Today's Reading from Just For Today © NA World Services
July 29 Expectations
"As we realize our need to be forgiven, we tend to be more forgiving."
Basic Text, p. 39
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Our behavior toward other people in our life is a mirror of our behavior
toward ourselves. When we demand perfection of ourselves, we come to
demand it from others around us, too. As we strive to repair and heal our
lives in recovery, we may also expect others to work just as hard and to
recover at the same pace as we do. And just as we are often unforgiving
of our own mistakes, we may shut out friends and family members when they
don't meet our expectations.
Working the steps helps us understand our own limitations and our
humanity. We come to see our failures as human mistakes. We realize that
we will never be perfect, that we will, at times, disappoint ourselves and
others. We hope for forgiveness.
As we learn to gently accept ourselves, we can start to view others with
the same accepting and tolerant heart. These people, too, are only human,
trying to do their best and sometimes falling short.
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Just for today: I will treat others with the tolerance and forgiveness I
seek for myself.
