Dailies

Dailies were and continue to be a huge part of my recovery.  Step 10 is considered the "Dailies" step but I actually decided to utilize the concept of dailies really early in my recovery.

I used to have the hardest time remembering to do simple things like praying and reading my scriptures.  It's amazing to me how easy it is to forget such simply things and really, the fact that it's that way tells me Satan has his hand in influencing me to forget.  I was struggling with selective memory loss of spiritual things so bad that I decided to create a check-list for myself.  Now, I know there is some negativity surrounding the idea of "check-listing" and I definitely discourage"check-listing your recovery," but this is different. 

What I did is created a checklist that I could review each night before I went to bed and just determine how I did for the day.  It was a way for me to stay honest and accountable with myself.  I first started off with two or three questions such as:

Did you read 10 minutes of scripture today?
Did you pray at least one time in your head today?
Did you entertain any music or media that would offend the Spirit today?
I found that this list provided clear direction in the form of written words.  I was able to consult my goals each night and determine if I was on the right path to achieving them.  I found that the days I didn't do so well on my dailies, were the days that I would struggle with my addiction.  There was a direct correlation between my lack of movement and the level of my struggle.

The awesome thing about this list is it was malleable.  I could adjust it as needed with my ever growing recovery.  I would remove questions as I would master them, and add questions where I felt I needed work.  The Lord would guide me as to what He wanted me to work on and I would add His questions to the list.  It even helped me continue to work on my steps as one of the questions was "Have you worked on your Steps today?" 

Some other questions my list has contained throughout my recovery are:
Have I avoided depressing or negative thoughts today?
Have I done something nice for someone today?
Have I told my husband I love him today?
Have I expressed my gratitude to my Father in Heaven today?
Do I feel good about my actions today?
Have I felt the love of my Savior today?
Have I avoided manipulation tactics today?
Have I strived to be a patient mother today?
Have I hugged my kids and told them I love them today?
Has my love for my Savior grown today?
Do I believe that I am an elect daughter of God and can return to His presence?
Have I text my Bishop/sponsor to check in for the day? 
The important thing to remember when writing a dailies check-list is to keep the goals specific, simple and achievable.  If our goal is ten minutes of scripture study a day yet we struggle with achieving that, we can start with ten verses of scripture a day instead; or even one.   If we struggle with saying prayers on our knees, then we can start with the goal of one prayer a day simply whispered in our heads. 

Remember, that the overall goal is to create habits of the heart.  We are not to be discouraged if we have a bad day with accomplishing our dailies, but left with determination to do better the next day.  It takes picking up and trying again and it takes practice


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