Just for Today

[MajestyJo]

[MajestyJo]

[MajestyJo]

As they say, it is a journey, not a destination. I never get there. Each day is a new beginning.

[MajestyJo]

[MajestyJo]

The Just for Today readings are included in the Daily Readings, but found these on FB, so thought I would share them with you.

[MajestyJo]

Step by step

"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time."

-- Sydney Smiles

When I get overwhelmed by the number of tasks on my to-do list, I remind myself that the only way to get anywhere is step by step. And I cover the most distance in the journey of my life when I take a moment to decide which step will bring the greatest rewards.

"Often he who does too much does too little."

-- Italian Proverb

"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape."

-- Source Unknown

This reminds me that I need to be clean and sober. Sobriety doesn't happen with substitution.

[MajestyJo]

NA Just For Today

Surrendering Self-Will

"We want and demand that things always go our way. We should know from our past experience that our way of doing things did not work."

Basic Text, p.78

All of us have ideas, plans, goals for our lives. There's nothing in the NA program that says we shouldn't think for ourselves, take initiative, and put responsible plans into action. It's when our lives are driven by self-will that we run into problems.

When we are living willfully, we go beyond thinking for ourselves - we think only of ourselves. We forget that we are but a part of the world and that whatever personal strength we have is drawn from a Higher Power. We might even go so far as to imagine that other people exist solely to do our bidding. Quickly, we find ourselves at odds with everyone and everything around us.

At this point, we have two choices. We can continue in our slavery to self-will, making unreasonable demands and becoming frustrated because the planet doesn't spin our way. Or we can surrender, relax, seek knowledge of God's will and the power to carry that out, and find our way back to a condition of peace with the world. Thinking, taking initiative, making responsible plans-there's nothing wrong with these things, so long as they serve God's will, not merely our own.

Just for today: I will plan to do God's will, not mine. If I find myself at odds with everything around me, I will surrender self-will.

pg. 213

As I like to say, surrender isn't giving up, it is giving over to our Higher Power. My best thinking got me to the doors of recovery, why should I think it should do me in good stead without making changes in my life.

Every time a butterfly appears, it generally means transformation and change. I had two butterflies land on my dress today.

[MajestyJo]

NA Just for Today

July 24

The masks have to go

Page 214

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

Basic Text, p. 33

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.

Just today I shared a memory with a friend. I told her of a person in my group who said, "Just because you change the color of your hair, do you think we won't recognize you." It changed from black, black and white, and as I smoked more, I had yellow in their like I had been a blond. I covered up the gray (and yellow from nicotine), with black, auburn, and then with a couple of errors with chlorine, plum and maroon, then brown, very short, short gray, blond, until the gray was mostly white. That's the story of my life! LOL! Even in recovery I went through an identity crisis until I allowed myself to be me.