Just for today: I want all that life has to offer me and all that recovery can provide. Today, I will take a risk, try something new, and grow. Watching yourself say the words not only activates even more areas of your brain, amplifying the power of the meditation even more but leaves an even deeper psychological impact, by letting you see yourself make those proclamations. By reciting the Just for Today prayer, you’re literally making a promise to yourself and when you look yourself in the eyes while making those pledges, they hold that much more weight. That those promises only need to last just for today is another very special part of the meditation’s power—it’s a fresh start, and a new chance to live up to our own best intentions. Still, many people enjoy and benefit from reading pre-arranged daily meditations, and there are plenty of places to find daily Just for Today prayers or other similar types of affirmations.

Just for Today: I will allow knowledge of my true nature to guide my actions. Today, I will face the world as myself. In this way, when we’re reciting the Just for Today prayer, we’re literally building a positive thought pattern in our minds. The pathway is formed by the repetition of the act and fortified by associating those positive words with the positive feelings they bring us. It’s strengthened even more when those positive feelings help us create more positivity in the world by letting go of stress, loving ourselves a little more, and finding times and ways to help and love others. Our program is based on the idea that the application of simple principles can produce profound effects in our lives. One such principle is that, if we ask, our Higher Power will care for us. Because this principle is so basic, we may tend to ignore it. Unless we learn to consciously apply this spiritual truth, we may miss out on something as essential to our recovery as breathing is to life itself. You might hear it called the Just For Today Meditation or Just For Today Prayer, or see it simplified in writing as the JFT. But it all amounts to the same helpful concept.The Just For Today ritual is a form of daily meditation, often administered at NA meetings (and other self-help groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous), in which a list of daily goals and affirmations are recited. Each line starts with the phrase “Just for today,” making the prayer almost like a daily spiritual to-do list. The reading is a great reminder for anyone in the programme that as people in recovery we need to keep things in the day. Within such a short reading, It contains simple messages of mindfulness, happiness, acceptance, purpose, perspective and the importance of living a life of spiritual principles.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. As explained above, the just for today meditation takes on more mental might the more it’s used so many people find it helpful to incorporate a JFT prayer into their everyday routine. Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anyone knows of it, it will not count. When we know we’re going to pledge ourselves anew tomorrow, we can more honestly feel that it’s okay to not reach all of our goals today. The most important thing is trying our best, and pledging to try our best again tomorrow. Are There Other Options For Daily Meditation? As often as our thoughts inform our words, our words can likewise inform our thoughts. And while thinking positively offers plenty of cognitive benefits in itself, saying these thoughts out loud offers even more.The practice of humility involves accepting our true nature, honestly being ourselves. We don't have to grovel or abase ourselves, nor must we try to appear smarter, wealthier, or happier than we really are. Humility simply means we drop all pretense and live as honestly as we can.

Eventually, this outlook becomes so entrenched, thinking positively simply becomes an afterthought. How Do You Use the Just for Today Meditation? Our program is a set of principles," our White Booklet tells us. The more consistently we seek to improve our conscious appreciation of these principles, the more readily we will be able to apply them. Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what is and not force everything to adjust to my own desires. I will accept my family, friends, my business, my circumstances as they come.By the time we reach a step that uses the word "humbly" we have already started to put this principle into practice. The Fourth Step gives us an opportunity to examine who we really are, and the Fifth Step helps us accept that knowledge. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do – just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it. Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life. In Narcotics Anonymous we strive for recovery, not perfection. The only promise we are given is freedom from active addiction. Perfection is not an attainable state for human beings; it’s not a realistic goal. What we often seek in perfection is freedom from the discomfort of making mistakes. In return for that freedom from discomfort, we trade our curiosity, our flexibility, and the room to grow. This is even more effective if you can incorporate the meditation into a morning or evening routine, like when you’re brushing your teeth, so you can have access to your bathroom mirror.

Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.There are also plenty of apps designed to offer JFT-style meditations and other helpful tools for recovering addicts. The fact that it’s just for today makes that list of goals seem that much more achievable. Anyone can do anything just for one day. Even if the list is long, the short time period it covers can work to alleviate any stress that might crop up if we start to think of these promises more like long-term, ongoing chores. That one is a bit all-encompassing, asking us to focus on gratefulness above all else. But there are nearly as many versions of the Just for Today prayer as there are days or people.