One of the best things about meetings is not only the sharing but the sayings, acronyms, phrases, etc. that I hear for the first time. The first few pages of my Big Book have what appear to be cryptic messages. These are really a “short hand” for things I heard that I wanted to remember. Unfortunately, some are a bit too cryptic and I understand the basic meaning but am totally lost should I try to share the wonders of someone else’s words.

I live in an area that except for a few, it seems that no one was born here but moved here at some point in their lives. It is one of those place that I am convinced was a destination for all of those who wanted a geographic. I include myself in this group although I did not know it at the time. In other words, our fellowship probably encompasses someone from all 50 states. The part I like about this is that even though the 12 Steps are the same, as is the literature no matter where you go, areas are different in little ways. For example, the way we work a step may be something handed down from sponsor to sponsee and on and on. The way I was taught to do Step Eight and Step Nine is not written in the literature but it was the way it was handed down in my area. And even in my own fellowship there are differences. My grandsponsor brought her method with her when she arrived from a different state, it was taught to me and I, likewise, share it with my sponsees.

What I enjoy most, though, are the things I have never heard before from someone who began recovery in another state or even another area within my state. Because we always seem to go to the same meetings, after awhile we feel we have heard everything. And then someone new begins to share and says something that you just wish you said!

So a couple of weeks ago, a woman who I have seen before and has been in our area for about a year, began sharing about her own program and how she is staying sober. One of the things she mentioned was doing the next right thing. How often have we heard that? Put one foot in front of the other; live in the moment…all of those little phrases we have heard over and over. Then she said that sometimes she didn’t know what the next right thing was. I was now not just hearing her but listening intently as there are many times that I have not known exactly how to do the next right thing or to know what was the next right thing so that I might be able to do it.

Rest In God’s Hands Today! RIGHT. The next RIGHT thing. Perhaps many of you have heard and used this acronym but I had not. It was one of those things that hit me hard because sometimes I try so hard, maybe too hard, to do or know the next right thing. Since I have heard this, I think of it often. How at peace I can be. How relaxed I can be. I don’t have to be thinking how, what, where, why? I have a very difficult time relaxing, yet these simple words help me be in the moment and breathe!

I had posted a short version of this on Facebook on my Grateful Recovery site and since it seemed that no one had heard of this before, I wanted to share it with a much larger audience. If you believe your Higher Power loves and protects you, then resting in God’s hands today is just another way to turn it all over to Him (or Her). I would love to hear your favorite acronym, phrase, saying so it might be shared with others. It may be what someone else needs to hear, maybe for the very first time!

Namaste’. May you walk your journey in peace and harmony.

Kathy L. is the author of “The Intervention Book: Stories and Solutions from Addicts, Professionals and Families” (Conari Press)