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Different Path to Recovery

 Brothers and Sisters in Recovery 🙏 I’ve been doing some thinking about my recovery program and I’ve decided it’s time for me to change things up a little. I love Narcotics Anonymous, and I’m grateful for everything NA has given me. But lately, I’ve felt like my recovery has become a little stale. I’m still committed to recovery, but I believe sometimes we have to be willing to step outside of our comfort zone and look at different ways of strengthening our program. Because of that, I’ve been looking into Recovery Dharma as an alternative or something I can add to what I’m already doing. I’m interested in learning something new, gaining a different perspective, and finding practices that help me continue growing spiritually and emotionally. I’ve learned that recovery isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey. What works for one person may not work for another, and that’s okay. The important thing is that we keep moving forward and remain willing to do whatever is necessary to stay clean, ...
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ODAAT

 

Brothers and Sisters in Recovery 🙏

First, let me say I'm sorry for missing the last couple of days. I usually take one day off on Sunday, but I was just getting a little bit too burned out, which leads me into my message for this morning: one day at a time.

Such a simple phrase. Man, it's powerful.

Some days I can only take it one day at a time. You know, I would like to think I'm capable of taking about a week at a time, but I'm not. I only got today. I can only promise myself today that I'm not going to use. I can't say anything about tomorrow or the day after, or even worry about yesterday. All I know is I've got right now, and I can do right now.

Because anything more seems too vast.

I can't promise you that I'm never going to get high again, because that's just too much. I don't know what I would do if I tried to carry that kind of promise around with me. It seems like a Herculean task.

But what I've got is today.

I can promise today that I can wake up this morning with intention and make the decision that I'm not going to use. That seems very doable to me. And it's just like that for everything in life. If I take it one day at a time, things just seem more manageable. It seems easier.

Sometimes we make life harder than it has to be because we're trying to figure out everything at once. We're worrying about tomorrow before tomorrow ever gets here, while carrying yesterday around on our backs. Recovery has taught me that I don't have to solve my entire life today. I just have to make the next right decision.

If I'm struggling, I can reach out. If I'm tired, I can rest. If I'm overwhelmed, I can slow down. If I don't know what to do, I can ask for help. And if all I can manage today is staying clean and putting one foot in front of the other, then that's enough.

There is nothing weak about admitting that today is all we can handle. In fact, there is something powerful about it. We don't have to predict the future. We don't have to guarantee what tomorrow will look like. We just have to protect what we've been given today.

So if you're struggling this morning, don't worry about staying clean forever. Don't worry about next week. Don't worry about next year.

Just stay clean today.

Wake up. Breathe. Pray. Reach out. Go to a meeting. Talk to another addict. Do the next right thing. Then do it again.

Tomorrow will take care of itself when it gets here.

One day at a time.

Just for today, I will not use.

Keep moving forward, brothers and sisters. We don't have to conquer the whole mountain today. We just have to take the next step.

With love and gratitude,
Gary G.

Comments

  1. RobSeptember 28, 2026 at 4:40 AM

    Gary - great message. Appreciate the sentiment, it can be a struggle for me to focus on one day at a time because of what I believe are general macro views of things. Indeed, it kind of pisses me off. But I will try.

    ReplyDelete

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