Sept. 10, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023

Today, if life in sobriety jolts me with a reality that in the end is truly hopeless, I will not yield to hopelessness and instead will reach for the hope — and the first word in hopelessness is hope. If the Program has impressed anything on me, it is that hope exists in all things and that hopelessness is empowered only if I bow to it. In hope, there is faith and promise that the hopeless will be overcome by hope; in hopelessness, there is loss of faith and inviting all those lethal feelings like fear, dread, self-pity and selfishness that, together, spell a slip or relapse. And either can send me back to that dark pit from which the Program guided me. From hopelessness, the power of hope can and will take me from that dark place — as long as I keep the Steps close to heart. Nothing, including the despair that life in sobriety will sometimes present, justifies my giving up all I have gained in recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023