June 30th, 2026. Gratitude.

My thought for today is gratitude. It is easy to be grateful when things are going well, but when things are not going so well, it is difficult to be grateful. Today is garbage day. Last night, I put the garbage out, and during the night, the raccoons had a field day with it. While I was putting the garbage back to its normal state, I realized that there are some people out there who are not able to put their garbage out, because they don't have a place to live to begin with. Gratitude reminds me to be grateful for what I have, not for what I don't have. As I often say, "Gratitude is not having everything I want. It's wanting everything I have." 

June 29, 2026 - Powerless

My thought for today is powerless. I am definitely powerless, over alcohol, over drugs, over video games, over sweets, or whatever else it might be. My whole philosophy of life is based on the premise that if one works this good just think what ten will do. The Big Book reminds me that at certain times, I will have no effective mental defense against the first drink. I will be without power.....power-less. I've been sober a few days now, but I remain powerless, which just means that if I took a drink today it would have the same effect on me now as it would have had on me 29 years ago. I have alcohol-ism, not alcohol-wasm.

June 28, 2026 - Keep It Simple

My thought for today is Keep It Simple. It is easy for me to do the opposite of that, so today I will try to focus on the basics. I have not had a drink in some 10,400 or so days, one day at a time, but I remain powerless over alcohol. Therefore I still need to do today what I did yesterday to stay sober. I begin my day with prayer and I reflect on those I know who are still suffering. I remember to be humble and to be grateful. I remain aware that only by the grace of God as I understand God am I not suffering myself.

June 27, 2026 - Boundaries

My thought for today is boundaries. They are the spiritual architecture that keeps love honest, safe, and sustainable. Boundaries create safety since each person knows what's okay and what is not okay. When safety is present, intimacy can grow. Emotional boundaries define what feelings are mine to manage and what belongs to the other person.  Communication boundaries define how we speak, how we listen, and how we repair any damage we cause. We speak the truth even when it's uncomfortable. We can't read each other's minds so we clearly define our boundaries.

June 26, 2026 - Easy Does It, But Do It

My thought for today is Easy Does It...But Do It. It is appropriate. Recently, I had the incident where I lost my balance and fell in the hallway, so that made me aware that something is wrong with my health. Today is grocery day so I should be cautious that I don't take on too much physical work. I also need to be aware not to use that slogan as a way to get out of doing things. So, regarding whatever it is that is in front of us to do, we need to be aware of easy does it...but do it.

June 25, 2026. Expectations

My thought for today is expectations. It has been said that an expectation is a premeditated disappointment. I often expect people in my life to treat me a certain way or to do a certain thing. That would be my expectation of them. And of course, I don't tell them what my expectation is, because they ought to know, right? When they let me down, I am disappointed, and they don't know that they've let me down, because they don't know that I had an expectation on them in the first place. My level of serenity would be higher if I had told them what my expectation was, or if I hadn't had one to begin with. 

What outcome or reaction am I secretly counting on, which, if it doesn't turn out the way I want it to, will make me feel wronged or disappointed, today? 

June 24, 2026. Fear

Good morning. My word for today is "fear." Fear is more often a signal rather than an action taken. Fear has many masks. Control. If I micro-manage everything, there will be nothing to hurt me. Anger. Armor that I can put on so that no one will see the tenderness underneath. Perfectionism. If I do everything right, nothing bad will happen. Isolation. If I pull back from everything, I won't be disappointed. People pleasing. Securing safety through approval. Every one of these is saying the same thing: Don't let me get hurt again. Although fear can feel very real, it is often just a bogeyman. As the big book reminds me, If I ask God to remove my fear and direct me to to those I can help, at once I commence to outgrow fear. Once again, the antidote is humility, gratitude, service.

June 23, 2026 - Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

My thought for today is a slogan. Mean what you say and say what you mean and don't say it mean. It's a simple slogan. Speak truthfully and make sure that your actions match your words. It's a lot like don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk too. It's a good way to build trust in a relationship. I often tell new people who are looking for a sponsor to watch people in meetings. When they find someone they think would be a good sponsor, invite that someone to go for coffee and when you're in the coffee shop, watch them in there, too. A lot of people talk a high grade of program in a meeting but when they are out in public, they may be completely different. If they're talking about everyone else when in the coffee shop, you might wonder what they'll be saying about you when I'm not there to defend yourself. Integrity is doing what my mouth promised.

June 22, 2026 - Humility

My thought for today is humility. It is the clear seeing of who I am and who I am not. Not inflated. Not diminished. Just true. It is not about thinking less of myself; it is about thinking of myself less. Humility comes in handy by keeping my ego in check and by opening the door to guidance. I don't have all the answers and I do not need to know  all of them.

June 21, 2026 - Sponsorship

My thought for today is sponsorship. I had a sponsor way back when. I never asked him to be my sponsor and he never volunteered to be my sponsor. He was the only guy in AA that was talking to me that I was listening to and he guided me through the twelve steps, so I call him my sponsor. He passed away about a dozen years into my sobriety and I got another sponsor because I felt that having a guide along this path we take is not an option, it is necessary. Over the years I have sponsored many men or women and today, I have half a dozen people whom I guide. We both walk the path, but one of us has a flashlight. As the big book reminds me, "having had the experience myself [of doing the twelve steps], I can give him [or her] much practical advice."So, when it comes to sponsors, get one and be one.

June 20, 2026 - Complacency

My thought for today is complacency. It is a drifting away from what we do to keep us fit, whether emotional or spiritual. It's like no longer tending the fire because the room is already warm. I have been sober almost twenty nine years so why do I still need to attend meetings. I have seen countless folk with long term sobriety relapse and when they finally make their way back to sobriety, the first thing they tell us they stopped doing was going to meetings. It is said that people who go to meetings on a regular basis find out what happens to people who don't go to meetings on a regular basis. Complacency is subtle. Prayer becomes shorter, more mechanical. Meditation becomes optional. Meetings are repetitive. Resentments linger longer. We stop asking for help because we think we no longer need it. Our spiritual life is like a garden; if we don't tend it, the weeds will grow and eventually all the flowers will die.

June 19th, 2026, Unity.

My thought for today is unity. A state of being one, whether people are united or maybe thoughts and ideas are united. In A.A., unity ensures that no matter what country I am in, if I go to an AA meeting, I can expect that it will be the same or at least similar to the way the meetings are here in my hometown. One way to ensure unity is recognizing that the welfare of all of us takes precedence over my own individual desires. It is not about us all becoming the same, it is us becoming stronger together. Many hearts moving with one purpose. Unity is like a braided rope. Strands woven can carry the weight easier than one strand alone. So, unity is strength.

June 18th, 2026, Third Step Prayer.

My thought for today is the third step prayer. When I decided to stop trying to run my life on self-will, and instead accept guidance from my higher power, that's the day I took the Third Step. The third step is best expressed through the third step prayer: "God, I offer myself to thee to build with me and to do with me as thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self so that I may better do your will, and take away my difficulties so that victory over them will bear witness to those I would help of your love, your power, and your way of life. May I do your will always." So, I ask to be released from the chains of self will, from the ego and fear which only fuel my addiction and I offer myself to be of service, to be a testament to others what God has done for me. I remember I was still living under the bridge when I did the third step. I remembered reading in the big book that the men who cry for food, shelter, and clothing before they get sober are on the wrong track. All those things did come to me, as a result of doing God's will.

June 17, 2026. Willingness.

My thought for today is willingness. The dictionary defines willingness as the state of being open and ready to act, change, or accept something. It doesn't say I have to like it. I drank for a long time, 29 years to be exact. Almost 29 years ago, I decided to stop and found after several failed attempts, that I could not. Willingness is the point where self-will softens enough for something new to happen. When I realized that I needed help in with stopping, I became willing to accept the help of a power greater than Bernie. I have learned over the last three decades that God can help me stop drinking and help me stay stopped and that He will help me with my other problems too. I don't always like the answers I receive when I ask for help, but I have to remember I stood in line for this.

June 16, 2026. Greed and lust.

My thought for today is greed and lust. Greed is an excessive and selfish desire to acquire or possess more wealth, power, food, or other resources than is necessary or fair. Lust is an intense, consuming desire or craving.While most commonly associated with strong sexual attraction, the term can also refer to a powerful longing for non-sexual things, such as money, power, or food. Those are dictionary definitions. These are also two of the seven deadly sins, the false beliefs that I will never have enough or never be loved enough. Lust is intimacy without connection and greed is desire without fulfillment. They take us away from what our higher power wants for us. Gratitude can loosen the grip of greed and reverence can cure lust. Knowing that what we have is enough and seeing the object of our desire as not just a thing but also as a person can ease the holds that greed and lust place upon us.

June 15th, 2026. How important is it?

My thought for today is, how important is it? Some of the principles that are important to me are anonymity, humility, and spiritual honesty. They are are the guardrails that keep pride, fear, and self‑will from quietly taking the wheel again. Anonymity protects me from my ego. Humility keeps me teachable. and spiritual honesty keeps me from slipping back into the old way of thinking that I am somehow running the show again. Anything that threatens those principles has no value in my life and should be discarded promptly and without regret. 

June 14th, 2026. Action.

My thought for today is action. Action is defined as the process of doing something to get a desired result. Action is the bridge between willingness and change. Not just having an understanding of the process involved but living those steps, putting them into action in our day to day lives. I go to church every Sunday, but today I won't just be sitting in a pew, I'll be part of the service. As the saying goes, we need action and more action because faith without works is dead.

June 13th, 2026. Think, think, think.

My thought for today is: think, think, think.  I don't have a drinking problem anymore. I have a thinking problem. When I'm thinking too much, I am probably trying to run the show again which is not a good idea for me. I don't think about taking a drink anymore, but if I ever did, I would try to think about what would happen after I took the drink, then think about all the relationships I have now that would suffer as a result and think about all the things I do that I wouldn't be able to do anymore. I often say that if I ever thought that a drink would solve whatever 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.

June 12th, 2026 - God could and would.

My thought for today is: God could and would. It reminds me of a passage from another book: "Seek ye the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." The full version of my quote is, "God could and would if he were sought." Seeking does not mean finding. It just means looking. Putting it in the present tense, God can help me with my fears, my anger, whatever it is that's in front of me to do. And God does, if I look for God. Sometimes, if it's early in the morning, if I'm still a bit sleepy, then I don't look perfectly, but I look nonetheless. The days that I pray almost always turn out better than the days that I don't.

June 11th, 2026 - self-pity.

My thought for today is self-pity. It is defined as an inward-focused emotional state where you dwell on your suffering, see your situation as uniquely unfair and you feel powerless to prevent it. Often, especially when we are grieving a loved one, we feel that this is being done to us, that no one knows how we are feeling and that the only avenue of escape is by numbing ourselves with alcohol or drugs or some other form of bad behaviour. A tool that I have found useful in easing self-pity is the practice of gratitude. Reminding myself of the things I have to be grateful for often cancels out the negative sensations caused by self-pity. Another good tool is service to others. It takes us out of ourselves and encourages us to focus on the needs of others rather than our own selfish needs.

June 10th, 2026 - Unity

My thought for today is unity. In Tradition 1, it says: "Our common welfare should come first. Personal recovery depends upon AA unity." Unity does not mean we all do the same thing, think the same things, and believe the same things. It just means that we have a common goal, as expressed in Tradition 5, to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. Unity can be applied on the home front as well. The principles we learn in the meeting rooms were never designed to remain in the meeting rooms. We are also supposed to bring these principles to our jobs, to our family lives, and to our relationships with the people around us. One way is to make decisions through democratic discussion, rather than having one person dictate how things shall be run. Allowing the voice of the minority to be heard. Understanding that the reason individuals are called "individual" is because they are not all the same, but we may all have the same goal.

June 9th, 2026 - Not my circus, not my monkeys.

My thought for today is, "Not my circus," which is taken from the phrase, "Not my circus, not my monkeys." I just learned that it comes from a Polish proverb. I can't speak Polish, so I'm not going to try. It's for those situations you find that are chaotic, dramatic, or entirely messed up, and not my business anyway. It's a great reminder that I don't need to manage clowns that I didn't hire. When Tradition 10 talks about outside issues, this is a good phrase to keep in mind. Minding my own business is a good idea all of the time. It gets me in less trouble. 

June 8, 2026. Acceptance.

My thought for today is acceptance. Acceptance does not mean surrender, and being powerless does not mean being helpless. It is a fierce and grounded acknowledgment of things exactly as they are in the present moment—not as we wish they were, not as they used to be, and not as we hope they might become. To accept a situation, a person, or a reality doesn’t mean you agree with it or that you choose to leave it unchanged forever. It simply means you stop fighting the reality of what is right now. Fighting the fact that it is raining won't make the sun come out. Acceptance encourages us to look for our umbrella. There are certain things in life that we simply cannot control - the effects of alcoholism, the weather, rush hour traffic. We are powerless over these things, but we can change our attitudes, how we react to these things and whether or not we will allow these things to control us.

June 7th, 2026 - Anonymity

My thought for today is anonymity. Lately, this also includes social media on the internet. If I make a post, say on Facebook, claiming that I have been sober in Alcoholics Anonymous X number of years, and somebody clicks "like" or makes a comment on that post, then they are also implying to everyone who may be watching that they are also in Alcoholics Anonymous. It is okay for me to break my own personal anonymity, but to break, or to encourage others to break, their anonymity is a violation of Tradition 11. So I need to be cautious how I approach situations like this. Newcomers to the program need to be reassured that their privacy will be protected. It is acceptable if I make posts on social media that say I am in recovery, and not to say which program I'm actually in. That way, if I were to have a relapse, then you would not be able to conclude that the program of Alcoholics Anonymous does not work. Assuming, of course, that the program of Alcoholics Anonymous was the one that I was in. 

June 6th, 2026 - Willingness.

My thought for today is willingness. To have willingness does not mean I am able to fix my entire life or to be entirely free from fear. It simply means, "I am willing to be led." As the big book reminds me, if I am willing to go to any lengths, then I am ready to take certain steps. It also says in a later step, "When ready, I say something like this, My creator, I am now willing." This evening, I'm speaking at a meeting in Truro. When I opened my eyes this morning, I was willing to go to Truro, but I was a long way from being ready. So the trick would be getting ready. The beauty of a one-day-at-a-time program is that I don't have to sign my life over right from the start. All I have to do is surrender for one day. 

June 5, 2026 - Patience

My thought for today is Patience. I just got this word a few days ago. I guess it's true that we get the lessons until we learn them. I asked myself is there something specific that I need to have patience about? I do have a job in front of me, painting my deck. That's a big job and I find myself wishing it was already done. But, thinking back to previous times, it doesn't really take that long to do. It's probably the worrying about this chore that causes me more stress than the actual doing of it and if I use some of the slogans like First Things First and Easy Does It, But Do It, then it might be easier. Maybe I ought to stop looking at it as a chore and have gratitude that I have a deck to paint in the first place. 

June 4, 2026 - But For the Grace of God

My thought for today is But For The Grace of God. There are moments when I look at my life and realize how thin the line really was. How close I came to losing myself, of never finding the path that brought me here. When I say “But for the Grace of God,” I’m not reciting a slogan — I’m acknowledging a truth that humbles me.

But for the Grace of God, I could have been swallowed by the things I once thought I controlled. But for the Grace of God, I might have stayed stuck in old patterns, old fears, old ways of coping. But for the Grace of God, I wouldn’t have the people I have today, or the clarity I’ve been given, or the chance to try again.

Grace doesn’t erase the past; it reframes it. Grace doesn’t make me special; it makes me grateful. Grace doesn’t lift me above anyone; it places me right beside them.

Today I use this as a reminder that my life is not self‑made. I’ve been carried, guided, nudged, protected, and redirected more times than I can count. And the only honest response to that is gratitude — the kind that softens the heart and steadies the steps.

I don’t know what tomorrow brings. But for the Grace of God, I know I don’t walk into it alone.

June 3, 2026 - Love

My thought for today is Love. It comes in many forms and has been described in many ways. It’s the decision to show up when you’re tired, to listen when you’d rather argue, and to hold space for someone else’s flaws because you know they’re holding space for yours. It’s built in the quiet, unglamorous moments: making a cup of coffee just the way they like it, staying accountable when you’ve messed up, or simply being the person who stays when things get heavy.  Loving deeply means risking the pain of loss, but we do it anyway because the alternative - living a life closed off - is far heavier to bear. It is the ultimate act of service, transforming our own lives and, hopefully, making the world a little softer for the people around us. One of the most beautiful things I have seen is the look in an addict's eyes when they realize that they are no longer alone.

June 02, 2026 - Help Others

My thought for today is Help Others.When I think about that, I think of sponsorship, of carrying the message of hope to other alcoholics. I do that mostly by being present, by sharing my own experience. Most people don’t need fixing. They need someone who listens without rushing to solve. Our presence is often the medicine. Later this week, I am speaking at an out-of-town group. I have told my story hundreds of times over the past three decades, so over time it has become polished and I have to always be aware that the polished version of my story doesn't help the newcomer as much as honest candor.

Helping others isn't always happen through sponsorship. I also take some of the skills I have learned and use them to help out persons in need. I knit blankets and scarves for people in transition from one crisis or another. From addiction or homelessness or abuse or mental illness. It isn't so much the physical gift as it is the act of giving. Letting people know that someone out there gives a damn goes a long way toward fostering well-being.

June 01, 2026 - Unmanageable

My thought for today is unmanageable. I had never noticed that there was such a word until I came into recovery and read the twelve steps. The first step says "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable." Overwhelming and out of control are synonyms for unmanageable. My life was definitely that. My drinking was out of control to the point where I had no job, no place to live, no friends, my family wasn't speaking to me. That was the external unmanageability. There was also internal unmanageability such as my powerlessness over alcohol, wanting to stop but unable to do so. Recovery for me was not possible until I first admitted and accepted that my current way of living, thinking, and managing my existence was no longer working.