One Day At A Time

 "I believe that fundamentally all is well. I will not try to plan too far ahead. I know that the way will unfold, step by step. I will leave tomorrow's burden to tomorrow. You are so made that you can only carry the weight of twenty-four hours, no more. If you weigh yourself down with the years behind and the days ahead, your back breaks. God has promised to help you with the burdens of the day only. If you are foolish enough to gather again that burden of the past and carry it, then indeed you cannot expect God to help."

If there is a more fundamental premise in Alcoholics Anonymous than One Day At A Time I don't know what it is. The idea of being In The Moment can be found in every spiritual practice that I've ever run into. It's the reason Buddhist's concentrate on the breath when they meditate - the breath is right there, right there, and because everyone has to do it to live it's a connection you share with every living animal.

We're so hard on ourselves that I've never been able to holler at anyone in AA, no matter how ridiculous and self-destructive their behavior is. I figure the person I'm interacting with has been beating the shit out of him/herself for so long and with such intensity that my piling on won't be helpful. I'm not saying we all don't need to be contradicted from time to time but I sure try to do it with compassion and understanding.