“I was done; I could not recapture the great moments of the past; I’d been trying the last 6 months.”

“For most normal folks, drinking means conviviality, companionship and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. But not so with us in those last days of heavy drinking. The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past.”

Adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book)

“The true nature of reality is that we are one. You are a part of me I do not yet know. Instead of banishing you or suppressing you, can I be curious about you? Can I love you like a mother or father would? Even the hardest and most shameful parts of ourselves have the potential to give us insight for healing, growth & transformation. The more we’re able to build capacity to love all parts of ourselves, the deeper our capacity to love all parts of the world around us, the beloved within and without.”

Adapted from CAC Daily Meditations

“FORGIVENESS allows us to let go of the past and make a fresh start. There is a simple practice we can do to cultivate forgiveness. First we acknowledge what we feel—shame, revenge, embarrassment, remorse. Then we forgive ourselves for being human. Then, in the spirit of not wallowing in the pain, we let go and make a fresh start. We don’t have to carry the burden with us anymore. We will also learn self-forgiveness. Eventually, we’ll even find our capacity to forgive those who have done us harm. We will discover forgiveness as a natural expression of the open heart, an expression of our basic goodness. This potential is inherent every moment; a true opportunity to make a fresh start.”

Adapted from Comfortable with Uncertainty

Meditation for the Day Each individual has the ability to do good works through the power of God's spirit. This is the wonder of the world, the miracle of the earth that God's power goes out to bless the human race through the agency of so many people who are actuated by His grace. We need not be held back by doubt, despondency, and fear. A wonderful future can lie before any person who depends on God's power, a future of unlimited power to do good works. Prayer for the Day I pray that I may not limit myself by doubting. I pray that I may have confidence that I can be effective for good.

Adapted from Twenty-Four Hours a Day© 1975 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.