Wise Words

Slogans
have always appealed to me. I need things short and simple and, for me, slogans
and phrases get right to the point of the program. Over the years I have often
been touched by various sayings from my sponsor and from fellow CoDA members. I
have kept a notebook of these wise words and I refer to it whenever I need to
reconnect with their meaning. But I have been reminded that, like the program
itself, words need to be shared to be of use. I’d like to share some of them
here. Perhaps you will find something special in them. I know I will!

The only normal people are the ones you
don’t know very well.

You will never disappoint me. You don’t have
that much power.

You can’t breathe in without breathing out.

What they say about me says a lot more about
them than it does about me.

Relationships are where we take our recovery
on the road.

Guilt is fear turned inward.

When you feel guilty, look for what you
resent.

Guilt makes it hard to set boundaries.

There are only two emotions: love and fear.

Reality is an acquired taste.

Whenever I am obsessing over something it’s
about me.

Oops. So what. Oh well.

What are you willing to do to be a part of the
solution?

I found out that everything that’s happened
to me has happened to someone else.

I heard my story coming out of the mouths of
total strangers.

Recovery does not guarantee me anything but it
does give me options.

A boundary is not about punishment; it’s
about purpose, to take care of yourself.

Forgiveness is letting go of the expectation
that you can have a better yesterday.

Don’t give up 5 minutes before the miracle.

Life is not an equation.

I don’t need to prove to you that I’m
right. I just need to own who I am.

There are not good things and bad things.
There are only things I like and things I don’t like.

Nothing changes until something changes.

I learned the difference between acceptance
and complacency.

I am a lovable, fallible, worthwhile, precious
child of God.

What is the cost of maintaining a white horse?

I was reluctant to say I was codependent
because so much of it looked normal.

(On going to meetings) I have to stay in those
places that help me.

I don’t get to be perfect but in the end I
get to take care of myself.

Recovery is a learned skill, kind of like
learning a foreign language, and if I don’t practice, I forget some of the
words.

I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop
anymore. God doesn’t wear shoes.

As tightly knit as my bond is with my higher
power is how tightly knit my bond is in my relationship with my partner.

Chips are a piece of reality when you’re not
at a meeting.

It ain’t gonna get no better ‘til its OK
just the way it is.

Denial is to continue the illusion. Acceptance
is to end it.

I can ask for my character defects to be
removed, but I don’t get to decide when and which ones will be removed.

Say what you mean and mean what you say but
don’t say it mean.

Go ahead and take his inventory. You’ll just
find yourself.

Being able to predict how somebody is going to
react is not the same thing as causing their reaction.

I didn’t get to these meetings by doing
everything right.

It’s easy to fix somebody else’s problems.
That’s why they’re not your problems.

I don’t have to confront; I’m not going to
change the world, but I don’t have to participate.

Codependency: Taking your temperature to see
how I feel

God’s never in a hurry but He’s always on
time.

A candle loses nothing by lighting another
candle.

It’s never a bad idea to go to a meeting.

Submitted by Allison