“Walking into the rooms of recovery for me was very shameful.”

Three readings. A song that says the rest. And inspiration for whatever this day is here to teach.

A lone surfer riding inside a great curling wave

Read — the readings that opened the day

God Grant Me

Hazelden Foundation

We didn't get sober just to sit in meetings. We get sober to get back into the busyness and joy of living. Sobriety asks that we keep walking into life. As active addicts, we backed away from life and unknowingly were backing into death. Sobriety asks that we fall in love with living again. The world needs more people in love with living, a most precious gift. The world needs what we have to offer. Today I will practice living in ways that improve my sobriety and also increase the joy I can bring to others by living life with joy and purpose.

A Deep Breath of Life

Alan Cohen

The only gifts we truly have to offer one another are the gifts of spirit. Physical objects are but cups to fill with love. A gift, no matter how expensive, is not a gift unless it is given with sincerity & kindness. Even if our physical means are meager, if we imbue a gift with intention, it will bless the receiver in the deepest way. Today, let my words and actions be filled only with love; to magnify The Divine Presence. As I give from my heart and spirit, I am filled in the giving.

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Hazelden Foundation

Meditation for the Day God's spirit is all about you all day long. You have no thoughts, no plans, no impulses and no emotions that He does not know about. You can hide nothing from Him. If you are in harmony with the Divine Spirit, doing your best to live the way you believe God wants you to live, you will be at peace. Prayer for the Day I pray that I may always feel God's presence. I pray that I may realize this Presence constantly all through the day.

Reflect — Steve L.'s own words

So, what exactly is the “Joy of Living?” Before sobriety, I got caught up in the rat race; like a hamster on the wheel, I kept trying as hard as I could to accomplish, achieve, and, as Bill Wilson wrote,“prove to the world I was important.

Walking into the rooms of recovery for me was very shameful. I had completely failed living life. Yet, seeing and hearing stories of people who had failed like me living on self-reliance, I met people who were happy; they had a new spark and a new confidence in living. It made me come back.

Yesterday, I met up for early dinner with Dick B. from the White Mountains before the WNMSS meeting. We had a great time catching up, sharing about the joys and struggles living in today’s crazy world. But we had hope, humor and a joy of living!

At the meeting, a man shared how, in his addiction and rage, he had beaten up homeless people in the park. Then, in sobriety, filled with compassion and love, he went and shared his story of recovery, and made amends, fell in love with one of the women who got sober, and married her! That was years ago, and today, they live a great life. To see and hear him share his story reminded me of the hope that was sparked in me early on; that somehow, buried deep down, I too had a Spirit that could be changed.

Thank you for your openness and honesty that continues to encourage me to welcome a brand-new day filled with a new Spirit to ride the waves without a chemical solution!