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.

Monday, 1 March 2021

DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrec #Recovery #AA

IT WORKS

It works—it really does.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 88 ~

When I got sober I initially had faith only in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. Desperation and fear kept me sober (and maybe a caring and/or tough sponsor helped!). Faith in a Higher Power came much later. This faith came slowly at first, after I began listening to others share at meetings about their experiences—experiences that I had never faced sober, but that they were facing with strength from a Higher Power. Out of their sharing came hope that I too would—and could—”get” a Higher Power. In time, I learned that a Higher Power—a faith that works under all conditions—is possible. Today this faith, plus the honesty, open-mindedness and willingness to work the Steps of the program, gives me the serenity that I seek. It works—it really does.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Addiction #NA

Anxiety Attack?

“[The] Power that brought us to this program is still with us and will continue to guide us if we allow it.”

~ Basic Text, p. 26 ~

Ever had a panic attack? Everywhere we turn, life’s demands overwhelm us. We’re paralyzed, and we don’t know what to do about it. How do we break an anxiety attack?

First, we stop. We can’t deal with everything at once, so we stop for a moment to let things settle. Then we take a “spot inventory” of the things that are bothering us. We examine each item, asking ourselves this question: “How important is it, really?” In most cases, we’ll find that most of our fears and concerns don’t need our immediate attention. We can put those aside, and focus on the issues that really need to be resolved right away. Then we stop again and ask ourselves, “Who’s in control here, anyway?” This helps remind us that our Higher Power is in control.

We seek our Higher Power’s will for the situation, whatever it is. We can do this in any number of ways: through prayer, talks with our sponsor or NA friends, or by attending a meeting and asking others to share their experience. When our Higher Power’s will becomes clear to us, we pray for the ability to carry it out. Finally, we take action.

Anxiety attacks need not paralyze us. We can utilize the resources of the NA program to deal with anything that comes our way.

Just for today: My Higher Power has not brought me all this way in recovery only to abandon me! When anxiety strikes, I will take specific steps to seek God’s continuing care and guidance.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Drinking

A.A. Thought for the Day

When I find myself thinking about taking a drink, I say to myself: “Don’t reach out and take that problem back. You've given it to God and there’s nothing you can do about it.” So I forget about the drink. One of the most important parts of the A.A. program is to give our drink problem to God honestly and fully and never to reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. If we let God have it and keep it for good and then cooperate with Him, we’ll stay sober. Have I determined not to take the drink problem back to myself?

Meditation for the Day

Constant effort is necessary if I am to grow spiritually and develop my spiritual life. I must keep the spiritual rules persistently, perseveringly, lovingly, patiently, and hopefully. By keeping them, every mountain of difficulty shall be laid low, the rough places of poverty of spirit shall be made smooth, and all who know me shall know that God is the Lord of all my ways. To get close to the spirit of God is to find life and healing and strength.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that God’s spirit may be everything to my soul. I pray that God’s spirit may grow within me.

© 1954, 1975, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation

AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrec #Power #Intelligence

Page 60

Brain Power Alone?

To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, many A.A.’s can say, “Yes, we were like you—far too smart for our own good. We loved to have people call us precocious. We used our education to blow ourselves up into prideful balloons, though we were careful to hide this from others. Secretly, we felt we could float above the rest of folks on our brain power alone.

“Scientific progress told us there was nothing man couldn’t do. Knowledge was all powerful. Intellect could conquer nature. Since we were brighter than most folks (so we thought), the spoils of victory would be ours for the thinking. The god of intellect displaced the God of our fathers.

“But John Barleycorn had other ideas. We who had won so handsomely in a walk turned into all-time losers. We saw that we had to reconsider or die.”

~ TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 29-30 ~

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Success

BEST EFFORTS

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.

Emily Dickinson

Success can’t be measured by the numbers of those who have heard a message of hope for a better life. We constantly remind ourselves of this whenever a single cry for help arises. One success in a 12 Step Group more than makes up for any number of failures.

We can never feel discouraged by delays in success. We keep giving the message since we know that God’s delay does not mean God’s denial.

When success comes we are reminded not to let pride carry us away. We have learned in recovery to keep our winnings in proper perspective.

I am not in the results business. My main task is to make my best effort. Results are added benefits.

©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden

WALK IN DRY PLACES #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Moods #Excitement

DANGER IN EXCITEMENT

Mood Alterations

The lure of excitement is hard to understand. While we may think of ourselves as sensible, practical people, the hard truth is that many alcoholics have a strong need to feel excited. This excitement can take many forms, and some of them are dangerous.

One lure of excitement comes through the impulsive need for change. Some of us have had weird habits of suddenly quitting jobs and pulling up stakes for no reason other than being bored. An even more destructive attraction is the belief that a new romance can restore our zest for living and bring new joys and happiness.

The sober truth is that nobody can live sensibly and sanely by seeking continuous excitement and stimulation. We are better off with steady growth in the patterns we know best than with seeking excitement that finally leads to destruction.

At the same time, we should not belittle the pleasures and joys we get through ordinary living. If we earn those pleasures and joys through responsible actions, they will give us far more happiness than momentary feelings of excitement.

In quietness and confidence is our strength. I do not need to be excited in any way today. I am more effective and more in control when I am not being swayed by feverish emotion that distorts my judgment.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation

KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Peace #Recovery

March

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

~ Step Three from Alcoholics Anonymous ~

Made a decision to turn our
will and our lives over to
the care of God as we
understood Him.

Care. This is what we turn our will and lives over to the care of our Higher Power. What peace follows! We see our God as caring, as loving. We turn everything over to this Higher Power, who can take better care of us than we can by ourselves.

Care can guide us. If we want to do something, we can ask ourselves, “Would my Higher Power see this as an act of care?” If the answer is yes, then we go ahead. If the answer is no, we don’t do it. If we can’t be sure, we wait and talk it over with our friends and sponsor. We wait until we know whether it would be an act of care or not. What wonderful guidance!

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I give to You my will. I give to You my life. I gladly jump into Your loving arms.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll care about others. I’ll find as many ways as I can to care for others.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

FR. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrec #frLeo #Understanding

UNDERSTANDING

“Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.”

~ Saint Augustine ~

I understand that God is love. It makes more sense to live my life with love than with anger, resentment, or despair. I know the answer to life, with any problems that may arise, is love: not simply loving those people who love me, but beginning to love and understand those who dislike or hate me. Being imperfect people in an imperfect world produces enemies.

Today I love my world by listening to my critics, changing unreasonable attitudes, and growing in the humility that comes from silence. Change is part of God’s blessing of love. This I believe. This I understand. And, step by step, it is beginning to work in my life.

May my love for the world give me an understanding of self.

© 2008 Leo Booth

A DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrec #dependence #Recovery

Reflection for the Day

Now that we’re free and no longer chemically dependent, we have so much more control over our thinking. More than anything, we’re able to alter our attitudes. Some members of Alcoholics Anonymous, in fact, choose to think of the letters AA as an abbreviation for “Altered Attitudes.” In the bad old days, I almost always responded to any optimistic or positive statement with “Yes, but…” Today, in contrast, I’m learning to eliminate that negative phrase from my vocabulary. Am I working to change my attitude? Am I determined to “accentuate the positive…”?

Today I Pray

May I find that healing and strength which God provides to those who stay near Him. May I keep to the spiritual guidelines of the Program, considering the Steps, taking the Steps—one by one—then practicing them again and again. In this is my salvation.

Today I Will Remember

To practice at least one Step.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

ONE DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrec #Recovery #OA #overeaters

ANONYMITY

Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Albert Camus

When I first joined OA, the tool and tradition of Anonymity seemed a little strange to me. What’s wrong with people knowing what members do for work? I’m not ashamed of my career, why should I not talk about it? What’s with this cult-like behaviour around initials for names? And what do they mean by Anonymity being the spiritual foundation of recovery?

And then, bit by bit, it dawned on me. When we don’t talk about our jobs, when we don’t care about our last names, three very important things happen. First, we don’t get distracted. Second, it makes us all equal. Third, it starts us on the road of leaving judgment behind. An Elizabeth is just an Elizabeth, whether she’s a queen, a unemployed single mother or an actress. The equality that comes with that means that I am not more or less, not better or worse than you. This equality strengthens our unity. We are all in the same boat. And with this equality we can row in unity towards recovery.

One day at a time …

I will remember that my fellow OA members are my equals, that I can let go of judgment, and that the freedom that comes with this helps me concentrate on recovery.

~ Isabella ~

ELDER'S MEDITATION OF THE DAY #essentialsofrec # CHEROKEE #Recovery #Elders #Native

“The beginning is purification, that’s the first step … And purification means purification of body and mind. You don’t purify the body without cleansing the mind; that’s the way it works.”

~ Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE ~

If we have bad thoughts or poison in our minds, they will eventually show up in our bodies in the form of headaches, pains, and stomach problems. It works this way because we are interconnected. Our minds and our bodies are one system. So when we start to grow, or commit to the Red Road, we need to start cleaning up our thoughts and start showing respect for our bodies. We start purifying our minds by prayer and meditation, and we start cleansing our bodies by getting the right amount of sleep and developing good eating habits. Today, I’m going to observe my thoughts. Will my thoughts be clean today?

Great Spirit, let me focus on Your love today so my mind will be pure.

A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrec #Recovery #TwelveSteps

Recovery is an intensely spiritual process that asks us to grow in our understanding of God.

~ Melody Beattie ~

God isn’t defined for us in any Twelve Step program. We have the freedom to create any image that pleases us. The shaming God of our youth can be gone. Instead we can call upon a Higher Power for guidance in handling the changing circumstances of our lives. Listening to other women in our group share their beliefs about God makes us aware of how valuable the guidance will be.

Never must we handle anything alone. Never. Understanding this influences how we perceive every situation in our lives. Circumstances that used to baffle or overwhelm us do so no longer. Snarled relationships untangle, and God’s presence Is evident everywhere. The more we trust in the Presence, the more conscious we are of it. The more we believe, the better our journey.

Believing in God’s presence today will make every experience rich with meaning. I am not alone, now or ever.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

Daily Tao / 060 – Celibacy #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Tao #Taoism #Zen

In winter, animals do not mate.
Preserve your Tao
By preserving your essence.

We follow the Tao of the universe with great effort, but Tao is within us too. It is not something abstract, not something conceptual. Our personal Tao is our very life force. This energy begins with the physical and extends into the spiritual.

The source of this energy is partly chemical : our hormones, nutrition from food, and genetics. Whatever we have that is spiritual arises from these substances. Followers of Tao call this the essence. Preservation of this essence through sexual conservation is crucial. This doesn't mean suppression of sexuality, for the impulse to make love is natural and irrepressible; it means to harmonize sexuality with spirituality.

The follower of Tao makes love according to the seasons. In winter, it should be less or not at all; in spring, it may be at its most frequent. The young should restrict themselves to about once every three days, while the middle-aged should reduce it once a week, and the elderly even less than that. The secret is not to indulge too much, without killing one’s sexuality altogether. Overindulgence is to waste one’s resources. Suppression kills the body on its most basic level. Find the proper balance, and you will have a happy life and full spirituality.

DAILY ZEN #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism

Accord and respond without laboring
And accomplish without hindrance.
Everywhere turn around freely,
Not following conditions,
Not falling into classifications.

- Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157)

AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX #essentialsofrec #Emmet #Fox #Change

HOLY COWS!

Most people have certain sections of their lives where, for various reasons (mostly unknown to themselves), they do not with to make any change. These places are set aside and surrounded with an aura of spurious sanctity like the sacred cows of the East, which are considered too holy to be touched. But if you really mean business about regenerating your soul and body, there must positively be no sacred cows in your life.

Nothing is truly sacred but your own indwelling Christ and the process of His awakening.

Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:15).

© 1931 by Emmet Fox

Walk In Dry Places

Monday, 1 March 2021