February 20

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
How often have we been grateful for our fear, pain, or anger? Most of us would have to say rarely. Through the program we have come to realize these experiences are necessary to our growth and freedom, and we became more accepting of these moments. The more quickly we embrace our fear, pain, or anger, the less time we spend suffering. Our willingness to risk facing our feelings, as frightening as it often is, brings us the feelings of peace and belonging which we have been seeking for so long.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Grant me the courage to face my pain and the insight to see the healing beyond.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I will choose to embrace my pain. I will become me.

Emotions Anonymous (Find a meeting near you!), Order Today

November 17

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
How often have I said, "It is not that I am angry, but......?" Yet my actions show that anger is exactly what I feel. Our program teaches me about feelings. I am learning one day at a time how to identify what I feel and to stop denying that I feel it. Feelings are natural. They tell me what is going on with me. The program does not teach me not to feel, but how to react to my feelings. Am I still denying my feelings?

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
With Your help may I begin daily to surrender uncomfortable feelings to You.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
It's okay for me to feel.

Emotions Anonymous (Find a meeting near you!), Order Today

September 27

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
How often have we dwelt on feeling sad, lonely, inadequate, guilty, or shameful and wondered why we felt so miserable? Once we are able to look behind our feelings to our thinking, we quickly see the messages we had been sending to ourselves were the reason for feeling so miserable and unhappy. We can choose to stop talking to ourselves critically. Who we are and what we feel is okay. In fact, we need to be right where we are. We can only grow from that place. Accepting ourselves as we are will bring us to the next step of our journey.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
Help me to recognize when I am "picking" on me.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I will choose to talk lovingly to myself in response to my feelings.

Emotions Anonymous, Order Today

September 6

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
So often I have read expressions in twelve-step literature like, "No one can hurt me unless I let them," or "When you resent someone you become their slave," or that "Anger is deadly for dependent people." When I heard those expressions, I interpreted them to mean that if I felt these feelings, I was not working my program. I used what I had heard to simply shut down my feelings. I have come to see that any feelings I bury will come out somewhere. If feelings do not come out straight, they end up doing me, and possibly others, more harm in the long run. Today I interpret those expressions to mean I do not want to "hang on" to the pain of those feelings, but I need to be honest with myself and another person if I want to go on functioning in a healthy way.

MEDITATION FOR TODAY
I ask that You help me to face my feelings honestly and share them with another human being.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Avoiding feelings is not a sign of either wellness or of working the program.

Emotions Anonymous, Order Today