Just For Today

This phrase epitomizes the whole concept that recovery is done one day at a time. Change can be scary, especially to someone new to the program.... And when we first begin to recover, feelings can seem kind of raw, overwhelming, and unfamiliar -- especially fear. To imagine that we must spend the rest of our lives without touching drink or drug is a change, and that change looks really scary. I couldn't picture it. I was so certain when I got out of being locked up, I would definitely want to go back to using marijuana. I was so sure that I needed it to cope! But, one day at a time I began to recover from the very first day I was kept away from my drug of choice. Just for today, I can stay clean and sober. It isn't that hard for me to remember how fuzzy things were, how much alcohol made me feel nauseous and dizzy, how anxious I really was and I can do it for another day. Eventually the days began to add up and days turned into weeks, months and then years....

JUST FOR TODAY my thoughts will be on my recovery, living
and enjoying life without the use of drugs.

It is important to keep our minds on recovery, if we wish to recover. This statement reflects how important it is to appreciate the little things in life. The little miracles that happen. How else could we "enjoy life." Pleasure is no substitute for happiness or serenity. I found that out the hard way. Oh sure, the pot seemed to make my depression vanish when I first started smoking it all the time. It sure seemed like I was having fun... But I wasn't. To appreciate things, we can't have artificial anxiety, paranoia, and egotism getting in the way. How can we "enjoy life" if we are worried about cops showing up and doing all the stuff they do...? How can we "enjoy life" if we are emotionally unavailable to loved ones? Eventually the loved ones will get sick and tired of us not caring about their feelings and go away.... It's important to remember that we can only find real enjoyment of life, or serenity, if we are not forcing the issue. That is why it is important to remember that we are recovering. It is very hard to have any control over our thoughts and feelings while chemically enhanced. It is not when we learn to recover.

JUST FOR TODAY I will have faith in someone in N.A. who
believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery.

We DO need each other. People need some understanding from others. Perhaps the others in the program have struggled with similar issues to ours.... Perhaps they can help us out with those same issues. We have to trust other recovering addicts.... even though we probably learned that, while using, other addicts simply weren't trustworthy. It is good for us to trust others in the program, and it is good for them. It feels good to be trusted to do what we say we're going to do. I do have difficulty with this statement. I tend to be fiercely independent. I've never been a "joiner." It's a miracle I got into recovery because I don't join clubs, etc. I don't consider myself to be a "follower." I'm not sure what exactly I am supposed to have faith about in others.... Other people in the program have said things that helped me. Others in the program have lightened the mood with jokes and laughter when I was feeling anxious. I do have faith that recovery will always be there for me.... To me, that is what having faith means right now. I guess that will have to be good enough for the time being. They say "progress not perfection" and I am still learning how to have faith in others.

JUST FOR TODAY I will have a program. I will try to follow it to the best of my ability.

Having a program is vital. This seems to be a gentle reminder to follow the steps which are the "program." It also says, in essence, that we DO NOT have to be perfect.... There are lots of "in betweens" in real life. There are actions that aren't exactly right or wrong, but if those actions go unexamined how will we ever know? There are character traits that are in between -- neither being a defect nor an asset or being either depending on how they are used. If we don't examine these traits, how will we ever use them for the greatest good? If we don't examine our feelings, we may end up ruled by them. We may end up "acting out" in a childish manner, just like active addicts do. This statement is a gentle reminder that it is our duty, today, to examine our lives and get to know ourselves better. It is a gentle reminder to keep trying to do our best, do the greatest good. For, when we do this our self esteem improves, and people with good self esteem tend to be less likely to use drugs..... It is our duty to do what it takes to feel good about ourselves.

JUST FOR TODAY through N.A. I will try to get a better
perspective on my life.

Maybe we aren't the monsters we thought we were?
Through the program and the steps we learn that we aren't all bad. That not everything we did was rotten. We find love in the program, and many of us when we came to this program did not believe we deserved love.... So many of us feel that love must be earned.... In NA we don't have to earn our love. It is there for us. We may not find perfect unconditional love every time. We may not feel it when we first start down the road to recovery, but it is there. We ARE worthy of love. By doing the program of NA we will get closer to our Higher Power. From our higher power we DO find unconditional love. Usually some kind of recovery is necessary to find that higher power. Some say "with love, all things are possible." When we open up to our possibilities, we will find we do have a better perspective. The better we feel about ourselves, the better life will look.

JUST FOR TODAY I will be unafraid, my thoughts will be on my new associations, people who are not using and who have found a new way of life. So long as I follow that way, I have nothing to fear.

They say in recovery "fear is a lack of faith." This statement completes the circle.... It leads us back to the first statement of the Just For Today reading. It takes faith to walk into a meeting -- faith that we will (usually) feel better after the meeting. Faith that we will not be rejected and/or criticized. This statement is phrased nicely for both the newcomer and other recovering people. It encourages us to reach out to others in the program. No man (or woman) is an island. We need each other. This statement of the Just For Today reading gently encourages us to love each other. Our "new way of life" generally involves loving ourselves as well. It means accepting love from our higher power. Truly our higher power will always love us and therefore, we really have nothing to fear. Our way is one of faith in our higher power, ourselves and others.

Just for today, I will love and be loved and everything will be alright.

I often tell myself "It will be alright," and that does help me