For Today: June 23rd

A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules.

Anthony Trollope

What’s the secret of digging a garden, writing a novel, taking a fourth-step inventory or abstaining from compulsive overeating?  OA gave me the answer: Attend to the business at hand each day, one day at a time.

I used to think the only way to tackle major projects was in great bursts of concentrated effort. Like a child with a short attention span, I would tire myself out with the intensity of sporadic effort and then go on to something else.

Today I still tend to see a difficult task in terms of the total time and effort it will take. But there is one lesson I have learned well: The only time I have to abstain and practice the program of recovery is today.

For Today: It is this day’s abstinence that guarantees me continued sanity and freedom---nothing else.

I am living proof that the OA concept of taking life in small chunks is life-changing & positively so!

I always took on more than I could cope with, in terms of my food intake *either starving or binging*, housework, job duties, any & all projects in general were either done with great bursts of concentrated effort or not at all.  The ‘all or nothing’ mentality was in force to the max and driving me like a master.

Today, thanks to OA, I am able to accept the fact that things get done in God’s time, not in my time. I put forth effort….but not superhuman effort….toward any task I am faced with & I do the best job I can possibly do with it.  If I am tackling a project in the house like de-cluttering, I don’t feel the need to get the whole job done NOW.  I am satisfied to take the task in small bits, and wait for the end result. 

Since yesterday is gone & tomorrow isn’t here yet, all I have is today. My only goal for today is to do the best I can at whatever I attempt, to treat others with kindness & empathy, and to abstain from overeating. If I stay true to those goals, everything else takes care of itself.

How does a person eat an elephant? One bite at a time.