Q is for Quench. Do you have a void in your life? Does it make you thirst and hunger for something, and you reach for food or you get busy and try to forget or avoid it. This is a spiritual program. We need to fill up that void with spiritual food. We need to feed the body, mind and spirit.

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Q is for Quit. Quit your old behaviors and patterns. It is not just about putting the plug in the jug or not picking up a pill or a street drug, it is about stopping those old habits that have become obsessive/compulsive. Things that occupy your mind and make you want more. Quit acting out in the 'more' and take your feelings to your Higher Power.

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Q is for Quota. When we think we have done our quota of meetings and recovery work, we become complacent, and set ourself up for relapse. This is a one day at a time program. When you think you know it all, it is time to look at Step 7.

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Q is for Quell . Quell your thoughts of dreaming your life away. It is good to have dreams, but preferably, night dreams, not day dreams that are unattainable in the moment. Make goals and work toward them. You need to take action, first check it out with your Higher Power, and then aim towards them. As the saying goes, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." He knows so much more than we do, but He is there for us, whatever we choose to do.

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Q is for Quest. I will go on a spiritual quest to find what my God means to me. I will let go of the old tapes that I am not lovable, and be open to new things.

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Q is for Quit. We don't quit for forever, this is a one day at a time program. Just for today, I choose not to use any mind altering substance that will take me back into active addiction. I need to remember that I can slip emotionally and spiritually before I physically pick up. I need to quit old ways and learn to live a new way that leads to a happy, joyous, and free recovery.

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Q is for Quiet. Quiet your mind, how can you hear the Good Orderly Direction you asked for. We need to de-clutter our brains, so we can hear over and above all the shake, rattle, and roll.

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Q is for Quit. Quit being sorry for yourself. Get off the pot, give yourself a hug, then go to a meeting, reach out to a friend, and/or your Higher Power. Put on some uplifting music, some inspiration music and readings, light a candle or two, and pray to your God asking for help.

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O is for Optimistic. Can't say i am always that way, especially when I get my butterfly cards out to do a meditation, and the top card says "Gracefully Aging." Not sure I am there yet. The next card told me "To keep the faith."

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Q is for Quilt. Get yourself a hobby. Making quilts they say is fun and you can do it with others, just not my cup of tea. I would rather curl up with a quilt and read a good book. Quit saying you can't, there are a lot of things out there that can fill that empty void. It is best that you do it with good things and you can do it with good thoughts. We need to quit using in all areas of our life. We try to use, but not abuse in today. We try to utilize, not criticize.

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Q is Quite. We are not quite recovered. Things slip down or up, and we need to rethink a Step or apply a Tradition to something that doesn't measure up to the way we want to live our recovery life. We are not perfect. We aim towards it, but we will always be human an often fall short of who our God wants us to be. He doesn't give up on us, He love us, and wants what is best for us, often quite far beyond our imagination. I need this program just as much in today as when I came through the doors 26 years and 9 months ago. Just shy of 3 months and 7 days short of 27 years. I am not quite there.

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Q is for Quiet. I need to not only find some quiet, I need to quiet the internal chatter. Quiet soothes my soul. Sometimes I can't stand the TV on. Many times my son will play the TV in my living room, and because my apartment is so small, I shut mine off. Have been known to wear my ear plugs on occasion. Fibromyalgia makes me susceptible to noise and smells. When my TV was down, i watch the one in the living room, and I found that I had to turn it up because of the traffic. I had to shut the windows and doors, to shut out the sound. I don't like that. Summer is coming and people will be sitting in cafes in Hess Village, and I will have noise until 4 a.m. Don't know why that came up, that isn't being in today, but projecting into the future. One day at a time I get to practice this program and find some gratitude.

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Q is for Quest. When I was about a year sober I went on a spiritual quest. i had to find out how to walk a spiritual path. I was raised in a very strict religious home, butit didn't keep me sober. My doctor put me on Valium when I was 16 years old.I had a lot of anger against the church. I had to learn how to let it go and still have a Higher Power that worked for me.

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