Future Phobia
Irrational worry about the future may have triggered eating binges before we found the OA program. Learning to live one day at a time is a necessary part of controlling our disease. Our instinct for security must not be allowed to run riot any more than the other instincts we are learning to control.
Trusting our Higher Power today ensures that we will trust Him tomorrow also. We do not know what the future holds for us, but we are assured of God's continuing care and support. To entertain irrational worries about what might or might not happen is to doubt the Power, which is restoring us to sanity. When we take Step Three without reservations, we give up our crippling anxieties.
We do not expect that life will be a rose garden in the future, any more than it is right now. There are problems and disappointments and pains to deal with. What we do expect is the strength to cope with whatever our Higher Power gives us, realizing that the difficult experiences are often the ones from which we learn the most.
May faith in You blot out fear.
From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.
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Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.
When I began working the steps actively is when I began to find recovery. Until that time, however, I couldn't think myself into new behaviors. Only through action does the recovery process begin.
Step 1: Admitted we were powerless over food (alcohol) and our lives had become unmanageable.
What is the definition of unmanageable? Difficult or impossible to control, use, or manipulate.
Yes indeed, my life had become quite unmanageable. I could no longer control, use or manipulate food & alcohol to achieve a better state of mind. My addictions were controlling me, which is what ultimately happens to all addicts. The substances that once brought comfort & relief from thinking, soon bring pain & numbness that create more trouble than they cure.
The Steps taught me how to do the footwork, by committing to abstinence from overeating and total abstinence from drinking, and to allow God to do the rest. When I trust Him to catch me when I fall, and to have my back, I am able to live my life as He intended me to live it. Free from the burden of addiction, and allowing love, joy & faith to prevail instead.
If I allow my addictions to cause chaos & run riot, I cannot allow God to take over & show me a better way.
When I live for today, I do not project fear & worry about the future. No, I don't know what tomorrow may bring, nor must I dwell on the possibilities. Tomorrow may be rife with unsettling news, or it may hold untold joys & opportunities. I think I will allow tomorrow to get here after today has passed. I will not borrow trouble & worry about the 'what if's' of a future that does not exist right NOW.
For today, may I live in the moment, with God's help, and abstinence as my #1 priority.
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