For Today: January 2nd

Looking forward into an empty year strikes one with a certain awe, because one finds therein no recognition.  The years behind have a friendly aspect, and they are warmed by the fires we have kindled, and all their echoes are the echoes of our own voices.

Alexander Smith

The old and familiar is more comforting to contemplate than the new and untried.  What will be new?  Whatever old idea I give up, a new one will take its place.  Beliefs I was sure about have turned out to be wrong.  Foremost among them was the idea that if I took complete charge of my life, asking no help from any quarter, it would turn out the way I wanted.  But it never did.  It was only when I gave up being in charge that the reality of abstinence with peace of mind entered my life.  All my progress toward sanity and balance come from that one magnificent change.

For Today:  I pray to be willing to give up more of my old, mistaken notions that I cling to as absolute truths.

**************************************************************

I had all the answers.  I knew exactly what to do to lose weight.  Diet. Stick to it for a while, then give up, go back to my old ways of eating junk food ‘in moderation.’  All I had to do was X Y & Z, and life would be perfect, and  I would be perfect.   And blah blah blah & blah.

When I came to OA, I realized the error of my ways………..the twisted thinking that had kept me dieting, unsuccessfully, for 40-some years. 

My way was not God’s way.  My way kept me in control of the world & everybody in it.  My way kept others away, in an effort to do things ‘properly’………with no help, no outside influences  mucking things up.

OA changed my way of thinking entirely.  I wanted to be rid of the old & familiar, because it wasn’t helping me achieve the kind of life I wanted for myself.  The old & familiar had me eating compulsively to cope with life, and the result was misery.

When I came to OA, I had to chuck my old ideas……….put my views aside & take on a whole new set of principles & practices.

What, after all, did I have to lose?

What I had to lose was weight, tons of old baggage, convoluted thought/idea patterns, and a lifetime of Do-It-Yourself-Chaos.

Abstinence is a lack of chaos.  Abstinence is structure, and structure prevents chaos.  The Steps are a roadmap back to sanity, and abstinence is the first brick in the wall that must be built in order to live a happy & peaceful lifestyle.

For today, I am grateful for the willingness to give up more of my old, mistaken notions that I tend to cling to as absolute truth.

The only ‘absolute truth’ in life comes from God.  And, for today, I pray to open myself up to His message.