"Draw near to Me...  Contact with Me is the panacea for all ills.

Remember that truth is many-sided.  Have much tender love and patience for all who do not see as you do.

The elimination of self is the key to holiness and happiness and can only be accomplished with My help...  Live in My presence..."

I take delight in play today, knowing that I have a right to pursue pleasurable activities.  I deserve to enjoy myself in a non-destructive way.  I will no longer become so focused on outside activities that I ignore my own need for fun and laughter.  I will not be over-responsible for others and under-responsible for myself.

I can play and have fun without becoming overwhelmed with guilt or anxiety.  I can pursue people and situations where I can coax the delightful "child" out of my soul.  Today I will separate myself from my responsibilities and know that I am not defined only by what I do.

Today I invite my child to play....  I bless my child self and give it love."

We quickly learn that it's wrong to do anything that "feeds" a drinking habit.  A recovering person would be foolish, for example, to spend time in a drinking environment simply to "be with friends."

It's constructive to take that same approach toward other problems we'd like to get out of our lives.  If gossip has been my problem, for example, I should not feed it by listening to gossip or even by reading gossipy articles and books.  If I have accumulated debts through overspending, I should cut off window shopping and other practices that may bring on more unnecessary debt.  And if I want to rid my life of self-pity, I should not spend a single moment brooding over the bad breaks I have had in the past.

Bad habits have a life of their own.  They are somewhat like rodents that have found their way into the house and have become star boarders.  One way to control rodents is to eliminate their food supply.  That same principle applies to bad habits we want to eliminate from our own lives.