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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.
Wednesday 22 May 2024
Sarah L. - AA Speakers - "Trust God, Clean House, Help Others" Alcoholism Recovery
Random Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous – Fourth Edition #essentialsofrec #BigBook #Quotes
Whatever the situation, we usually have to do something about it. If we are sure our wife does not know, should we tell her? Not always, we think. If she knows in a general way that we have been wild, should we tell her in detail? Undoubtedly we should admit our fault. She may insist on knowing all the particulars. She will want to know who the woman is and where she is. We feel we ought to say to her that we have no right to involve another person. We are sorry for what we have done and, God willing, it shall not be repeated. More than that we cannot do; we have no right to go further. Though there may be justifiable exceptions, and though we wish to lay down no rule of any sort, we have often found this the best course to take.
Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Recovery #We #Strength
STEP ONE
WE . . .
WE . . .
(The first word of the First Step) TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21
When I was drinking all I could ever think about was “I, I, I,” or “Me, Me, Me.” Such painful obsessions of self, such soul sickness, such spiritual selfishness bound me to the bottle for more than half my life. The journey to find God and to do His will one day at a time began with the first word of the First Step . . . “We.” There was power in numbers, there was strength in numbers, there was safety in numbers, and for an alcoholic like me, there was life in numbers, If I had tried to recover alone I probably would have died. With God and another alcoholic I have a divine purpose in my life . . . I have become a channel for God’s healing love.
When I was drinking all I could ever think about was “I, I, I,” or “Me, Me, Me.” Such painful obsessions of self, such soul sickness, such spiritual selfishness bound me to the bottle for more than half my life. The journey to find God and to do His will one day at a time began with the first word of the First Step . . . “We.” There was power in numbers, there was strength in numbers, there was safety in numbers, and for an alcoholic like me, there was life in numbers, If I had tried to recover alone I probably would have died. With God and another alcoholic I have a divine purpose in my life . . . I have become a channel for God’s healing love.
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Awakening #Spiritual
Symptoms Of A Spiritual Awakening
“The steps lead to an awakening of a spiritual nature. This awakening is evidenced by changes in our lives.”
Basic Text, p. 48
We know how to recognize the disease of addiction. Its symptoms are indisputable. Besides an uncontrollable appetite for drugs, those suffering exhibit self-centered, self-seeking behavior. When our addiction was at its peak of activity, we were obviously in a great deal of pain. We relentlessly judged ourselves and others, and spent most of our time worrying or trying to control outcomes.
Just as the disease of addiction is evidenced by definite symptoms, so is a spiritual awakening made manifest by certain obvious signs in a recovering addict. We may observe a tendency to think and act spontaneously, a loss of interest in judging or interpreting the actions of anyone else, an unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment, and frequent attacks of smiling.
If we see someone exhibiting symptoms of a spiritual awakening, we should be aware that such awakenings are contagious. Our best course of action is to get close to these people. As we begin having frequent, overwhelming episodes of gratitude, an increased receptiveness to the love extended by our fellow members, and an uncontrollable urge to return this love, we’ll realize that we, too, have had a spiritual awakening.
Just for today: My strongest desire is to have a spiritual awakening. I will watch for its symptoms and rejoice when I discover them.
We know how to recognize the disease of addiction. Its symptoms are indisputable. Besides an uncontrollable appetite for drugs, those suffering exhibit self-centered, self-seeking behavior. When our addiction was at its peak of activity, we were obviously in a great deal of pain. We relentlessly judged ourselves and others, and spent most of our time worrying or trying to control outcomes.
Just as the disease of addiction is evidenced by definite symptoms, so is a spiritual awakening made manifest by certain obvious signs in a recovering addict. We may observe a tendency to think and act spontaneously, a loss of interest in judging or interpreting the actions of anyone else, an unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment, and frequent attacks of smiling.
If we see someone exhibiting symptoms of a spiritual awakening, we should be aware that such awakenings are contagious. Our best course of action is to get close to these people. As we begin having frequent, overwhelming episodes of gratitude, an increased receptiveness to the love extended by our fellow members, and an uncontrollable urge to return this love, we’ll realize that we, too, have had a spiritual awakening.
Just for today: My strongest desire is to have a spiritual awakening. I will watch for its symptoms and rejoice when I discover them.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Willingness
A.A. Thought For The Day
What impresses us most at an A.A. meeting is the willingness to share, without holding anything back. And pretty soon we find ourselves sharing also. We start telling our own experiences and by so doing we help the other person. And when we’ve got these things off our chest, we feel a lot better. It does us a lot of good to share with some other poor unfortunate person who’s in the same box that we were in. And the more we share, the more we have left for ourselves. Do I know that the more I share, the better chance I’ll have to stay sober?
Meditations For Today
Constantly claim God’s strength. Once convinced of the right of a course of action, once reasonably sure of God’s guidance, claim that strength now. You can claim all the strength you need to meet any situation. You can claim a new supply when your own supply is exhausted. You have a right to claim it and you should use your right. A beggar supplicates, a child appropriates. When you supplicate, you are often kept waiting, but when you appropriate God’s strength in a good cause, you have it at once.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may claim God’s strength whenever I need it. I pray that I may try to live as a child of God.
What impresses us most at an A.A. meeting is the willingness to share, without holding anything back. And pretty soon we find ourselves sharing also. We start telling our own experiences and by so doing we help the other person. And when we’ve got these things off our chest, we feel a lot better. It does us a lot of good to share with some other poor unfortunate person who’s in the same box that we were in. And the more we share, the more we have left for ourselves. Do I know that the more I share, the better chance I’ll have to stay sober?
Meditations For Today
Constantly claim God’s strength. Once convinced of the right of a course of action, once reasonably sure of God’s guidance, claim that strength now. You can claim all the strength you need to meet any situation. You can claim a new supply when your own supply is exhausted. You have a right to claim it and you should use your right. A beggar supplicates, a child appropriates. When you supplicate, you are often kept waiting, but when you appropriate God’s strength in a good cause, you have it at once.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may claim God’s strength whenever I need it. I pray that I may try to live as a child of God.
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As Bill Sees It #BillW #Essentialsofrec #Instincts
God-Given Instincts, p. 142
Creation gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them we wouldn’t be complete human beings. If men and women didn’t exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival. If they didn’t reproduce, the earth wouldn’t be populated. If there were no social instinct, there would be no society.
Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed their proper functions. Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives.
<< << << >> >> >>
We tried to shape a sane ideal for our future sex life. We subjected each relation to this test: Was it selfish or not? We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. We remembered always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed.
1. 12 & 12, p. 42
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 69
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Sobriety #Serenity
Emotional sobriety may be elusive
Serenity
It is easy to know when one is maintaining sobriety as far as alcohol is concerned. Emotional sobriety is more difficult to measure, because is it usually gauged by our behavior and feelings in response to people and situations.
If we lack emotional sobriety, we are likely to end up in “dry drunks”. This means we lose emotional control under pressure or when threatened. We may think we have this control, yet find ourselves falling apart when seemingly small problems come up.
Maybe we have to accept that we will never have all the emotional control that we admire in others. This emotional sensitivity may even be part of our alcoholism. Most important, we must ensure that emotional binges do not become binges involving real booze.
Nor should wed judge ourselves too harshly when we undergo another emotional binge, or “dry drunk.” Such judgmental attitudes, even toward ourselves, may be a form of false pride.
Today I’ll seek all the serenity I can find. If I lose my cool temporarily, I’ll accept it as part of my general problem and get back to orderly thinking as quickly as possible.
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Life #Service
Showing up is 80 percent of life.
—Woody Allen
Life is full of things we don’t want to do. Yet when all parts of us( mind, body, spirit) show up, things go okay. By being there, we can learn about ourselves and help others.
Showing up means we care about our program. It means we speak up at meetings. It means we care about our family, our friends, the world. It means we listen when a friend has a bad day. It means seeing ourselves in others. It means we talk to someone who bothers us. Showing up means we laugh when something seems funny. It means we cry when we feel sad. We’re important, and we need to bring our mind, body, and spirit with us—wherever we go. Have I learned to show up, all of me?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me show up for my life. Help me show up to do my part in Your plan today.
Today’s Action: As I go through my day, I’ll think about how I’m showing up for my life. I’ll be proud of myself for doing my part.
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Earth #FrLeo
EARTH
“This could be such a beautiful world.”
–Rosalind Welcher
The beauty that I see in the world also reveals a sadness – a sadness in knowing that it could be a much more loving and accepting place for everybody. If only we would get together in our difference instead of demanding sameness.
We destroy so much God–given beauty by our desire to control, understand and arrogantly pursue a philosophy of selfishness – and we all lose.
But my spiritual hope for tomorrow comes in the creative choices I make today.
Let me be a good steward in Your world because it is Your gift to me.
“This could be such a beautiful world.”
–Rosalind Welcher
The beauty that I see in the world also reveals a sadness – a sadness in knowing that it could be a much more loving and accepting place for everybody. If only we would get together in our difference instead of demanding sameness.
We destroy so much God–given beauty by our desire to control, understand and arrogantly pursue a philosophy of selfishness – and we all lose.
But my spiritual hope for tomorrow comes in the creative choices I make today.
Let me be a good steward in Your world because it is Your gift to me.
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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Program #Addiction
Reflection For The Day
When I first listened to people in The Program talking freely and honestly about themselves, I was stunned. Their stories of their own addictive escapades, of their own secret fears, and of their own gnawing loneliness were literally mind-blowing for me. I discovered — and hardly dared believe it at first — that I’m not alone. I’m not all that different from everybody else and, in fact, we’re all very much the same. I began to sense that I do belong somewhere, and my loneliness began to leave me. Do I try to give to others what has been given freely to me?
Today I Pray
May I begin to see, as the life stories of my friends in The Program unfold for me, that our similarities are far more startling than our differences. As I listen to their accounts of addition and recovery, may I experience often that small shock of recognition, a “hey-that’s-me!” feeling that is quick to chase away my separateness. May I become a wholehearted member of the group, giving and taking in equal parts.
Today I Will Remember
Sameness, not Differences.
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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Faith #Recovery
~ FAITH ~
The inability of the materialistic mind to grasp the idea of the Life Eternal is no proof of the non-existence of that life.
–‘Abdu’l-Baha
I grew up in a family where there was no belief in the existence of God, although we were told that it was up to us to decide where to put our faith.
I struggled through various addictions and disorders, but never forgot that one special time as a child, where I spontaneously went down on my knees one night to pray to God, who for a few moments had suddenly become very real.
As an adult, my belief in a Higher Power came and went like the breeze, so that some days I was an atheist, others an agnostic, and at other times filled with an awareness that God is in all things.
I am grateful that my addiction to overeating has brought me to this Twelve Step program. Every day I come to believe that a Power greater than myself can restore my sense of balance, and I make sure that I put in effort to maintain my conscious connection with God.
One Day at a Time . . .
I pray that my spiritual faculties and aspirations will daily increase, and that I will never allow the material senses to veil my eyes from the light of my Higher Power.
~ John M. ~
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #Native #Elders #NezPerce
“The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was… The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man’s business to divide it…”
–Chief Joseph, NEZ PERCE
There is danger when we start to draw lines and boundaries. This is true whether outside ourselves or inside ourselves. The danger is losing sight of the interconnectedness. When we lose sight of interconnectedness, separation, possessiveness (this is mine, I can do what I want) and infighting results. Even at an individual level, if we don’t believe we are connected to all things we get self-centered and have self-seeking motives. We must think in harmony, balance and integrity. We must see our relationship to the great whole and conduct ourselves accordingly.
Great Spirit, today, let me think beyond boundaries.
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Today’s Gift #essentialsofrec #Sanity #Laughter
If it’s sanity you’re after, there’s no recipe like laughter.
—Henry Rutherford Elliot
A smile is the earliest form of communication. A human infant smiles in the first few weeks of life. As the child grows, it learns how to turn the smile into a laugh – a joyous response reflecting pleasure.
A sense of humor, a feeling of fun, and an ability to laugh are all signs of emotional maturity. Healthy laughter frees us; it is the sunshine that makes life’s shadows interesting. When we develop the ability to see the humor in a situation, we gain the ability to handle it.
We were born with smiles. They are as much a part of us as our teeth and hair. Polished and cared for, our smiles can grow into a sense of humor that will help us through the painful times.
How can I turn troubles into smiles today?
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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Self-Destruction
Today, I will reach into my past to measure the enormity of my present and try to grasp the scope of the life sobriety has given me. Whereas I once was helpless, hopeless, weak, apathetic, selfish and destructive – and pathetic – today I have hope, strength, selflessness, compassion, passion and the courage born of humility to treat sobriety with awe and respect. While I cannot and do not want to live in or return to yesterday, I also do not want to forget it; its lessons can steer me from the same mistakes today. And all I have left behind and gained what I have now is through sobriety and, therefore, my sobriety is my No. 1 priority for. Without it, I have nothing except for all that I pray is gone – just for today. And our common journey continues.
Step by step. – Chris, M., 2014
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #Fear #suspicion
We veterans of the Alcoholic Wars that raged within ourselves can bear testimony to the fact that it was only when we called upon the God of our understanding that peace was restored to our lives.
World wars are but the extension of the conflicts existing in the souls of men on a worldwide basis. They, too, have as their foundation fear, suspicion, envy, intolerance and national egotism.
There will never be a permanent peace until the Prince of Peace is admitted into the hearts of men in high places and is allowed to preside over their Conference Tables.
Hazelden Foundation
World wars are but the extension of the conflicts existing in the souls of men on a worldwide basis. They, too, have as their foundation fear, suspicion, envy, intolerance and national egotism.
There will never be a permanent peace until the Prince of Peace is admitted into the hearts of men in high places and is allowed to preside over their Conference Tables.
Hazelden Foundation
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Daily Tao / 142 – Leisure #essentialsofrec #Tao #Taoism #Zen
Birds chirp, vanguard for coming rain,
Dog bark skitters through twilight village.
Smoke raises a column through the pines,
Contented families dine in golden windows.
Life’s pulse is gauged in the hollows, the intervals between events. If you want to see Tao, you must discern these spaces. This requires leisure, the chance to sit and contemplate, and the opportunity to respond to inner urgings.
If you can find a place to retreat, you can make a life where Tao will flood into you. Out in the woods, or in the mountains, or even in small villages where the times are slow paced and the people sensitive to nature, there is the possibility of knowing the deep and the profound. Only when you have the time to accumulate an unshakable belief and faith can you glimpse the Tao in which there is restfulness and a natural sense of what is right.
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DAILY ZEN #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism
Te-shan was sitting outside doing zazen. Lung-t'an
asked him why he didn't go back home. Te-shan answered,
"Because it is dark." Lung-t'an then lit a candle and handed
it to him. As Te-shan was about to take it, Lung-t'an blew it out.
Te-shan had a sudden realization, and bowed.
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Tuesday 21 May 2024
Sharon B. - AA Speaker - "A Path to Peace and Serenity" #essentialsofrec #Speaker
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Random Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous – Fourth Edition #essentialsofrec #BigBook #Quotes
The chances are that we have domestic troubles. Perhaps we are mixed up with women in a fashion we wouldn’t care to have advertised. We doubt if, in this respect, alcoholics are fundamentally much worse than other people. But drinking does complicate sex relations in the home. After a few years with an alcoholic, a wife gets worn out, resentful and uncommunicative. How could she be anything else? The husband begins to feel lonely, sorry for himself. He commences to look around in the night clubs, or their equivalent, for something besides liquor. Perhaps he is having a secret and exciting affair with “the girl who understands.” In fairness we must say that she may understand, but what are we going to do about a thing like that? A man so involved often feels very remorseful at times, especially if he is married to a loyal and courageous girl who has literally gone through hell for him.
~ Chapter 6 – INTO ACTION pp. 80-81
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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Inventory #Blessings
A LIST OF BLESSINGS
One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my
blessings. . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37
What did I have to be grateful for? I shut myself up and started listing
the blessings for which I was in no way responsible, beginning with
having been born of sound mind and body. I went through
seventy-four years of living right up to the present moment. The list
ran to two pages, and took two hours to compile; I included health,
family, money, A.A.– the whole gamut.
Every day in my prayers, I ask God to help me remember my list, and
to be grateful for it throughout the day. When I remember my
gratitude list, it’s very hard to conclude that God is picking on me.
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Repitition #NA #Addiction
Keep Coming Back!
“Meetings keep us in touch with where we’ve been, but more importantly with where we could go in our recovery.”
Basic Text, p. 54
In many ways, addicts are different. When we came to Narcotics Anonymous we found others like ourselves, people who understood us and whom we could understand. No longer did we feel like aliens, strangers wherever we went. We were at home in NA meetings, among friends.
We don’t stop being addicts after we’ve been clean awhile. We still need to identify with other addicts. We continue coming to NA meetings to keep in touch with who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going. Every meeting reminds us that we can never use drugs successfully. Every meeting reminds us that we’ll never be cured, but that by practicing the principles of the program we can recover. And every meeting offers us the experience and example of other addicts in ongoing recovery.
At meetings, we see how different people work their program, and the results are apparent in their lives. If we want the lives we see others living, we can find out what they’ve done to get where they are. Narcotics Anonymous meetings offer us identification with where we’ve been and where we can go — identification we can’t do without and can’t get anywhere else. That keeps us coming back.
Just for today: I will attend an NA meeting to remind myself of who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I can go in my recovery.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Sharing #Recovery
A.A. Thought For The Day
One of the finest things about A.A. is the sharing. Sharing is a
wonderful thing because the more you share the more you have. in our
old drinking days, we didn’t do much sharing. We used to keep things
to ourselves, partly because we were ashamed, but mostly because we
were selfish. And we were very lonely because we didn’t share. When
we came into A.A., the first thing we found was sharing. We heard
other alcoholics frankly sharing their experiences with hospitals, jails,
and all the usual mess that goes with drinking. Am I sharing?
Meditation For The Day
Character is developed by the daily discipline of duties done. Be
obedient to the heavenly vision and take the straight way. Do not fall
into the error of calling “Lord, Lord,” and doing not the things that
should be done. You need a life of prayer and meditation, but you must
still do your work in the busy ways of life. The busy person is wise to
rest and wait patiently for God’s guidance. If you are obedient to the
heavenly vision, you can be at peace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be obedient to the heavenly vision. I pray if I fall, I
will pick myself up and go on.
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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Sanity
“Restore Us to Sanity”, p. 141
Few indeed are the practicing alcoholics who have any idea how
irrational they are, or, seeing their irrationality, can bear to face it.
For example, some will be willing to term themselves “problem
drinkers,” but cannot endure the suggestion that they are in fact
mentally ill.
They are abetted in this blindness by a world which does not
understand the difference between sane drinking and alcoholism.
“Sanity” is defined as “soundness of mind.” Yet no alcoholic, soberly
analyzing his destructive behavior, whether the destruction fell on
the dining-room furniture or his own moral fiber, can claim
“soundness of mind” for himself.
12 & 12, pp. 32-33
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Disappointment
What is a disappointment?
Handling My Outlook
Try as we will for success and achievement, we still must face a number of disappointments in our lives. We may be disappointed by a sales presentation that failed, a repair project that became a nightmare, or a vacation plan that turned sour. How can we handle such disappointments in the spirit of the Twelve Step program?
We must remember not to be too hard on ourselves when disappointments occur. Disappoints are part of the human experience, not misfortunes that come only to certain individuals. If we’ve done our best in any situation, we are not responsible if it did not work out.
Even more important, we should use every disappointment as a learning experience. It’s always possible that one disappointment will provide kernels of truth that will help us succeed in our next effort. Many people point to specific disappointments or setbacks as times when they are able to find new direction.
There are even times when disappointment in a lesser enterprise clears the way for success in a larger one. Whatever the outcome, no disappointment need be final—- nor should we take it as proof that we’re somehow inadequate and unworthy.
I will be positive in my outlook, expecting every effort to be effective and successful. If disappointment comes, however, I will take it in stride, knowing that it’s only a temporary detour in my successful life.
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Growth #Change
Be not afraid of growing slowing, be afraid only of standing still.
—Chinese proverb
All of us are a little afraid of growth. We wonder how growth will change our lives. Who will we be? Will our friend still love us? Can’t we grow up and get in over with? Why does it take so long?
All of us have a need to keep growing. There is no age when we’re “all grown up” and all done learning. But we don’t need to rush our growth. Like a child on a too-big bicycle, at times we’ll find ourselves out of control. We’ll tip over. We can grow at our own pace, but we must grow. We must make changes. Or else, like an athlete on a too-small bicycle, we won’t get far. We’ll tip over too!
All of us are a little afraid of growth. We wonder how growth will change our lives. Who will we be? Will our friend still love us? Can’t we grow up and get in over with? Why does it take so long?
All of us have a need to keep growing. There is no age when we’re “all grown up” and all done learning. But we don’t need to rush our growth. Like a child on a too-big bicycle, at times we’ll find ourselves out of control. We’ll tip over. We can grow at our own pace, but we must grow. We must make changes. Or else, like an athlete on a too-small bicycle, we won’t get far. We’ll tip over too!
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #FrLeo
ART
“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.”
–A. N. Whitehead
Today I enjoy and am sustained by the adventure of life. The
adventure of living. The adventure of living my life. For years I spent
my time avoiding situations, avoiding people, avoiding me. Now in my
daily recovery I need to participate and experience my spiritual
energy. I want to meet new people. I want to travel. I want to work
productively and earn money. I want to add something to this beautiful
world.
I am discovering in my recovery that experiencing my creative
spirituality makes me an artist. God is found in the hugs I give and the
early morning “hellos” I shout to strangers. Today I am not afraid
anymore. Today I am alive.
God, may I seek and find You in the small and mundane things of life;
let me find You where I am.
“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.”
–A. N. Whitehead
Today I enjoy and am sustained by the adventure of life. The
adventure of living. The adventure of living my life. For years I spent
my time avoiding situations, avoiding people, avoiding me. Now in my
daily recovery I need to participate and experience my spiritual
energy. I want to meet new people. I want to travel. I want to work
productively and earn money. I want to add something to this beautiful
world.
I am discovering in my recovery that experiencing my creative
spirituality makes me an artist. God is found in the hugs I give and the
early morning “hellos” I shout to strangers. Today I am not afraid
anymore. Today I am alive.
God, may I seek and find You in the small and mundane things of life;
let me find You where I am.
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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Friendship #Program
Reflection For The Day
“The language of friendship is not words, but meanings,” wrote Thoreau. Life indeed takes on new meanings, as well as new meaning in The Program. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends — this is an experience not to be missed. Can I recall my initial reactions when I came to The Program? Do I believe that I've finally come home?
Today I Pray
As The Program has given life new meanings for me, may I pass along to others that same chance to re-evaluate their lives in the light of sobriety, commonj purpose, friendhips and spiritual expansion. Prasie God for my new vision of human life. Praise Him for restoring for me the value and purpose of living.
Today I Will Remember
I value my Life.
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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Thoughts #Recovery #OA
THOUGHTS
“The universe is transformation;
our lives are what our thoughts make it.”
~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
The power of our thoughts is astounding, and my negative thoughts kept me in chains for many years. I was constantly thinking of what was not right, what I didn't do right, what needs of mine went unmet. My life was miserable by my own making. My own thoughts kept me in a prison of negativity. The only person who had the key was me. For many years I stayed locked in, not knowing the key was in my possession..
When I came to the program I learned that I had responsibility for my “side of the street.” I finally came to understand that I was able to change my thinking, one day at a time. It was a slow process. It took a life-time to learn negative thinking patterns, and it took years to learn positive thinking patterns. Using the tools of the program was the key to re-educating my mind. At meetings I heard positive statements that others made about themselves and me. Reading program literature was always a positive experience. As I chose nurturing, loving sponsors, they affirmed me and my baby steps toward wholeness and healing. All of these, and other tools, worked slowly to bring about an awareness that I held the key to my own prison door and gave me the courage to take the key and free myself from negativity..
One day at a time…
I will choose positive thoughts and actions that bring me freedom.
~ Carolyn H.
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Today’s Gift. #essentialsofrec #love #Struggle #Recovery
Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies. . . . –Erich Fromm
A robin comes alive by breaking out of its shell. The small bird struggles to break out of the safety of the blue egg. Once out, it struggles to grow, slowly learning how to eat, walk, and fly.
We, too, struggle as we grow. There is brokenness in all of our lives–broken hearts and broken dreams. Yet these experiences open our way to a world of growing. We find comfort in the presence of a Power greater than ourselves, in the same way a baby bird finds warmth near the body of its mother. We, too, can grow stronger every day, learning to take in nourishment and trying out our new wings.
What struggles have made me as strong as I am today?
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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Gratitude #Humility
Today, if I get frustrated or overwhelmed by the responsibilities with which sobriety has entrusted me, I will slow down to remember gratitude and humility, if for no other reason than I once could not be trusted with the responsibilities that I have in sobriety. Getting sober and, more importantly, recovery have given me a purpose and sense of inclusion that addictive drinking took from me. But although sober and (hopefully) getting better emotionally and spiritually day by day, I must guard against a reckless or stupid moment in which what I have gained is destroyed – by me. Today, even if the candle burns at both ends, I will be grateful that my candle now even has a flame. And our common journey continues.
Step by step. – Chris M., 2014
Step by step. – Chris M., 2014
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #love #God
If we deny the fatherhood of God and our divine relationship to Him and each other, then we are but animated pieces of clay, each one independent of and unconnected with each other. If that be so, then we are foolish to love and labor for others. But are love and charity nonsense? Would life be a pleasant and interesting experience without them? No, if we removed these characteristics from our lives, we would be left with only that which the baser animals possess.
Hazelden Foundation
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Daily Tao / 141 – Wrinkles #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Tao #Taoism #Zen
Lines on the face, tattoos of aging.
Life is proved upon the body
Like needle-jabs from a blind machine.
The older one gets, the more one is conscious of aging. We can barely remember childhood innocence and exuberance. We are surprised by the youthful vitality and unmarked face when we see earlier photos of ourselves. When we look in the mirror, we reluctantly acknowledge the aging mask. It seems that there is no escaping the marks of life.
Every experience that we have, everything that we do and think is registered upon us as surely as the steady embroidery of a tattoo artist. But to a large degree, the pattern and picture that will emerge is up to us. If we go to a tattoo artist, it is we who select the picture. In life, it is we who select what we will become by the actions we perform. There is no reason to go through life thoughtlessly, to let accident shape us. That is like allowing oneself to be tattooed by a blind man. How can you help but turn out old and ugly?
Whether we emerge beautiful or ugly is our sole responsibility.
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DAILY ZEn #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism
Light rain –the mountain
forest is wrapped in mist,
slowly the fog changes
to clouds and haze.
Along the boundless
river bank, many crows.
I walk to a hill overlooking
the valley to sit in zazen.
- Ryokan (1758-1831)
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Monday 20 May 2024
Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Recpvery #OnedayAtATime
ONE DAY AT A TIME
Above all, take it one day at a time.
AS BILL SEES IT, p.11
Why do I kid myself that I must stay away from a drink for only one day, when I know perfectly well I must never drink again as long as I live? I am not kidding myself because one day at a time is probably the only way I can reach the long-range objective of staying sober. If I determine that I shall never drink again as long as I live, I set myself up. How can I be sure I won’t drink when I have no idea what the future may hold? On a day-at-a-time basis, I am confident I can stay away from a drink for one day. So I set out with confidence. At the end of the day, I have the reward of achievement. Achievement feels good and that makes me want more!
Why do I kid myself that I must stay away from a drink for only one day, when I know perfectly well I must never drink again as long as I live? I am not kidding myself because one day at a time is probably the only way I can reach the long-range objective of staying sober. If I determine that I shall never drink again as long as I live, I set myself up. How can I be sure I won’t drink when I have no idea what the future may hold? On a day-at-a-time basis, I am confident I can stay away from a drink for one day. So I set out with confidence. At the end of the day, I have the reward of achievement. Achievement feels good and that makes me want more!
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #NA #Isolation #Recovery
Coming Out Of Isolation
“We find ourselves doing and enjoying things that we never thought we would be doing.” Basic Text, p. 98
Active addiction kept us isolated for many reasons. In the beginning, we avoided family and friends so they wouldn’t find out we were using. Some of us avoided all nonaddicts, fearing moral backlash and legal repercussions. We belittled people who had “normal” lives with families and hobbies; we called them “uncool” believing we could never enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Eventually, we even avoided other addicts because we didn’t want to share our drugs. Our lives narrowed, and our concerns were confined to the daily maintenance of our disease.
Today, our lives are much fuller. We enjoy activities with other recovering addicts. We have time for our families. And we’ve discovered many other pursuits that give us pleasure. What a change from the past! We can live life just as fully as the “normal” people we once scorned. Enjoyment has returned to our lives, a gift of recovery.
Just for today: I can find pleasure in the simple routines of daily living.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Sharing #Recovery
A.A. Thought For The Day
If we get up in a meeting and tell something about ourselves in order to help the other person, we feel a whole lot better. It’s the old law of the more you give the more you get. Witnessing and confession are part of keeping sober. You never know when you may help somebody. Helping others is one of the best ways to stay sober yourself. And the satisfaction you get out of helping a fellow human being is one of the finest experiences you can have. Am I helping others?
Meditation For The Day
Without God, no real victory is ever won. All the military victories of great conquerors have passed into history. The world might be better off without military conquerors. The real victories are won in the spiritual realm. “He that conquers himself is greater than he who conquers a city.” The real victories are victories over sin and temptation, leading to a victorious and abundant life. Therefore, keep a brave and trusting heart. Face all your difficulties in the spirit of conquest. Remember that where God is, there is the true victory.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that the forces of evil in my life will flee before God’s presence. I pray that with God I will win the real victory over myself.
If we get up in a meeting and tell something about ourselves in order to help the other person, we feel a whole lot better. It’s the old law of the more you give the more you get. Witnessing and confession are part of keeping sober. You never know when you may help somebody. Helping others is one of the best ways to stay sober yourself. And the satisfaction you get out of helping a fellow human being is one of the finest experiences you can have. Am I helping others?
Meditation For The Day
Without God, no real victory is ever won. All the military victories of great conquerors have passed into history. The world might be better off without military conquerors. The real victories are won in the spiritual realm. “He that conquers himself is greater than he who conquers a city.” The real victories are victories over sin and temptation, leading to a victorious and abundant life. Therefore, keep a brave and trusting heart. Face all your difficulties in the spirit of conquest. Remember that where God is, there is the true victory.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that the forces of evil in my life will flee before God’s presence. I pray that with God I will win the real victory over myself.
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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Defects #Repairs
Defects and Repairs, p. 140
More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor. To the outer world he presents his stage character. This is the one he likes his fellows to see. He wants to enjoy a certain reputation, but knows in his heart he doesn’t deserve it.
<< << << >> >> >>
Guilt is really the reverse side of the coin of pride. Guilt aims at self-destruction, and pride aims at the destruction of others.
<< << << >> >> >>
“The moral inventory is a cool examination of the damages that occurred to us during life and a sincere effort to look at them in a true perspective. This has the effect of taking the ground glass out of us, the emotional substance that still cuts and inhibits.”
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 73
2. Grapevine, June 1961
3. Letter, 1957
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Gratitude #Appreciation #Recovery
Gratitude is not natural.
Gratitude
“Nobody ever gave me a helping hand,” a young alcoholic complained, having handed in prison. “My life has been one bad break after another.”
While this person indeed had bad breaks, it’s doubtful that he’d never been given a helping hand by somebody. If we have no gratitude, it’s likely taht we don’t ever recognize a helping hand when it is extended. We may have believed any assistance we took was our right, even resenting our benefactors.
The remedy for such immature thinking is a conscious effort to vultivate gratitude. IF we’re not aware of feeling it, we can at least act as if we have it. Thank people for any favor, no matter how small. Express appreciation for the wonderful people around you. Give people praise at every opportunity.
This will help start a current of gratitude that can be amplified in time. You’ll come to recognize many helping hands.
Today I’ll be grateful and appreciative of everything in my life. I’ll let gratitude build up in my life until I can feel it and others can sense that I have it.
Gratitude
“Nobody ever gave me a helping hand,” a young alcoholic complained, having handed in prison. “My life has been one bad break after another.”
While this person indeed had bad breaks, it’s doubtful that he’d never been given a helping hand by somebody. If we have no gratitude, it’s likely taht we don’t ever recognize a helping hand when it is extended. We may have believed any assistance we took was our right, even resenting our benefactors.
The remedy for such immature thinking is a conscious effort to vultivate gratitude. IF we’re not aware of feeling it, we can at least act as if we have it. Thank people for any favor, no matter how small. Express appreciation for the wonderful people around you. Give people praise at every opportunity.
This will help start a current of gratitude that can be amplified in time. You’ll come to recognize many helping hands.
Today I’ll be grateful and appreciative of everything in my life. I’ll let gratitude build up in my life until I can feel it and others can sense that I have it.
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #TwelveSteps #Recovery
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
—Matt. 15:14
The Twelve Step programs are sometime called self-help programs. But they’re not really, because we all help each other. We don’t stay sober by ourselves. Sometimes we call Twelve Step programs peer programs. And they are. All of us equal. No one is an expert. But we need to be careful who we choose for a sponsor. We each need to find someone who has been sober longer than us. Someone who understands the Steps. Someone who lives by them. Some we want to be like. We need to stick with the winners.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know I’m like a blind person who is just beginning to see. Help me follow the path of those who see better than I do.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list the people in my program I go to for help. Am I sticking with the winners?
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #frleo #Religion
RELIGION
“You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.”
–Viscount John Morley
I need to remember that you cannot force a person into faith. You cannot make a person believe. You cannot bribe a person into prayer. So much of my early religion was “a deal”: you do this and you will get this. If you do this for God and His church you will be happy and successful. There always seemed to be a “payoff” with God, or that was how it seemed.
I think many of the silent majority sense the same kind of thing; God has got lost in “the business” of religion. Spirituality accepts the pain, confusion and anger of this silent majority and says, “find a God as you understand Him.” Discover your power in your life – and then God will be perceived.
Lord, in my silence is the “shout” heard.
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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #loneliness #Recovery
Reflection For The Day
Alcoholism is called the “lonely disease”; almost without exception, alcoholics are literally tortured by loneliness. Even before the end of our drinking — before people began to shun us and we were “eighty-sixed” from bars, restaurants or people’s homes — nearly all of us felt that we didn’t quite belong. We were either shy, and dared not draw near otters, or we were noisy good fellows craving attention and approval, but rarely getting it. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand. Finally, ever Bacchus betrayed us; we were struck down and left in terrified isolation. Have I begun to achieve an inner calm?
Today I Pray
May I know the tenderness of an intimate relationship with God and the calm I feel when I touch His spirit. May I translate this tenderness and calm to my relationships with others. May God deliver me from my lifelong feeling of loneliness and show me how to be a friend.
Today I Will Remember
God can teach me to be a friend.
Alcoholism is called the “lonely disease”; almost without exception, alcoholics are literally tortured by loneliness. Even before the end of our drinking — before people began to shun us and we were “eighty-sixed” from bars, restaurants or people’s homes — nearly all of us felt that we didn’t quite belong. We were either shy, and dared not draw near otters, or we were noisy good fellows craving attention and approval, but rarely getting it. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand. Finally, ever Bacchus betrayed us; we were struck down and left in terrified isolation. Have I begun to achieve an inner calm?
Today I Pray
May I know the tenderness of an intimate relationship with God and the calm I feel when I touch His spirit. May I translate this tenderness and calm to my relationships with others. May God deliver me from my lifelong feeling of loneliness and show me how to be a friend.
Today I Will Remember
God can teach me to be a friend.
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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #recovery #Avoidance
AVOIDANCE
” Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored..”
–Aldous Huxley
Step 1 has a basic principle behind it which is truth. For me that truth is, just as I use tools for recovery, there are tools that my willful mind uses to keep me rooted in my disease. One of the strongest is avoidance.
Recovery can bring up a lot of painful issues and have me recall situations in which I feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I find that these old feelings have a way of creeping into my psyche. Suddenly some old behavior comes rushing back and I find myself using avoidance as a means to protect myself. Other times, I find myself acting very willfully by deliberately putting things off like going to the gym even when I know that it is good for me, I enjoy myself and am always happy for having gone..
My avoidance can take the form of rebellion against a person, chore, or situation.
Recovery has taught me to face situations. Once the situation has been faced, I often feel a sense of immediate relief. I know that the deed is done, my fears whether they be realistic or not, usually fall away, and sometimes I even feel a little silly for having avoided the situation in the first place.
One day at a time…
I will fact the situations that I encounter today with action.
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #Cheyenne #Native #Elders
“…the sacred ceremonies given to us by the Creator are the Heart of our existence. These ceremonies are our first duty.”
–Traditional Circle of Elders. NORTHERN CHEYENNE
Hidden in the ceremonies are many truths, many principles, many guidelines for living our access to the Unseen World, healing and visions. Because the Indian People didn’t have schools or books, the Great Spirit gave us Ceremonies. The ceremonies are handed down from generation to generation to learn their meaning. Today, many Indian People live in cities or urban areas where it’s hard to learn the ceremonies. We need to go to the Elders and learn the ceremonies so we can pass them on to our children.
Great Spirit, teach me the Secrets of the Ceremonies.
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Today’s Gift #essentialsofrec #health #Growth
For nothing can be sole or whole that has not been rent.
—W. B. Yeats
The maple out front is young and healthy, but it grows in the shape of a Y. Neighborhood tree experts have warned that as it grows, it will split in half as the weight of the two main branches pull down against each other. One of these two beautiful branches, already lush with new leaves, must be cut. But once pruned, the remaining branch will straighten as it reaches for the sun. It will grow faster, and the whole tree will live many years longer – all by cutting it back today.
Sometimes we are like this tree. We go in too many directions, and can’t seem to do any one thing well. When this happens, we need to give something up, to choose which direction we want and stick with it. The results will be well worth the price.
What is holding me back from growth?
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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Slips #Relapse #Recovery
“In spite of (a) great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal. Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.”
– Alcoholics Anonymous, Forward to the Third Edition, 1976.
Today, I will not diminish or dismiss the enormity of my personal recovery by thinking that mine is insignificant among the millions of others who have found recovery in the Program. The words of the Big Book empower us and our recovery by telling us that our own and another person’s hope begins one-to-one when two alcoholics talk to each other and share their experience, strength and hope. In turn, the alcoholic whose recovery began by talking to another alcoholic passes onto yet another alcoholic his own experience, strength and hope. Today, I embrace with gratitude and humility the significance of my recovery along with those millions of others because, without my experience, strength and hope to pass on to someone else, our Fellowship will not increase in size, span – or power in its message of reconciliation and redemption. And our common journey continues.
Today, I will not diminish or dismiss the enormity of my personal recovery by thinking that mine is insignificant among the millions of others who have found recovery in the Program. The words of the Big Book empower us and our recovery by telling us that our own and another person’s hope begins one-to-one when two alcoholics talk to each other and share their experience, strength and hope. In turn, the alcoholic whose recovery began by talking to another alcoholic passes onto yet another alcoholic his own experience, strength and hope. Today, I embrace with gratitude and humility the significance of my recovery along with those millions of others because, without my experience, strength and hope to pass on to someone else, our Fellowship will not increase in size, span – or power in its message of reconciliation and redemption. And our common journey continues.
Step by step. – Chris M., 2014
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #Compromise
Our lives today are a series of compromises. Legislators enact laws which are compromises to both contending factions. Juries bring in verdicts which they don’t even profess to be in accordance with the law and the evidence and excuse their verdicts on the grounds that it was a necessary compromise. Even the religions of the day are frequently adjusting their codes of do’s and don’t’s in order to effect a compromise with their more liberal elements. Our national and international relations are based upon political expediency rather than sound political principles of justice.
Where moral principles are involved, there is no such thing as compromise – it must be either morally right or morally wrong.
Hazelden Foundation
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Daily TAO / DISSENT #essentialsofrec #Disloyalty #Tao #Taoisn #Zen
Old man : Dissent is not disloyalty.
Be careful before you retaliate.
Your steel wrapped in cotton
May only be brittle bone wrapped in fat.
No one is a supreme authority. People seek leaders, priests, gurus, and hermits thinking that someone has a precise formula for living correctly. No one does. No one can know you as well as you can know yourself. All that you can gain from a wise person is the assurance of some initial guidance. You may even spend decades studying under such an extraordinary person, but you should never surrender your dignity, independence, and personality.
There is no single way to do things in life. There are valid paths, even though they may differ from the ways of respected elders. Diversity is good for tradition. Too often, elders confuse dissent with disloyalty and punish people for the crime of having a different view. They are no longer in touch with Tao but instead mouth self-serving convention. Perhaps the panic of their own impending death makes them clutch. When the leaders become repressive, it is a sign that their time is drawing to a close. A saying about old masters was that they were like steel wrapped in cotton : They appeared soft on the outside but still held great power on the inside. We all hope for elders like that. But oftentimes, the old masters have lost their mandate of Tao. Then, when tested, they are merely brittle bone and fat. How can we respect such people?
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Daily Zen #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism
Moonlight and the sound of pines
Are things we all know
Zen mind and delusion
Distinguish sage and fool
Go back to the place
Where not one thought appears
How shall I put this
Into words for you?
- Han-shan Te-ch’ing (1546-1623)
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Sunday 19 May 2024
Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Giving #Recovery
GIVING WITHOUT STRINGS
And he well knows that his own life has been made richer, as an extra
dividend of giving to another without any demand for a return.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 69
The concept of giving without strings was hard to understand when I
first came into the program. I was suspicious when others wanted to
help me. I thought, “What do they want in return?” But I soon
learned the joy of helping another alcoholic and I understood why they
were there for me in the beginning. My attitudes changed and I
wanted to help others. Sometimes I became anxious, as I wanted them
to know the joys of sobriety, that life can be beautiful. When my life
is full of a loving God of my understanding and I give that love to my
fellow alcoholic, I feel a special richness that is hard to explain.
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Inventory #Step4 #NA #Recovery
A Growth Inventory
“We review our past performance and our present behavior to see what we want to keep and what we want to discard.”
Basic Text, p. 29
As each day winds to a close, many of us reflect on the past twenty-four hours and consider how we can live differently in the future. It’s easy for our thoughts to remain trapped in the mundane: change the oil in the car, keep the living room clean, or empty the litter box. Sometimes it takes a special effort to jog our thinking out of the daily rut and onto a higher track.
One simple question can put us on the high road: What do we think our Higher Power wants for us tomorrow? Maybe we need to improve our flagging conscious contact with the God of our understanding. Perhaps we’ve been uncomfortable in our job or our relationship, holding on only out of fear. We might be hiding some troubling defect of character, afraid to share it with our sponsor. The question is, in what parts of our lives do we really want to grow?
As each day ends, we find it beneficial to take some moments to spend time with our Higher Power. We can begin to reflect on what will benefit our program of spiritual growth most in the coming day. We think about the areas in which we have grown recently, and target areas that still require work. What more fitting way to end the day?
Just for today: I will set aside some time at the end of the day to commune with my Higher Power. I will review the past day, meditating on what stands between me and my Higher Power’s will for my life.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Meetings
A.A. Thought For The Day
Fellowship is a big part of staying sober. The doctors call it group
therapy. We never go to an A.A. meeting without taking something
out of it. Sometimes we don’t feel like going to a meeting and we think
of excuses for not going. But we usually end up by going anyway and
we always get some lift out of every meeting. Meetings are part of
keeping sober. And we get more out of a meeting if we try to contribute
something to it. Am I contributing my share at meetings?
Meditation For The Day
“He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set
my feet upon a rock and established my goings.” The first part, “He
brought me up out of a horrible pit,” means that by turning to God and
putting my problems in His hands, I am able to overcome my sins and
temptations. “He set my feet upon a rock” means that when I trust
God in all things, I have true security. “He established my goings”
means that if I honestly try to live the way God wants me to live, I will
have God’s guidance in my daily living.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that my feet may be set upon a rock. I pray that I may rely on
God to guide my comings and goings.
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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Humility #BillW
Basis of All Humility, p. 139
For just so long as we were convinced that we could live exclusively
by our own individual strength and intelligence, for just that long was
a working faith in a Higher Power impossible.
This was true even when we believed that God existed. We could
actually have earnest religious beliefs which remained barren
because we were still trying to play God ourselves. As long as we
placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power
was out of the question.
That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do God’s
will, was missing.
12 & 12, p. 72
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Problems
Principles are Enduring
Problem Solving
We often emphasize -Principles before personalities– in Twelve Step programs, sometimes without fully understanding what’s involved. The real message of this slogan is that we should treat people equally while following certain guidelines in our own actions.
While we are influenced by strong personalities, we cannot rely on them for complete guidance and direction. People can betray us or simply fail us through no fault of their own. Principles, on the other hand, are enduring and will be with us long after personal relationships wither away.
One unfailing principle for living is to live each day remembering that God is guiding and directing all actions and outcomes. While we will be grateful for the assistance and cooperation of others, we will not hold them responsible for our success or failures.
I’ll live today with the belief that God’s good plan is working in all people’s lives. I will not expect too much or too little of others, but rather will deal with them fairly and decently.
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Livining #Wisdom #Recovery
The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.—Marcus Aurelius
The struggles of life teach us a lot. They challenge our beliefs. As we struggle, we come to believe that our friends, family, and Higher Power will be there for us in hard times. But we must do our part. We need to call and honestly let people know how we are doing. We need to pray and ask our Higher Power for help. If we do these things, we’ll come to respect and learn from hard times.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for the wisdom to see that struggles are part of life. Higher Power, I pray for Your help in not taking struggles too personally.
Action for the Day: I’ll list four times I’ve struggled and what I learned from each stuggle. I’ll share this with a friend.
Action for the Day: I’ll list four times I’ve struggled and what I learned from each stuggle. I’ll share this with a friend.
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Money
MONEY
“Money is the symbol of duty. It
is the sacrament of having done
for mankind that which mankind
wanted.”
–Samuel Butler
St. Paul said, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” In one sense money –
how people pay us for the services we have performed – is symbolic of
our value in the community. Of course, this is not always true and
people can make money by dishonest and destructive methods.
However, in our society money is also a force behind much creativity
and job satisfaction. The danger is to become a “snob”. Thinking that
we are better than others because we earn more money.
Spirituality is about discovering the “oneness” of mankind and
incorporating our creative “difference” – we can all learn from each
other. Pretentiousness is indicative of insecurities that need to be
dealt within our recovery program.
O Lord, let my gratitude be seen in my relationship with others.
“Money is the symbol of duty. It
is the sacrament of having done
for mankind that which mankind
wanted.”
–Samuel Butler
St. Paul said, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” In one sense money –
how people pay us for the services we have performed – is symbolic of
our value in the community. Of course, this is not always true and
people can make money by dishonest and destructive methods.
However, in our society money is also a force behind much creativity
and job satisfaction. The danger is to become a “snob”. Thinking that
we are better than others because we earn more money.
Spirituality is about discovering the “oneness” of mankind and
incorporating our creative “difference” – we can all learn from each
other. Pretentiousness is indicative of insecurities that need to be
dealt within our recovery program.
O Lord, let my gratitude be seen in my relationship with others.
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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Alcohol #BillW #Faith
Reflection For The Day
“When I was driven to my knees by alcohol, I was made ready to ask for the gift of faith,” wrote AA co-founder Bill W. “And all was changed. Never again, my pains and problems notwithstanding, would I experience my former desolation. I saw the universe to be lighted by God’s love; I was alone no more.” Am I convinced that my new life is real and that it will last so long as I continue doing what The Program and Twelve Steps suggest that I do?
Today I Pray
May God be the ever-present third party in my relationships with others, whether they are casual or involve a deep emotional commitment. May I be aware that if there is real friendship or love between human beings, God’s spirit is always present. May I feel His spirit in all my human relationships.
Today I Will Remember
God is The Divine Third.
“When I was driven to my knees by alcohol, I was made ready to ask for the gift of faith,” wrote AA co-founder Bill W. “And all was changed. Never again, my pains and problems notwithstanding, would I experience my former desolation. I saw the universe to be lighted by God’s love; I was alone no more.” Am I convinced that my new life is real and that it will last so long as I continue doing what The Program and Twelve Steps suggest that I do?
Today I Pray
May God be the ever-present third party in my relationships with others, whether they are casual or involve a deep emotional commitment. May I be aware that if there is real friendship or love between human beings, God’s spirit is always present. May I feel His spirit in all my human relationships.
Today I Will Remember
God is The Divine Third.
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #Crow #Elders #Native
“To be able to greet the sun with the sounds from all of Nature is a great blessing, and it helps us to remember Who is the real provider of all of our benefits.”
–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
The Elders say we should pray to the East every morning. Just try it! Get up early in the morning, watch the sun and listen to the morning sounds, the birds, the winds; smell the air, feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun. Your mind will expand and you will experience oneness with the Great Spirit. You’ll realize who is really in charge. You’ll realize interconnectedness. You’ll realize how much the Creator loves you! Just try it!
Great Spirit, today, let me feel the Earth, the Father Sun and your presence.
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Today’s Gift. #essentialsofrec #Fear #Courage #Change
As we learn we always change, and so our perception. This changed perception then becomes a new Teacher inside each of us.
–Hyemeyohsts Storm
Hyemeyohsts Storm’s book, Seven Arrows, tells the stories of one of the Indian tribes in this country before most of its members were killed. They believed that change was important for growth. Change is sometimes frightening. We usually prefer the familiar, no matter how uncomfortable, over taking a chance on the unknown.
When fear gets in the way of making healthy changes, we talk to fear, inviting it along with us on our course of action. Getting to know fear allows us to ask it for a gift: the courage to walk with fear by our side and learn from it as we go. It allows us to learn which fear is blocking our progress and which fear is healthy–cautioning us against actions that might be harmful.
What fear might I make a friend of today?
Hyemeyohsts Storm’s book, Seven Arrows, tells the stories of one of the Indian tribes in this country before most of its members were killed. They believed that change was important for growth. Change is sometimes frightening. We usually prefer the familiar, no matter how uncomfortable, over taking a chance on the unknown.
When fear gets in the way of making healthy changes, we talk to fear, inviting it along with us on our course of action. Getting to know fear allows us to ask it for a gift: the courage to walk with fear by our side and learn from it as we go. It allows us to learn which fear is blocking our progress and which fear is healthy–cautioning us against actions that might be harmful.
What fear might I make a friend of today?
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Step by Step #essentialsofrec #Addiction #Denial
” …(W)hat about the real alcoholic? He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink.”
– Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 2, p 21.
Today, I will not search in futile desperation for a reason to deny my addiction by twisting the Big Book’s reference to a “real alcoholic.” If, for example, I drank only beer, how can I be an alcoholic? If I drank only on weekends or even one day a weekend, how can I be an alcoholic? If I drank only to relax or calm my nerves, how can I be an alcoholic? If I never lost a job, a spouse or partner, if I never got nailed for DUI or spent a night in the county jail’s drunk tank, how can I be an alcoholic compared to the “real” one who drank every day, to the “real alcoholic” whose job history makes him now virtually unemployable, or to the “real” who has up in jail so many times that he has his name engraved in the cell? Today, may I understand and finally accept that because I lost control over drinking regardless of how much or how often I drank, I am as much the “real alcoholic” as the one who now is serving a long-term prison sentence for what he did when he was drunk. And our common journey continues.
Today, I will not search in futile desperation for a reason to deny my addiction by twisting the Big Book’s reference to a “real alcoholic.” If, for example, I drank only beer, how can I be an alcoholic? If I drank only on weekends or even one day a weekend, how can I be an alcoholic? If I drank only to relax or calm my nerves, how can I be an alcoholic? If I never lost a job, a spouse or partner, if I never got nailed for DUI or spent a night in the county jail’s drunk tank, how can I be an alcoholic compared to the “real” one who drank every day, to the “real alcoholic” whose job history makes him now virtually unemployable, or to the “real” who has up in jail so many times that he has his name engraved in the cell? Today, may I understand and finally accept that because I lost control over drinking regardless of how much or how often I drank, I am as much the “real alcoholic” as the one who now is serving a long-term prison sentence for what he did when he was drunk. And our common journey continues.
Step by step. – Chris M., 2014
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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #recovery #God
Until man looks upon the face of God, he cannot – with his limited faculties – know God. We can and do not know some of His attributes as He has disclosed them to us in the world.
We can, however, study ourselves. We can cultivate those good qualities we discern and we can eradicate the bad. We do know many of the attributes of God and we can emulate them. We can aspire to Godlike virtues and, if we then do not know God, perhaps God will know us.
Hazelden Foundation
We can, however, study ourselves. We can cultivate those good qualities we discern and we can eradicate the bad. We do know many of the attributes of God and we can emulate them. We can aspire to Godlike virtues and, if we then do not know God, perhaps God will know us.
Hazelden Foundation
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Daily TAO - MARRIAGE #essentialsofrec #Tao #Taoism #Zen
Wall of flames, bridge of tears.
Snowflake on newly forged links.
For a marriage to last, a couple must go through great travails and hardships. It is like a process of forging steel links together. The iron must be heated to a high degree and then plunged into cold water. A marriage alternates between the heat of passion and love and the chilling times of tragedy, conflict, and adversity. An enduring marriage becomes like tempered steel.
It is difficult to go through life alone. We all need support and the sense of belonging that comes from working toward goals shared with another. For such a relationship to work, there must be a basic compatibility of values, outlook, and purpose. It is an inadequate cliché that husband and wife must be friends as well as lovers. Two mates can know a loyalty found in no other type of relationship. Yet even in the face of such strength, Tao reminds us of the need for moderation.
Ultimately, all relationships are temporary. False attachment to another can become an addiction, a voluntary bondage detrimental to clear perception. We should not bind another to ourselves, should not define ourselves by our marriage, should not force another to stay with us. But if chance allows us to walk together, who is anyone to challenge our choice of walking companions?
When it is time to part, then it is time to part. There should be no regrets. The beauty of marriage is like the fleeting perfection of a snowflake.
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Daily Zen #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism
Lone mountain
Dominating three provinces
White clouds cover a green peak
Summit soaring to great heights
Old temple nearly a thousand years
A monk meditates alone in a moonlit hall
A monkey cries in the mist in an old tree
Saying to worldly folk:
"Come here; free yourselves of karmic dust"
- Jakushitsu (1290-1367)
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Around the Year With Emmet Fox #essentialsofrec #Emmet #Fox #Decisions
YOUR GREAT OPPORTUNITY
Your present problem is your great opportunity. Your own mind - the Secret Place, as Jesus called it - is the council chamber where the arrangements and decisions for your whole life are made; it is also the drafting room where the plans for your destiny are formed. Your life is your laboratory. The world is your workshop.
The reason that you are here is that you may develop spiritually; and the way to do that is to meet the challenge of practical life. You do not develop spiritually by running away from life into some sheltered retreat. Nor do you grow in spiritual stature by gaining your point through will power.
It is the law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, must be exactly what you need most at the moment to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.
I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil (John 17:15).
Your present problem is your great opportunity. Your own mind - the Secret Place, as Jesus called it - is the council chamber where the arrangements and decisions for your whole life are made; it is also the drafting room where the plans for your destiny are formed. Your life is your laboratory. The world is your workshop.
The reason that you are here is that you may develop spiritually; and the way to do that is to meet the challenge of practical life. You do not develop spiritually by running away from life into some sheltered retreat. Nor do you grow in spiritual stature by gaining your point through will power.
It is the law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, must be exactly what you need most at the moment to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.
I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil (John 17:15).
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Saturday 18 May 2024
Random Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous #essentialsofrec #BigBook #Quotes
We reviewed our own conduct over the years past. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, or inconsiderate? Whom had we hurt? Did we unjustifiably arouse jealousy, suspicion or bitterness? Where were we at fault, what should we have done instead? We got this all down on paper and looked at it.
In this way we tried to shape a sane and sound ideal for our future sex life. We subjected each relation to this test-was it selfish or not? We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. We remembered always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed.
Whatever our ideal turns out to be, we must be willing to grow toward it. We must be willing to make amends where we have done harm, provided that we do not bring about still more harm in so doing. In other words, we treat sex as we would any other problem. in meditation, we ask God what we should do about each specific matter. The right answer will come, if we want it.
God alone can judge our sex situation. Counsel with persons is often desirable, but we let God be the final judge. We realize that some people are as fanatical about sex as others are loose. We avoid hysterical thinking or advice.
Melvin L. Narcotics Anonymous Speaker #essentialsofrec #Na #Speakers #Recovery
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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #Freedom #Happiness
FREEDOM TO BE ME
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development,
we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are
going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p 83
My first true freedom is the freedom not to have to take
a drink today. If I truly want it, I will work the Twelve
Steps and the happiness of this freedom will come to me
through the Steps – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
Other freedoms will follow, and inventorying them is a
new happiness. I had a new freedom today, the freedom to
be me. I have the freedom to be the best me I have ever been.
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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Step9 #Amends #Simple
Friends And Amends—Keeping It Simple
“We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”
Step Nine
In every relationship, we don’t always handle things the way we would have hoped. But friendships don’t have to end when we make mistakes; instead, we can make amends. If we are sincerely willing to accept the responsibilities involved in friendship and make the amends we owe, those friendships can become stronger and richer than ever.
Making amends is simple. We approach the person we have harmed and say, “I was wrong.” Sometimes we avoid getting to the point, evading an admission of our own part in the affair. But that frustrates the intent of the Ninth Step. To make effective amends, we have to keep it simple: we admit our part, and leave it at that.
There will be times when our friends won’t accept our amends. Perhaps they need time to process what has happened. If that is the case, we must give them that time. After all, we were the ones in the wrong, not them. We have done our part; the rest is out of our hands.
Just for today: I want to be a responsible friend. I will strive to keep it simple when making amends.
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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #OldTimers #Recovery #AA
Two Roads for the Oldtimer, p. 138
The founders of many groups ultimately divide into two classes
known in A.A. slang as “elder statesmen” and “bleeding deacons.”
The elder statesman sees the wisdom of the group’s decision to run
itself and holds no resentment over his reduced status. His judgment,
fortified by considerable experience, is sound; he is willing to sit
quietly on the side lines patiently awaiting developments.
The bleeding deacon is just as surely convinced that the group cannot
get along without him. He constantly connives for re-election to
office and continues to be consumed with self-pity. Nearly every
oldtimer in our Society has gone through this process in some degree.
Happily, most of them survive and live to become elder statesmen.
They become the real and permanent leadership of A.A.
12 & 12, p. 135
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #faith
A.A. Thought For The Day
We’re in A.A. for two main reasons: to keep sober ourselves
and to help others to keep sober. It’s a well known fact
that helping others is a big part of keeping sober yourself.
It’s also been proved that it’s very hard to keep sober all
by yourself. A lot of people have tried it and failed. They
come to a few A.A. meetings and then stay sober alone for a
few months, but usually they eventually get drunk. Do I know
that I can’t stay sober successfully alone?
Meditation For The Day
Look by faith into that place beyond space or time where God
dwells and whence you came and to which you shall eventually
return. “Look unto Him and be saved.” To look beyond material
things is within the power of everyone’s imagination. Faith’s
look saves you from despair. Faith’s look saves you from worry
and care. Faith’s look brings a peace beyond all understanding.
Faith’s look brings you all the strength you need. Faith’s look
gives you a new and vital power and a wonderful peace and
serenity.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have faith’s look. I pray that by faith I
may look beyond the now to eternal life.
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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Spiritual #Recovery #HigherPower
No Limits on our Higher power
The Spiritual Way
One ancient saying claims that “with God, all things are possible.” That’s quite a statement, one we may claim to believe without living as though we do.
What it really mens is that God exists outside the conditions and restrictions that make our own lives so limited. The more we can move into conscious contact with God, the more freedom and power we will experience.
It might be said that all real human progress is the same order. Every advancement in science really reveals more information about God and the universe. We are always discovering new possibilites for humankind as we stretch the frontiers of knowledge.
Our most serious lag is in learning to understand ourselves and each other. It is humbling to realize taht the ideas we’re using in Twelve Step programs have been around for centuries. Fced with impossible problmes, we must remember that God can solve these problmes if only we ask.
I’ll follow today the old idea of working as if everything depended on me and believing as if everything depended on God.
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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Past #Future
You cannot plan the future by the past.
—Edmund Burke
We got tried of how we were living. We honestly looked at our life. We saw that alcohol and other drugs controlled our life. We met others who understood us. And we came to believe that a Power
greater than ourselves could help us. We turned our will and our life over to this Power. In so doing, we learned that life doesn't take place in the past or in the future. We find our program in the present.
We got tried of how we were living. We honestly looked at our life. We saw that alcohol and other drugs controlled our life. We met others who understood us. And we came to believe that a Power
greater than ourselves could help us. We turned our will and our life over to this Power. In so doing, we learned that life doesn't take place in the past or in the future. We find our program in the present.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll leave the past in the past.
I pray that I’ll walk into each moment with my Higher Power.
Action for the Day: The only time we revisit the past is when we tell our story. Today, I’ll tell my story to someone. I’ll tell what really happened. I’ll tell what life is like now.
I pray that I’ll walk into each moment with my Higher Power.
Action for the Day: The only time we revisit the past is when we tell our story. Today, I’ll tell my story to someone. I’ll tell what really happened. I’ll tell what life is like now.
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