July 11

“We learn to turn uncomfortable feelings about others into opportunities to practice keeping our focus on our own lives.”

Tools of Recovery, page 33

Years ago, I was taking a break, sitting alone in a room with all the slogans in plaques on the wall. My eyes came to rest on “Live And Let Live.” My sense of it had always been that I am to allow others to be. As I just stared, blankly, a light-bomb went off in my head. The slogan isn’t “Let Live;” it’s “Live And Let Live.” The first order of business is to get a life. Wow.

After years in recovery, this understanding holds up. If I am neglecting my sobriety, my recovery, my health, my spirituality, my life, I am much more likely to be victimized by what others do, say, don’t do, don’t say, etc.

The Steps, sponsorship, fellowship, service, and developing my outer circle lay the foundation. If I am engaged in and responsible for my own life, making it as rich and loving as I can with my Higher Power’s guidance and the time I have, I am better able to let other people have their lives. I am better able to engage with the lives of others in ways that enrich and ennoble us all.

All I ever have is this precious, present moment. This is my opportunity to turn it over and make a life I want to live and be a person I want to be.

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I am responsible for the gift of my life, right here, right now.