Tuesday, July 20, 2021

July 20, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Next year I’m going to be better than I am now, but today I’m the best Jeanie I can be. — Jeanie F.

It is quite possible to waste a lot of time and energy trying to make impossible changes. Many of us, inspired by the dynamics of the program and driven more by enthusiasm than prudence, strike out on missions that cannot be accomplished — missions we cannot win and should never undertake.

Turning back the clock is one of these. It can’t be done. Controlling someone else’s behavior is another. We can set the stage for the desired behavior, encourage it, and improve the odds by getting out of the way—but we don’t have it in our bag of tricks to make people think, feel, or do any one thing.

The program addresses the art of the possible. The only options we have are the options that are available to us. If our former partners don’t want to reconcile with us, that’s not an available option. A happily-ever-after marriage is not possible if we have yet to learn how to have a healthy relationship. Instead, we can focus on acquiring these people skills by building on our own possibilities.

Today, I will examine my range of available choices.

Hazelden Foundation

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