Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul Daily Inspirations (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (40 page)

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Calvin Coolidge

Footnotes for Life

S
EPTEMBER
21

G
od graces us with personal power to make unlimited choices. This amazing capacity can positively transform our lives when we reserve it for healthy decisions. Respect the gift of power in your life. Recognize that it is bestowed with a significant expectation: Responsibility.

Linda Suroviec

No individual raindrop considers itself responsible for the flood.

Unknown

Footnotes for Life

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EPTEMBER
22

A
new normal . . . each day is a new “normal” for me as I progress in my recovery. The challenge is to see the progress–recognize the positive movement no matter how small–and celebrate it. In the end, my “normal” may never be what it was before the day, the event, that forever changed my life. But, I will celebrate the fact that there
is
another day. And, I am a stronger person because of my challenge, my progress and my attitude. A new normal. A better me.

Charmi Schroeder

When we move out of the familiar here and now, we set in motion a series of events that, taken together, bring about changes at the very root of our being.

Joseph Dispenza

Footnotes for Life

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EPTEMBER
23

I
walk through this day because of you, Lord. No personal power of my own gets me out of bed and onto my knees. By your strength, I walk. By your grace, I keep going. When I stumble, you catch me in your arms, and when I fall, you carry me. You hold my breath in your hands and you understand all of my ways. Because of you, I can flee from self pity, and I am thankful beyond words, just to be alive!

Jaye Lewis

I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.

Nelson Mandela

Footnotes for Life

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EPTEMBER
24

L
ike a time traveler from a science fiction movie, I bumped into myself the other day. I shouldn’t say myself because the self I encountered in an old journal hasn’t been around for decades. As I fingered the crinkly pages of loose-leaf notebook paper, deeply scored by the anxious tip of a ballpoint pen, I felt as though I’d stepped into another time and place. I read the strangely familiar writing, more rounded and innocent than I remembered, wondering whether I had really been so naïve. So idealistic. So noble. My old journal brought me face-to-face with myself and taught me that I was worth knowing.

Eleanor Kirk

Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Chief Seattle

Footnotes for Life

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EPTEMBER
25

I
n my journey I have purpose on Earth and I will continue to strengthen my direction. When I get confused and flounder around, searching for my bearings, I take time to remind myself that my Higher Power is guiding my journey and I feel tranquil and at peace. Growing up in a dysfunctional family, my energies were blocked by my inability to separate from the emotions of others. When the alcoholic was drinking, I felt uptight, fearful and filled with anxiety. Today, I don’t live in extremes. I have purpose. Being alive is a miracle to celebrate and I feel the harmony that comes when I channel my energy into good directions.

Rokelle Lerner

Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best.

David O. McKay

Footnotes for Life

S
EPTEMBER
26

W
e learn in recovery that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Many times I swore that I would only have two drinks at a party only to wake up with a horrific hangover. With no memory of how I’d gotten home, I would try to piece the evening together and I would promise myself,
never again!
But then came the next party and my promises flew out of my head as quickly as you can say “punch bowl.”Mine was a soul sickness whose name is Alcoholism. I have learned to swallow my medicine–I gratefully attend A.A. meetings now. When the urge to say “yes” hits I remember that no drink will ever taste as good as my sober dignity feels.

Dorri Olds

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

Kahlil Gibran

Footnotes for Life

S
EPTEMBER
27

A
s I stand behind the Plexiglas at the rink watching my son on the ice, I recall a doctor’s visit when Paul was three. Paul couldn’t talk, had terrible tantrums, always kept to himself. He had autism. That dark day I felt like we had been pushed off a cliff, but instead of a living death we foundmiracles. Angels in the formof teachers, therapists and childcare workers intervened, some of whom I would never have chosen if I had done the choosing. I gladly admit I was wrong. God, who knows the end from the beginning, knew what Paul needed in his challenging journey and that I needed to learn a lesson in faith and letting go.