For Today: May 15th

Pray to God, but continue to row to shore.

Russian proverb

God is not my arms and legs. It is up to me to do the footwork. Ours is a program of action. The first two steps require reflection and contemplation; the rest call for direct action. Of course, I do not work a perfect program. When I feel rebellious, as I sometimes do, then I pray to be willing, putting myself and my stubbornness in God’s hands.

Out of old programming I still need to be perfect before I can like myself. But God has infinite and unconditional love for me, and gives me everything I need, including the willingness to take action. I have but to ask.

For Today: God does for me what I cannot do for myself, not what I can do.

A great quote for this reading would be:

“You can’t think yourself into a new way of acting;

You have to act yourself into a new way of thinking.”

As a compulsive overeater & OCD person in general, I am a thinker instead of a doer.  I can chew over a problem forever before I actually take action. That bogs me down & prevents my growth. It’s good actions that create good thoughts. I can think on something till the cows come home, but it's the doing that leads to the healing.

When I don’t feel like eating what’s on my food plan & want to ‘live a little’, I stick to my food plan anyway. That’s taking the necessary action to preserve my program, which is my #1 goal.  When I don’t feel like exercising because I’m ‘too tired’, I exercise anyway.  I go through the motions in spite of what I ‘feel like’ doing.

This is taking action. What I can do is pray & ask God to help me with the willingness aspect…….Please God, give me the Willingness to stick to my food plan/life plan for today.

I don’t expect God to do the rowing…..I have to do the rowing or else my boat will sink.

For today, I pray for the willingness to take the actions that are required of me in order to stay in Recovery.

If I have a craving or a ‘need’ for a certain thing, I pray for God to remind me that I already have everything I need, and that my wants are something that will not improve my life.