An Unfolding Story

Our lives are like a story told one day at a time. Some of our story has been revealed; much remains. Yet life is not like a book in which you can skip ahead; life unfolds one day at a time.

Though it may be hard right now, let's not wish any of it away but live each day fully. We are the only ones who can write our story.

Am I fully present in my life today?

Thought for the Day

Change is not visible on a daily basis but may be revealed when I am not looking.
 


You are reading from the book:


 A Restful Mind by Mark Allen Zabawa

Think in terms of depletion, not depression. . . . You can understand how a body can replenish itself, whereas it may be difficult to understand the way out of depression.
--Claire Weekes

Despair and depression may come over us suddenly, for no reason we can figure out. But if we stop and reflect, we may realize we are reacting to too much of something - too much work, too much excitement, too much fun. We may be having a letdown after holidays, after completing a project, or at the end of a school year.

When we feel a letdown coming on, we must give ourselves time. We need to take some time off and do nothing, plan nothing. Then we can ask God to help us let go of the negative feelings that come along with a letdown. We can plan a small gift for ourselves - a walk by the lake, for instance. In our excitement with a rush
of events, we often forget that we, like the infants we once were, need to take a rest and reenergize.

Do I need to do something just for myself today?


You are reading from the book:

 Today's Gift by Anonymous

I have learned this: it is not what one does  that is wrong, but what one becomes as a
consequence of  it.
--Oscar Wilde

There are countless ways to take shortcuts in  life or to grab for pleasures. We could
cheat on our income taxes, excuse a food  binge, or lie to a loved one about where we've been. We say, "It won't hurt  anyone!" "I wouldn't do it if it weren't for the other guy." Or, "Everyone does  it." But if we are to like and
respect ourselves, we need to live by the rules  we believe in. Whether we get caught or not isn't the point. We cannot hold  values and then repeatedly justify breaking them.

What does it do to us  if we constantly fudge on our values? It undermines our self-esteem and damages  the faith we have in ourselves. We do not expect to be perfect, but we must be  accountable. If we
are honest with ourselves, we admit our wrongs and  reestablish our self-respect.

Today, I will take care to make choices that  match my values.


You are reading from the book:

 Touchstones  by Anonymous

Over and over, we begin again.
--Banana Yoshimoto
 
Newcomer

Yesterday was such a difficult day. But here it is, morning again somehow. I've gotten through another 24 hours, and without a drug. I wish I'd known yesterday that things wouldn't feel so bad this morning.

Sponsor

Yesterday, we did the best that we could. Yesterday is over. We have slept. We think we know some of what today will hold. We may boil water in the same kitchen, take the same route to work, see some of the faces we usually see. At the meeting we attend, we'll hear the familiar readings; take comfort from hearing the words we've heard before. Perhaps our shoulders, hunched with any tensions we're experiencing, will drop at the sound
of those accustomed words, and we'll relax.

Along with the predictable, there may be a thousand unexpected experiences; a new color in the sky, a smile
answering our own, a phrase of music, a sense of willingness rising within us to do something differently.

Let's take some deep, slow breaths and begin the day with faith that whatever it brings, we'll be present for
it.

This day is a gift that recovery has given to me.


You are reading from the book:



 If You Want What We Have by Joan
Larkin