Wisdom For Today - December

[bluidkiti]

December 14

Wisdom for Today

None of us is perfect. In fact, we all have personality flaws. This is the case with me. I certainly had all kinds of reasons that I sought after the high that alcohol and drugs provided for me. Each of us had our own reasons to get messed up. Perhaps we were looking for a way to escape from the realities of our lives. For some of us it is that terrible feeling inside that we just aren't any good. Maybe it was because we didn't know how to make friends or were lonely. I know I had many conflicts inside, and I could not seem to find a way to fit in. Even when I was attempting to fit in, I still felt like I was on the outside. My drinking and drugging was a symptom of my personality flaws, and it was also the cause of some of these defects of character.

I stopped using all the time; my problem was that I couldn't find a way to stay sober. I couldn't until I found a way to deal with all the personality flaws that led me to drink and use. Simple abstinence was not the answer. It didn't solve anything. I had to find a new way of living. I had to find a new me. Recovery is about reshaping our lives. It is about finding our way along the path of recovery with all its twists and turns, bumps and bends. It is about change and changing some more. I'm not there yet, but I am happy with where God has led me thus far. Do I see that I am the one who needs to change?

Meditations for the Heart

Somewhere early in my recovery I realized that a seed had been planted in my life. A new life was growing inside of me. As that seed sprouted and grew, I continued to work the soil and see that the seed was nourished. I began to see wonderful changes occurring. I still needed to work the soil to keep the weeds from choking away this new life inside of me. I know that someday I will see the flower of this seed if I keep using the tools I have been given. But all I need worry about is today, and I really don't even have to worry about that anymore. I trust that God will take care of today for me if I let Him. Still sometimes I wonder, "Where did this seed come from in the first place? I did not plant it in my life.” For me, I have come to believe that this seed was planted the moment I really worked Step Three. I did not realize it at the time, but God went to work right away. Do I value the seed that is planted in my life?

Petitions to my Higher Power

God,
Each day the seed in my life receives Your blessing. Sometimes this is in the form of sunshine, and at other times it is in the form of rain. Help me to realize that even when the thunderstorms of life occur, You are there to protect me and help me keep growing. Help me to grow into the flower you want me to be and stand with my brothers and sisters in recovery in the garden of life.
Amen.