Today's Thought - July

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July 1

When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself.

~Isaac Bashevis Singer

Any action or expression we make toward another comes back to us. Maybe not today, but it assuredly returns: we do sow what we reap. If we treat others hatefully, or with disdain and suspicion, we eventually get the same in return. And we can also have a love-filled, affirming life if we willingly, gladly, and honestly offer our love to others with no conditions.

We can bring ourselves misery or happiness through our actions. With the help of our Higher Power, we can sow only what we want to reap. It’s a small decision to turn within for guidance. Although it takes practice to remember to let our Higher Power direct our actions, it will become a habit in time—the healthiest habit we’ll ever develop.

I will experience what I give to others through my actions today.

Today's reading is from the book In God's Care: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery*

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July 2

AA Thought for the Day

There is only one day—today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time. Am I living one day at a time?
Meditation for the Day

Give God the gift of a thankful heart. Try to see causes for thankfulness in your everyday life. When life seems hard and troubles crowd, then look for some reasons for thankfulness. There is nearly always something you can be thankful for. The offering of thanksgiving is indeed a sweet incense going up to God throughout a busy day. Seek diligently for something to be glad and thankful about. You will acquire, in time, the habit of being constantly grateful to God for all His blessings. Each new day some new cause for joy and gratitude will spring to your mind, and you will thank God sincerely.
Prayer for the Day

I pray for a truly thankful heart. I pray that I may be constantly reminded of causes for sincere gratitude.

Today's reading is from the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day: A Spiritual Resource with Practical Applications for Daily Life*

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July 3

My name is Elizabeth. I have a gift. It is called alcoholism.

~Elizabeth Farrell

Many of us didn’t feel alcoholism or addiction was a gift when we first got into recovery. We felt shame or perhaps anger that we couldn’t drink or use like other women. Alcohol or other drugs made us feel less self-conscious and more courageous. Accepting that we couldn’t handle these substances meant feeling the fear of many situations, perhaps for the first time.

But most of us have come to appreciate the rewards of sobriety. When we were using, our lack of consistent values caused us to stumble many times. Now we have the Steps as guiding principles for every action we take.

We also have warm friendships that are healing our loneliness. We no longer harbor anger and self-pity. We are more peaceful and secure. Having a Higher Power we can trust makes any new experience tolerable. Addiction and sobriety are both gifts we have been graced with, and we are coming to appreciate this more each day.

I will show God my appreciation for the gifts of addiction and sobriety by carrying the message through my behavior today.

Today's reading is from the book A Woman's Spirit: More meditations for Women*

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July 4

Freedom and Sobriety

Thomas Jefferson put it this way: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” That adage inspires me. But I’ve changed it up a bit to fit with life in recovery. The way I frame it is, “With sobriety comes freedom, and with freedom comes responsibility.”

This means that you need to follow whatever your program is. You need to be honest and fess up to any mistakes you’ve made. And you need to live your life in a responsible way. If you do those things, you will be happy, joyous, and free. That’s what recovery costs, and it’s well worth the price.

Today I will be responsible in order to maintain the freedom I have in sobriety.

~J. D., U.S. Army, 1985–1993/1998–2018

Today's reading is from the book Leave No One Behind: Daily meditations for Military Service Members and Veterans in Recovery*

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July 5


Listening to a caring friend is one of the ways we hear God’s message.

We think we listen, probably because we are in conversation with other people so often. But our own ongoing inner dialogue often shuts out much of what someone is saying. Whether at Twelve Step meetings or at lunch with a friend, we’re preoccupied with the many people in our lives, or maybe our jobs, or an event we are organizing. Our minds get filled with the clutter of other times, other places, and we fail to hear the message at this single moment.

Peace will come to us when we slow down and quietly listen. When we remember that our friends are often the channel God relies on to reach us, we are eager to hear their words. Since seeking recovery, we have also become seekers of God’s will. We may hear our next direction in a friend’s suggestion today.

I will quietly listen to the loving words of my friends today.

Today's reading is from the book A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance*

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July 6

Life is not a “brief candle.” It is a splendid torch that I want to make burn as brightly as possible before handing on to future generations.

~George Bernard Shaw

We are men who have sought intensity. Some have said the extremes of our past were a kind of search for a Higher Power, although we went to self-defeating ends. There is no need now for us to give up our intense love of life. Serenity need not be bland. In facing ourselves, confronting our pain, surrendering our arrogant individualism, we are released to live the life we deeply desire. What do men really want? We want to have true, lasting friendships with other men and women—to be at peace with ourselves and our Higher Power. We want to be fully aware in the present moments of our lives.

We want to have some joy and to make a contribution to the world.

I am grateful that my torch burns brightly. I am finding what I really want.

Today's reading is from the book Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men*

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July 7

I have listened to the realm of the Spirit. I have heard my own soul's voice, and l have remembered that love is the complete and unifying thread of existence.

~Mary Casey

The act of loving someone else brings us together, closes whatever the gap between us. It draws us into the world of another, making richer the world we call our own. Love is the great equalizer.

We no longer wish to conquer or dominate those whom we love. And our love for one increases our capacity for loving others. Love heals another, and love heals ourselves, both giving it and receiving it.

Love from another acknowledges our existence, assuring us that we do count, that our presence is valued by someone else. It is human to need these reminders, these assurances. But our need for them is lessened each time we acknowledge another person in our midst.

Where love is absent, people, even in a crowd, feel alone, forgotten, unimportant. No doubt we can each recall times of quiet desperation—moments of alienation. We must reach out to someone and send thoughts of love to someone who may need to be remembered. Our loving thoughts for persons close and far away always reach their destination. They do unify us.

Love is powerful. It can change the complexion of the universe. It will change the direction of my life.

Today's reading is from the book Each Day a New Beginning: Daily meditations for Women*

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July 8

Letting go of anger

As long as anger dominates us, it is difficult to make progress in the program. Some of the ways anger shows up include gossip, slander, backstabbing, profanity, fault-finding, resentment, quarrelsomeness, impatience, mockery, and irritability. We are all guilty of these behaviors to some degree, probably every day.

Anger is a pattern that we need to change to make progress. It has probably caused more grief than any other character defect. To let go of anger, we inventory it; we pray to release it and to practice not getting angry.

Am I working on my anger?

Higher Power, help me to practice the virtues of patience and love. When I am loving, I cannot be angry.

I will inventory my anger today, and then I will…

Today's reading is from the book Day by Day: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts*

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July 9

Reflection for the Day

In many respects, the fellowship of the program is like a reasonably happy cruise ship or, in times of trouble, like a convoy. But in the long run, each of us must chart our own course through life. When the seas are smooth, we may become careless. By neglecting Step Ten, we may get out of the habit of checking our position. If we’re mindful of Step Ten, however, then we rarely go so far wrong that we can’t make a few corrections and get back on course again. Do I realize that regular practice of Step Ten can help to bring me into a happier frame of mind and into serenity?
Today I Pray

May Step Ten be the sextant by which I read my whereabouts at sea, so that I can correct my course, rechart it as I am heading for shallow places. May I keep in mind that, if it weren’t for an all-knowing Captain and the vigilance of my fellow crew members, this ship could be adrift and I could easily panic.
Today I Will Remember

To steer by a steady star.

Today's reading is from the book A Day at a Time: Daily Reflections for Recovering People*

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July 10

Hurry, hurry has no blessing.

~Swahili proverb

In a busy family there is a lot of activity. We sometimes feel imprisoned by all the work, school, extra* curricular activities, housework, meetings, and special events. In the press to do it all, we may lose our peace because of the hurry. We rush to eat; we rush to work; we rush to get there on time. Much of this cannot be helped. But hurry has no blessing, as the proverb goes. We can create quick tempers and a lot of frustration if we try to hurry too much.

When we allow enough time to slow things down, we give ourselves a chance to enjoy what we're doing, and to develop along spiritual lines. Inner peace depends on our keeping a balance in all the things we do. Only then can we feel the joy that comes from having enough time to do things quietly and smoothly, and value the inner peace that comes when we do not hurry.

How can I take my time today and enjoy myself?

Today's reading is from the book Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families*

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July 11

If you are here to read this, think of those who aren’t … Think of their great sacrifice.

~Mel Ash

For every one of us who has recovered from addiction, there are dozens who have gone mad or died or who have denied their dreams. Some have survived merely to lead, in Henry David Thoreau’s words, “lives of quiet desperation.”

When we think of the sickness, suffering, and despair of those who have died or who are still active in their addictions, our response need not be moral judgment, survivor’s guilt, or denial. We can feel compassion for them as well as for those—including ourselves—on whom their lives have had an impact.

We can acknowledge that others have been a part of our own path to recovery and thank them in our hearts. We can recognize how little separates our lives from theirs. We can appreciate life’s fragility and riskiness, rejoice in the freedom recovery affords, and commit ourselves to becoming all we can be in the time we’ve been given. We can enfold those who still suffer in the love and warmth of our thoughts, praying that they achieve peace.

Today, I feel my connection to all those who are suffering, and I pray for their well-being.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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July 12

God as We Understand God

God is subtle, but he is not malicious.

~Albert Einstein

Recovery is an intensely spiritual process that asks us to grow in our understanding of God. Our understanding may have been shaped by early religious experiences or the beliefs of those around us. We may wonder if God is as shaming and frightening as people can be. We may feel as victimized or abandoned by God as we have by people from our past.

Trying to understand God may boggle our mind because of what we have learned and experienced so far in our life. We can learn to trust God, anyway.

I have grown and changed in my understanding of this Power greater than myself. My understanding has not grown on an intellectual level, but because of what I have experienced since I turned my life and my will over to the care of God, as I understood, or rather didn’t understand, God.

God is real. Loving. Good. Caring. God wants to give us all the good we can handle. The more we turn our mind and heart toward a positive understanding of God, the more God validates us.

The more we thank God for who God is, who we are, and the exact nature of our present circumstances, the more God acts in our behalf. In fact, all along, God planned to act in our behalf.

God is Creator, Benefactor, and Source. God has shown me, beyond all else, that how I come to understand God is not nearly as important as knowing that God understands me.

Today, I will be open to growing in my understanding of my Higher Power. I will be open to letting go of old, limiting, negative beliefs about God. No matter how I understand God, I will be grateful that God understands me.

Today's reading is from the book The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency*

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July 13

The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

~From Luke 16:8

When we think of our child within, many of us sense only the wounded child—the child who feels afraid, inadequate, needy, and shut out. It is true, of course, that we all have a child within. But that child is wise and strong, as well as wounded.

Beneath the fears and doubts, deeper than the guilt and shame, our inner child knows some truths that our adult selves aren’t always sure of. That child, like all children, wants to imagine and play, to unconditionally love and be loved, to find out what’s really important and to care about it. Even if the child was not allowed to act out those wants, the wants remain, stored away. Our child within still wants, craves, and reaches out for the eternal truths of successful living. We need to pay heed to our child’s sense of wisdom and trust, as well as to give that child within us our adult capacity for sympathy and comfort.

I can allow myself a childlike wonder and curiosity. I will look at the world today with new eyes.

Today's reading is from the book Days of Healing, Days of Joy: Daily Meditations for Adult Children*

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July 14

is not a duty but a privilege. Service is taking gifts given to us and using them to improve the world and lives of others. It is energy directed toward good. We are designed to be givers and not just takers. When we help another, we can feel our soul smile.

Our illness stole our sense of value, our self-worth. Service helps us to reconnect and see our value and worth. Many say that it was through service work that they first experienced a spiritual awakening. This was their soul smiling, being happy and saying, “Thank you for letting me be involved in life again. Thank you for letting me dance with the souls of others again.”
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, show me a need and give me the power and desire to step out of self and into service. Help me act from my values and not my shame.
Today's Action

Today I will volunteer to do some service work. I will walk through my day looking for suffering that I can help lessen.

Today's reading is from the book God Grant Me: More Daily Meditations from the Authors of Keep It Simple*

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July 15

Often the test of courage is not to die, but to live.

~Vittorio Alfieri

Step Six strengthens our relationship with God. Through it, we develop the willingness to let go of the character defects we admitted in Step Five. To be ready is to acknowledge that we cannot remove our own character defects. We tried that—it’s called addiction. Instead, we turn with faith, trust, and humility to a Power greater than ourselves. We believe a Higher Power can and will remove our shortcomings.

We have often said we want to change. Step Six challenges us to act on what we say. If we want to live in recovery, we must be willing to give up our character defects. We must be willing to give up everything that keeps us from our Higher Power. We don’t have to be perfectly willing, only as entirely willing as we can be at this moment. The point of readiness is the still center where we wait with confidence, knowing that our Higher Power is working in our lives.

Today I will be open to the moments of readiness that come to me.

Today's reading is from the book Answers in the Heart