November 10th

Wisdom for Today:

In Step Three of the Twelve Step program we are asked to practice a simple principle – letting go. A story I heard once at a meeting illustrates this point beautifully. There were two men hired by a company to do manual labor. On the first day of the job, the foreman took the men outside and pointed to a large box of tools and told them to move the box to the storage shed. The two men looked at the box and walked over to it. Each one tried to pick up the box by himself, but neither man could do this. They thought about carrying the tools one at a time, but the foreman had wanted the job done quickly; so they finally agreed to help each other. They were able to accomplish the task quickly. Some people think the story should end here, but it does not.

After work the two men began their long walk home. One of the men commented that his back hurt from lifting the box of tools. He said, “That foreman should have never asked us to carry such a heavy load.” The other man just smiled. After walking for almost two miles, the one man said that his back was really starting to hurt a lot. The other man just smiled. After walking for almost four miles, the man whose back was hurting said, “I don’t think I can make it back to town; my back is killing me. You will have to go on without me.” His friend looked at him and smiled and said, “Your back aches because you are still carrying the box. I let go hours ago when we put the box down.” Do I really let go, or do I continue to carry the load?

Meditations for the Heart:

At some point in time in our recovery we all must face this struggle. Old habits are hard to break. We surrender these old habits and behaviors to God and ask that He help us with the load. We must learn to let go and not keep carrying the heavy load in our lives. We cannot carry the load of addiction ourselves. We must surrender this to our Higher Power. I believe that this process of letting go is harder than admitting that we have a problem. Yet it is in this step that we find freedom. Addiction is the only game in town that we win by giving up. Am I still trying to run the show my way?

Petitions to my Higher Power:

God,

I am quick to go back and pick up the heavy load of addiction in my life. Help me to let go absolutely and entrust this heavy weight to You. Help me to stay focused on the freedom that comes with working the steps. Guide me along the path as I journey throughout this day.

Amen.