Just for today | Twelve Step Journaling (2025)

Just for Today - October 10

"Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking."

Basic Text p. 87

Ever been tempted to do something even when you knew the results would be disastrous? Ever thought about how much it was going to hurt to do what you were tempted to do, then proceed to do it anyway?

Just for Today - October 9

"We emphasize setting our house in order because it brings us relief."

Basic Text p. 93

Focusing on what others are doing can provide momentary relief from having to take a look at ourselves. But one of the secrets of success in Narcotics Anonymous is making sure our own house is in order. So what does "setting our house in order" mean, anyway?

Just for Today - October 8

"We suspect that if we do not use what we have, we will lose what we have."

Basic Text p. 75

Addiction gave a pattern to our lives, and with it a meaning - a dark, diseased meaning, to be sure, but a meaning nonetheless. The Narcotics Anonymous recovery program gives us a new pattern of living to replace our old routines. And with that new pattern comes a new meaning to our lives, one of light and hope.

Just for Today - October 7

"As recovering addicts, we find that we are still dependent, but our dependence has shifted from the things around us to a loving God and the inner strength we get in our relationship with Him."

Basic Text pp.67-68

Just for Today - October 6

"Projections about actually making amends can be a major obstacle both in making the list and in becoming willing."

Basic Text p.38

The Eighth Step asks us to become willing to make amends to all persons we have harmed. As we approach this step, we may wonder what the outcome of our amends will be. Will we be forgiven? Relieved of any lingering guilt? Or will we be tarred and feathered by the persons we've harmed?

Just for Today - October 5

"Many of us have difficulty admitting that we caused harm for others... We cut away our justifications and our ideas of being a victim."

Basic Text p.37

Our lives are progressing nicely. Things are going good, and each year in recovery brings more material and spiritual gifts. We may have a little money in the bank, a new car, or a committed relationship. We have a little self-confidence, and our faith in a Higher Power is growing.

Just for Today - October 4

"When we first begin to enjoy relief from our addiction, we run the risk of assuming control of our lives again. We forget the agony and pain that we have known."

Basic Text p.48

Just for Today - October 3

"Our egos, once so large and dominant, now take a back seat because we are in harmony with a loving God. We find that we lead richer, happier, and much fuller lives when we lose self-will."

Basic Text p.101

Just for Today - October 2

"We grasp the limitless strength provided for us through our daily prayer and surrender as long as we keep faith and renew it."

Basic Text p.44

There are two parts to recovery: getting clean, and staying clean. Getting clean is comparatively easy because we only have to do it once. Staying clean is more difficult, requiring attention every day of our lives. Yet both draw their power from faith.

Just for Today - October 1

"We learn that pain can be a motivating factor in recovery."

Basic Text p.29

"Pain - who needs it!" we think whenever we're in it. We see no good purpose for pain. It seems to be a pointless exercise in suffering. If someone happens to mention spiritual growth to us while we're in pain, we most likely snort in disgust and walk away, thinking we've never encountered a more insensitive person.

Just for Today - September 30

"Our real value is in being ourselves." Basic Text, p.101

Over and over, we have tried to live up to the expectations of those around us. We may have been raised believing that we were okay if we earned good grades in school, cleaned our rooms, or dressed a certain way. Always wanting to belong and be loved, many of us spent a lot of time trying to fit in - yet we never quite seemed to measure up.

Just for Today - September 29

"When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably."

Basic Text, p.96

"Just for today" - it's a comforting thought. If we try to live in the past, we may find ourselves torn by painful, disquieting memories. The lessons of our using are not the teachers we seek for recovery. Living in tomorrow means moving in with fear.

We cannot see the shape of the secret future, and uncertainty brings worry. Our lives look overwhelming when we lose the focus of today.

Just for Today - September 28

"Gradually as we become more God-centered than self centered, our despair turns to hope."

Basic Text, p.92

Just for Today - September 27

"There is something in our self-destructive personalities that cries for failure."

Basic Text, p.77

"Poor me; woe is me; look at me, my life is such a mess! I've fallen, and no matter how hard I try, I continue to fail!" Many of us came to NA singing this sad refrain.

Just for Today - September 26

"It will not make us better people to judge the faults of another."

Basic Text, p.37

Just for Today - September 25

"We may fear that being in touch with our feelings will trigger an overwhelming chain reaction of pain and panic."

Basic Text, p.29

A common complaint about the Fourth Step is that it makes us painfully conscious of our defects of character. We may be tempted to falter in our program of recovery. Through surrender and acceptance, we can find the resources we need to keep working the steps.

Just for Today - September 24

"The only suggested guidelines are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves. We don't have to be religious to accept this idea. The point is that we open our minds to believe."Basic Text, p.24

In a lifelong process of coming to believe, our understanding of God will change. The understanding we have when new in recovery will not be the same when we have a few months clean, nor will that understanding be the same when we have a few years clean.

Just for Today - September 23

"In accordance with the principles of recovery, we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other."

Basic Text, p.11

Let's face it: In Narcotics Anonymous, we live in a glass house of sorts. Our fellow members know more about our personal lives than anyone has ever known before. They know who we spend our time with, where we work, what step we're on, how many children we have, and so forth. And what our fellow members don't know, they will probably imagine.

Just for Today - September 22

"Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift." Basic Text, p.102

Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we've been given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoring routine maintenance, until it expired on the road? Of course not! You would go to great lengths to maintain the condition of such a valuable gift.

Just for Today - September 21

"Prayer takes practice, and we should remind ourselves that skilled people were not born with their skills." Basic Text, p.45

Many of us came into recovery with no experience in prayer and worried about not knowing the "right words!" Some of us remembered the words we'd learned in childhood but weren't sure we believed in those words anymore. Whatever our background, in recovery we struggled to find words that spoke truly from our hearts.

Just for Today - September 20

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Serenity Prayer

Recovery involves change, and change means doing things differently. The problem is, many of us resist doing things differently; what we're doing may not be working, but at least we're familiar with it. It takes courage to step out into the unknown. How do we find that courage?

Just for Today - September 19

"In NA, our joys are multiplied by sharing good days; our sorrows are lessened by sharing the bad. For the first time in our lives, we don't have to experience anything alone."IP No.16, "For the Newcomer"

Just for Today - September 18

"One of the most profound changes in our lives is in the realm of personal relationships."

Basic Text pg. 55

Recovery gives many of us relationships that are closer and more intimate than any we've had before. As time passes, we find ourselves gravitating toward those who eventually become our friends, our sponsor and our partners in life. Shared laughter, tears, and struggles bring shared respect and lasting empathy.

Just for Today - September 17

"We may think that we have done enough by writing about our past. We cannot afford this mistake."Basic Text p.32

Just for Today - September 16

"Emotional balance is one of the first results of meditation, and our experience bears this out."

Basic Text p.45

Just for Today - September 15

"..we think that if we can just get enough food, enough sex, or enough money, we'll be satisfied and everything will be alright."

Basic Text p.77

Just for today - September 14

"Eventually we are shown that we must get honest, or we will use again." Basic Text p.82

Everyone has secrets, right? Some of us have little secrets, items that would cause only minor embarrassment if found out. Some of us have big secrets, whole areas of our lives cloaked in thick, murky darkness. Big secrets may represent a more obvious, immediate danger to our recovery. But the little secrets do their own kind of damage, the more insidious perhaps because we think they're "harmless!"

Just for today - September 13

"We had to have something different, and we thought we had found it in drugs." Basic Text p.13

Many of us have always felt different from other people. We know we're not unique in feeling that way; we hear many addicts share the same thing. We searched all our lives for something to make us all right, to fix that "different" place inside us, to make us whole and acceptable. Drugs seemed to fill that need.

Just for today - September 12

"My life is well-rounded and I am becoming a more comfortable version of myself, not the neurotic, boring person that I thought I'd be without drugs."

Basic Text p.262

Is there really life without drugs? Newcomers are sure that they are destined to lead a humdrum existence once they quit using. That fear is far from reality.

Just for today - September 11

"We learn to become flexible.. As new things are revealed, we feel renewed."

Basic Text p.98