One Day At A Time

STEP ONE

“Well begun is half done.”

–Aristotle

The first time I took step one I knew that I was beat. Because I knew that I was beat, I knew I had to have help to survive. I sought and accepted that help in OA. I put the program into action. I completed the twelve steps and tasted recovery.

Over the years I have had to renew my step one, and each time I was convinced that I was not going to make it without the help in program. That spurred me on to complete the 12 steps many times. Step one is essentially what made me complete all twelve steps and go on to a fuller and fuller life in recovery. Without step one, there really was no need or motivation for steps two through twelve.

Recently I realized that step one is particularly necessary to do step twelve. I cannot help anyone without my Higher Power. I cannot control another’s program. I cannot carry the message on my own, nor can I practice the principles in all my affairs by myself. Step one — my powerlessness and my inability to manage — is a great blessing. It is what spurs me on to turn to my Higher Power in all tasks great and small; it is what helps me to gain more and more ground in recovery.




One day at a time …

I will admit my powerlessness and my inability to manage, then I will turn to God Who will take me through my program and my life – with His power and His ability to manage.

~ Q 

Daily Reflections May 22 2026

 STEP ONE

WE . . . 

(The first word of the First Step) TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

When I was drinking all I could ever think about was “I, I, I,” or “Me, Me, Me.” Such painful obsessions of self, such soul sickness, such spiritual selfishness bound me to the bottle for more than half my life. The journey to find God and to do His will one day at a time began with the first word of the First Step . . . “We.” There was power in numbers, there was strength in numbers, there was safety in numbers, and for an alcoholic like me, there was life in numbers, If I had tried to recover alone I probably would have died. With God and another alcoholic I have a divine purpose in my life . . . I have become a channel for God’s healing love.

One Day At A Time May 20 2026

AVOIDANCE

” Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored..”
–Aldous Huxley

Step 1 has a basic principle behind it which is truth. For me that truth is, just as I use tools for recovery, there are tools that my willful mind uses to keep me rooted in my disease. One of the strongest is avoidance.

Recovery can bring up a lot of painful issues and have me recall situations in which I feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I find that these old feelings have a way of creeping into my psyche. Suddenly some old behavior comes rushing back and I find myself using avoidance as a means to protect myself. Other times, I find myself acting very willfully by deliberately putting things off like going to the gym even when I know that it is good for me, I enjoy myself and am always happy for having gone..

My avoidance can take the form of rebellion against a person, chore, or situation.

Recovery has taught me to face situations. Once the situation has been faced, I often feel a sense of immediate relief. I know that the deed is done, my fears whether they be realistic or not, usually fall away, and sometimes I even feel a little silly for having avoided the situation in the first place.

One day at a time…
I will fact the situations that I encounter today with action.

~ Marilyn S.

One Day At A Time - May 14 2026

LOOKING AT THE STARS


“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

Oscar Wilde

Before I made the Twelve Steps part of my life, I considered myself to have been in the gutter. My weight had doubled, I was in a major depression, and I was going through the motions of life. Those looking at me from afar saw only a perfect marriage, a perfect career, a perfect home, and perfect children. Although I was blessed, the disease I suffered from day in and day out made it quite obvious to anyone who truly knew me that I was not “looking at the stars.” It took my first sponsor to start the healing process for me.

As I began to work Steps One, Two and Three, I felt “different.” Nothing had changed . . . everything had changed. It’s hard to describe because outwardly I looked the same … but my entire being opened up. Weight began to come off because I was able to focus on a plan of eating. I found my feelings returned … the ability to love and accept love came back. My spirituality blossomed once again. I truly felt alive.

One day at a time…
I want to remember each time I find myself in the gutter and giving up hope … to look at the stars … and remember that my program works if I will just work it.

~ Mari

One Day At A Time - May 3 2026

STEP ONE

“The cause is hidden, but the result is known.”

Ovid

When I went to my first meeting and was told about Step One, that I was to admit my powerlessness, it was somewhat of a mystery to me. I thought powerlessness was weakness. It was obvious that the result of my compulsive overeating could be seen by everyone, but to me, I was not sure that powerlessness was the answer to the problem. As I kept going to meetings and listening to people share about powerlessness, read the literature, and talked to my sponsor, I learned that powerlessness was not weakness. In fact, to admit my powerlessness, was to connect me to a power that was greater than I had ever experienced before in my life.

The paradoxes of the program, such as we “lose to win” and “give to receive” are true of admitting my powerlessness to find a greater power. In The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Over-eaters Anonymous on p. 5 it reads, “Later we discovered that, far from being a negative factor, the admission of our powerlessness over food opened the door to an amazing new found power.” What a blessing it is to now know that I am powerless, and have opened the door of a new found power through the steps, the tools and my Higher Power.

One Day at a Time . . .

I will freely admit my powerlessness and gladly open the door to the new found power in my life.

~ Carolyn

Just For Today - 29th Jan 2026

The First Step – An Action Step

” Do we understand that we have no real control over drugs?”

Basic Text p. 18

At first, many of us may have thought the First Step required no action-we just surrender and go on to Step Two. But Step One does require action!

The action we take in the First Step will be evident in the way we live, even from our first day clean. If we truly believe that we are powerless over our addiction, we will not choose to be around drugs. To continue to live with or associate with practicing addicts may indicate a reservation in our program. An absolute belief that the First Step applies to us will insure that we clear our homes of all drugs and paraphernalia.

As time goes on, we’ll not only continue with the basics but add new actions to our First Step repertoire. We’ll learn to feel our feelings rather than trying to control them. We’ll stop trying to be our own and only guides on our recovery journey; self-sponsorship will cease. We’ll begin looking to a Power greater than ourselves more and more for spiritual satisfaction rather than trying to fill that void with something else.

Surrender is only the beginning. Once we surrender, we need to learn how to live in the peace we have found.

Just for today: I will take all the action necessary to practice the First Step. I truly believe it applies to me.    

Mike L. - Beginners Classes - Steps 1,2,3 - 25th November 2025

Principle Of Step 1 - HONESTY - Dr. David S.

One Day At A Time - 2nd June

STEP ONE

“Well begun is half done.”

–Aristotle

The first time I took step one I knew that I was beat. Because I knew that I was beat, I knew I had to have help to survive. I sought and accepted that help in OA. I put the program into action. I completed the twelve steps and tasted recovery.

Over the years I have had to renew my step one, and each time I was convinced that I was not going to make it without the help in program. That spurred me on to complete the 12 steps many times. Step one is essentially what made me complete all twelve steps and go on to a fuller and fuller life in recovery. Without step one, there really was no need or motivation for steps two through twelve.

Recently I realized that step one is particularly necessary to do step twelve. I cannot help anyone without my Higher Power. I cannot control another’s program. I cannot carry the message on my own, nor can I practice the principles in all my affairs by myself. Step one — my powerlessness and my inability to manage — is a great blessing. It is what spurs me on to turn to my Higher Power in all tasks great and small; it is what helps me to gain more and more ground in recovery.




One day at a time …

I will admit my powerlessness and my inability to manage, then I will turn to God Who will take me through my program and my life – with His power and His ability to manage.

~ Q     

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Mike L. - Beginners Classes - Steps 1,2,3

Just For Today #essentialsofrec

Step 0ne

“We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Step One

The First Step begins with “we,” and there’s a reason for that. There is great strength in making a verbal admission of our powerlessness. And when we go to meetings and make this admission, we gain more than personal strength. We become members, part of a collective “we” that allows us, together, to recover from our addiction. With membership in NA comes a wealth of experience: the experience of other addicts who have found a way to recover from their disease.

No longer must we try to solve the puzzle of our addiction on our own. When we honestly admit our powerlessness over our addiction, we can begin the search for a better way to live. We won’t be searching alone – we’re in good company.

Just for today: I will start the day with an admission of my powerlessness over addiction. I will remind myself that the First Step starts with “we,” and know that I never have to be alone with my disease again.

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DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrec #Steps #Recovery #Step3 #Freedom

THE KEYSTONE

He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62 ~

A keystone is the wedge-shaped piece at the highest part of an arch that locks the other pieces in place. The “other pieces” are Steps One, Two, and Four through Twelve. In one sense this sounds like Step Three is the most important Step, that the other eleven depend on the third for support. In reality however, Step Three is just one of twelve. It is the keystone, but without eleven other stones to build the base and arms, keystone or not, there will be no arch. Through daily working of all Twelve Steps, I find that triumphant arch waiting for me to pass through to another day of freedom.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

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AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX #essentialsofrec #Change #Recovery

CHANGE FROM WITHIN

Man is a mental being, and to know that is the first step on the road to freedom and prosperity, for as long as you believe yourself to be primarily physical, a superior kind of animal, you will remain in bondage- in bondage, that is to say, to your own habits of thought, for there is no other bondage.

Since you are a mental being, you will see how foolish it is to endeavor to improve your conditions by altering your environment while leaving your mind unchanged. To attempt this is to foredoom yourself to disappointment. Mind is cause, and experience is effect. If you do not like the experience or effect that you are getting, the obvious remedy is to alter the cause then the effect will naturally alter too.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, than the outside of them may be clean also (Matthew 23:26).

© 1931 by Emmet Fox

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Change #Recovery #Step1

… no one who learns to know himself remains just what he was before.

~ Thomas Mann 

Deep inside, we all know that we’re changing. It started when we took Step One. We learned and accepted something new about ourselves. That changed us, just a little.

We no longer wanted to live as addicts. That meant we had to change and to learn to live sober. It’s been nonstop ever since: learn about ourselves, change a little, learn about ourselves, change a little more, and so on.

All we know is that each step of learning and changing makes life better. How long can it keep getting better? As long as we keep learning to know ourselves.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, teach me about myself today. Teach me gently.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll think about what I’ve learned about myself by working the program. I’ll list five things.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrecovery

We will not know unless we begin.

~ Howard Zinn 

Let us begin! Whether it be working on our First Step, finding a sponsor, or talking to someone we’ve hurt—let us begin. Doubt will set in if we wait too long. Fear will follow. So, let us begin.

We learn by doing. Recovery is for doers. Sobriety doesn’t just happen. We create it. We create it by working the Steps and learning from them. We’ll never totally understand the Steps unless we work them. In the same way, we’ll never learn how to have friends unless we try. So, call your friends, instead of waiting to be called. Begin and begin again. Each day is a new beginning.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, today I’ll begin. I begin by asking for Your help and love. Be with me as I go through my day. Help me work for progress, not perfection.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll not sit on the sidelines. I’ll be a doer. I’ll decide what to do to move closer to friends, family, Higher Power, and myself.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation 

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Mike L. - Beginners Classes - Steps 1,2,3

Mike L. - Beginners Classes - Steps 1,2,3

AA Speaker Sandy B. Alcoholics Anonymous Speaker - Steps 1, 2 and 3.

One Day At A Time

STEP ONE

“Well begun is half done.”

–Aristotle

The first time I took step one I knew that I was beat. Because I knew that I was beat, I knew I had to have help to survive. I sought and accepted that help in OA. I put the program into action. I completed the twelve steps and tasted recovery.

Over the years I have had to renew my step one, and each time I was convinced that I was not going to make it without the help in program. That spurred me on to complete the 12 steps many times. Step one is essentially what made me complete all twelve steps and go on to a fuller and fuller life in recovery. Without step one, there really was no need or motivation for steps two through twelve.

Recently I realized that step one is particularly necessary to do step twelve. I cannot help anyone without my Higher Power. I cannot control another’s program. I cannot carry the message on my own, nor can I practice the principles in all my affairs by myself. Step one — my powerlessness and my inability to manage — is a great blessing. It is what spurs me on to turn to my Higher Power in all tasks great and small; it is what helps me to gain more and more ground in recovery.




One day at a time …

I will admit my powerlessness and my inability to manage, then I will turn to God Who will take me through my program and my life – with His power and His ability to manage.

~ Q  

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Daily Reflections #essentialsofrecovery

STEP ONE

WE . . . (The first word of the First Step)

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

When I was drinking all I could ever think about was “I, I, I,”
or “Me, Me, Me.” Such painful obsessions of self, such soul
sickness, such spiritual selfishness bound me to the bottle for
more than half my life.
The journey to find God and to do His will one day at a time
began with the first word of the First Step . . . “We.” There
was power in numbers, there was strength in numbers, there was
safety in numbers, and for an alcoholic like me, there was
life in numbers, If I had tried to recover alone I probably
would have died. With God and another alcoholic I have a
divine purpose in my life . . . I have become a channel for


God’s healing love.

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