“Just for Today” is one of the strategies used by many twelve-step programs. Twelve-step programs are mutual aid programs which support recovery from substance, and behavioral addictions. The Twelve-step method is a roadmap for those seeking recovery from addictions such as alcoholism, drugs, sex, pornography, eating disorders, codependency, relationship problems, smoking, debt, work, gambling, spending, and technology addiction etc. “Just for Today” is a set of daily meditations, and reflections for people dealing with various addiction and it meant for them to focus on their recovery one day at a time.
The twelve steps program was first developed in the 1930s by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Bill Wilson and Bob Smith to aid members recover from alcohol addiction. It has since been adopted by various organizations derived from AA’s approach to addressing addiction such as narcotics anonymous, gambling anonymous, debtors anonymous, sex anonymous etc.
The twelve steps suggested as a program of recovery are:
1 We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2 We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3 We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4 We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5 We admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6 We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7 We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings
“8 We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9 We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10 We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11 We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12 Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practise these principles in all our affairs
Just for Today Prayer.
- Just for today: I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
- Just for today: I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
- Just for today: I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my “luck” as it comes, and fit myself to it.
- Just for today: I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
- Just for today: I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anyone knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do – just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
- Just for today: I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit. I won’t find fault with anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.
- Just for today: I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision. Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
- Just for today: I will I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to notice what is beautiful and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.
All the best in your quest to get better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.
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