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.

Sunday, 9 May 2021

Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Fear #Defects #Step5

WALKING THROUGH FEAR

If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us
be willing.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76
When I had taken my Fifth Step, I became aware that all my defects
of character stemmed from my need to feel secure and loved. To use
my will alone to work on them would have been trying obsessively to
solve the problem. In the Sixth Step I intensified the action I had
taken in the first three Steps — meditating on the Step by saying it over and
over, going to meetings, following my sponsor’s suggestions, readingefects
and searching within myself. During the first three years of sobriety I
had a fear of entering an elevator alone. One day I decided I must
walk through this fear. I asked for God’s help, entered the elevator, and
there in the corner was a lady crying. She said that since her husband
had died she was deathly afraid of elevators. I forgot my fear and
comforted her. This spiritual experience helped me to see how
willingness was the key to working the rest of the Twelve Steps to
recovery. God helps those who help themselves.

Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Guidance #NA

Write About It!

“We sit down with a notebook, ask for guidance, pick up our pen, and start writing.”

Basic Text, p. 29

When we’re confused or in pain, our sponsor sometimes tells us to “write about it.” Though we may groan as we drag out the notebook, we know that it will help. By laying it all out on paper, we give ourselves the chance to sort through what’s bothering us. We know we can get to the bottom of our confusion and find out what’s really causing our pain when we put the pen to the paper.

Writing can be rewarding, especially when working through the steps. Many members maintain a daily journal. Simply thinking about the steps, pondering their meaning, and analyzing their effect is not sufficient for most of us. There’s something about the physical action of writing that helps to fix the principles of recovery in our minds and hearts.

The rewards we find through the simple action of writing are many. Clarity of thought, keys to locked places inside of us, and the voice of conscience are but a few. Writing helps us be more honest with ourselves. We sit down, quiet our thoughts, and listen to our hearts. What we hear in the stillness are the truths that we put down on paper.

Just for today: One of the ways I can search for truth in recovery is to write. I will write about my recovery today.

Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #self-control #Selfish

A.A. Thought For The Day
We alcoholics used so little self-control when we were drinking, we
were so absolutely selfish, that it does us good to give up something
once in a while. Using self-discipline and denying ourselves a few
things is good for us. At first, giving up liquor is a big enough job for
all of us, even with God’s help. But later on, we can practice
self-discipline in other ways to keep a firm grip on our minds so that
we don’t start any wishful thinking. If we daydream too much, we’ll be
in danger of slipping. Am I practicing enough self-discipline?

Meditation For The Day

In material things, you must rely on your own wisdom and that of
others. In spiritual things, you cannot rely so much on your own
wisdom as on God’s guidance. In dealing with personalities, it is a
mistake to step out too much on your own. You must try to be guided
by God in all human relationships. You cannot accomplish much of
value in dealing with people until God knows you are ready. You alone
do not have the power or wisdom to put things right between people.
You must rely on God to help you in these vital matters.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may rely on God in dealing with people’s problems. I pray
that I may try to follow His guidance in all personal relationships.

As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Strength #Creator

The Way Of Strength, p. 129

We need not apologize to anyone for depending upon the Creator.
We have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the
way of weakness. For us, it is the way of strength.

The verdict of the ages is that men of faith seldom lack courage.
They trust their God. So we never apologize for our belief in Him.
Instead, we try to let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 68

Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Hope #Optimism

The Importance of Hope
Maintaining Optimism

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As a great virtue, hope is ranked with faith and love. But those of us caught in the thicket of alcoholism and other addictions had much experience with hopes that turned out to be merely cruel illusions. In recovery, however, hope has a sound purpose. It is really a form of optimism, an underlying belief that things will work out in spite of the obstacles and problems we face. This helps provide the strength and energy we need to succeed in the face of opposition and setbacks.
We also own much of our recovery to the capacity for hope that was in our friends and family members. Henrietta D… wife of AA member Number three, told an interviewer that she had never lost hope that her husband would eventually recover. She saw it as the answer to her hope and prayers when Bill W. and Dr. Bob arrived at her husband’s bedside in Akron’s City Hospital… an when he left, he never drank again.
Hope is the optimism that keeps us moving toward our highest good. Let’s keep it alive.

I’ll face my day with the underlying belief that things will work out in the long run. I’ll refuse to be overwhelmed by temporary setbacks.

Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #HigherPower #Recovery

The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.

—Frank Lloyd Wright

For many for us, life was a burden while using alcohol and other drugs. As our illness went on, life was more ugly. We grew further from our friends, family, and Higher Power. In recovery, our eyes and hearts open a little more each day. We see the beauty that life holds. We now see the beauty that life holds. We now see that before recovery, we weren’t living—we were dying. In recovery, we again feel happy when we hold a baby. We again may feel joy when we see a sunset. This happens mainly because we’ve chosen to be with people who love life, people who’ve been given a second chance. Once we’ve almost lost something important, it becomes more precious. We almost lost our lives. Now our lives are special.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for a second chance. Thank-you for opening my eyes and heart. Give me the strength to keep them open.

Action for the Day: I’ll list the most beautiful parts of my life. I’ll open my heart today to the joy in store for me.

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Poetry #FrLeo

POETRY

“Poetry is the rhythmical
creation of beauty in words.”

–Edgar Allan Poe

Language helps us to understand and communicate. Poetry adds the
dimension of “shape” and “movement”. Poetry seems to go beyond
words and ideas to the very essence of what life is about; it hints at
divinity!

When I was drinking, I never understood the art of poetry. Today I
use poetry as part of my adventure into meaning and self-knowledge.

So much more is open to me in sobriety, and I am able to appreciate
things I never used to comprehend. Poetry is part of “it gets better”.

Help me to seek You through all aspects of art.

A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Courage

Reflection For The Day

“Perfect courage,” wrote La Rochefoucauld, “means doing witnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on.” As we grow in The Program, we recognize persistent fear for what it is, and we become able to handle it. We begin to see each adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage which is born of humility, rather than of bravado. Do I realize that whistling to keep up my courage is merely good practice for whistling?

Today I Pray

May I find courage in my Higher Power. Since all things are possible through Him, I must be able to overcome the insidious fears that haunt me — so often fears of losing someone or some thing that has become important in my life. I pray for my own willingness to let go of those fears.

Today I Will Remember

Praying is more than whistling in the dark.

One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #OA #Overeaters

OPEN MINDEDNESS

Let go of your attachment to being right,
and suddenly your mind is more open.
You’re able to benefit from the unique viewpoints of others,
without being crippled by your own judgment.

Ralph Marston

Before joining this program much of my life was taken up with defending myself against those who would hurl abuse. I kept everything and everybody at arm’s length in a bid to protect my increasingly fragile and sensitive self-assurance. As time marched on, and my disease became parasitical, the walls around me grew higher and isolation drew me inwards.

Ironically, the fortress I was building didn’t protect me from myself and I soon became my own worst enemy. My self-loathing and my unceasing search for perfection led me deeper into a self-induced state of depression. Keeping everybody out and locking myself in became an exhausting exercise.

On entering the 12 Step program I soon realized that the fortress I had so carefully built to protect myself against the outside world was also preventing any kind of light, warmth and love from entering in.

As my journey of recovery progressed, brick by brick the walls came down and afforded me the nourishment I needed to blossom and grow. In learning to accept myself, I found that what others thought of me paled into insignificance. I learned that there was a wealth of experience, strength and hope which would help me along the journey. I learned that I could take what I needed and put down the remainder, without the resentment, anger, fear or pain, which previously would have sent me running for cover.

One Day at a Time . . .
I aim to be willing to keep my mind open, to accept what I need to continue my journey, and to leave the rest.

~ Sue G ~

Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #Elders #Crow #Native

“Without a sacred center, no one knows right from wrong.”

—- Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

In the center of the circle is where the powers reside. These powers are called love, principle, justice, spirtual knowledge, life, forgiveness and truth. All these powers reside in the very center of the human being. We access these powers by being still, quieting the mind. If we get confused, emotionally upset, feel resentment, anger, or fear, the best thing we can do is pray to the Great Spirit and ask Him to remove the anger and resentment. By asking Him to remove these obstacles, we are automatically positioned in the sacred center. Only in this way do we know right from wrong.

Great Spirit, allow me this day to live in the sacred center.

Today’s Gift. #essentialsoffrec #Planning #Action

Planning is deciding what to change today so tomorrow will be different from yesterday.

–Ichak Adizes

A house is like a lump of clay that can be molded and changed. It can be fixed and shaped, torn down and added to, painted, papered, carpeted, and panelled. We can think about how to change it, find pictures in books, and order plans. We can stock up on supplies, take fix-it classes, and get advice from others. But the house will remain unchanged until we pick up a brush, grab a bucket of paint, and get to work. Only then will we see tomorrow the results of what we did today.

Our plans help us construct a vision of how we’d like the future to be, but only actions will bring these things about. With confidence in the rightness of our desires, we can be assured that God never gives us a dream we can’t reach.

What action can I take today to make tomorrow’s changes?

The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #Choice #God

God has done some mighty fine work with what the world thought was very indifferent material. St. Paul and St. Augustine were two examples of men that God chose that no personnel officer in the world today would have given the OK. AA is full of similar examples where God has chosen the godless and made him His instrument for the performance of good work.

The tremendous energy, zeal, initiative, enthusiasm and ambition that were factors in our becoming alcoholics, now diverted to better use, make us well qualified to serve in God’s cause.

Hazelden Foundation

Daily Tao / 129 – Uncertainty #essentialsofrec #Tao #Taoism #Zen #Buddhism

Kicking a pebble by the side of the road,
Watching it tumble pell-mell.
Chance and randomness become order.

There is chance in this world. Things happen randomly. When a pebble is accidentally kicked down the hill, there was no arrangement, there was no plan. It simply happened — a colliding of bodies. Some people argue that there is order to this universe, asserting that “God doesn’t play dice.” What is the relationship of order and disorder?

We might say that randomness becomes order. There might be an overall framework to things — like procreation, for example — but within that framework, we have the random combination of cells that accounts for the vigor and creativity of the system. By the same token, we may have some constants to a system, such as gravity, but within the constraints of that system, there is chance. One wonders if this means that everything tends toward disorder.

For this to be true, there would have had to be order in the first place. Where did it come from? How was it imposed? Or was there always disorder and chance inherent in the universe, and did they somehow become part of the fabric of reality? Those who follow Tao way that there is no definitive way to resolve this question. They are more interested in accepting the fact that there is always uncertainty in the universe and working with that. For them, incorporating uncertainty into life is at the heart of Tao. That is when they feel the most human.

Daily Zen #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism #Meditation

Reality as it is becomes the right view of the meditator. Thinking of it as it is becomes the right thought. Awareness of it as it is becomes the right awareness. Concentration on it as it is becomes the right concentration. Actions of the body and speech are then aligned to reality as it is. In this way the meditator develops and is fulfilled.

-Majjhima Nikaya

Around the Year With Emmet Fox #essentialsofrec #Emmet #Fox #Prayer

PRAYER DOES CHANGE THINGS

Prayer does change things. Let us be perfectly clear about this, Prayer does change things. Many people say that prayer is a good thing because it gives us courage and fortitude for meeting our troubles. They say that prayer often gets a man out of difficulty simply by giving him self confidence that he would otherwise have lacked. Of course, this is not spiritual Truth. The fact is that seeing the Presence of God where the trouble seems to be does not merely give us courage to meet the trouble; it changes the trouble into harmony.

Prayer heals the body by changing the tissues, and it does this by first changing the mind that forms them. Prayer brings man his salvation by changing his nature fundamentally; not by making the best of him as he is. The body, the environment, the universe itself, is plastic to our thought; and it always reflects our sincere belief.

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7)

Walk In Dry Places

Sunday, 9 May 2021