Today's Reading from Just For Today © NA World Services

 


   October 12                                                     Being right

   "When we admit that our lives have become unmanageable, we don't have
     to argue our point of view....  We no longer have to be right all the
                                    time."

                                                            Basic Text, p. 58

                           ----=----

   Nothing isolates us more quickly from the warmth and camaraderie of our
   fellow NA members than having to be "right." Insecure, we pretend to
   be some kind of authority figure.  Suffering from low self-esteem, we try
   to build ourselves up by putting others down.  At best, such tactics push
   others away from us; at worst, they draw attack.   The more we try to
   impress others with how "right" we are, the more wrong we become.

   We don't have to be "right" to be secure; we don't have to pretend
   to have all the answers for others to love or respect us.  In fact, just
   the opposite is true.   None of us have all the answers.  We depend upon
   one another to help bridge the gaps in our understanding of things, and we
   depend upon a Power greater than our own to make up for our personal
   powerlessness.  We live easily with others when we offer what we know,
   admit what we don't, and seek to learn from our peers.  We live securely
   in ourselves when we cease relying on our own power and start relying on
   the God we've come to understand in recovery.

   We don't have to be "right" all the time, just recovering.

                           ----=----

   Just for today:  God, I admit my powerlessness and the unmanageability of
   my life.  Help me live with others as an equal, dependent upon you for
   direction and strength.