~SPIRITUAL NOT RELIGIOUS~ A DAY AT A TIME

06/24 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
The primary purpose of The Program is freedom from addiction; without that freedom we have nothing.  But that doesn't mean I can say, for example, "Sobriety is my only concern.  Except for my drinking, I'm really a super person, so give me sobriety, and I've got it made."  If I delude myself with such specious nonsense, I'll make so little progress with my real life problems and responsibilities that I'll likely return to my addiction.  That's why The Program's Twelfth Step urges us to "practice these principles in all our affairs."  AM I LIVING JUST TO BE FREE OF CHEMICAL DEPENDENCE, OR ALSO TO LEARN, TO SERVE, AND TO LOVE?

TODAY I PRAY
May I relish and be grateful for my sobriety, which is where all good things begin.  But let me not stop at that and give up trying to understand myself, the nature of God and of humanity.  Freedom from dependency is the first freedom.  May I be certain that there are more to come -- freedom from tight-mindedness, from the unrest of bottled-up feelings, from over-dependence on others, from a Godless existence.  May The Program which answered my acute needs also answer my chronic ones.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Sobriety is just a beginning.

I tried OA for 20 years and gained 300 lbs.  My problem is that I had an undiagnosed mental problem.  I am now on medication for manic-depression and I have had talk therapy in the past.  When in OA, I had been a food sponsor and even a step sponsor.  But, I continued to slip.  Although I don't see any sense in going back and working a 12 step program now, I do work steps 1-3, I appreciate the Serenity Prayer, and I now try to live one day at a time.  I've learned from my therapists that 12 step programs are only successful about 33% of the time, but they are the most popular programs.  I've also learned that they are derived from a Rule used in a monastery in the 4th century.  I can see the efficacy of following it in the confines of a monastery.

I'm just a little curious as to using the term sobriety instead of abstinence.  Then, again, I guess more people understand sobriety.

In my case, Abstinence means not eating sugar and white flour.