Essentials Of Recovery

Created to carry the message of recovery to all addicts. Whether the addiction is alcohol, drugs, food or any other addiction the program of recovery is the same. I am a recovering alcoholic of over twenty-five years, a day at a time of course and I believe my primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve recovery. Remember seven days without a meeting makes one weak. Sign up to get emails.This Blog is NOT IN ANY WAY affiliated to either A.A. or N.A. Help to stop drinking.

Saturday, 15 May 2021

Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Resentment #Peace #God

KNOW GOD; KNOW PEACE

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. . . . But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p 66

Know God;
Know peace.

No God;
No peace.

Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Step4 #NA #Fear

Fear Of the Fourth Step

“As we approach this step, most of us are afraid that there is a monster inside of us that, if released, will destroy us.”

Basic Text, p. 27

Most of us are terrified to look at ourselves, to probe our insides. We’re afraid that if we examine our actions and motives, we’ll find a bottomless black pit of selfishness and hatred. But as we take the Fourth Step, we’ll find that those fears were unwarranted. We’re human, just like everyone else—no more, no less.

We all have personality traits that we’re not especially proud of. On a bad day, we may think that our faults are worse than anyone else’s. We’ll have moments of self-doubt. We’ll question our motives. We may even question our very existence. But if we could read the minds of our fellow members, we’d find the same struggles. We’re no better or worse than anyone else.

We can only change what we acknowledge and understand. Rather than continuing to fear what’s buried inside us, we can bring it out into the open. We’ll no longer be frightened, and our recovery will flourish in the full light of self-awareness.

Just for today: I fear what I don’t know. I will expose my fears and allow them to vanish.

Twenty-Four Hours a Day #essentialsofrec #Peace #Power #Recovery

AA Thought for the Day

In AA, we find a new strength and peace from the realization that there must be a Power greater than ourselves which is running the universe and which is on our side when we live a good life. So the AA Program really never ends. You begin by overcoming drink and you go on from there to many new opportunities for happiness and usefulness.

Am I really enjoying the full benefits of AA?

Meditation for the Day

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” We should not seek material things first, but seek spiritual things first and material things will come to us as we honestly work for them. Many people seek material things first and think they can then grow into knowledge of spiritual things. You cannot serve God and Mammon at the same time. The first requisites of an abundant life are the spiritual things: honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. Until you have these qualities, quantities of material things are of little real use to you.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may put much effort into acquiring spiritual things. I pray that I may not expect good things until I am right spiritually.

Hazelden Foundation

Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #trust #Relationships

Trusting others
Personal Relationships

Some people trust others too much, while a few seem to have no trust at all. Either stance is wrong and leads to some kind of trouble.

As we grow in our Twelve Step program, we learn the truth about trust. We can trust others if our expectations aren’t too high. We have to remember, however, that as human beings they can fail us. However, it’s also unrealistic to be suspicious of everyone. The truth is that most people aren’t out to get us or to hurt us. They are pursuing their own interests, just as we must do.

As we grow emotionally, we come to see that we have less difficulty trusting others. We no longer make outrageous demands on them or stretch their patience to the limits. We also realize that there are many times when we can work co-operatively with everybody’s interest in mind.

I’ll think realistically about others today, being careful not to expect either too much or too little from the. I’ll certainly not expect more from them than I could reasonably expect from myself.

Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Laughter #Recovery

That day is lost on which one has not laughed.

—French proverb

For a long time, we didn’t really laugh. It’s surprising when we think about it: we hadn’t really laughed for so long. . .we almost forgot how good we could feel. It feels so good to laugh again!

Now, our spirits come more alive each day. Now, we feel what alcohol and other drugs stuffed deep inside us. Pain, fear, and anger come up. But so do happiness and joy, thankfulness and a sense of humor. In early recovery, we work through the hard feelings. As we grow in the program, we have more and more room for happiness.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, wake me up to the joy and laughter that today hold for me. Don’t let me miss it!

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll spread some laughter. I will learn a joke and tell it to three people.

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #teaching #Learning

TEACHING

“To teach is to learn.”

–Japanese Proverb

The more I learn the more I know that I do not understand. Life is full of new and wonderful information; paradoxes and confusion abound; every new idea leads to a further truth – and the journey seems endless.

In a sense we are all disciples; we are all learning from each other and the role of teacher and student is forever being exchanged. In my sobriety I am able to see how many wonderful “things” exist in the world – so many fascinating and interesting places to visit, so many loving and insightful people. God has given me so much, I am so grateful to be able to learn in His garden.

Teacher, may I never stop learning and being a student in Your world.

A Day at a Time #essentialsofrec #Loneliness #Isolation

Reflection for the Day

Looking back at those last desperate days before I came to The Program, I remember more than anything the feelings of loneliness and isolation. Even when I was surrounded by people, including my own family, the sense of “aloneness” was overwhelming. Even when I tried to act sociable and wore the mask of cheerfulness, I usually felt a terrible anger of not belonging.

Will I ever forget the misery of “being alone in a crowd?”

Today I Pray

I thank God for the greatest single joy that has come to me outside of my sobriety – the feeling that I am no longer alone. May I not assume that loneliness will vanish overnight. May I know that there will be a lonely time during recovery, especially since I must pull away from my former junkie friends or drinking buddies. I pray that I may find new friends who are recovering. I thank God for the fellowship of The program.

Today I Will Remember

I am not alone.

Hazelden Foundation

One Day At A Time #esssentialsofrec #Words #Kindness

KIND WORDS

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

–Mother Teresa

How many times are we gifted with newcomers to our meetings? They are so easy to see as they huddle in the back of the room — usually as close to the exit as possible. Their oversized coat is a good giveaway, especially in July. Their eyes show the fear and anxiety that we all felt. Sure, we made it, and so can they.

I remember the elder who first said those magical words to me — those two simple words — “Welcome Home.” The warmth and safety those words held were immense. I felt that my body was huge, and I was embarrassed in a room full of people who looked very similar to me…but my eyes could not see that. They were filled with tears because of those two words. Welcome home. Whoever that person was, I have two words for you, “Thank you.”

What can you do to make a newcomer feel welcome to your meeting? Let us not forget that all-important first hug. I remember mine; do you remember yours? It felt good, I’ll bet. So welcome the newcomer and let them know they are home.

One day at a time…

I will do my part to welcome the newcomer into our fellowship.

~ Danny

Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #ONONDAGA #Elders #NAtive

“We must have respect and understanding for women and all female life on this Earth which bears the sacred gift of life.”

–Traditional Circle of Elders. ONONDAGA

At a gathering of Native Elders we were told that many men of today had lost their ability to look at the Woman in a sacred way. They said we were only looking at Her in a physical sense and had lost the ability to look at Her sacredness. They said the Woman has a powerful position in the Unseen World. She has the special ability to bring forth life. They told us to start showing Her respect and to look upon her in a sacred manner. We must start this today.

Grandfather, show me how to see in a sacred way.

Today’s Gift #essentialsofrec #Love #Affirmation

The crisis of our time . . . is a crisis not of the hands but of the hearts.

— Archibald MacLeish

We singlemindedly search for love, for belonging, for affirmation from others that will wipe out the torment of alienation that haunts our wakefulness and our dreams. “Does he truly care?” we wonder. “Did she try to call as she said?” Our fears, coupled with our loneliness, turn us inward and the seduction of isolation tightens its hold.

Our hearts plead, sometimes silently, other times hysterically, for comfort. And paradoxically, another’s crisis can end our own. If we can hear the call from another’s heart today, our own hearts will discover the comfort we crave.

If we look closely and with love toward the people so carefully placed in our midst, we’ll discover many hearts, like our own, searching for acceptance.

Let’s relieve our haunting alienation and extend a hand in love to a lonely friend today.

From the book:

Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Service #Step12

Today, I will not immerse myself so deeply into service or 12th-Step work that I neglect my own basic needs: to put into anything the passion I spent on drinking, I will predictably suffer the same outcome of physical, emotional and spiritual bankruptcy. While we are called and even commanded by the 12th Step to commit ourselves to service, the quality of that service will be negligible if I have not stored and reserved enough of myself to offer something worth giving. Today, I will guard against becoming too hungry, angry, lonely and tired – HALT – to assure that I can be the best of what the 12th Step asks of us – to be an effective carrier of the message. Today, I will listen to the message again. And our common journey continues.

Step by step. – Chris M.

The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #Religion #Creeds #Cults

There is such an abundance of religions, sects, creeds and cults that it is little wonder that many thousands of non-alcoholics have thrown up their hands in disgust and proceeded to ignore them all. The poor confused alcoholic certainly could not be expected to wade through this maze of contradictions.

To them, the simplicity of the AA program has been its greatest attraction. Here they have been asked only to seek a God of their own understanding and to accept a spirituality based on common sense and universally accepted moral standards.

Hazelden Foundation

Daily Tao / 135 – Visions #essentialsofrec #Tao #Taoism #Zen

Neither drug-induced
Nor self-induced visions :
Pierce all visions,
To see the void.

Tao is not to be found through drugs or any external means. While you most assuredly will have visions, how will you know what they mean? No matter how vivid, no matter how seemingly profound, they must be understood in order to be useful. By contrast, meditation also brings visions, voices, feelings, and absolute certainties. But prior philosophical inquiry is essential preparation for these experiences. The practitioner can instantly fit new experiences into a frame of reference. There is no confusion, and one can distinguish the true from the false. After all, even the perceptions of meditation may leave room for doubt.

Not everything that one receives during spiritual inquiry is true. Some are deceptions, and one must be able to see through them. The form that visions take is a function of your own degree of mental sophistication. As such, they are still in the circumference of your mind. If you want to receive impulses from the true Tao, you should know that they do not come as visions. Receiving Tao is to enter into a state of consciousness. Followers of Tao may indulge in spiritual visions for a time, but they eventually learn that there is something more important than the endless exploration of visions. The eventual object is to transcend all enslavement to perception. Only in attaining that state can one adequately judge reality.

Daily Zen #essentialsofrec #Zen #Meditation #Buddhism

In seeking the essence of the Way,
one should quiet the mind
and penetrate to the depths.
Silently wander within
and clearly see the origin
of all things, obscured by nothing.
The mind is boundless and formless,
just as the pure water
contains the essence of autumn.
It is glistening white and lustrously bright
in the same way that
moonlight envelops the entire night.

- Hung-chih (12th c)

Emmet Fox on scientific prayer #essentialsofrec #Prayer #Quiet

Get by yourself, and be quiet for a few moments.

Do not strain to think rightly or to find the right thought, but just be quiet.

The Bible says "Be still, and know that I am God."

Remind yourself of some of the things that you know about Him. Consider how he is present everywhere, and a part of everything ( even our adversities become fuel for building faith). Read a few verses from any spiritual book that helps you. I find that all the major religions have a common theme, through reading Eastern mystics and chritian theologians I am reminded of the universality of the idea of God that rests in all of us.
During this time of reflection and prayer do not think about your prob-
lem, but to give your attention to God. We do not need try to
solve our problem directly (which would be using will power, directing our thoughts can lead us to confuse our will with His) but rather become interested in thinking of the nature of God. Next claim the thing that you need. Claim it quietly and confidently. Then give thanks for the accomplished fact as you would if somebody handed you a gift. That famous Jewish Carpenter said when you pray, believe that you receive and you shall receive.
Do not discuss your treatment with anyone.

Quiet confidence is a source of strength

Walk In Dry Places

Saturday, 15 May 2021