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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-seven 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.
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Monday, 17 February 2025
A.A. Speaker Sister Bea #essentialsofrecovery
AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX #essentialsofrecovery
HOW TO FORGIVE
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee . . . (Psalm 55:22)
The technique of forgiveness is not very difficult when you understand how. The only thing that is essential is willingness to forgive. Provided you desire to forgive the offender, the greatest part of the work is already done.
The method of forgiving is this: Get by yourself and become quiet. Repeat any prayer that appeals to you, or read a chapter of the Bible. Then quietly say, “I fully and freely forgive X (mentioning the name of the offender); I lose him and let him go. I cast the burden aside. He is free now, and I am free too. The Truth of Christ has set us both free. I thank God.”
On no account repeat this act of forgiveness, because to do it a second time would be tacitly to repudiate your own work. Afterward, whenever the memory of the offender or the offense happens to come into your mind, bless the delinquent briefly and dismiss the thought. Do this, however many times the thought may come back. You will find that all bitterness and resentment have disappeared, and you are both free with the perfect freedom of the children of God. Your forgiveness is complete
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee . . . (Psalm 55:22)
The technique of forgiveness is not very difficult when you understand how. The only thing that is essential is willingness to forgive. Provided you desire to forgive the offender, the greatest part of the work is already done.
The method of forgiving is this: Get by yourself and become quiet. Repeat any prayer that appeals to you, or read a chapter of the Bible. Then quietly say, “I fully and freely forgive X (mentioning the name of the offender); I lose him and let him go. I cast the burden aside. He is free now, and I am free too. The Truth of Christ has set us both free. I thank God.”
On no account repeat this act of forgiveness, because to do it a second time would be tacitly to repudiate your own work. Afterward, whenever the memory of the offender or the offense happens to come into your mind, bless the delinquent briefly and dismiss the thought. Do this, however many times the thought may come back. You will find that all bitterness and resentment have disappeared, and you are both free with the perfect freedom of the children of God. Your forgiveness is complete
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
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DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrecovery
THE LOVE IN THEIR EYES
Some of us won’t believe in God, others can’t, and still others who do believe that God exists have no faith whatever He will perform this miracle.
~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 25 ~
It was the changes I saw in the new people who came into the Fellowship that helped me lose my fear, and change my negative attitude to a positive one. I could see the love in their eyes and I was impressed by how much their “One Day at a Time” sobriety meant to them. They had looked squarely at Step Two and came to believe that a power greater than themselves was restoring them to sanity. That gave me faith in the Fellowship, and hope that it could work for me too. I found that God was a loving God, not that punishing God I feared before coming to A.A. I also found that He had been with me during all those times I had been in trouble before I came to A.A. I know today that He was the one who led me to A.A. and that I am a miracle.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc
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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrecovery
Carrying the Message, Not the Addict
“They can be analyzed, counseled, reasoned with, prayed over, threatened, beaten, or locked up, but they will not stop until they want to stop.”
~ Basic Text, p. 62 ~
Perhaps one of the most difficult truths we must face in our recovery is that we are as powerless over another’s addiction as we are over our own. We may think that because we’ve had a spiritual awakening in our own lives we should be able to persuade another addict to find recovery. But there are limits to what we can do to help another addict.
We cannot force them to stop using. We cannot give them the results of the steps or grow for them. We cannot take away their loneliness or their pain. There is nothing we can say to convince a scared addict to surrender the familiar misery of addiction for the frightening uncertainty of recovery. We cannot jump inside other peoples’ skins, shift their goals, or decide for them what is best for them.
However, if we refuse to try to exert this power over another’s addiction, we may help them. They may grow if we allow them to face reality, painful though it may be. They may become more productive, by their own definition, as long as we don’t try and do it for them. They can become the authority on their own lives, provided we are only authorities on our own. If we can accept all this, we can become what we were meant to be – carriers of the message, not the addict.
Just for today: I will accept that I am powerless not only over my own addiction but also over everyone else’s. I will carry the message, not the addict.
© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc
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TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY #essentialsofrecovery
A.A. Thought for the Day
Alcohol is poison to the alcoholic. Poison is not too strong a word, because alcoholism leads eventually to the death of the alcoholic. It may be a quick death or a slow death. When we go by package stores and see various kinds of liquor all dressed up in fancy packages to make it look attractive, we should always make it a point to say to ourselves so we’ll never forget it: “That stuffs all poison to me.” And it is. Alcohol poisoned our lives for a long time. Do I know that since I’m an alcoholic all liquor is poison to me?
Meditation for the Day
I must somehow find the means of coming nearer to God. That is what really matters. I must somehow seek the true bread of life, which is communion with Him. I must grasp for the truth at the center of all worship. This central truth is all that matters. All forms of worship have this communion with God as their purpose and goal.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may meet God in quiet communion. I pray that I may partake of the soul-food that God has provided for me.
© 1954, 1975, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation
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AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrecovery
Live Serenely
When a drunk has a terrific hangover because he drank heavily yesterday, he cannot live well today. But there is another kind of hangover which we all experience whether we are drinking or not. That is the emotional hangover, the direct result of yesterday’s and sometimes today’s excesses of negative emotions — anger, fear, jealousy, and the like.
If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly need to eliminate these hangovers. This doesn’t mean we need to wander morbidly around in the past. It requires an admission and correction of errors—now.
~ TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 88-89 ~
© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc
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WALK IN DRY PLACES #essentialsofrecovery
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
Choosing the Right Goals
“Be careful what you pray for,” the Old-Timers said, for you are likely to get it. While this sounds exciting, it’s really an important warning. Prayers are currents of thought directed toward a goal. The goal must be something we want to live with once it is achieved. What often happens, unfortunately, is that we seek things that turn out to be shallow and even harmful after we get them. Such disillusionment has been the stuff of countless morality tales.
Our bitter experience with alcohol can also furnish lessons about the kinds of goals we should strive for in sobriety. Let’s take an inventory if we find ourselves thinking that our happiness depends on certain people, places, or things. Our true happiness comes from our Higher Power and the right combination of love and service. With the right attitude, we can actually be happy under many kinds of conditions and with all sorts of people.
What, then, should we pray for? “Knowledge of [God’s] will for us and the power to carry that out” is a prayer that puts things in proper order. Seek to do God’s will, and you might be utterly amazed at the results. After all, it is God’s pleasure to give you good things.
I’ll pray for knowledge of God’s will today, while exercising prudence in all my affairs. I’ll be willing to let myself be surprised by the interesting things that can happen.
© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
Choosing the Right Goals
“Be careful what you pray for,” the Old-Timers said, for you are likely to get it. While this sounds exciting, it’s really an important warning. Prayers are currents of thought directed toward a goal. The goal must be something we want to live with once it is achieved. What often happens, unfortunately, is that we seek things that turn out to be shallow and even harmful after we get them. Such disillusionment has been the stuff of countless morality tales.
Our bitter experience with alcohol can also furnish lessons about the kinds of goals we should strive for in sobriety. Let’s take an inventory if we find ourselves thinking that our happiness depends on certain people, places, or things. Our true happiness comes from our Higher Power and the right combination of love and service. With the right attitude, we can actually be happy under many kinds of conditions and with all sorts of people.
What, then, should we pray for? “Knowledge of [God’s] will for us and the power to carry that out” is a prayer that puts things in proper order. Seek to do God’s will, and you might be utterly amazed at the results. After all, it is God’s pleasure to give you good things.
I’ll pray for knowledge of God’s will today, while exercising prudence in all my affairs. I’ll be willing to let myself be surprised by the interesting things that can happen.
© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrecovery
… no one who learns to know himself remains just what he was before.
~ Thomas Mann
Deep inside, we all know that we’re changing. It started when we took Step One. We learned and accepted something new about ourselves. That changed us, just a little.
We no longer wanted to live as addicts. That meant we had to change and to learn to live sober. It’s been nonstop ever since: learn about ourselves, change a little, learn about ourselves, change a little more, and so on.
All we know is that each step of learning and changing makes life better. How long can it keep getting better? As long as we keep learning to know ourselves.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, teach me about myself today. Teach me gently.
Action for the Day
Today, I’ll think about what I’ve learned about myself by working the program. I’ll list five things.
Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation
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Fr. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrecovery
BELONGING
“But one day . . . it came to me that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at a. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed”
~ Alice Walker ~
I am aware of the truth that I belong. I am an essential part of God’s world. I share Divinity because God made me. Today I seek the spiritual center in me that is forever positive and creative. I am the center of my universe.
Past hurts and wrongs cannot take away the unique-ness in my life. Past abuses and painful put-downs, my years of alternating between the lost child or the scapegoat in my family, need not make me a victim. I am free to choose recovery and acceptance of self. I associate with the winners of this world. I participate in Creation by being a creative person for me. Yesterday’s pain has no power in my life today.
When I kneel before the stream, mountains, and stars, I feel You, God.
© 2008 Leo Booth
“But one day . . . it came to me that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at a. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed”
~ Alice Walker ~
I am aware of the truth that I belong. I am an essential part of God’s world. I share Divinity because God made me. Today I seek the spiritual center in me that is forever positive and creative. I am the center of my universe.
Past hurts and wrongs cannot take away the unique-ness in my life. Past abuses and painful put-downs, my years of alternating between the lost child or the scapegoat in my family, need not make me a victim. I am free to choose recovery and acceptance of self. I associate with the winners of this world. I participate in Creation by being a creative person for me. Yesterday’s pain has no power in my life today.
When I kneel before the stream, mountains, and stars, I feel You, God.
© 2008 Leo Booth
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A DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrecovery
Reflection for the Day
If I become angry today, I’ll pause and think before I say anything, remembering that my anger can turn back upon me and worsen my difficulties. I’ll try to remember, too, that well-timed silence can give me command of a stressful situation as angry reproaches never can. In such moments of stress, I’ll remember that my power over others is nonexistent, and that only God is all-powerful. Have I learned that I alone can destroy my own peace of mind?
Today I Pray
May I learn that I can choose how to handle my anger—in silence or as a tantrum, a rage, a fist fight, a pillow fight, a tirade, an elaborate plan to “get back at” whoever caused it, an icy glare, a cool pronouncement of hate—or a simple statement of fact, “I am angry at you because” (in 25 words or less). Or may I, if need be, turn my anger into energy and shovel the walk, bowl, or play a game of tennis, or clean the house. I pray that God will show me appropriate ways to deal with my anger.
Today I Will Remember
“I am angry because…”
© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation
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EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrecovery
THE SECOND PROMISE
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door upon it.
~ Big Book
In the Program, we begin to “clean house” and “get our acts together.” As long as we denied and tried to hide from the world, and ourselves, the truth about what kind of person we were when we were using, there would be no approach to abstinence and little possibility of ever preventing relapse.
Without awareness of what the past did to us, we, even if clean and sober, will find ourselves unable to truly carry the message of hope and the gift of a new lire to those who desperately need it. Relating our past experiences builds a common ground of love and service between us and the ones for whose awakening we have declared ourselves responsible. Because of that honesty, newcomers can come to realize that they are not alone and that they can “make it.”
My past must be visited but never lived in for long.
©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden
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ONE DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrecovery
CHANGES
They always say time changes things,
but you actually have to change them yourself.
~ Andy Warhol
Time changes things – but what things? Can I wait for time to change those ways of coping that don’t serve me anymore? Can I wait for time to make me abstinent?
Yes, time will change things, but chances are that these will be the changes: my coping mechanisms will become even more entrenched and my eating even more destructive. I don’t really want to wait for that kind of change. When I joined OA, I started a new trend. I asked for the wisdom to understand which things I can change and then, armed with the tools of the program, I set about following my new trend of eating healthy and living a life where I don’t sit around waiting.
I will not wait idly for things to get better. I will ask my Higher Power to guide me to make necessary changes.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will not wait idly for things to get better. I will ask my Higher Power to guide me to make necessary changes.
~ Isabella M.
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ELDER'S MEDITATION OF THE DAY #essentialsofrecovery
“Silence and self-control permeate the entirety of our lives.”
~ Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA
The Creator gave us all the Red Road and on this Red Road we are required to think and act in a spiritual way. To make sure I conduct myself according to the Red Road, I must make sure I develop my self-discipline. Self-control works best when we pray for the courage and power t do the will of the Great Spirit. We are here on the earth to do the will of the Great Spirit. Sometimes, we must battle ourselves to do this.
Great Spirit, help me to have my self-control guided by spiritual ways.
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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrecovery
The child that lives in all of us is always willing to take the blame.
~ Margaret Haigh
We sometimes wonder if all women feel as we do. How many times do we apologize for situations that go awry, even those we had no part in? When conflicts erupt, why is it so easy to assume it’s our fault?. When we fear we aren’t adequate as women, It’s a small step to accepting blame for every ripple In a circumstance. We become obsessed with trying to control the uncontrollable, and then we think we’re at fault when we fail.
Mood-altering chemicals appealed to us because they temporarily made us feel good about ourselves. Because we’re human, we don’t always feel good about ourselves. But now we have friends we run talk to in the most intimate way and program tools that can improve our attitude. The longer we’re sober, the more obvious it is that our attitude is the culprit. Changing it changes everything!
I am not to blame for anyone else’s problems today. Accepting blame was a habit. Cultivating a better attitude can be a habit too.
© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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THE EYE OPENER #essentialsofrecovery
The sooner we alcoholics realize the fact that sobriety by itself is not enough to insure real living, the better off we will be.
For us to emerge from our shell and then cease all growth is to stagnate, and stagnation is death itself to an alcoholic. Everything on this planet has a part in the Grand Scheme and unless we discover and act our little part, we are dead, and decay has already set in.
It is contrary to the laws of Nature for man to stand still. We either go ahead or we go back.
Published by Hazelden
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Daily TAO / 48 – Knowledge #essentialsofrecovery
Life is
Beauty,
Terror,
Knowledge.
A crucial part of following Tao is seeking knowledge. All the efforts of self-cultivation are meant to make us a fit vehicle for that search. Sometimes what we learn is not pleasant. With learning, we glimpse life as it really is, and that is difficult to bear. That is why spiritual progress is slow : not because no one will tell us the secrets, but because we ourselves must overcome sentiment and fear before we can grasp it.
There is an underbelly of terror to all life. It is suffering, it is hurt. Deep within all of us are intense fears that have left few of us whole. Life’s terrors haunt us, attack us, leave ugly cuts. To buffer ourselves, we dwell on beauty, we collect things, we fall in love, we desperately try to make something lasting in our lives. We take beauty as the only worthwhile thing in this existence, but it cannot veil cursing, violence, randomness, and injustice.
Only knowledge removes this fear. If we were shown the whole truth, we could not stand it. Both lovely and horrible details make us human, and when knowledge threatens to show us our follies, we may realize that we are not yet ready to leave them behind. Then the veil closes again, and we sit meditating before it, trying to prepare ourselves for the moment when we dare to part the curtain completely.
Beauty,
Terror,
Knowledge.
A crucial part of following Tao is seeking knowledge. All the efforts of self-cultivation are meant to make us a fit vehicle for that search. Sometimes what we learn is not pleasant. With learning, we glimpse life as it really is, and that is difficult to bear. That is why spiritual progress is slow : not because no one will tell us the secrets, but because we ourselves must overcome sentiment and fear before we can grasp it.
There is an underbelly of terror to all life. It is suffering, it is hurt. Deep within all of us are intense fears that have left few of us whole. Life’s terrors haunt us, attack us, leave ugly cuts. To buffer ourselves, we dwell on beauty, we collect things, we fall in love, we desperately try to make something lasting in our lives. We take beauty as the only worthwhile thing in this existence, but it cannot veil cursing, violence, randomness, and injustice.
Only knowledge removes this fear. If we were shown the whole truth, we could not stand it. Both lovely and horrible details make us human, and when knowledge threatens to show us our follies, we may realize that we are not yet ready to leave them behind. Then the veil closes again, and we sit meditating before it, trying to prepare ourselves for the moment when we dare to part the curtain completely.
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DAILY ZEN #essentialsofrecovery
Let each person first direct oneself to what is right;
then let one teach others; thus the wise will not suffer.
If a person makes oneself as one teaches others to be,
then being well-controlled, that one might guide others,
since self-control is difficult.
then let one teach others; thus the wise will not suffer.
If a person makes oneself as one teaches others to be,
then being well-controlled, that one might guide others,
since self-control is difficult.
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