For Today: April 22nd

For Today: April 22^nd

Every situation—nay, every moment---is of infinite worth, for it is the representative of a whole eternity.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

NOW never counted for much in my life of compulsive overeating. I rejected the idea that the present moment represented eternity, or that the way I lived---anesthetizing myself with food----would never change unless I understood that NOW was all I had or ever would have.

The 12 step program of recovery is the most now-oriented set of ideas I have ever encountered. What I did yesterday---how good or how bad I was, how successful or unsuccessful, how fat or how thin----has no reality today except in my mind. Following the directions of the steps, I clear my mind of the debris of the past, leaving myself free to give all my attention, energy and love to the present moment---which represents eternity.

For today: The “time of my life” is NOW.

I have always been SO worried about ‘tomorrow’ I was unable to live for today. I always needed something to look forward to, and that something was usually food. I could get through the afternoon if I knew I would have a feast for dinner.

OA has taught me to ditch that mentality & to live for the NOW, just like this reading discusses. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet.  If I miss taking joy in a moment, I can never get that moment back…it is gone for good.

When I live in my mind instead of in reality, I prevent myself from living the full & rich life God intends me to live.

For today, I pray to live with enough peace & serenity to accept my life as it is NOW.