump our garbage in. They have their times of trial, just as we do, and sometimes need our support. They are human, have feelings, and appreciate our concern. Maybe they would like to receive a card in the mail or a phone call expressing our love.

Whatever we do to return our sponsor’s kindness will enhance our personal recovery, not to mention the joy we’ll bring to our sponsor.

Just for Today: My sponsor has cared for me when I couldn’t care for myself. Today, I will do something nice for my sponsor.
 
© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrecovery

What Is A Sponsor?

“…an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living our program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us.”

~ IP No. 11, “Sponsorship, Revised” ~

What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your first meeting. That generous soul who keeps sharing recovery experience free of charge. The one who keeps amazing you with stunning insight regarding your character defects. The one who keeps reminding you to finish your Fourth Step, who listens to your Fifth Step, and who doesn’t tell anyone how weird you are.

It’s pretty easy to start taking all this stuff for granted once we’re used to someone being there for us. We may run wild for a while and tell ourselves, “I’ll call my sponsor later, but right now I have to clean the house, go shopping, chase that attractive.” And so we end up in trouble, wondering where we went wrong.

Our sponsor can’t read minds. It’s up to us to reach out and ask for help. Whether we need help with our steps, a reality check to help us straighten out our screwy thinking, or just a friend, it’s our job to make the request. Sponsors are warm, wise, wonderful people, and their experience with recovery is ours — all we have to do is ask.

Just for today: I’m grateful for the time, the love, and the experience my sponsor has shared with me. Today, I will call my sponsor.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc 

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrecovery

A.A. Thought For The Day

How good a sponsor am I? When I bring new members to a meeting, do I feel that my responsibility has ended? Or do I make it my job to stay with them until they have either become good members of A.A. or have found another sponsor? If they don’t show up for a meeting, do I say to myself: “Well they’ve had it put up to them, so if they don’t want it, there’s nothing more I can do? “  Or do I look them up and find out whether there is a reason for their absences or that they don’t want A.A.? Do I go out of my way to find out if there is anything more I can do to help? Am I a good sponsor?

Meditation For The Day

“First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift to God.” First I must get right with other people and then I can get right with God. If I hold a resentment against someone, which I find it very difficult to overcome, I should try to put something else constructive into my mind. I should pray for the one against whom I hold the resentment. I should put that person in God’s hands and let God show him or her the way to live. “If a man say: ‘I love God’ and hateth his brother, he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may see something good in every person, even one I dislike, and that I may let God develop the good in that person. 

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Sponsorship #OA #Recovery

TOGETHERNESS

“The Praying Hands – let them be your reminder, if you need one, that no one ever makes it alone.”
–Anonymous

“I don’t need a sponsor; God and I walk alone.”

“Why do I need to go to a meeting tonight? I’ll be OK; I’ve got other things I need to be doing.”

“I can’t sponsor, I haven’t worked enough of the Steps yet, and besides, I haven’t got time; it takes all my time to do MY program.”

When my thoughts drift in these directions, I am reminded of an old picture my grandfather had of “The Praying Hands” and of the story of two brothers, Albrecht and Albert Durer, both gifted in art.

The Durer family was poor and only one brother could go to art school, so they tossed a coin; Albrecht went to art school while Albert worked hard to pay his brother’s tuition at the Academy in Nuremburg.

After a few years, the artist, Albrecht, said to his brother Albert, “I can afford for you to go to art school now, so I will finance YOUR education.” But Albert, who had worked so hard in the dangerous mines, looked down at his work-worn, arthritic hands which had been smashed numerous times, and knew it was too late for him. He would never be an artist. So Albrecht painted his brother’s hands and they are the hands we now see in copies of the painting … two hands lifted up towards a Power Greater.

I know that I, too, have my Higher Power waiting to help me if only I seek the help I need. I am reminded of the friends I have found in the fellowship. I remember how it feels to hold the hand of a shaky newcomer at the end of their first meeting, or the hand of my sponsor who reaches out to give me comfort when I share a personal hurt.

One Day at a Time . . .
Alone I have proved again and again that I am defenseless over my disease, but together – TOGETHER – with my Higher Power and all of my fellows, I have a Power and Strength I never believed possible.

~ Marlene 

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrec #Comparing #Recovery #Women

Comparing my insides to other people’s outsides causes me problems.
~ Joan Rohde 

For most of our lives we felt inferior. Other women seemed smarter, wittier, and more attractive. We felt inadequate every time we compared ourselves to other women. Getting sober hasn’t freed us from this behavior, at least not completely. Fortunately, we now have tools that we can use in changing behavior that hinders our growth.

Talking with a sponsor, sharing with a friend, or asking God for help frees us from the hold of negative behaviors. Comparing ourselves to others doesn’t have to shame us any longer. All that’s necessary is to stop the thought, think instead of God’s presence within, and quietly bless ourselves and the woman who unknowingly triggered our reaction. Our progress in changing this shortcoming will be as swift as our decision to take this simple action.

I am in control of my thoughts. God will help me every time I start to compare myself to someone else today.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #OA #Sponsorship #Procastination

PROCRASTINATION


“Procrastination, more than anything else I can think of, separates those who want to be successful from those who are.”

—Lee Silber

I would always intend to start everything “tomorrow.” As a compulsive overeater I constantly promised myself the diet would start the next day, or if a weekend was approaching, then it would be Monday. When I first found this program I still had the same attitude: I would get a sponsor in good time, I would get a food plan next week, I’d read the Big Book and other program literature when I got a moment. I thought if I just kept going to meetings something will happen.

However, I found that procrastination does not work in program any more than it does outside. I no longer wanted to be the member who was constantly sharing what a dreadful week I had with the food and other aspects of my life.

Today I have a sponsor, I have worked through all the Twelve Steps—I am still working and living the Steps—I am in good contact with my Higher Power, have a good food plan which I am following religiously, and I have recovery to bring to my shares.

One Day at a Time …

When I make a decision I follow it through with action immediately.

Lilian

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Kindness

Returning our sponsor’s kindness

“Our earliest involvements with others often begin with our sponsor”

~ Basic Text p. 55 

Our sponsor can be an abundant source of recovery information, wisdom, and loving words. They’ve done so much for us. From the late night telephone calls to the hours spent listening to our recovery writing, they've believed in us and invested their time to prove it. They've lovingly and firmly shown us how to be honest. Their boundless compassion in times of turmoil has given us the strength to go on. Their way of helping has prompted us to seek our answers within ourselves, and we've become mature, responsible, confident individuals as a result.

Though our sponsor has given so generously and has never demanded repayment, there are things we can do to show our appreciation. We treat our sponsor with respect. They are not a trash can designed for us to dump our garbage in. They have their times of trial, just as we do, and sometimes need our support. They are human, have feelings, and appreciate our concern. Maybe they would like to receive a card in the mail or a phone call expressing our love.

Whatever we do to return our sponsor’s kindness will enhance our personal recovery, not to mention the joy we’ll bring to our sponsor.

Just for Today: My sponsor has cared for me when I couldn't care for myself. Today, I will do something nice for my sponsor.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Reading #Sponsorship

Reading is to the Mind, what exercise is to the body.

~ Joseph Addison 

Good ideas are the seeds that start our growth. We hear things at meetings. We listen to our sponsor. Maybe we listen to program tapes. And we read.

Reading is special because we do it when we’re alone. We read in quiet times, when we can think. We can read as fast or as slow as we want. We can mark special words and come back to them again and again. We’ll figure things out in our way, but we need help to get started. That’s why we read. It gives us good ideas to think about.

Prayer for the Day:

Higher Power, speak to me through helpful readings and help me learn at my best pace.

Action for the Day:

Reading is easier the more I do it. Today I’ll feel proud that I’ve read program ideas to get my mind thinking in a healthy way.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrec #Women #Sprit #Sponsorship

 16
November

It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful.

~ Mother Teresa 

Mother Teresa’s words aren’t new to most of us. Program sponsors often suggest this idea to us too. What we give comes back to us.

We often note people who excel on the job, in a sport, at a creative pursuit. We may envy them and think we should excel at everything we try. Why are we so lacking in talent? we wonder.

We have not been short changed. The truth is, we may not have learned to concentrate our attention so fully on an activity that we come to love the experience simply for the sake of the experience. Those who excel are not easily distracted by others’ actions or their own ongoing inner dialogues or fear of failure. Their intense focus and love for what they are doing allows their talent to be realized.

When we’re putting love into our actions, we, too, will discover our own excellence.

It’s not what I do but how I do it that counts. Being in love with my life today is a choice I can make.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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