So much of my attention at work goes to what’s going wrong, what’s frustrating, what’s triggering my defenses and defects. I particularly notice when I’m not being rewarded the way I’d like to be. But sometimes things go well. Sometimes I do receive new opportunities or acknowledgment.

Today, if that happens, I will pay attention to myself and my thoughts. Do I feel performance anxiety about a new job? Do I feel the impulse to tank my newfound success because I feel unworthy? Or do I feel newly insulated from pain or problems because things are going well at work?

One of the gifts of recovery is the power to choose my response to my thoughts. Today I will remember during the easier days what I learned during the hard days: that I am not my job. I can choose gratitude for what’s going well, knowing that I don’t need success to be complete, to be loved by a Higher Power and my recovery family.