January 31: Pressing On Toward February
A month ago you started looking honestly at your drinking. Where are you now?
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul says he hasn’t arrived. He’s not perfect. But he does one thing: forgetting what is behind and reaching toward what is ahead, he presses on toward the goal.
That’s a good word for the last day of January.
You might have had a great month. Thirty days without a drink, meetings every week, honest conversations at home. If so, give thanks. That’s a real gift.
Or you might have had a rough month. A few slips. Days you didn’t go anywhere or call anyone. Days you couldn’t pray. If so, hear this: you’re still here, still reading, still trying. That counts. The point isn’t to have done January perfectly. The point is to keep pressing on.
Either way, take a moment to ask: have I really taken Step One? Not perfectly, but honestly? Here is a simple way to check. Can you explain, in your own words, two things? First, that once you start drinking, you can’t reliably stop. Second, that even sober, you keep going back to the first drink. If you can say both of those and believe them, you’ve done the heart of the step.
If you’re not there yet, that’s all right. Stay with it. Talk it through with someone in your program. Read the first step again. Some people need a few more weeks.
Paul’s word for forgetting doesn’t mean pretending the past didn’t happen. It means not letting it hold you back. You looked honestly at the damage this month. You don’t have to keep staring at it. Tomorrow, the steps turn toward hope.
Step Two is about coming to believe that a Power greater than yourself can restore you. It starts where Step One leaves off: if I can’t fix this, who can? You don’t have to have that answer yet. You only have to be willing to look.
One thing today
Write two sentences in your own words: one about the body side of your drinking, one about the mind side. Read them to someone.
A prayer
God, thank You for walking with me through this month of honesty. I’m not finished, but I’m pressing on. Get me ready to hope.
Look back over Step One, then look ahead to Step Two.
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