March 20

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
One of the features of emotional illness is repression and suppression of emotions. Feelings are considered bad or wrong, and willpower is used to deny and avoid these feelings. This leads to an increasing load of emotional pain and confusion. Identifying and releasing feelings is one of the essential first steps to recovery of emotional health. Feelings are neither good nor bad and not to be judged and condemned. They are to be appropriately experienced and expressed. I need not feel guilty about the way I feel. I am responsible for making the decision to accept my feelings and manage them appropriately. Will I be a friend to my feelings today?

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
God, please help me to let You guide me and strengthen me as I live a new emotional way of life.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Acceptance, experience, and expression - not condemnation, repression, and suppression.

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March 17

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
This day is often spent in celebrations of all kinds by those people of Irish heritage and many others we are Irish for the day. My memories evoke many boisterous parties that ended disastrously. Anger and bitterness spilled over many friends and relatives. Like other holidays, when spent alone, it can be traumatic. Since working on my life with the Twelve Steps, I have found it is possible to celebrate sanely - to be with loving, understanding friends and to have fun without the emotional upheavals of the past. I have to be willing to reach out to all caring people of all races and say, "Let's be Irish together today."

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Help me remember that holidays can be good days if I celebrate wisely as the program teaches me. Do not ever let me dread another "special" day.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I cannot be a parade by myself.

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March 16

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Just as it takes me time to think out the right decision to make and the right course of action to take using EA principles, I must learn to allow others time to make the right decisions too. I am not going to react to life anymore, I am going to act - maturely, kindly, considerately. The slights I feel can very often be explained away by looking at things from another view - the other person's. Sometimes, if I just wait patiently, people may want to change their minds or maybe ask questions.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Remind me that things are not always black and white - more often they're grey.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
The best decisions for me are not always to walk away from people or problems.

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March 13

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
The God of my understanding - how it has changed through the years. When I was a child, He was a man with a beard who patted me on the head when I was good. In my teens, He disapproved of most things I thought were fun, so He probably did not exist. In my twenties, I had children, so I thought I better teach them about God in case He did exist. Now I am past forty; God is not a man. My Creator is a force for good, a loving friend, a support when I call, the one who accepts me when I cannot, and the one who always wants what is best for me. How grateful I am for this beautiful force.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Help me to not forgot how accepting and loving You are.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
God loves me!


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March 12

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
I have done myself a lot of harm, but I want to make amends to myself now. One of the best ways to do this is to continually speak well of myself. Why do I think I am entitled to run myself down, saying harsh things about myself such as, "I am not good, I cannot do it, I am so weak, nobody cares about me, etc."? Without dishonesty or conceit I can always speak positively and hopefully about myself. Today I want to be my own best friend.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
May I remember there are people who love and cherish me, and it hurts them, as it hurts me, when I say negative things about myself.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I am not perfect, but in some ways I am great.

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March 11

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
After one year of working my own program, I came to realize that one thing I was not hearing or seeing, but definitely needed to cultivate within myself, was acceptance. It is one thing to accept the first three steps, which address the problem. It is another to take that Fourth and Fifth Step and accept those things intrinsic to one's personality. Accepting major personality factors does not mean to qualify them as good, bad, or defective. However, the admission I make in Step Five opens the dike I have built between myself and reality. It starts like the fable- the small hole which day by day grows larger. It give me an increasing awareness of the goodness within myself, which I had refused to accept. Am I working a three-step or a twelve-step program?

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Please, God, do not allow me to bog down in my program. Let it be. Your will that I continue in the steps and grow strong and able to accept myself and what is to come.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
God doesn't make anything that isn't good.

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March 10

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
I used to view success as outward achievements and material gains. Today success looks much different. Real success is not external, but internal. Each time I risk and challenge something, I learn more about myself, and I feel successful. By facing myself, I gain more and more understanding and acceptance of both my strengths and my weaknesses. This understanding creates compassion. To gain compassion for one's self is to achieve success. Only by being compassionate with ourselves will we keep the door open to continued growth.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Because I understand how imperative having compassion for myself is to my continued growth, I pray for the ability to talk kindly to myself instead of being self-rejecting.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
If we have not learned to live with ourselves, what benefit are achievements and material gains?

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March 9

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Could I go a whole day, a whole twenty-four hours, without "trying to improve or regulate anybody except myself?" It does not seem like a difficult task. After all, I am the only one I can change. Yet why do I expend so much of my energy on trying to change others? How do I know what is good for another person? Most of the time I don't know what is good for me. Today I will try extremely hard to accept other people, regardless of their behavior. Today I will concentrate on my qualities, bad or good, and let the other person be an individual with human foibles. If this dedication to myself only works five hours today, maybe it will last six hours tomorrow, and I will have taken another giant step on my path toward serenity.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Help me to let You make all the improvements on the human race.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
During this day I will accept others as they are- human, just like me, and entitled to their humanity.

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March 8

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
If there is no joy or enthusiasm in my life, it can seem to be a pretty bleak and depressing world I live in. Where there is no color in my life, there is no rainbow either. By bringing enthusiasm into my everyday work, I add color and spice. Today I will be enthusiastic in doing whatever I have to do. I will speak and act enthusiastically. This can uplift me all day. And it rubs off on others! When I am joyful, people around me feel better. Only I can do this for me. The good feelings it gives others are a bonus which I receive for being good to myself. And the amount of work accomplished is incredible -- another bonus.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Help me put rainbows in to my life by granting me the strength for enthusiasm.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
The pot of gold at the end of my rainbow is joy.

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March 7

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Anger can get me into trouble, and pride can keep me there. Admitting I am wrong is hard as I want to be perfect, keep my world all intact, and not lose control. I am not alone in the world any more. I am a human being living a life which is the best I know, and I do not have to be perfect. I can make mistakes and then correct the error without being a failure.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
May I have more patience and tolerance, which will lead to improved relations with You and others.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Honesty is a powerful tool to eliminate false pride.

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March 6

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Nothing is scarier than the unknown, so naturally, letting go of symptoms and old behavior was frightening. Even though I was miserable, I wondered what would replace this void. Recognizing that the energy I had put into keeping my symptoms alive was energy I could also use to develop my creativity gave me a great deal of hope for the positive direction my life could take. When the fear of returning to the pain of my self-defeating behavior became greater than my fear of the unknown, it was easier to face that fear. Little by little I let go of my old ways.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
May I continue to use my energy to grow, to be responsible, and to be creative. May I no longer let fear control my life.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
By giving up self-defeating behavior, I will not become just an empty vessel.

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March 5

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
For many years of my life I thought I was lacking in talent. Because I had focused on others' abilities, I could not see my own. Of course this created a feeling of jealousy. I realize now I no longer have to be jealous of someone else's ability. God's talent to one person does not limit another's abilities. We each are given more than enough to make our lives full and rewarding. If we are willing to take the risk and follow where we are being led, we will discover abilities we did not know we possessed.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
May I have the courage to follow my dream with action.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Courage is a choice!

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March 4

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
We may talk about love, define love, read books about love, and see movies about love but still not be loving. One way to start being loving is to love what bothers you. Is there a person who irritates and angers you? Think, "I love you and God bless you." Is there someone you resent? Think, I love you and God bless you." Do you fear a person who seems to stand in the way of your good? Let love eliminate the fear. Think, "I love you and God bless you." You may at first be thinking, "I love you" with tight lips and clenched fists. As it get to be habit, love takes over and the words truly become meaningful.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
May I become more loving and only see Your gift of love in the people I meet today.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Love erases fear, anger, and resentments.

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March 3

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
As I think about the day that lies ahead of me, what do I visualize? Do I think only about negative things such as gloomy weather, hard work, and confrontations? If I expect good, good will come my way. I know I will rejoice in good happenings. I will feel love and give love to others this day. Delightful surprises will come my way. I will be blessed with vigor and good health. In moments of quiet and prayer, I will fee peace and know my Higher Power is with me.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Thank You for the gift of another joyful day.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Great expectations bring a great day.

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March 2

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Today, God, I may need a little extra special help. I know I have asked You to step in and take care of this problem which is bothering me. Please help me to understand that You may solve it differently from the way I expected. That way I will know, even if adversities come while You are working Your solution, they will not throw me into thinking that You have deserted me.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
I have turned my life over to Your care, God, and I need extra attention today.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I am worthy of special help.

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March 1

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Our incessant analyzing could mean our failure to get well and eventually cost us our lives. It is as if we were standing in burning fire, trying to understand the principles of oxidation and how or why to fire might have started, before we make plans for escape. What we need to do is get out of the fire first and try to understand later. For a long time we will stand on the edge of our old lives and think about going back. Have I made a clear choice?

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
May I learn how to relate to You rather than to my analytical mind.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Stop analyzing. Act!

Emotions Anonymous, Order Today