May 31, 2026 - Patience

My thought for today is patience. Patience is rarely about waiting; it's how we behave while we are waiting. It requires us to trust the process, sit with discomfort, and accept that some things simply refuse to be rushed. Little Johnny told his teacher he was having trouble with math, so she gave him more math homework. I expressed to my higher power that I was having trouble with patience. So, God sent me some people to sponsor and I am beginning to learn firsthand what patience actually can be. Patience can be peaceful or it can be frustrating; I prefer peaceful.

May 30, 2026 - Service

My thought for today is Service. I try to do what is required of me as far as that goes. An old friend of mine is celebrating a milestone today so I am going and I baked cookies so that I can show my gratitude.  I have learned that when I am asked to do service, I should agree to it if it is within my power to do it. When I asked for help, there were hands there ready for me. So, I return the favor. I try to do service in my community as well, making good use of the second chance that God has given me.

May 29, 2026 - Sponsorship

My thought for today is sponsorship. In AA, sponsorship is a voluntary, informal relationship where an experienced member who has made progress in the recovery program guides a newer member through the Twelve Steps. On page 96 of the big book it mentions a new member who contacts an older member and says he is ready to go through with the twelve steps of recovery. "Having had the experience yourself [of doing the steps], you can give him much practical advice." So, that's my job, as a sponsor. Going through the twelve steps can be a new and frightening experience, but in the end a rewarding and enlightening undertaking. One of the things I like about sponsorship is that it gives me the opportunity to re-visit the twelve steps, the twelve traditions, and the twelve concepts again and again and again. In Al-anon I learned two invaluable suggestions about a sponsor. Get one and be one.

May 28, 2026 - Tolerance

My thought for today is Tolerance. Webster's dictionary defines tolerance as the readiness to allow others to think, believe and act as they see fit. It does not say I have to like what they do nor even agree that it is proper. I try to live my life by certain principles. As long as what they believe in or what they are doing is not harming myself or others, then I should accept that their principles are just different than mine. I do not need to change external events nor control other people in order to maintain my own peace. As the big book reminds me, love and tolerance of others is our code. 

May 27, 2026 - Easy Does It.....But Do It

My thought for today is Easy Does It.....But do it. I should avoid trying to do everything today, but as the second half of that slogan says, I should not refrain from doing anything at all. I don't have to build the whole wall today; I just need to lay one brick. What is the brick I need to worry about today?

May 26, 2026 - Attitude

My thought for today is Attitude. In physics, attitude is about orientation. The direction an aircraft is facing in relation to the hoizon is called its attitude. In day to day life, the direction I am facing toward a problem or situation in my life is based on my attitude. If my attitude is one of fear or anxiety about the problem or situation, my attitude will be off balance and negative, but if I have an attitude of gratitude, my approach will be more balanced and positive. One thing to remember about our attitude, it is entirely within our control, even when absolutely nothing else is.

May 25, 2026 - Service

My thought for today is being of service. To me, it is an invaluable and integral part of who I am today. Service, for me, is done within the fellowship and outside of it as well, in my community or in my home. When I was still working, I would try to practice the principle of service at my workplace. I often tell people I have been sober since November of 1997 and I have been doing service in that fellowship since November of 1997. Although service is important to me, so also is balance. I cannot be available at every moment so choosing when and how I show up allows me to bring my full presence to those moments that matter the most.

May 24, 2026 - Step Ten

My thought for today is Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. We continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, anger and fear. I remember when I did my personal inventory - Step 4 - back in 1998, that those four defects were the common thread I found in all my dealings with all the people in my life. Even now, after 28 years of living happy, joyous, and free, that I need to be watchful of those things and when I am wrong, not if I am wrong but when I am wrong, I need to admit my mistake and deal with it accordingly.

May 23, 2026 - Powerless

My thought for today is Powerless. Without a doubt, I am powerless, over alcohol, over drugs, over people, places and things. I have not had a drink in 10,401 days, but if I took a drink today the phenomenom of craving would still happen and I would be unable to resist the compulsion to drink and would not be able to predict the outcome of what would happen, except that I know it would not be good. Luckily, I have a higher power to which I can turn to if ever the thought came to me that I have been sober long enough so that wouldn't happen. In fact, anytime I think a drink would fix any problem I have, I just compare the last 24 hours of my drinking to the last 24 hours and the last 24 hours wins every time. Thy will not mine.

May 22, 2026 - Working With Others

My thought for today is Working With Others and the best way for me to do that is through sponsorship. I was able to progress through the twelve steps through the guidance of my sponsor, or at times, the guidance of my sponsors. I have also been a sponsor to many and I have learned things about that type of relationship. One, I am not always right. What works for one person does not always work for everybody. Also, I can  show you what I have done, but I cannot do it for you. I can show you the path, but I cannot walk it for you.

May 21, 2026 - Fear

My thought for today is Fear. When I was newly sober and was doing my steps, I remember listing and analyzing my fears. In the end, I  realized that the main reason I had them was because reliance solely upon myself wasn't working anymore, so I put my trust in God to remove my fears. Lately, I have developed a fear of aging and that is understandable because I AM getting old. Again, I put the outcome in God's hands and remember that I do not have to do everything today and I do not have to worry about what the future will bring. I need not predict the whole future; I need only navigate through today, through this morning for that matter.

May 20, 2025 - But for the Grace of God

My thought for today is But For The grace of God. Today is my birthday so I would have liked to pull gratitude from my God Box but one of the reasons its called a God Box is I don't get to choose what the thought is. Almost three decades ago, I put my life in the hands of God as I understood God and every day since then I have been reminded that the outcome of each day is not up to me. I am sober and alive today by the grace, or favor, of God. And I know that the Grace of God is not something I earn because I do good things, the same as the Grace of God is not withheld from me because of things I don't do. It is simply a gift given to me.

May 19, 2026 - Depression

My thought for today is Depression. I do not suffer from clinical depression or as it is referred to in medical terms as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). I have experienced mild forms of depression such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If it has been cloudy or raining for a week or two and we lose interest in doing things or wish to just stay in bed all day. That is when I need to force myself to get up, get out of my bed, wash the dishes, go for a walk. It usually snaps me out of the funk. If only MDD were as easily remedied, but it is a complex mood disorder that goes far beyond feeling sad or having a bad day. It is a persistent, pervasive condition that alters how a person thinks, feels, and handles daily activities. Generally, a bout of MDD can last about two weeks and can significantly disrupt daily activities. In some cases, it can lead to suicide. It is not something to take lightly.

May 18, 2026 - Selfishness.

My thought for today is selfishness. A true definition of selfishness is not just the act of looking after oneself, but also the disregard or contempt that the self-focus has on others. The tenth step in the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous encourages us to be on the lookout for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear because it is one of the four primary defects of character that most of us are afflicted with. Selfishness is the belief that you are the only real person in the room, and everyone else is merely an extra in your movie. Not a healthy way to look at life and one that will likely lead us back to the bottle which for us ultimately means our undoing.

May 17, 2026 - No Matter How Far Down the Scale We Have Gone.......

My thought for today is one of the Promises. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. When shame and regret are transformed into utility and purpose, when we begin to see that those parts of our life we wanted to hide or erase become our most valued assets.When I lower my mask, it encourages others to lower theirs. It can be comforting to hear someone else say, "I did that and this is what I did about it."

May 16, 2026 - Serenity Prayer

My thought for today is the Serenity Prayer. Three words come to mind when I say the prayer. Acceptance, Willingness and Faith. First, I must accept things that I cannot change. I have no control over the weather, rush hour traffic, and certainly not the moods of people around me. I must have willingness or courage as the prayer says to change anything it is within my power to change and that would be me and my attitudes. And lastly, I will need faith in my higher power to show me the difference between those two things.

May 15, 2026 - Complacency

My thought for today is Complacency. It is not a conscious choice to stop doing something; it is often a slow feeling that I have done enough, that what I did yesterday is enough for today and will be enough for tomorrow. In AA, we call complacency "resting on our laurels". A common thought is that a slip happens long before I take a drink. I start believing that since everything is okay now, then the problem is solved and I ease up on my program. I start thinking that I've gone to plenty of meetings and that I shouldn't need to keep going every day. I stop meeting with or calling up my sponsor and I stop hanging around with or having conversations with other sober members. I start easing God out and before I know it, I'm in detox trying to figure out what went wrong. I was at a meeting last night and a longtimer came in looking for a speaker for the noon meeting today. My first thought was I do enough, let someone else do it. My next thought was this is what they mean by resting on my laurels. So, I made a call and I'm the speaker today. I don't know if that will prevent me from ever having a slip but it will prevent me from having one today.

May 14, 2026 - Powerless

My thought for today is Powerless. Simply put, it is a lack of power. In the big book it says "lack of power - that was our dilemma". If my problem is that I have a lack of power, that I am powerless, the obvious solution is Power. I can  find that Power by taking a few simple steps. If I have a headache and a bottle of tylenol, what should I do. Maybe take some tylenol. If I have alcoholism and someone says here, take these steps, maybe I should take that medicine too.

May 13, 2026 - Hope

My thought for today is Hope. It is often defined as a feeling that a better outcome is possible, even when the data suggests otherwise. The Czech playwright who became a president, Vaclav Havel, said that "hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." When I arrived at the doors of AA, in 1997, a shred of hope was all I had left. Everything else was gone and all that remained was a hope that if I did what they told me to do, that things would get better. And things did get better. We are told that we share our experience, what has happened to us in the past, our strength, what is going on now in the present, and our hope, that what worked for me might also work for you.

May 12, 2026 - Open Minded

My thought for today is Open Minded. To be open minded in a spiritual sense, involves having the humility to accept that a life doesn't have to be "complete" to be meaningful. When you remain teachable, you essentially stop viewing yourself as a finished product and start viewing yourself as a continual work-in-progress. Being teachable means looking at the same slogans or words you’ve read a hundred times and asking, "What do I need to hear from this today?" When I write, I need to be willing to allow the work to evolve in whatever direction it takes even if it is not one I thought it would be. Life is also like that.

May 11, 2026 - Help Others

My thought for today is Help Others. One of the best ways I can do that is through sponsorship in AA. I know that "nothing will so much ensure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics." I also know that "no matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others." The mere fact that I am also an alcoholic and can therefore understand as perhaps few others can, will be very beneficial. Sometimes, just listening without interrupting can make a world of difference to someone who is still suffering from the disease of alcoholism. There are other ways to help too, but by far, listening is the best way.

May 10, 2026 - Sobriety First

My thought for today is Sobriety First. It's a choice and a necessary one. It's about priorities. And it's about remembering that when life gets busy as it often does, not to place other things in front of my sobriety. I remember when Nancy and I first got together, I told her if she ever got between me and my program there would be a fight and she would lose. The Big Book reminds us that we had to place recovery above all else because without recovery, we would lose everything else anyway. Most good ideas are simple.

May 9, 2026 - Step Seven

My thought for today is Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove my shortcomings. It is one of the action steps. In Step 4, I learn what my character defects - or shortcomings - are. In Step 5, I confess those faults to God and to another person. In Step 6, I become ready to have God remove those shortcomings and in Step 7, I ask Him to do that. It is in the way I ask that I begin to learn about humility. I learn that although I am responsible for my actions, that I do not have control over my deepest character flaws. Asking humbly suggests that I put an end to my ego's demand to be perfect in all things. My actions are what I do. My shortcomings are the gaps in my character, which some may see as sins - pride, fear, envy, greed, lust, etc. - that drive those actions. Although I would prefer to have those shortcomings instantly removed, I am reminded in Twelve Steps Twelve Traditions that God will remove those shortcomings that He could or would based on the conditions of the day I ask.

May 8, 2026 - Procrastination

My thought for today is Procrastination. The art of productive stalling. Doing everything you can think of except the one thing you're supposed to be doing. Procrastination has sometimes been called a five-syllable word for sloth, one of the seven deadly sins, and sloth is really just another way of staying lazy. Easy Does It....But Do It is a good reminder to not take on more things than I can handle, but it is also a good reminder not to avoid doing what needs to be done.  

May 7, 2026 - Expectations

My thought for today is Expectations. An expectation is a strong belief that something will happen or that it may be the case in the future. In relationships, we often expect others to "just know" what we need. Shifting from expecting to requesting is a hallmark of healthy communication. In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, we are reminded "that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations." If my expectations are high, my serenity level is low. In another context I have heard it said that an expectation is a premeditated resentment. Where boundaries are concerned, we expect people to treat us a certain way and of course we don't tell them what that way is, they should know. But they, being human, are fallible and they fail to meet our expectations and this disappoints us. Because they were not aware of the expectation then they do not realize that they have let us down, so they do not apologize and we become resentful toward them. To increase our level of serenity, we ought to better communicate what our expectations are or not to have any in the first place.

May 6, 2026 - Let It Begin With Me

My thought for today is Let It Begin With Me. It shifts my focus from waiting for the world to change to taking the first step myself.  In the book How Al-Anon Works, it says "When we feel a need to change a situation, we can apply this slogan, and start with what we can change." Even in the serenity prayer, we are taught to accept things we cannot change, but also to have the courage to change things we can. Change often starts with individual kindness. We can begin by reaching out to welcome a new person to the neighbourhood or to a meeting, or by being the one who apologizes first in a heated argument. In all situations, it is my thought or action which can begin the process, hence the wording of the slogan. 

May 5, 2026 - Sobriety First

My thought for today is sobriety first. In the early days of AA, Dr. Silkworth said a SLIP was when Sobriety Lost Its Priority. For me, sobriety needs to be my top priority. I remember telling my wife almost thirty years ago that sobriety was the most important thing in my life and that if she ever tried to get in between me and my program that there would be a fight and she would lose. My sobriety comes before everything else because without my sobriety I would eventually lose everything else anyway. Sobriety doesn't guarantee everything will be perfect, but losing it almost guarantees that everything else will eventually be compromised. Putting sobriety first allows me to show up for others, to be present.

May 4, 2026 - Love

My thought for today is Love. The ancient Greeks believed that love was not just one emotion, but that there was more than one type of Love. Eros was passionate romantic love. Philia was a loyal friendship. Storge was love from parents to children and agape was love of God. Different writers through the ages have expressed their thoughts on love. John O'Donohue, in his book Anam Cara which means soul friend, says that love is an act of ancient recognition and that it is two parts of the same soul finding each other. Father Martin says love is not so much two people gazing into each other's eyes as it is two people gazing in the same direction. The psychologist Erich Fromm wrote in The Art of Loving, love isn't just something you fall into; it is a skill that requires care, responsibility, respect, and knowledge. It is the daily practice of supporting someone else's growth as much as your own. The rock band Foreigner have a classic ballad I Wanna Know What Love Is. If you really wanna know what love is, pay attention to my wife and I, or people like us, and watch it in action.

May 3, 2026 - Trust

My thought for today is Trust. Trust is defined as a firm belief in the character, ability, or truth of someone or something, often involving vulnerability. A slogan that I have found helpful is trust god, clean house, help others. The slogan reminds me of the three relationships I have. My relationship with God, my relationship with myself, and the relationships I build with those around me. My sole aim is to be helpful to others, but I need to be sure my own house is in order before I attempt to help others and prior to doing my own moral and spiritual reorganizing, then I ought to place trust in God as I understand God. Most good ideas are simple.

May 2, 2026 - Self-restraint

My thought for today is self-restraint. The dictionary defines self-restraint as the disciplined ability to govern your impulses, desires, and emotions so that your actions align with your values rather than with your urges. Controlling our impulses so that they do not control us. In plain language, self-restraint is the muscle that keeps me from doing things I will later regret. In Proverbs 25:28, a person without self-restraint is compared to a city with broken walls - vulnerable and easily invaded. As with most things, the practice of self-restraint takes practice, and now is as good a time as any to begin the practice of self-restraint.

May 1, 2026 - Boundaries

My thought for today is Boundaries. Boundaries are defined as the lines we create to protect what is ours, our dignity, our values, our time, our serenity. Boundaries are different from walls. Walls are usually fixed in place; boundaries can be raised or lowered depending on our level of perceived safety. If it costs my serenity, then it is too expensive. Boundaries in a relationship can keep both of us healthy. They can help lower our expectations of each other and thereby avoid resentments.