Monday 31 May 2021

Annie P. - Irish Annie - Recovery Speaker


https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/1PvubPQ8PM6QxhbsQ8XjEMFcIRAwB-6I7?alt=media&key=AIzaSyDvAi0N-LmTmUYkv7jtT2r5plOE1kmzwxM

Daily Dose Of Emmet Fox


“We know the Truth; we do not judge by appearances. We know that we live in a mental world, and to know that is the key to life. If a child could be taught only one thing, it should be taught that this is a mental world. I would let all the other things go and teach him that.”

― Emmet Fox, The Mental Equivalent: The Secret of Demonstration

Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Service #Daily #Reflections


READINESS TO SERVE OTHERS

. . . our Society has concluded that it has but one high mission–to carry the A.A. message to those who don’t know there’s a way out.

 TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151

The “Light” to freedom shines bright on my fellow alcoholics as each one of us challenges the other to grow. The “Steps” to self- improvement have small beginnings, but each Step builds the “ladder” out of the pit of despair to new hope. Honesty becomes my “tool” to unfurl the “chains” which bound me. A sponsor, who is a caring listener, can help me to truly hear the message guiding me to freedom.

I ask God for the courage to live in such a way that the Fellowship may be a testimony to His favor. This mission frees me to share my gifts of wellness through a spirit of readiness to serve others.
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Just for today


Keep it simple

“We live a day at a time but also from moment to moment. When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably.”

Basic Text, p. 99


––––=––––

Life often seems too complicated to understand, especially for those of us who’ve dodged it for so long. When we stopped using drugs, many of us came face to face with a world that was confusing, even terrifying. Looking at life and all its details, all at once, may be overwhelming. We think that maybe we can’t handle life after all and that it’s useless to try. These thoughts feed themselves, and pretty soon we’re paralyzed by the imagined complexity of life.

Happily, we don’t have to fix everything at once. Solving a single problem seems possible, so we take them one at a time. We take care of each moment as it comes, and then take care of the next moment as it comes.  We learn to stay clean just for today, and we approach our problems the same way. When we live life in each moment, it’s not such a terrifying prospect. One breath at a time, we can stay clean and learn to live.

––––=––––

Just for today: I will keep it simple by living in this moment only. Today, I will tackle only today’s problems; I will leave tomorrow’s problems to tomorrow. 
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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrecovery

READINESS TO SERVE OTHERS


. . . our Society has concluded that it has but one high mission–to
carry the A.A. message to those who don’t know there’s a way out.


TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151


The “Light” to freedom shines bright on my fellow alcoholics as each

one of us challenges the other to grow. The “Steps” to self-

improvement have small beginnings, but each Step builds the “ladder”

out of the pit of despair to new hope. Honesty becomes my “tool” to

unfurl the “chains” which bound me. A sponsor, who is a caring

listener, can help me to truly hear the message guiding me to freedom.


I ask God for the courage to live in such a way that the Fellowship

may be a testimony to His favor. This mission frees me to share my

gifts of wellness through a spirit of readiness to serve others. 
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Moments #Recovery #Addiction #NA

Keep It Simple

“We live a day at a time but also from moment to moment. When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably.” 

Basic Text, p. 96

Life often seems too complicated to understand, especially for those of us who’ve dodged it for so long. When we stopped using drugs, many of us came face to face with a world that was confusing, even terrifying. Looking at life and all its details, all at once, may be overwhelming. We think that maybe we can’t handle life after all and that it’s useless to try. These thoughts feed themselves, and pretty soon we’re paralyzed by the imagined complexity of life.

Happily, we don’t have to fix everything at once. Solving a single problem seems possible, so we take them one at a time. We take care of each moment as it comes, and then take care of the next moment as it comes. We learn to stay clean just for today, and we approach our problems the same way. When we live life in each moment, it’s not such a terrifying prospect. One breath at a time, we can stay clean and learn to live.

Just for today:
I will take comfort in my conscious contact with a Higher Power. I am never alone.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day



A.A. Thought For The Day

I shall not wait to be drafted for service to A.A. I Shall volunteer. I shall be loyal in my attendance, generous in my giving, kind in my criticism, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes. I shall give to A.A. my interest, my enthusiasm, my devotion, and most of all, myself. Do I also accept this as my AA. credo?

Meditation For The Day

Prayer is of many kinds, but of whatever kind, prayer is the linking up of the soul and mind to God. So, if prayer is only a glance of faith, a look or a word of love, or just a feeling of confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe, still the result of that prayer is added strength to meet all temptations and to overcome them. Even if no supplication is expressed, all the supply of strength that is necessary is secured, because the soul, being linked and united to God, receives from Him all spiritual help needed. The soul, when in its human body, still needs the things belonging to its heavenly habitation.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be taught how to pray. I pray that I may be linked through prayer to the mind and will of God. 
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Service

A.A. Thought For The Day

I shall not wait to be drafted for service to A.A. I Shall volunteer. I shall be loyal in my attendance, generous in my giving, kind in my criticism, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes. I shall give to A.A. my interest, my enthusiasm, my devotion, and most of all, myself. Do I also accept this as my AA. credo?

Meditation For The Day

Prayer is of many kinds, but of whatever kind, prayer is the linking up of the soul and mind to God. So, if prayer is only a glance of faith, a look or a word of love, or just a feeling of confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe, still the result of that prayer is added strength to meet all temptations and to overcome them. Even if no supplication is expressed, all the supply of strength that is necessary is secured, because the soul, being linked and united to God, receives from Him all spiritual help needed. The soul, when in its human body, still needs the things belonging to its heavenly habitation.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be taught how to pray. I pray that I may be linked through prayer to the mind and will of God.
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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Forgiving #BillW #Recovery

Start by Forgiving, p. 151

The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us. Triumphantly we seize upon his slightest misbehavior as the perfect excuse for minimizing or forgetting our own.

Right here we need to fetch ourselves up sharply. Let’s remember that alcoholics are not the only ones bedeviled by sick emotions. In many instances we are really dealing with fellow sufferers, people whose woes we have increased.

If we are about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn’t we start out by forgiving them, one and all?

12 & 12, p. 78
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As Bill Sees It


Start by Forgiving, p. 151

The moment we ponder a twisted or broken relationship with another person, our emotions go on the defensive. To escape looking at the wrongs we have done another, we resentfully focus on the wrong he has done us. Triumphantly we seize upon his slightest misbehavior as the perfect excuse for minimizing or forgetting our own.

Right here we need to fetch ourselves up sharply. Let’s remember that alcoholics are not the only ones bedeviled by sick emotions. In many instances we are really dealing with fellow sufferers, people whose woes we have increased.

If we are about to ask forgiveness for ourselves, why shouldn’t we start out by forgiving them, one and all?

12 & 12, p. 78 
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Sobriety

Are Sobriety Dates Important?
Practical Thinking


Observing anniversaries of getting sober has become a time-honored custom in AA. Many group name lists include the individual members’ sobriety dates. It’s also customary in many groups to celebrate anniversaries with cakes and to award coins with numerals denoting years of sobriety.

To outsiders, this custom may seem frivolous. What is the benefit in celebrating the day one too the last drink or in adding up the number of sober years?

These celebrations of sobriety dates actually underscore the important goal of staying continuously sober. We may know alcoholics who “went back out” from time to time, and then failed to come back at all. Members who slip and do come back to tell us that it was an agonizing experience, and that they feared they wouldn’t have another chance to lead a sober life. We also hear people say: “I may have another drunk in me, but I’m not sure I can find another sobering up.”

The message is clear: Get sober mark that date, and continue to build on it. We stress the importance of sobriety when we acknowledge the importance of sobriety dates.

I’ll stay sober today. Whatever my length of sobriety, I want to honor it and build on it.

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Walk in Dry Places

Are Sobriety Dates Important?
Practical Thinking


Observing anniversaries of getting sober has become a time-honored custom in AA. Many group name lists include the individual members’ sobriety dates. It’s also customary in many groups to celebrate anniversaries with cakes and to award coins with numerals denoting years of sobriety.

To outsiders, this custom may seem frivolous. What is the benefit in celebrating the day one too the last drink or in adding up the number of sober years?

These celebrations of sobriety dates actually underscore the important goal of staying continuously sober. We may know alcoholics who “went back out” from time to time, and then failed to come back at all. Members who slip and do come back to tell us that it was an agonizing experience, and that they feared they wouldn’t have another chance to lead a sober life. We also hear people say: “I may have another drunk in me, but I’m not sure I can find another sobering up.”

The message is clear: Get sober mark that date, and continue to build on it. We stress the importance of sobriety when we acknowledge the importance of sobriety dates.

I’ll stay sober today. Whatever my length of sobriety, I want to honor it and build on it. 
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Laughter #Shame


You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.

—Ethel Barrymore

There was a time when we wouldn’t let anyone laugh at us—even ourselves. We had to much shame. We had to much pain. We took the world too seriously. If we laughed it was at others—not at ourselves. Over time , real honest laughter returns to us. Laughter is a way of accepting ourselves as human. To be human means we can make mistakes. It means we can lighten up. It also means growing up. And growing up means being happy with all of who we are—even parts of us that may seem odd or funny. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we shut ourselves off from the world. We shut ourselves off from the parts of us we need to accept. Am I willing to accept the fact that I’m human.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, You made laughter. Help me us it to make my life easier. Help me accept all of me a funny mistake I’ve made.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll share with someone close to me a funny mistake I’ve made.
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Keep It Simple


You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.


–Ethel Barrymore

There was a time when we wouldn’t let anyone laugh at us–even ourselves. We had to much shame. We had to much pain. We took the world too seriously. If we laughed it was at others–not at ourselves. Over time , real honest laughter returns to us. Laughter is a way of accepting ourselves as human. To be human means we can make mistakes. It means we can lighten up. It also means growing up. And growing up means being happy with all of who we are–even parts of us that may seem odd or funny. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we shut ourselves off from the world. We shut ourselves off from the parts of us we need to accept. Am I willing to accept the fact that I’m human.

Prayer for the Day:
 Higher Power, You made laughter. Help me us it to make my life easier. Help me accept all of me a funny mistake I’ve made.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll share with someone close to me a funny mistake I’ve made. 
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Ambition

AMBITION

“Show me a thoroughly satisfied man – and I will show you a failure.”

–Thomas Alva Edison

I need to strive for new things in my life. I need to push out into new areas and discover the richness of God’s world. I need to explore the varied creativity of creation.

There is so much that I have not done because of the wasted years of my addiction. So much that I have not seen, countries that I have not visited, languages that I have not learned and experiences that I have missed. My compulsive and obsessive behavior left me a prisoner of self – and also a victim of self.

The spiritual recovery I enjoy today says it is okay for me to have things, enjoy things and do things.

Help me to realize the energy and ambition You have created within me.
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation


AMBITION


“Show me a thoroughly satisfied man – and I will show you a failure.”
–Thomas Alva Edison

I need to strive for new things in my life. I need to push out into new areas and discover the richness of God’s world. I need to explore the varied creativity of creation.

There is so much that I have not done because of the wasted years of my addiction. So much that I have not seen, countries that I have not visited, languages that I have not learned and experiences that I have missed. My compulsive and obsessive behavior left me a prisoner of self – and also a victim of self.

The spiritual recovery I enjoy today says it is okay for me to have things, enjoy things and do things.

Help me to realize the energy and ambition You have created within me.
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A Day At A Time



Reflection For The Day

Giving love is a fulfillment in itself. It must not matter whether love is returned or not. If I give love only to get a respons3e on my terms, my live is cancelled out by my motives. If i have the capacity to give love, then any return I get for it is a special bonus. It is through giving love, freely and without expectation of return, that we find ourselves and build ourselves spiritually. Have I begun to believe, in the words of Goethe, that “Love does not dominate; it cultivates?

Today I Pray

May I, the inveterate people-leaser and approval-seeker, know that the only real love does not ask for love back. May God be patient as I try to practice this principle. May I rid myself of pride that throws itself in the way of love. May I discard my silly cat-and-mouse games that have no place in real love.

Today I Will Remember

I will not give love to get love.
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One Day At A Time




THE TITANIC


“Men at some time are masters of their fates.”

–William Shakespeare


Our early days in OA can be compared to being a passenger on the Titanic. As we took our beloved and wonderfully-powerful first three steps, we were taking a voyage. In Step One we realized we were on the Titanic and that we were doomed. In Step Two we spotted a lifeboat. And in Step Three we took our seats in the lifeboat.

My voyage began with Step One when I realized the connection between the weight I was carrying and some health issues I had last year. I had developed “pitting edema” in both ankles. That was a sign of congestive heart failure. I was on the Titanic! In addition to my physical health condition, I discovered that my inner-health was also challenged. I had lived my life filled with resentments and negative thinking which ate at my very being. I had lost much of my spiritual strength and was in need of spiritual renewal. I was indeed a passenger on my own personal Titanic.

My voyage continued with Step Two. I can’t even remember how I found The Recovery Group online, but I know that my Higher Power must have brought me here. Though I didn’t believe at that time what the fellowship said in the meetings, I “acted as if” I believed my Higher Power could relieve me of these horrible compulsions to overeat and to live in resentment and negativity. That was all it took. I had spotted the lifeboat and was “acting as if” I believed it had come for me.

I was being changed. My early days of abstinence were difficult, but achievable. I had gotten into the lifeboat. I will always remember where I was when I suddenly realized that God had relieved me of the compulsion to eat between meals and at night. That realization had a huge impact on me. That day I took my seat on the lifeboat. I have been blessed with so much recovery. The ride I am on in this lifeboat isn’t a free ride; it requires that I work this program on a daily basis. But when I consider the alternative, I love the ride I am on and I truly cherish the passengers with whom I am sharing this boat!

One day at a time …

I will cherish the lifeboat that this program has given me.

~ Karen A. 
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day


“Sell a country? Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the Earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?

–Tecumseh, SHAWNEE

The White Man’s way is to possess, control, and divide. It has always been difficult for Indian people to understand this. There are certain things we cannot own that must be shared. The Land is one of these things. We need to re-look at what we are doing to the Earth. We are digging in her veins and foolishly diminishing the natural resources. We are not living in balance. We do not own the Earth; the Earth owns us. Today, let us ponder the true relationship between the Earth and ourselves.

Great Spirit, today, let me see the Earth as you would have me see Her. 
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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Idea #God #Recovery



“…(D)eep down in every man, woman and child is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.” 

– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 4 (“We Agnostics“), p 55.
Today, if I expect AA to work for me, I must expect myself to work with it, and I must knock down the wall that separates me from the Power stronger than myself to begin my recovery from alcoholism. If I am struggling or even rejecting the possibility of such a Power, let me read and embrace these words from the Big Book and accept on blind faith the hope that somewhere inside me is a “fundamental idea of God.” He, God, need not be a religious entity but a spiritual one, and a “spiritual awakening,” even if it is a basic change in my psyche or character, is required if I am to achieve any kind of quality recovery. Today, I must put aside any resistance and open myself to the idea of a Power stronger than myself so that I can earn the benefits of recovery. If alcohol is stronger than me, I have to believe and hope that a force stronger than alcohol can restore me. And our common journey continues. 


Step by step. – Chris M., 2013
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Today’s Gift



It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

–Antoine de St. Exupery

A tuning fork is a small tool that is used to tune musical instruments. It is tapped softly and then set down. As it vibrates, it gives off a musical tone. When its vibrations perfectly match the vibrations of the note played on the instrument, the instrument is in tune. When the note matches the tuning fork, this can be both felt and heard.

Our hearts work like a tuning fork. When the heart feels completely in tune with a decision or thought or action in our lives, then we know it is the right one for us. We can actually feel the harmony inside our bodies.

Sometimes what we know deep in our hearts gets clouded over by doubts and questions and other people’s opinions and judgments. We need to clear away such clouds and listen to our hearts, for our hearts carry the wisdom of God.
Am I in tune with my heart today?
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #unity #Community #Recovery



For a person to attempt to live apart from this world is as useless as for a drop of water to live apart from the ocean. God put everything in this world, and He takes nothing out. To endeavor to withdraw from the world’s activities is another way of fooling yourself. We are an influence for good or evil regardless of our attempts to hide from society at large.

When a rock falls from a cliff into the sea, it is not merely that the land is one rock less, it means the contour of the whole continent has changed. However, it is still a part of God’s Universe whether it can be seen by man or not.

Hazelden Foundation
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Daily TAO /151 ACTUAL #essentialsofrec #Tao #Zen #Taoism #Buddhism

The actual
Is only actual
In one place
And one time.

When one listens to a barking dog, one might imagine emotion, pain, reaction, anxiety, and self-identification, but actually there is nothing there — just sound from a long and deep corridor, channeled out of nothingness and fading into nothingness again.

Like that dog, we may all strive, but there is truly nothing to be done. If we look deeply into our lives, there is only a thin veneer of self-generated meaning over an immense ocean of nothingness.

What we do only has meaning in the here and now. It will not remain in the next instant. Just do what you can for the present, and leave everything else to happen naturally. Work. Wash. Meditate. Eat. Study. Urinate. Sleep. Exercise. Talk. Listen. Touch. Die each night. Be born again each morning. 
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Daily Tao / 151 - ACTUAL

The actual

Is only actual

In one place

And one time.

When one listens to a barking dog, one might imagine emotion, pain, reaction, anxiety, and self-identification, but actually there is nothing there -- just sound from a long and deep corridor, channeled out of nothingness and fading into nothingness again.

Like that dog, we may all strive, but there is truly nothing to be done. If we look deeply into our lives, there is only a thin veneer of self-generated meaning over an immense ocean of nothingness.

What we do only has meaning in the here and now. It will not remain in the next instant. Just do what you can for the present, and leave everything else to happen naturally. Work. Wash. Meditate. Eat. Study. Urinate. Sleep. Exercise. Talk. Listen. Touch. Die each night. Be born again each morning. 
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Daily Zen #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism

Fields are spoiled by weeds; people, by passion. So what's given to those free of passion bears great fruit. Fields are spoiled by weeds; people, by aversion. So what's given to those free of aversion bears great fruit.

- Dhammapada, 24, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
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Daily Zen

Meditate on that which is beyond words and symbols. Forsake the demands of the self. By such forsaking you will live serenely.

-Sutta Nipata 
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Emmet Fox - Stake Your Claim: Exploring the Gold Mine Within #essentialsofrec #Holiness #Emmet #Fox



 Holiness Unto the Lord

This phrase is used several times in the Bible, and in our ordinary King James Version the whole phrase is always printed in capitals, indicating unusual importance. Now what do these very important words mean? Well, they contain nothing less than the master key to life.

Holiness unto the Lord means that there is nothing in existence but the self-expression of God--that and nothing more. It naturally follows from this that you yourself, and every condition in your life today, are simply part of God's manifestation or self-expression, and therefore must be perfect, beautiful and harmonious. It may not seem so to the limited human mind, but nevertheless it is the Truth of Being.


This is not a mere abstract truth, but is an extremely practical matter, because to know this and to have faith in it rapidly clears up any kind of difficulty that may be in your life. Instead of a mere academic speculation it is the most powerful healing agent in existence. It will heal the body, readjust every kind of difficulty with other people, solve all business troubles, bring you inspiration and courage, and move you into your true place if you have not already found it.

These words were written upon a golden crown which surmounted the headdress of the high priest, and a later prophecy says that in the day of triumph these words shall be upon the bells of the horses. Of course, you yourself are really a high priest, as Aaron was, when you are engaged in realizing the presence of God where a negative condition seems to be, and it is in your day of triumph (when your prayer is answered) that the words will be seen upon the bells of the horses. You know those horses--and at that time the three inferior horses will have been redeemed forever.

A bell is a proclamation; a summons. Church bells are rung to proclaim that a church service is about to be held and to summon the people. And bells used for secular purposes have the same essential significance. The bells on your horses will proclaim the power of prayer and will summon other people to Higher Thought because when they see the changes that have come over you they will hasten to obtain the same blessings.

Do not accept trouble at its face value. Realize the holiness of god where the trouble seems to be. Have faith in it, and all will be well.

Fox, Emmet (2010-09-07). Stake Your Claim: Exploring the Gold Mine Within (pp. 32-33). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
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Sunday 30 May 2021

As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec


Down To Earth, p. 178

Those of us who have spent much time in the world of spiritual make-believe have eventually seen the childishness of it. This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives.

We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our work must be done. These are the realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 130 
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Be gentle...


EssentialsOfRecovery

Big Book - Chapter 4 We Agnostics (pg 48 & top 49)


The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power greater than himself. We think there are good reasons. Let us have a look at some of them. The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts and results. Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily accepts theories of all kinds, provided they are firmly grounded in fact. We have numerous theories, for example, about electricity. Everybody believes them without a murmur of doubt. Why this ready acceptance? Simply because it is impossible to explain what we see, feel, direct, and use, without a reasonable assumption as a starting point. Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof. And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the weakest proof? It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are not inward reality at all. To illustrate: The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirling around each other at incredible speed. These tiny bodies are governed by precise laws, and these laws hold true throughout the material world, Science tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however, the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that underneath the material world and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes to the surface and we laboriously set out to convince ourselves it isn't so. We read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere.

  Chapter 4 We Agnostics (pg 48 & top 49)

Gene M. - Sleep Hollow N.Y. - Recovery Speaker



Daily Reflections


OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE


The more A.A. sticks to its primary purpose, the greater will be its helpful influence everywhere.

-A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 109
It is with gratitude that I reflect on the early days of our Fellowship and those wise and loving “foresteppers” who proclaimed that we should not be diverted from our primary purpose, that of carrying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. I desire to impart respect to those who labor in the field of alcoholism, being ever mindful that A.A. endorses no causes other than its own. I must remember that A.A. has no monopoly on miracle making and I remain humbly grateful to a loving God who made A.A. possible.
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Just For Today

 Loneliness vs. being alone

“Sharing with others keeps us from feeling isolated and alone.”

Basic Text, p. 85

––––=––––

There is a difference between being alone and being lonely.  Being lonely is a state of the heart, an emptiness that makes us feel sad and sometimes hopeless.  Loneliness is not always alleviated when we enter into relationships or surround ourselves with others.  Some of us are lonely even in a room full of people.

Many of us came to Narcotics Anonymous out of the desperate loneliness of our addiction.  After coming to meetings, we begin to make new friends, and often our feelings of loneliness ease.  But many of us must contend with loneliness throughout our recovery.

What is the cure for loneliness?  The best cure is to begin a relationship with a Higher Power that can help fill the emptiness of our heart.  We find that when we have a belief in a Higher Power, we never have to feel lonely.  We can be alone more comfortably when we have a conscious contact with a God of our understanding.

We often find deep fulfillment in our interactions with others as we progress in our recovery.  Yet we also find that, the closer we draw to our Higher Power, the less we need to surround ourselves with others.  We begin to find a spirit within us that is our constant companion as we continue to explore and deepen our connection with a Power greater than ourselves.  We realize we are spiritually connected with something bigger than we are.

––––=––––

Just for today:  I will take comfort in my conscious contact with a Higher Power.  I am never alone. 
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day


A.A. Thought For The Day

I am part of A.A., one among many, but I am one. I need the A.A. principles for the development of the buried life within me. A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is Divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and a better life. Participating in the privilege of the movement, I shall share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully. To the extent that I fail in my responsibilities, A.A. fails. To the extent I succeed, A.A. succeeds. Do I accept this as my A.A. credo?

Meditation For The Day

“Praise the Lord.” What does praising God mean? It means being grateful for all the wonderful things in the universe and for all the blessings in your life. So praise God by being grateful and humble. Praise of this kind has more power to vanquish evil than has mere resignation. The truly grateful and humble person who is always praising God, is not tempted to do wrong. You will have a feeling of security because you know that fundamentally all is well. So look up to God and praise Him.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be grateful for all my blessings. I pray that I may humble because I know that I do not deserve them. 
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As Bill Sees It

No Boundaries, p. 150


Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, of width or height or depth. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way. But its object is always the same; to improve our conscious contact with God, with His grace, wisdom, and love.

And let’s always remember that meditation is in reality intensely practical. One of its first fruits is emotional balance. With it we can broaden and deepen the channel between ourselves and God as we understand Him.

12 & 12, pp. 101-102 
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Walk in Dry Places

Civilians who show resentments

Healthy Thinking



As compulsive people, we’re urged to watch resentments carefully. These negative feelings can flare up out of nowhere and bring terrible destruction.


This sensitivity in spotting our own resentments also makes us more aware of resentments in others— perhaps people who are not alcoholics and thus are considered NORMAL. (Earth people I call them even if I doubt that anyone is really normal)


When this happens, we have no responsibility to point their resentment out to them. Our best approach is to deal with them as cordially as possible and to withdraw gracefully if their resentment is directed at us. This teaches us that resentment is a universal human problem— not just an affliction of alcoholics and other compulsive people.

While guarding against resentment in myself today, I’ll not be surprised or hurt when it appears in others. If it does, I will not feel hurt or surprised, knowing that it’s a human problem. 
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Keep It Simple


One Day at a Time

-AA program slogan




One Day at a Time reminds us to live in a sane, natural way. It reminds us we can’t control the past. It reminds us we can’t control the future. We can live only in the present. We have only the moment. We have only today.

Before recovery, our worries about the past and the future put stress in our lives We need to live in a way that doesn’t put us in danger. We need to live in a way that lets us enjoy things. We need to live in a way that lets us stay close to others, ourselves, and our Higher Power.


Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to really live One Day at a Time.


Action for the Day: Today, I’ll keep reminding myself that I have the moment. No more, no less. Am I using my moments the way my Higher Power wants me to? 
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation


POSTERITY

“We need to make a world in which fewer children are born, and in which we take better care of them.”

–Dr. George Wald

Spirituality is concerned for the physical. How we plant seeds, do exercises and develop a healthy food plan is as important as prayer, reading and meditation. The body is part of the soul.

Also we have a responsibility for the future; for those who follow us on this planet. The ecological welfare of our world is spiritual. An irresponsibility concerning childbirth reveals an arrogance that does not belong to the spiritual program. The satisfaction of our personal desires should never hurt the lives of others – including the unborn.

Teach me to have a spiritual responsibility to the future. 
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A Day At A Time


Reflection For The Day

Since I’ve been in The Program, I’ve learned to redefine love.  I’ve come to understand, for example, that sometimes it’s necessary to place love ahead of indiscriminate “factual honesty.”  No longer, under the guise of “perfect honesty,” can I cruelly and unnecessarily hurt others.  Today, I always must ask myself, “What’s the best and most loving thing I can do?”  Have I begun to sow the seeds of love in my daily living?

Today I Pray

May God, in His live, show me how to be loving.  May I first sense the feelings of love and caring within me and then find ways to show those feelings.  May I remember how many times I cut myself off from relationships because I did not know how either to let myself feel love or to show what I did feel.

Today I Will Remember

When I feel love, I will be loving.  
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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrecovery


Home

“A person can run for years but sooner or later he has to take a stand in the place which, for better or worse, he calls home, do what he can to change things there.”

–Paule Marshall

I’ve been running for most of my life. I was in a hurry to grow up. As a kid, all I wanted was to grow up and move out. I was so sick of everything and everyone in my life. I didn’t want to be told what to do. I wanted to be able to call the shots. Then, when I grew up, I wanted to be a kid again. I wanted people to tell me what to do and to take care of me. When I was calling the shots, I found myself in bars and eating out all the time because I didn’t want to go to the grocery store or cook. The only foods I kept in my studio apartment were binge foods. I lived in a very urban area and could very easily walk to fast food or to convenience stores. I didn’t know what home meant. When I’m running, I get out of breath, my body hurts, my soul hurts, and I have no space for my Higher Power to guide me. I run laps in the same place, expecting to feel better, but never feeling better.

As a relative newcomer to program, I have made a conscious choice to stop. I turned it over to my Higher Power and asked for guidance in finding home and staying there. Now, as I am standing in place, I find that my home is my Higher Power. Standing in place, I’ve found that the world isn’t as adverse as I’d perceived it to be. I can actually see the beauty in the world around me and feel nurtured by the feeling of home.

One day at a time …

Today I can stand in place and look around. I can be aware of the ever-loving presence of my Higher Power and the comfort of the home that have both been with me all along.

~ AJ 
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day


“Power comes and goes. It can vanish in the twinkling of an eye, like smoke dissolving in the air.”

–Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA


The East, South, West, and North are the powers of the four directions. The Creator makes these powers available to do things. We pray to the Creator to give us the power to do these things. Often, we are given these powers for awhile, then these powers disappear. Power is given and taken from us by the Great Spirit, the source of power. During the time we have this power, we should be responsible and use the power in a good way. Many good things can be accomplished when we realize where this power really comes from.

Great Spirit, today, show me how to use Your power. 
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Today’s Gift


The cut worm forgives the plow.

—William Blake


Would anyone believe that rain abuses grass, or accuse roots, hungry for a better hold on life, of digging too far into earth’s flesh? And if the earth should have to quake, would anyone blame it for cracking here and there? Look closely at the small world of busy life overturned in the garden each spring. No ant there curses another bug, and no worm curses itself. Though they can neither speak nor think, even small creatures know enough to accept their pain as a natural part of life.


Why, then, should we waste time blaming others, or ourselves, for the natural sensations of life?


In the process of new growth, can we expect no pain?  
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Today’s Gift


The cut worm forgives the plow.

—William Blake


Would anyone believe that rain abuses grass, or accuse roots, hungry for a better hold on life, of digging too far into earth’s flesh? And if the earth should have to quake, would anyone blame it for cracking here and there? Look closely at the small world of busy life overturned in the garden each spring. No ant there curses another bug, and no worm curses itself. Though they can neither speak nor think, even small creatures know enough to accept their pain as a natural part of life.


Why, then, should we waste time blaming others, or ourselves, for the natural sensations of life?


In the process of new growth, can we expect no pain? 
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #problem #Recovery


We are all familiar with that class of people who have a drinking problem; they know they have it and they know that they can do nothing about it themselves. They also know that we had a similar problem and that we did something about it; their own eyes bear testimony to that effect – yet they refuse to take the message we bring them. They have ears, yet they will not hear. It is not our purpose to sell them a bill of goods. Our message is only for those who want it. They aren’t ready yet, so conserve your efforts for those who are hungry for what we have to give.

Hazelden Foundation
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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Time


“The old pattern reasserted itself, but it was no longer once every six months. The intervals grew shorter. The binges were longer. They were harder to get off. I wasn’t the type that could taper off. I had to stop cold. My last binge followed the previous one by two weeks. I had just come off a good one, and I went back on to the next one.” 

– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Lost Nearly All,” Ch 3 (“Desperation Drinking”), p 514.

Today, let me guard against the passage of time and my last drunk from fading the memory of what my drinking days were really like – pure desperation. If it is true that the best predictor of my future is my past conduct, I cannot afford to “romanticize” my drinking, that it was “fun” and that it didn’t rip a path of destruction through myself and others. God grant me the honesty and wisdom to remember the desperation that finally pushed me to ask for help after I exhausted all the denial, justifications and rationalizations. Let me understand and accept that desperation is all the awaits me again if I am not honest with myself in remembering what active alcoholism is truly like. Today, the desperation that is always there to greet me again can wait. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M., 2013
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The Eye Opener


We are all familiar with that class of people who have a drinking problem; they know they have it and they know that they can do nothing about it themselves. They also know that we had a similar problem and that we did something about it; their own eyes bear testimony to that effect – yet they refuse to take the message we bring them. They have ears, yet they will not hear. It is not our purpose to sell them a bill of goods. Our message is only for those who want it. They aren’t ready yet, so conserve your efforts for those who are hungry for what we have to give.

Hazelden Foundation 
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Daily Tao / 150 – Mercy #essentialsofrec #Tao #Taoism #Zen



Uphold precepts, but be merciful.
Gradually absorb, until there is no need for law.
Gain wisdom beyond right and wrong.




There was a young priest who returned to the community of his birth. Instead of the neighborhood he knew as a boy, the community was now predominantly homosexual. He was uncertain : On one hand, he had to serve the people. On the other hand, his sect forbade homosexuality and condemned it as a grave wrong. It would seem that whatever he did, he would be a hypocrite. He eventually decided to accept all who came to him but still uphold the doctrines of his sect. He saw his most important duty as mercy, and so he was able to help others without truly violating his precepts. When there are contradictions between beliefs, one must resolve them in favor of what one judges to be the higher principle.

We should not sell our ideals short for the sake of expediency or selfishness. Following a particular spiritual tradition means a full commitment to its rules in order to gain the essence of that tradition. But we cannot afford to be dogmatic. Human law is imperfect : There will always be unprecedented circumstances. Thus, we must go beyond rules and operate instead from pure wisdom. We must act with experience, flexibility, and insight. Let us so absorb integrity — experiencing both its triumphs and defeats — that we do the right thing intuitively.

Tradition is first. Mercy is greater than tradition. Wisdom is greater than mercy.
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Daily Tao / 150 - MERCY


Uphold precepts, but be merciful.

Gradually absorb, until there is no need for law.

Gain wisdom beyond right and wrong.



There was a young priest who returned to the community of his birth. Instead of the neighborhood he knew as a boy, the community was now predominantly homosexual. He was uncertain : On one hand, he had to serve the people. On the other hand, his sect forbade homosexuality and condemned it as a grave wrong. It would seem that whatever he did, he would be a hypocrite. He eventually decided to accept all who came to him but still uphold the doctrines of his sect. He saw his most important duty as mercy, and so he was able to help others without truly violating his precepts. When there are contradictions between beliefs, one must resolve them in favor of what one judges to be the higher principle.

We should not sell our ideals short for the sake of expediency or selfishness. Following a particular spiritual tradition means a full commitment to its rules in order to gain the essence of that tradition. But we cannot afford to be dogmatic. Human law is imperfect : There will always be unprecedented circumstances. Thus, we must go beyond rules and operate instead from pure wisdom. We must act with experience, flexibility, and insight. Let us so absorb integrity -- experiencing both its triumphs and defeats -- that we do the right thing intuitively.

Tradition is first. Mercy is greater than tradition. Wisdom is greater than mercy. 
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DAILY ZEN #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Zen #Buddhism


Know the essence of mind.
Its intrinsic essence is pure clarity.
It is essentially the same as a buddha.
Know the functions of the mind.
Its functions produce the treasure
Of teachings.
When its activity is always
Silent, myriad illusions become suchness.

- Tao-hsin (580-651)
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Daily Zen

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art

of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of

non-essentials."

--Lin Yutang 
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Saturday 29 May 2021

Debbie G. - AA Speaker - "Grant me serene sobriety" #essentialsofrec #Speakers #Recovery


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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Tolerance #Recovery


TRUE TOLERANCE

The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139


I first heard the short form of the Third Tradition in the Preamble. When I came to A.A. I could not accept myself, my alcoholism, or a Higher Power. If there had been any physical, mental, moral, or religious requirements for membership, I would be dead today. Bill W. said in his tape on the Traditions that the Third Tradition is a charter for individual freedom. The most impressive thing to me was the feeling of acceptance from members who were practicing the Third Tradition by tolerating and accepting me. I feel acceptance is love and love is God’s will for us.
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #NA #Addiction #HigherPower


Carry Me

“We believe that our Higher Power will take care of us” 

Basic Text, p. 55

We all have times when it seems as though our lives are falling apart. There are days, or even weeks, when it seems that everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Whether it’s the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or the end of a relationship, we doubt that we’ll survive the changes taking place in our lives.

It’s during the times when the world is crashing down around our ears that we find our greatest faith in a loving Higher Power. No human being could relieve our suffering; we know that only God’s care can provide the comfort we seek. We feel broken but we go on, knowing that our lives will be repaired.

As we progress in our recovery and our faith in our Higher Power grows, we are sure to greet the difficult times with a sense of hope, despite the pain we may be in. We need not despair, for we know that our Higher Power’s care will carry us through when we can’t walk on our own.

Just for today:
I will rely on God’s care through the painful times, knowing that my Higher Power will always be there.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #God


A.A. Thought For The Day

We who have learned to put our drink problem in God’s hands can help others to do so. We can be used as a connection between an alcoholic’s need and God’s supply of strength. We in Alcoholics Anonymous can be uniquely useful, just because we have the misfortune or fortune to be alcoholics ourselves. Do I want to be a uniquely useful person? Will I use my own greatest defeat and failure and sickness as a weapon to help others?

Meditation For The Day


I will try to help others. I will try not to let a day pass without reaching out an arm of love to someone. Each day I will try to do something to lift another human being out of the sea of discouragement into which he or she has fallen. My helping hand is needed to raise the helpless to courage, to strength, to faith, to health. In my own gratitude, I will turn and help other alcoholics with the burden that is pressing too heavily upon them.

Prayer For The Day


I pray that I may be used by God to lighten many burdens. I pray that many souls may be helped through my efforts.
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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Depression #Fear


More than Comfort, p. 148


When I am feeling depressed, I repeat to myself statements such as these: “Pain is the touchstone of progress.” . . . “Fear no evil.” . . . “This, too, will pass.” . . . “This experience can be turned to benefit.”

These fragments of prayer bring far more than mere comfort. They keep me on the track of right acceptance; they break up my compulsive themes of guilt, depression, rebellion, and pride; and sometimes they endow me with the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Fairness #Judgement

Guarding against disguised hostility
Fairness.

One of the pitfalls in continued recovery is the tendency to become self-righteous and judgmental. Sometimes this fuses into a hostility directed toward newcomers or chronic “slippers”. Now and then, we’ve seen grumpy older members demanding that those who slip get honest.

While we may be right in concluding that a person is not showing honesty, we have NO RIGHT to denounce or expose anyone in a group setting. Far from helping the person, we may be showing off. If there is hostility in our words or manner, the other person will certainly sense it.

The best group setting for good recovery is always one that expresses warmth, acceptance, and understanding. There are few, if any, times when a verbal assault can be justified. Before we lash out at another person’s lack of honesty, we must take an honest look at our own motives and feelings.

I’ll face the day with a feeling of goodwill and acceptance in my dealings with every person I meet. If I attend a meeting, I’ll show the same warmth and acceptance toward every person there.
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Judgement #Recovery


The more one judges the less on love. 

—Balzac

At times we need to make judgments about people’s behavior. We stand back and look at how their lives affect our sobriety. We have to do this to choose people whose relationships will be good for us. We have to do this before we trust someone in business. We should take a good look at the others person before we fall in love. But we decide to trust or love someone, we have to stop judging.

When we love someone, we don’t stand back. We move in close. We give them all our love can offer. We don’t just think and judge. We feel. We are on their side. We look for the good in them. We don’t pick them apart. We love the whole person.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, help me to judge a little and love a lot. Help me accept the people I love, faults and all. Help me love them better.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll catch myself when I start to judge others. I will accept them as they are.
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #FrLEo


SELF


“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.”

–William Shakespeare


My addiction to alcohol led me away from “self”: today in my sobriety I am beginning to understand me. For years I blamed others for my misfortunes but today I see that I was the enemy in my life. It was a “cop-out” to blame God, family, job or life for my alcoholism – I needed to take responsibility for “self”.

Part of my recovery program today involves me not looking “outside” for answers but looking within. The answer is not in the stars, not in fate – but rather in the destiny I create by the decisions I make today. I, and I alone, forge my future.

O Lord, let me create a life that is pleasing in Your sight.
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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Step5 #Program #Recovery

Reflection For The Day

When we fist reached The Program and for the first time in our lives stood among people who seemed to understand, the sense of belonging was exhilarating. We felt that the problem of isolation had been solved. We soon discovered, however, that while we weren’t alone any more, in a social sense, we still suffered many of the old pangs of anxious apartness. Until we had talked with complete candor of our conflicts, and had listened to someone else do the same thing, we still didn’t belong. Step Five was the answer. Have I found through the Fifth step the beginning of true kinship with my fellows and God?

Today I Pray

May God help me learn to share myself, my attributes and my failings, not just as I take the Fifth Step but in a continuing give-and-take process with my friends. May I cultivate an attitude of openness and honesty with others, now that I have begun to be honest with myself. May I remember who I used to be — the child in a game of hide-and-seek, who hid so well that nobody could find her/him and everyone gave up trying and went home.

Today I Will Remember


I will be open to friendships.
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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #OA #HigherPower #Recovery

HIGHER POWER


“Think not because no man sees, such things will remain unseen.”

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Recently at a meeting I heard a person share that they weren’t sure that the program would work for them because they did not believe in God. They were very distressed. I wanted to get out the Big Book and quote to them from page 47, “When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. This applies too, to other spiritual expressions which you find in this book. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him.”

Many of us have a problem with God in the beginning of our program. We may be atheists, agnostics, or simply have had bad experiences regarding God or His/Her people. We can choose the group, or the Higher Power of another, to be our Higher Power until we are able to begin, bit-by-bit, to define and establish a relationship with our own Higher Power. I know that when I came into the program I was very angry with God. I used the group as my Higher Power at first. Then I used my sponsor’s God of her understanding as my Higher Power because He was so loving and full of grace. We had many talks about her God. This helped me greatly until I was able to reconnect to my relationship with the God of my understanding. Today I have a full, rich and intimate relationship with my God.

One day at a time…
I will be tolerant of others’ conception of their Higher Power and will continue to grow in my relationship with the God of my understanding.

~ Carolyn H.
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #Crow #NativeAmerican #Humility


“Humility is probably the most difficult virtue to realize.”

–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

Two definitions of humility are; one, being aware of one’s own defects of character, and two, giving credit where credit is due. This means if you do something and are successful because God gave you certain talents, give credit to God when someone tells you how well you did; this is being humble. If you are successful at something, but had help from friends, spouse, neighbors, give credit to those who helped you; this is being humble. If you have done a task and you alone accomplished it, give credit to yourself; this is being humble. Say the truth and give credit where credit is due.

Grandfather, let me walk a truthful road today.
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Today’s Gift #essentialsofrec #Success #Failure


The only people who never fail are those who never try.

—Ilka Chase


A boy once asked his grandfather how he had become so happy and successful in his life. “Right decisions,” replied his grandfather. The boy thought for a while and then asked a second question, “But how do you learn to make right decisions?” The grandfather answered quickly with a twinkle in his eye, “Wrong decisions!”

We, too, will learn from our “wrong decisions,” our mistakes. Whenever we try anything, there is always the possibility of failure. We must learn to not let this keep us from trying. When we are willing to try, we have already conquered our fear. We can grow no matter what the outcome is.

What failure have I turned into success?
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Step By Step #essentialsofrec #Power #Recovery #Step2



“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” 

– Step Two
Today, whether a newcomer or veteran of the Program, if the term Higher Power discourages me because my faith has been ravaged by alcohol or the less than serene episodes of sobriety, let me re-read and understand the literal interpretation of Step Two. We are not asked or mandated by this Step to believe, but “come to believe” in the possibility of a Higher Power. If I shrug off the possibility of some being stronger and greater than myself, I need only look to why I came to AA in the first place: by doing that, I also reached out for the possibility that some help that I need desperately exists. By the same measure, if I cannot yet grasp the concept of a stronger power, let me believe that Step Two is telling me that coming to believe in and accept a Power greater than myself is a dynamic process, one that requires ongoing change. Just as I did not become sober after my last drink and probably needed weeks, months or longer to move from being dry to being sober, so it goes with developing an understanding of the principles of all Twelve Steps. Today, I will not give up if I do not believe in that Higher Power; instead, I will proceed with the promise of Step Two that I will one day find my Higher Power. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M.,
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #God #Strength #Shame



Life has been hard on us, but most of it was made hard by ourselves. The hard life, however, taught us much: it strengthened our muscles; it broadened our experiences. We are better men because of it. We have known much of hunger, pain, defeat, mental anguish, despair and shame. Only the good survived this ordeal, and we can alleviate the sufferings of the world all the better because we have suffered also.

God was not punishing us …He was conditioning us.

Hazelden Foundation
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Daily Tao / 149 – Pivoting #essentialsofrec #Tao #Taoism #Zen



Some days, you and I go mad.
Our bellies get stuffed full,
Hearts break, minds snap.
We can’t go on the old way so
We change. Our lives pivot,
Forming a mysterious geometry.




Life revolves. You cannot go back one minute, or one day. In light of this, there is no use marking time in any one position. Life will continue without you, will pass you by, leaving you hopelessly out of step with events. That’s why you must engage life and maintain your pace.

Don’t look back, and don’t step back. Each time you make a decision, move forward. If your last step gained you a certain amount of territory, then make sure that your next step will capitalize on it. Don’t relinquish your position until you are sure that you have something equal or better in your grasp. But how do we develop timing for this process?

It has to be intuitive. On certain days, we come to our limits, and our tolerance for a situation ends. When that happens, change without the interference of concepts, guilt, timidity, or hesitancy. Those are the points when our entire lives pivot and turn toward new phases, and it is right that we take advantage of them. We mark our progress not by the distance covered but by the lines and angles that are formed.
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DAILY ZEN #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism


Constantly be aware,
Without stopping.
When the aware mind is present,
It senses the formlessness of things.
Constantly see your body as empty
And quiet, inside and outside
Communing in sameness.
Plunge the body into the realm
Of reality, where there has
Never been any obstruction.

- Tao-hsin (580-651)
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Friday 28 May 2021

AA Speaker "Iron" Mike P. “Laughter is good Medicine” #essentialsofrec #AA #Speakers



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Random Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous #essentialsofrec #AA #BigBook



Maybe we are divorced, and have remarried but haven’t kept up the alimony to number one. She is indignant about it, and has a warrant out for our arrest. That’s a common form of trouble too.

Although these reparations take innumerable forms, there are some general principles which we find guiding. Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be. We may lose our position or reputation or face jail, but we are willing. We have to be. We must not shrink at anything.

Usually, however, other people are involved. Therefore, we are not to be the hasty and foolish martyr who would needlessly sacrifice others to save himself from the alcoholic pit. A man we know had remarried. Because of resentment and drinking, he had not paid alimony to his first wife. She was furious. She went to court and got an order for his arrest. He had commenced our way of life, had secured a position, and was getting his head above water. It would have been impressive heroics if he had walked up to the Judge and said, “Here I am.”

We thought he ought to be willing to do that if necessary, but if he were in jail he could provide nothing for either family. We suggested he write his first wife admitting his faults and asking forgiveness. He did, and also sent a small amount of money. He told her what he would try to do in the future. He said he was perfectly willing to go to jail is she insisted. Of course she did not, and the whole situation has only since been adjusted.

Chapter 6 Into Action (pg 79)

Freeing the Spirit - AA Grapevine February 1984 #essentialsofrec



Step Eleven


ONE OF THE key ideas, it seems to me, in the successful practice of the Twelve Steps as a recovery program is contained in the words "conscious contact." The only way I could arrive at any degree of consciousness regarding the physical and the mental/emotional aspects of my recovery, and of my alcoholism itself, was through application of the first ten Steps. Also very helpful was jumping over the fence and making excursions into the Twelfth.

Approaching the Eleventh, then, I already had a good working knowledge of the limitations imposed on me by my threefold disease. That degree of awareness provided a comfortable lead-in to an understanding of the third aspect of alcoholism, the spiritual. Time was, whenever I'd be called on at an AA meeting to share on this Step, I'd become a guru and soar into guru-land. I didn't share my experience; I taught a lesson on spirituality, a how-you-too-can-become-spiritual lesson. (In my early AA years, it was called "pontificating"--but only if someone else did it!)

I see my drinking years, for the most part, as a prolonged effort to improve my conscious contact with reality and with a Power greater than reality. Occasional insight told me that drinking was not the best way. Yet I could cite bands of men and women down through the ages who had practiced severe mortification of the flesh in their pursuit of contact with something beyond ordinary attainment. That was their way, I told myself, and drinking was mine. Alcohol seemed to open doors to a high spiritual life that remained beyond my mortal reach.

Before coming to AA, I spent upwards of two years in psychoanalysis, a therapy that helped a great deal with many of my problems. With my one major problem, however--alcoholism--it offered no practical help whatsoever. My analyst once made an observation that was beyond my understanding at the time but stayed with me, perhaps because of the mystery it posed. In response to my frequent complaints about a fire in my innards, she asked me whether I had ever poured kerosene into a lighted stove. The result, she said, would be similar to pouring spirits on a spiritual fire--conflagration!

What was the source, or cause, of that spiritual fire? I don't really know. Down through my sober years thus far, I have been satisfied to think of it as a manifestation of longing for reunion with something--in AA, we call it a Power greater than ourselves. Some of us call it God.

Once, at a Step meeting, a woman told of her return to church in the belief that it was the only way her prayers would be heard. On her first visit, she was quite surprised to find people there. She had long ago concluded that nobody went to church anymore. Now, she had become a regular churchgoer. For her, church was the most comfortable place for praying.

I was unable to accept churchgoing in my early AA years; so I sought other kinds of help in working this Step. There are certain books promoting peace of mind that I enjoy reading. Perhaps the most attractive book as an aid to meditation is our own Conference-approved reader As Bill Sees It.

Recently, I spent a ten-month period eleventh-stepping myself. My objective was to find out whether I was working at the right job, or whether I should be using my God-given talents in another capacity. I felt I knew what I wanted to do, but because I had been trapped in one job for a very long time, I was no longer sure I could distinguish between wishful thinking and intuition.

During the day or as I lay in bed at night, I'd repeat the words of the Step, each time emphasizing and dwelling on different ones.

What came of that eleventh-stepping adventure? From an unexpected source, I was summoned to a job interview. No, I didn't get the job; but that interview led to another, and this time I did get the job. It was the kind of work I had long believed I wanted to do, with the very organization I most wanted to work with. Happy ending, with the Eleventh Step to thank? No. I was fired. How come? I wasn't equal to the job. Apparently, I had misread God's will for me. Then, it became a matter of praying for the power to accept what I've heard some AAs refer to as not a spiritual awakening but a rude awakening!

Just as the earlier Steps had granted me physical freedom from alcohol and mental/emotional freedom from the stigma of alcoholism, so did my introduction to Step Eleven represent an unprecedented experiment in freedom of the spirit. No longer would I have to say, "Get me out of this mess, and I'll never do such and such again." No more bargaining, no more dictating, no more all-or-nothing! Thy will, not mine, be done!

Incidentally, there are ways other than prayer and meditation by which I can continue to improve my conscious contact with a Power greater than myself--for example, sharing in the maiden talk of a newcomer, rejoicing at the return of a member who had relapsed, and (not to be underestimated) the continuing wonder of waking up each morning sober.

"Quiet times" are of huge value to me. As recounted in Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, AA's co-founder practiced a quiet time of from thirty minutes to an hour every morning, when he read from inspirational books and meditated, a practice he continued into his later years.

In a piece that our other co-founder, Bill W., wrote for the Grapevine (June 1958), he said, "I've just finished rereading the chapter on Step Eleven in our book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. This was written almost five years ago. I was astonished when I realized how little time I had actually been giving to my own elementary advice on meditation, prayer, and guidance--practices that I had so earnestly recommended to everybody else!"

It still amazes me that those two men who bore the burden of our pioneer years continued to believe and to work at improving their conscious contact with a Power greater than themselves. And all the other early members who carried the AA message the length and breadth of the land--before the Eleventh Step was written, they, too, relied on a Power greater than themselves. They, too, prayed for knowledge of his will and for the power to follow through.

The Step worked for them in those days, and it works for me today. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that it will work for all those alcoholics yet to come through our doors. But as always, "First Things First." Before we can release the spirit from its imprisonment, we must first imprison the spirits in the bottle. We place the bottle on the shelf, place ourselves in the hands of AA as we understand it, and prepare for the adventure of sobriety. For me, it's an adventure un-thought of and undreamed of in all the years of my drinking life.


W. H.
Manhattan, New York

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