January 11

“A slogan that expresses one of the fundamental truths of the program is ‘one day at a time.’”

Sex Addicts Anonymous, page 65

There is a species of bamboo that doesn’t break through the ground for the first four years after being planted. Nonetheless, it must be watered and tended regularly. Just think of getting up every morning to water a spot on the ground that is marked for this bamboo—not even a sprout or mound in the dirt, never changing, not a sign of movement or growth year after year. After five years, a small sprout shoots up through the dirt. Then, over the next six weeks, it can grow ninety feet high to maturity.

My journey through the Twelve Steps has been similar. If am willing to do whatever it takes to stay sober, if I have the patience to maintain my daily practice, if I work the Steps with my sponsor, if I attend meetings and share in the fellowship; I will come to realize that the roots have built up to support a new me. I may not notice anything for a long time, and in my case, I don’t always see the sprouts right away after they appear. But gradually, I find myself growing in newness of life.

Just ask the old timers how they got their five, ten or twenty year chip. They will say, “One day at a time.”

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May I walk this day in sobriety, one day at a time.