Your cart is currently empty!
August 20th – A Handbook for Living
“It’s as though I finally got that ‘How To’ manual I always wanted when I was younger.”
– Lightweight, Life with Hope, second edition, pages 186-187
This quote is from the story Lightweight in Life with Hope. I’d never wondered about a how-to manual growing up, but I related to this idea all the same. I grew up thinking everyone knew more than me. When I had a dilemma before recovery, I would ask eight different people what I should do, and get eight different answers. Only after working the Steps, did I begin to trust that I have my own answers, instead of relying on someone else.
I came to recovery unable to trust anyone or anything; mostly I couldn’t trust myself. I’d wanted to quit marijuana years before I was able, and I was constantly making other people my Higher Power. Eventually, working the program, and forming real friendships with other recovering addicts who were safe, has helped me learn how to trust myself. I finally got the tools I didn’t know I needed to help me learn to live a happy, joyous, and free life, clean, one day at a time.
Final thought: Today, I have a program and a fellowship to help me live life on life’s terms.
Living Every Day with Hope – Copyright © 2025 Marijuana Anonymous World Services. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Marijuana Anonymous groups have been granted limited permission to quote Living Every Day with Hope.
Hope Delivered To Your Inbox
By subscribing to Daily Dose of MA Recovery you receive via email the meditation of the day from Living Every Day with Hope and additional announcements from MA World Services.
A New Leaf – Online
Where Marijuana Anonymous members spark creativity by sharing experience, strength, and hope.
Step One
Written by, Anna T. I have admitted that I am powerless over cocaine, marijuana, my boyfriend and all mind altering drugs. My life is/was out of control – I couldn’t handle my bills and my relationship with my boyfriend. I was having a hard time getting up for work. I was becoming co-dependent and resentful…
THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD
“Freedom from marijuana, alcohol, and all other mind altering substances” Written by, Carol M. There was quite a brouhaha about that statement a couple of years ago. Los Angeles County MA had incorporated and the four main groups of recovering pot addicts were unifying. We had a meeting in Balboa Park and the Board of…
The Story of the Lotus Eaters
Written by, Janet F. About 3000 years ago, the poet Homer told a story about a man called Odysseus, and his travels as he returned home to Greece from the Trojan Wars. He and his men met up with many adventures along the way, but one I always remembered was when he and his crew…
To God with Love, Goodbye to Drugs
Written by, Regina H. God, I get so disgusted with myselfWhen I refuse to knock the drugsBlow it away with one giant breath,Breath in beauty and blow out death. The pain is like saying farewellTo the potions that made me do dares wellFar away was never far enough to run,Chasing that next hit hasn’t been…
Progress Not Perfection
Written by, Mariska P. The Fourth MA Conference meant progress and letting go for me. Just under two years ago, it was “us” versus “them” and now it is “we”, a true unified entity of marijuana addicts in recovery. My how far we have come. Imagine through all the different opinions and personalities, Marijuana Anonymous…
Carrying the Message
Written by, Andi A. The Twelfth Step tells us, having had a spiritual awakening as the result of the Steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs. I learned very early on in MA that service would help to keep me sober. It kept…
Copyright © 1989–2025 Marijuana Anonymous World Services—All Rights Reserved
—Marijuana Anonymous World Services, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, does not endorse or accept contributions from any outside enterprise—