from Touchstones
An ideal is a man’s portrait of his better self. — Louis Binstock
When in training for athletics, we use a daily routine to reach a peak condition. We stretch, lift weights, run, and do special conditioning to develop our bodies and skills for that big day of competition. It’s hard work. Sometimes we hate it, but at other times we do it just because it feels so good. Then when the day of competition comes, we can depend on that practice. At a crucial moment there’s not time to think about how we will respond. We just do it the way we learned and use our physical ability to carry us through.
In this program, we go to our meetings, we work the Steps on a personal level, we develop a relationship with our Higher Power, and we keep in touch with our sponsor. Some days we may wonder if it’s worthwhile, but most of the time the process is full and rewarding in itself. We make progress toward the ideal, although we never achieve perfection. When the challenges or threats to our sobriety come, we have our conditioning within the program to carry us through.
In this day ahead, I will remember that I am building myself to peak condition. I will be faithful to my “training program.”
From Answers in the Heart
It is courage the world needs, not infallibility…courage is always the surest wisdom. — Sir Wilfred Grenfell
To overcome feelings of shame and to reorient our desires requires patience, support, and courage. We may be tempted to say to ourselves that the task is too difficult and that we are perfectly content to go on the way we are.
But wisdom tells us otherwise. Wisdom is that insight and knowledge we have gained for ourselves by beginning to live out our recovery. And wisdom tells us that we need to change and move out of our addiction. If we don’t listen to this voice of wisdom, we waste our talents and our potential as human beings.
Wisdom is the insight and the perspective we gain on ourselves and the world. Courage is the action of changing our beliefs and behavior and helping others along the path. Together, wisdom and courage lead us to serenity and the knowledge that we are growing and living more fully and sanely day by day.
I need courage to change, and I will find it if I am wise enough to see the true benefits of recovery from addiction.
Daily Meditation Books
Answers in the Heart - daily meditations for people recovering from sex addiction
Touchstones - daily meditations for recovering men
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