NA Daily Meditation

Forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others are just two currents in the same river, both hindered or shut off completely by the dam of resentment. Once that dam is lifted, both currents can flow. Being in recovery allows me to see how resentment has built up and subsequently blocked off this flow in my life. Recovery provides a way by which resentments may–by the grace of a Higher Power–be lifted. It is a result of this solution that I can find the necessary grace which enables me to forgive myself and others.

The false comfort of self-pity screens me from reality only momentarily and then demands, like a drug, that I take an ever bigger dose. If I succumb to this it could lead to a relapse into my addiction. What can I do? One certain antidote is to turn my attention, however slightly at first, toward others who are genuinely less fortunate than I. In the same degree that I actively demonstrate my empathy with them, I will lessen my own exaggerated suffering.

Some say that experience is the best teacher, but I believe that experience is the only teacher. I have been able to learn of God's love for me only by the experience on that love. At first I could not be sure of His direction in my life, but now I see that if I am to be bold enough to ask for His guidance, I must act as if He has provided it. I frequently ask God to help me remember that He has a path for me.

Is someone you know suffering with an addiction?