Keep It Simple

Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.

—Clementine Pappleford

At meetings, we meet people who have what we want. Our old way is to think these people are better or luckier than us. Our old way is to wish we were like them. But our program tells us how to work to change, not just wish for it. There is a big difference!

There are many ways to work for recovery. We practice the Steps. We attend meetings, and we help out at meetings. We welcome new members. We call our sponsor often. And we sponsor others when we’re ready. It takes more than a wishbone. It takes courage and hard work, with the help of our Higher Power.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know that wishing is lost energy. I must work at recovery. As I do today’s work, guide me.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll do an extra bit of work on my recovery. I’ll call a group member. I’ll read. I’ll spend extra time in prayer and meditation.    

Father Leo’s

LAUGHTER

“God cannot be solemn, or he would not have blessed man with the incalculable gift of laughter.”

–Sydney Harris

I think the way to understand God is to begin to understand man!  Sometimes we forget that we bear the “image” of God – and this is not so much physical as emotional, our inner selves, the soul. So much of what I feel, what hurts me, what causes me distress and pain I believe also affects God. Also the gifts, the creative intelligence and spiritual sacrifice that has characterized so many people in history reflects something of God. Involved in this is “laughter”. I believe that laughter is derived from God and is part of the spiritual gift He has bequeathed to every one of us: we need only discover it.

“Let go – and let God.” Sometimes we need to get out of our own way so that we can begin to laugh.

You gave the gift of laughter to be used. May it be used in the precious art of healing.   

One Day At A Time

GROWTH

“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step back into safety.”

–Abraham Maslow

In my early years in program, one of my sponsors told me, “You’re in a very well-decorated rut. You even have wall-to-wall carpeting and curtains in it.” As I continued trudging my road to happy destiny, her words would crop up in my head any time I got “stuck.” I could see how far I had come each time, so I persevered and kept turning my fear into faith. As I continued to work the steps, I was led to new levels of recovery.

One day at a time …
I put one foot in front of the other, keep taking the next right action and continue working the steps. I live the promises of the program. Safety or growth? My choice is clear.

~ Rory  

Elder’s Meditation

“Each day, whatever I am doing, I am always praying and thinking of God.”
–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

Have you ever tried going through your day and carrying on a conversation with the Creator? Many of our Elders live in prayer. They talk to the Creator like the Creator is their best friend. It is easiest to do this if we pray in the morning and ask the Great Spirit to direct our thinking. When the Creator is involved in guiding our lives, we will have less stress, anxiety, and tension. Maybe this is something we would like to try today. “Oh, Creator, look at the Sun, how beautiful you have made it. Oh, look at this child, isn’t she just beautiful! Well, Creator, I’m not sure how I should do this task, what do you think? This person is starting to irritate me; I need your help to redirect my thinking. Thanks for returning me to a peaceful mind.” Remember, the Creator also has a sense of humor.

Grandfather, Grandmother, let me walk in prayer.    

Today’s Gift

Whoever I am or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.

—John W.Gardner

It’s easy to forget how important we each are – to our parents, to other family members, to our friends. We are in this world, even in our particular family, because we are important and necessary in the lives of others. It’s easy to feel not so important though, especially when we think we’re not good enough at anything we try. School or work comes easy for some. Maybe not us. Athletics come easy to others. Maybe it’s helping around the house that’s easiest. Each of us is very good at some things. And it’s okay to not be good at everything.

How can I show my talent today?     

The Eye Opener

The man who has the greatest trouble in getting our program is frequently the man who is above the average in education. He tries to open the door to our philosophy of living with his Phi Beta Kappa key. It just won’t fit.

The man who enters our door convinced that all he knows hasn’t been enough to keep him out of difficulty, who is willing to unlearn all those things he knows that are not so and who, in humility, is willing to open his mind and heart to the simple wisdom of those who have succeeded where he has failed, is almost a sure bet.

Hazelden Foundation   

Daily Tao / 161 - TRUTH

There are three levels of truth :
Experience, reasoning, and knowing.
All other assertions should be rejected.

The first type of truth is experience. Once you have experienced something, you know it. No person can persuade you otherwise.

The second type is truth gained by reasoning. In this case, the truth cannot be immediately verified because the subject is too small (like atomic particles) or too large (like the movement of planets through time) or too abstract (like ideas). Something may be true, but its truth is borne out by analysis rather than physical testing.

Either of these two types of truths has a range of validity. They are relative. Therefore, though truths are superior to falsehood, opinions, beliefs, and superstition, they each have limits. There is a third type of truth that is different from these two.

This is a way of direct spiritual knowing. Wholly internal, this mode is the direct experiencing of truth through the opening of higher faculties. Meditation gives one perceptions of absolute certainty. There is no doubt or need of other investigations; this knowledge is beyond words, descriptions, and rationalization. In fact, one must be careful not to let the fruits of one's meditations pass into the realm of rationalization. This will subject you to the relativity of external truths and ruin your confidence. To avoid doubts and conflicting opinions, followers of Tao keep their revelations secret. Then what is known directly is absolutely yours.   

Daily Zen

"The Buddha was often referred to as the Awakened One. Awakened to all the illusions and freed from them. The analogy that is often used is that the non-enlightened state is like being asleep. This is because your Buddha-nature, your enlightened awareness, is masked by a the sleep of ignorance, greed, and hatred. When you awake to the fact that that all is part of the illusion of egocentricity, you are free from that illusion. So you are awakened from the ego-illusion and all that goes with it." Rob Nairn

Diane C.

Just for today

Old dreams needn’t die

“Lost dreams awaken and new possibilities arise.”

Basic Text, p. 91

––––=––––

Most of us had dreams when we were young. Whether we dreamed of a dynamic career, a large and loving family, or travels abroad, our dreams died when our addiction took hold. Anything we ever wanted for ourselves was cast away in our pursuit of drugs. Our dreams didn’t go beyond the next drug and the euphoria we hoped it would bring.

Now in recovery, we find a reason to hope that our lost dreams could still come true. No matter how old we are, how much our addiction has taken from us, or how unlikely it may seem, our freedom from active addiction gives us the freedom to pursue our ambitions. We may discover that we’re very talented at something, or find a hobby we love, or learn that continuing our education can bring remarkable rewards.

We used to put most of our energy into spinning excuses and rationalizations for our failures. Today, we go forward and make use of the many opportunities life presents to us. We may be amazed at what we’re capable of. With our foundation of recovery, success, fulfillment, and satisfaction are within our reach at last.

––––=––––

Just for today: Starting today, I’ll do whatever I can to realize my dreams. 

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We finally came to the bottom. We did not have to be financially broke, although many of us were. But we were spiritually bankrupt.  We had a soul-sickness, a revulsion against ourselves and against our way of living. Life had become impossible for us. We had to end it all or do something about it. Am I glad I did something about it?

Meditation For The Day

Faith is not seeing, but believing. I am in a box of space and time and cannot see spacelessness or eternity. But God is not within the shell of time and space. He is timeless and spaceless. He cannot be fully comprehended by our finite minds. But we must try to make a union between our purposes and the purposes of God. By trying to merge our minds with the mind of God, a oneness of purpose results. This oneness of purpose puts us in harmony with God and others. Evil comes from being in disharmony with God and good comes from being in harmony with Him.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be in harmony with God. I pray that I may get into the stream of goodness in the universe.    

As Bill Sees It

The Rationalizers and the Self-Effacing, p. 160
We alcoholics are the biggest rationalizers in the world. Fortified with the excuse that we are doing great things for A.A., we can, through broken anonymity, resume our old and disastrous pursuit of personal power and prestige, public honors, and money–the same implacable urges that, when frustrated, once caused us to drink.


***************************************

Dr. Bob was essentially a far more humble person than I, and anonymity came rather easily to him. When it was sure that he was mortally afflicted, some of his friends suggested that there should be a monument erected in honor of him and his wife, Anne–befitting a founder and his lady. Telling me about this, Dr. Bob grinned broadly and said, “God bless ‘em. They mean well. But let’s you and me get buried just like other folks.”

In the Akron cemetery where Dr. Bob and Anne lie, the simple stone says not a word about A.A. This final example of self-effacement is of more permanent worth to A.A. than any amount of public attention or any great monument.


A.A. Comes Of Age

1. pp. 292-293
2. pp. 136-137

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Walk in Dry Places

Do I feel uneasy?
Serenity

When facing difficult situations, we can expect to feel a certain amount of discomfort. What’s more often a problem for compulsive people is being tense and apprehensive even when things seem to be going well.

Although many explanations are offered for this unpleasant feeling, the solution is to be found in the 12 Steps. The more secure we feel in our program, the less apprehension we’ll have in facing the problems of living. With the program as our foundation, we will continue to develop more self-assurance as we go along.

We may not immediately find this self-assurance, yet we should not hold back from normal duties and responsibilities. Most of the world’s work and accomplishments are undertaken by people who do not necessarily feel confident and self-assured all the time. Why should it be any different for us?

Whether I feel confident or not, I’ll do my best today. I know that my fellowship, my program, and my Higher Power are fully supporting me.   

Keep It Simple

Anyone can blame; it takes a specialist to praise.

—Konstantin Stanislawski

Are we blamers? We sure were blamers when we were using alcohol and other drugs. Then everything was someone’s fault. Some of us did our blaming out loud. And some of us blamed others silently.

It’s harder to praise than to blame people. Faults stand out like street

signs, but the good things about people may be harder to see. We can see the good in people when we slow down, watch, and listen.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pay attention to people around me. Help me praise them.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three people who mean a lot to me. I’ll write what I like about each of them. I’ll talk to them and tell them what I wrote.    

Keep It Simple

Anyone can blame; it takes a specialist to praise.

—Konstantin Stanislawski

Are we blamers? We sure were blamers when we were using alcohol and other drugs. Then everything was someone’s fault. Some of us did our blaming out loud. And some of us blamed others silently.

It’s harder to praise than to blame people. Faults stand out like street

signs, but the good things about people may be harder to see. We can see the good in people when we slow down, watch, and listen.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pay attention to people around me. Help me praise them.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three people who mean a lot to me. I’ll write what I like about each of them. I’ll talk to them and tell them what I wrote.  

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Some of us, new in The Program, couldn’t resist telling anyone who would listen just how “terrible” we were.  Just as we often exaggerated our modest accomplishments by pride, so we exaggerated our defects through guilt.  Facing about and “confessing all,”  we somehow considered the widespread exposure of our sins to be true humility, considering it a great spiritual asset.  Only as we grew in The Program did we realize that our theatrics and storytelling were merely forms of exhibitionism.  And with that realization came the beginning of a certain amount of humility.  Am I starting to become aware that I’m not so important after all?

Today I Pray

May I learn that there is a chasm of difference between real humility and the dramatic self-put-down.  May I be confronted if I unconsciously demand center-stage to out-do and “out-drunk” others with my “adventure” stories.  May I be cautious that the accounts of my addictive misdeeds do not take on the epic grandeur of heroic exploits.

Today I Will Remember

I will not star in my own drunkologue (or junkologue).  

One Day At A Time

PROMISES

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”

-Oscar Wilde

Before program, I would dwell in my mistakes. Experience, feh! I was all about self-abuse and feeling rotten about mistakes. My mistakes would certainly lead to overeating, since there was no other option in my mind. Even with years of therapy – with the same therapist – I still used eating as a soothing tool for those times when the mistake was enough to send me into a tailspin. Time and time again people would tell me I was too hard on myself, or that I should just relax and smile. Another mistake for me to internalize — I couldn’t even make a mistake right. I wonder now if I sometimes looked for things to call mistakes so I’d have a reason to feel as rotten as I did most of the time. Having been abused as a child wasn’t enough, blaming other people for my pain never satiated me.

In my first OA meeting, I heard the promises and I started to feel something melt away. Some of the shame and self-pity evaporated into the room of men and women who also felt this lack of satisfaction. A room of men and women loved me because I struggled with the same addictive behaviors. I don’t think I’d ever been loved for my weakness, and there is something powerful in that. When I make a mistake, I can think about my friends in OA who tell me that there is no wrong way, just another way.

One day at a time …
I can know that there are people who love me because I share in their weakness, and I can read the promises to realize that recovery is possible.

~ AJ 

Elder’s Meditation

Every part of this country is sacred to my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hallowed by some fond memory or some sad experience of my tribe. Even the rocks, which seem to lie dumb as they swelter in the sun along the silent shore in solemn grandeur, thrill with memories of past events connected with the fate of my people.

—Chief Seattle, SUQUAMISH

Native people say the Earth is sacred. Some places on Earth will feel more sacred than others. You can often feel the sacredness of these places because of what has happened on them. If you do a ceremony on a certain place and return later, whatever happened before will still be there to help you. Even if someone you didn’t know did something on the Earth and you come along later, the powers will be there to help you. This is why the Earth is sacred and these special places are sacred spots.

My Creator, let the powers of the sacred places help the people today.     

Today’s Gift

We never know how high we are ‘Til we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies.

—Emily Dickinson


We are all capable of far more than we think we are. It’s in the tough times, however, that we discover the depths of our strength, and it’s then that we know that some power has enabled us to do what we thought we could not. Whatever we call that power, it is there for us when we need it.

To do what seems impossible, all we need to do is ask for the help we think we need. And we can look within, too, and summon our whole selves to the task at hand. With all that going for us, how can we fail? And when the tough work is over, we’ll look back and know we’ve grown from the experience. And yes, our statures will have touched the skies.

When I am faced with a tough task, how do I respond? 

Daily Tao / 160 - SUPERSTITION

The voices of ghosts are so familiar,

They whisper to me every day.

You, so young and rich,

Make assumptions with absolute assurance.

I vacillate between superstition and tradition.

You don't need to question.


Tradition is the oral delivery of rites and customs from generation to generation. Superstition is belief inconsistent with what society generally considers true and rational. When tradition and superstition become bound together, it is a sign of trouble. For example, a woman was once taught not to wash her hair on anybody's birthday. Whenever she protested this, the answer was "Don't question!" Years later, she learned that in the old country, letting one's hair down was a sign of mourning and thus inauspicious on a birthday. What was etiquette in one generation became superstition in another.

Those raised with traditions and superstitions are often torn between the extremes of biculturalism. Their inbred beliefs conflict with current knowledge and quickly changing culture, creating doubt and uncertainty.


There has to be informed revision to all tradition if it is not to degenerate into superstition. The true substance of any tradition will take new form without compromising its inherent character. If not, it will just become the outmoded beliefs of old people, and it will fade into ghostly whispers. 

Daily Zen

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity"

---- Albert Einstein 

Recovery Speaker - Ernie M.

Emmet Fox

“If you are looking to outer, passing, mutable things for either happiness or security, you are not putting God first.” 

― Emmet Fox

Daily Reflections

OPENING UP TO CHANGE

Self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures. With it comes the development of that kind of humility that makes it possible for us to receive God’s help. … we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life — the one that did not work — for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever.

-AS BILL SEES IT, pp. 10, 8

I have been given a daily reprieve contingent upon my spiritual condition, provided I seek progress, not perfection. To become ready for change, I practice willingness, opening myself to possibilities of change. If I realize there are defects that hinder my usefulness in A.A. and toward others, I become ready by meditating and receiving direction. “Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely” (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 58). To let go and let God, I need only surrender my old ways to Him; I no longer fight nor do I try to control, but simply believe that, with God’s help, I am changed and affirming this belief makes me ready. I empty myself to be full of awareness, light, and love, and I am ready to face each day with hope. 

Just for today

“This program offers hope.  All you have to bring with you is the desire to stop using and the willingness to try this new way of life.”

IP No. 16, For the Newcomer

––––=––––

From time to time we wonder if we’re “doing it right” in Narcotics Anonymous.  Are we attending enough meetings?  Are we using our sponsor, or working the steps, or speaking, or reading, or living the “right” way?  We value the fellowship of recovering addicts—we don’t know what we’d do without it.  What if the way we’re practicing our program is “wrong”?  Does that make us “bad” NA members?

We can settle our insecurities by reviewing our Third Tradition, which assures us that “the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.”  There aren’t any rules that say we’ve got to attend this many meetings or these particular meetings, or work the steps this way at this pace, or live our lives to suit these people in order to remain NA members in good standing.

It’s true that, if we want the kind of recovery we see in members we respect, we’ll want to practice the kind of program that’s made their recovery possible.  But NA is a fellowship of freedom; we work the program the best way for us, not for someone else.  The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.

––––=––––

Just for today:  I will look at the program I’m working in light of my own recovery.  I will practice that program to the best of my ability.  

As Bill Sees It

Between the Extremes, p. 159


“The real question is whether we can learn anything from our experiences upon which we may grow and help others to grow in the likeness and image of God.


“We know that if we rebel against doing that which is reasonably possible for us, then we will be penalized. And we will be equally penalized if we presume in ourselves a perfection that simply is not there.


“Apparently, the course of relative humility and progress will have to lie somewhere between these extremes. In our slow progress away from rebellion, true perfection is doubtless several millennia away.”

Letter, 1959  

Walk in Dry Places

Quality Of Sobriety
Self-Improvement

There is such a thing as length—or quantity—of sobriety, and there is also quality. It’s generally accepted that sobriety ought to be something more than the single process of staying free from alcohol or drugs.

We’re on shaky ground, however, when we begin passing judgement on another person’s quality of sobriety. We only have responsibility for the quality of our own sobriety, and it is not for us to decide how another should think or live.

We may not be able to avoid noticing others’ actions that we consider to be wrong, but we can keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves. If we do wish to voice any opinions, it should be in terms of our own inventory—not the other person’s.

Some old-timers in Twelve Step programs develop crankiness that borders on resentment. Out of this crankiness come complaints about the way newcomers work the program. Our only responsibility is to treat these complaints with good humor and to avoid becoming cranky ourselves. Recovery alcoholics must continue to have the freedom to select any quality of sobriety they choose.

Today I’ll strive for a high-quality sobriety that includes cheerfulness, confidence, patience, and good humor. I won’t be responsible for monitoring another’s sobriety.  

Keep It Simple

It’s not enough to talk to plants, you also have to listen.

—David Bergman

Sometimes, we find ourselves doing all the talking. When this happens, we need to stop, think, and listen.


When we do all the talking, we’re trying to control what happens. But when we listen, we get better results. No one has to be in control. What a relief!

And we’re learning to listen better every day. It’s great—the care, love, and help we find—just by listening.


Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me learn the “give-and-take” of talking and listening.


Action for the Day: Today, I’ll focus on listening, not only to other people but to my Higher Power’s voice.    

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

A friend in The Program taught me to look at excessive guilt in an entirely new way, suggesting that guilt was nothing but a sore of reverse pride. A decent regret for what has happened is fine, he said. But guilt, no. I’ve since learned that condemning ourselves for mistakes we’ve made is just as bad as condemning others for theirs. We’re not really equipped to make judgments, not even of ourselves. Do I still sometimes “beat myself to death” when I appear to be failing?

Today I Pray

May I be wary of keeping my guilty role alive long after I should have left it behind. May I know the difference between regret and guilt. May I recognize that long-term guilt may infer an exaggerated idea of my own importance, as well as present self-righteousness. May God alone be my judge.

Today I Will Remember

Guilt may be pride in reverse.

One Day At A Time

TOGETHERNESS

“The Praying Hands – let them be your reminder, if you need one, that no one ever makes it alone.”

–Anonymous

“I don’t need a sponsor; God and I walk alone.”

“Why do I need to go to a meeting tonight? I’ll be OK; I’ve got other things I need to be doing.”

“I can’t sponsor, I haven’t worked enough of the Steps yet, and besides, I haven’t got time; it takes all my time to do MY program.”

When my thoughts drift in these directions, I am reminded of an old picture my grandfather had of “The Praying Hands” and of the story of two brothers, Albrecht and Albert Durer, both gifted in art.

The Durer family was poor and only one brother could go to art school, so they tossed a coin; Albrecht went to art school while Albert worked hard to pay his brother’s tuition at the Academy in Nuremburg.

After a few years, the artist, Albrecht, said to his brother Albert, “I can afford for you to go to art school now, so I will finance YOUR education.” But Albert, who had worked so hard in the dangerous mines, looked down at his work-worn, arthritic hands which had been smashed numerous times, and knew it was too late for him. He would never be an artist. So Albrecht painted his brother’s hands and they are the hands we now see in copies of the painting … two hands lifted up towards a Power Greater.

I know that I, too, have my Higher Power waiting to help me if only I seek the help I need. I am reminded of the friends I have found in the fellowship. I remember how it feels to hold the hand of a shaky newcomer at the end of their first meeting, or the hand of my sponsor who reaches out to give me comfort when I share a personal hurt.

One Day at a Time …

Alone I have proved again and again that I am defenseless over my disease, but together – TOGETHER – with my Higher Power and all of my fellows, I have a Power and Strength I never believed possible.

~ Marlene  

Elder’s Meditation

“Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice. You lived first, and You are older than all need, older than all prayer … You are the life of all things.”

–Black Elk, OGLALA SIOUX

Great Spirit – Sometimes I don’t feel like praying. Sometimes when I have done something wrong, I’m ashamed to come to You. Even though You have always been there for me, I sometimes choose to stay away. It’s hard for me to understand what all knowing is. Sometimes it’s hard for me to see how much You really care. But I know if I take a few minutes and think about what I know to be true about You, the things change and I am able to realize Your power and Your love. Today, I’ll start by thinking of You. I’ll think about all the times You have helped and guided me in the past. You are life, You are love, You are power, You are desire, You are truth, You are principle, You are intelligence, You are courage. With You I am everything; without You I am nothing.

Creator, thank You for allowing me to start my day with You.  

Today’s Gift

Caring is everything; nothing matters but caring.

—Baron Friedrich Von Hugel

The caring we receive from someone we love when we’re sick can heal us just as much as the medicine we take. For children, Mom is usually the one who makes sure we get enough rest by having us stay in bed. By bringing us juice and aspirins she helps us keep our fevers down. She also lifts our spirits when she tells us a funny story.

Perhaps the next time a loved one is sick we can do the special and caring things. We can bring a favorite magazine or a cold glass of water, tell a joke, or just sit and be there for a while. Whether the sick person is a parent or a brother or sister, when we help care for another, we complete a circle of caring begun by a parent so long ago.

Does someone need my care today?   

The Eye Opener

Opportunity is found within ourselves and nowhere else; the place that provides the greatest opportunity for our mental, moral and physical welfare. Only when we are mentally and physically fit are we able to recognize and grasp material opportunities when they present themselves. Billion dollar deals have been cooked up in practically every bar in the country, but they have all vanished into thin air during the following morning hangover.

Hazelden Foundation    

Daily Zen

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. 

Recovery Speaker - Grace W.

Big Book - Alcoholics Anonymous - The Vicious Cycle - p. 230

How it finally broke a Southerner’s obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. In June 1945, with another member, I made my first–and only–Twelfth Step call on a female alcoholic and a year later I married her. She has been sober all the way through and for me that has been good. We can share in the laughter and tears of our many friends, and most important, we can share our A.A. way of life and are given daily opportunity to help others. Alcoholics Anonymous - The Vicious Cycle - p. 230

Emmet Fox

“Some day (when we have enough spiritual growth) we will come to see that the seemingly disjointed happenings, the apparent accidents, are really part of an orderly pattern.” 

Daily Reflections

AN EVER-GROWING FREEDOM, p.198

The Seventh Step is where we make the change in our attitude which permits us, with humility as our guide, to move out from ourselves toward others and toward God.

-12 & 12, p.76

When I finally asked God to remove those things blocking me from Him and the sunlight of the Spirit, I embarked on a journey more glorious than I ever imagined. I experienced freedom from those characteristics that had me wrapped up in myself. Because of this humbling Step, I feel clean. I am especially aware of this Step because I’m now able to be useful to God and to my fellows. I know that He has granted me strength to do His bidding and has prepared me for anyone, and anything, that comes my way today. I am truly in His hands, and I give thanks for the joy that I can be useful today.   

Just For Today

Someone who believes in me

“Just for today, I will have faith in someone in NA who believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery.”

Basic Text, p. 100

––––=––––

Not all of us arrive in NA and automatically stay clean. But if we keep coming back, we find in Narcotics Anonymous the support we need for our recovery. Staying clean is easier when we have someone who believes in us even when we don’t believe in ourselves.

Even the most frequent relapser in NA usually has one staunch supporter who is always there, no matter what. It is imperative that we find that one person or group of people who believes in us. When we ask them if we will ever get clean, they will always reply, “Yes, you can and you will. Just keep coming back!”

We all need someone who believes in us, especially when we can’t believe in ourselves. When we relapse, we undermine our already shattered self-confidence, sometimes so badly that we begin to feel utterly hopeless. At such times, we need the support of our loyal NA friends. They tell us that this can be our last relapse. They know from experience that if we keep coming to meetings, we will eventually get clean and stay clean.

It’s hard for many of us to believe in ourselves. But when someone loves us unconditionally, offering support no matter how many times we’ve relapsed, recovery in NA becomes a little more real for us.

––––=––––

Just for today: I will find someone who believes in me. I will believe in them. 

As Bill Sees It

Tolerance in Practice, p. 158

“We found that the principles of tolerance and love had to be emphasized in actual practice. We can never say (or insinuate) to anyone that he must agree to our formula or be excommunicated. The atheist may stand up in an A.A. meeting still denying the Deity, yet reporting how vastly he has been changed in attitude and outlook. Much experience tells us he will presently change his mind about God, but nobody tells him he must do so.

“In order to carry the principles of inclusiveness and tolerance still further, we make no religious requirement of anyone. All people having an alcoholic problem who wish to get rid of it and so make a happy adjustment with the circumstances of their lives, become A.A. members by simply associating with us. Nothing but sincerity is needed. But we do not demand even this.

“In such an atmosphere the orthodox, the unorthodox, and the believer mix happily and usefully together. An opportunity for spiritual growth is open to all.”

Letter, 1940    

Walk in Dry Places

Deciding outcomes

Guidance

No matter how limited our opportunities may be, we always have choices and decisions to make. With any choice or decision, it’s only good sense to make the one that seems likely to have the best outcome.

If we’re following our program, however, we should not be dismayed when outcomes turn out to be unfavorable or take turns that disappoint us. We can see only dimly into the future, and we have no way of knowing what will eventually come about as a result of our choices.

We do know that the meeting of the first two AA members actually came about as a result of a business disappointment. We can always find other examples of disappointing outcomes that proved to be good breaks as time passed.

This is not an attempt to rationalize bad situations, if God is in charge of our lives, we need not fear what each outcome might be.




Though I will choose and decide as sensibly as possible, I’ll not be excessively concerned about outcomes. My long-term good is assured as I follow God’s plan in my life. “For those who love God, all things work together for good.” 

Keep It Simple

Forgiveness is the way to true health and happiness.

-Gerald Jampolsky

We can’t afford to hold grudges. We have all felt hurt by others at times. But when we stay angry at another person, it hurts us. It keeps our wounds open. It takes our energy away from healing.

We can forgive now. We know that living our program of honesty and love make us safe. We don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to be angry. We don’t have to let old hurts stand in our way. We let them go. We empty the angers from the hearts to clear the way for love.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me forgive the people I’m still angry with. Help me see that each of those people taught me something about myself.

Action for the Day: Am I holding on to anger and resentment? If so, I’ll make a list today, and I’ll talk with my sponsor about ways to let go of them.  

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Few of us are entirely free from a sense of guilt.  We may feel guilty because of our words or actions, or for things left undone.  We may even feel guilty because of irrational or false accusations by others.  When I’m troubled by a gnawing feeling of guilt, obviously I can’t put into my day all I’m capable of.  So I must rid myself of guilt — not by pushing it aside, or ignoring it, but by identifying it and correcting the cause.  Have I finally begun to learn to “keep it simple…”?

Today I Pray

May I learn not to let myself be “guilted,” made to feel guilty when I don’t consider that I am.  Since I doubtless have the dregs of guilt left over from my addictive behavior, I do not need the extra burden of unreasonable blame laid on me.  I count on God to help me sort out and get rid of these twinges and pangs of guilt, which whether justified or not, need to be recognized and unloaded.

Today I Will Remember

The verdict of guilty is not for life.     

Elder’s Meditation

“If there is a shadow of a doubt someplace, that will cause a weakness.”
–Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

In the Spiritual World there is a spiritual Law. The Law says; like attracts like. This means whatever mental picture we hold inside our minds we will attract from the Universe. To make this Law work we must maintain a constant picture. If we picture or vision something, and along with this picture we have doubting thoughts, our vision will not happen and we will get EXACTLY what we picture or vision. The Law always works. A doubting vision will not materialize what we want. A vision without doubt will always happen. This is a spiritual Law.


My Maker, today, let my vision become strong. 

One Day At A Time

COMPASSION

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because sometime in your life you will have been all of these.”

-George Washington Carver

This Twelve Step program works wonders on many levels. But one of the most noticeable changes I’ve seen in my life has been in the area of compassion.

Eating disorders can really mess a person up. All of us who have the disease of compulsive eating, in no matter what form, have been laughed at, discriminated against, or generally overlooked by those who don’t suffer from our disease. So, one would think that compulsive eaters would be more loving and understanding to their fellows. For the most part this is true. But I have seen compulsive eaters be just as cruel as our more normal-weight counterparts.


If we can mistreat each other, how can we ever expect others to treat us differently? We need to remember where we were in our disease, for there are others in that same situation. We need to see ourselves in the newcomers to our program, because we run the risk of returning to where they are now. “There but for the grace of God go I” takes on a whole new meaning when we apply that phrase to our situation.

Sometimes we see varying degrees of success in this program of recovery. We must each work our program, and allow our fellows to work their program. It’s not up to us to take someone else’s inventory concerning the success or failure of their program. We need only to keep our own side of the street clean, and to show compassion to those of our fellows who are struggling. After all, compassion was what prompted the founding of our fellowship in the first place.

One day at a time …

I will consciously practice compassion toward those who still suffer, because I remember where I came from on this path, and realize I could return there. 

Elder’s Meditation

“If there is a shadow of a doubt someplace, that will cause a weakness.”

–Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

In the Spiritual World there is a spiritual Law. The Law says; like attracts like. This means whatever mental picture we hold inside our minds we will attract from the Universe. To make this Law work we must maintain a constant picture. If we picture or vision something, and along with this picture we have doubting thoughts, our vision will not happen and we will get EXACTLY what we picture or vision. The Law always works. A doubting vision will not materialize what we want. A vision without doubt will always happen. This is a spiritual Law.


My Maker, today, let my vision become strong. 

Today’s Gift

The human brain forgets ninety percent of what goes on.

—Jan Milner

There were two women who shared a house and raised their daughters, two toddlers, together. Then one of the women got transferred to another city and moved with her daughter.


Ten years later, they had a reunion. The mothers asked their kids what they remembered about living together. Did they remember all the books? No. Did they remember a mom in the kitchen every morning, fixing eggs and toast? No.

What they remembered was playing in the pink bathtub for hours, pulling the pink shower curtain shut for privacy. And the morning the mothers sneaked in, turned off the lights, threw plastic cups and spoons over the curtain and cried, “It’s raining spoons!” They laughed and laughed.

We are lucky in this life – our minds think laughter is what’s worth remembering.




What laughter from yesterday can I remember today?   

 

The Eye Opener

In our drinking days, most of us entertained frequent ideas about suicide, but we did nothing about it because we either lacked the nerve, lost our ability to make and carry through any decision or we still had some hope that sometime, somehow, something could be done. We were still in love with life, rotten as our living was.

The real joy of living came only when our living had some purpose, and it will stay sweet as long as we actively engage in constructive, purposeful living.

Hazelden Foundation 

Daily Tao / 158 -DYING

White hanks drape her leathery face.

Caught in the numbness of narrowing time,

Eyes blinded by gauze,

Robotic sights echo into her coma.

Metallic hiss of breathing machine is the

Strange violence of modern compassion.


What do we do when those we care deeply about are dying, while we go on living and working? We might be tempted to indulge in our own feeling of injustice, sadness, or fear, but we should think first of those who are dying. We have a responsibility to be with them.

Don't let others die lonely. No matter how ironic your living may compare with their dying, act for them as they can no longer act. If they reach out for some way to cope with their impending end, you need not have flowery words. Merely being with them, perhaps reaching out to hold hands, is eloquence enough. Death may be near, but any amount of time before it comes is precious.

Life's moments are not cheapened by death. Just to observe and affirm is good. After all, death waits for all of us. Only the value we place on each minute determines the quality of life. If we can embrace that, then no one's life is ruined by death.   

Daily Zen

There are six root delusions

Anger - highly disturbed aspect of mind that arises when we see something unpleasant - enemies, and so forth

Attachment - attachment to ego / self / others / things causes suffering

Pride - is your inflated opinion of yourself and can manifest in relation to some good or bad object: your power, wealth, good qualities, family, wisdom, pure ethics - even your pleasant voice or physical prowess

Ignorance - not knowing, not seeing, not understanding, being unclear, and so forth. Ignorance is like blindness - not seeing the nature or mode of existence of something. Ignorance is the root of all delusions.

Doubt - directed towards the four truths, the Three Jewels, cause and effect

Deluded Views - there are 5
• The view that equates the self with the perishable
• Extreme Views - views such as the continuity of the 'I' as being discontinued at death
• The view of holding aggregates to be supreme
• Holding an ethic or mode of behaviour to be supreme



• Wrong views - such as Three Jewels do not exist, cause and effect do not exist   

Turn It Over...

Bill W. Speaking on the topic of the Spiritual Experience "A Matter of Grace"

Daily Reflections

ALL WE DO IS TRY

Can He now take them all—every one? 

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76

In doing Step Six it helped me a lot to remember that I am striving for “spiritual progress.” Some of my character defects may be with me for the rest of my life, but most have been toned down or eliminated. All that Step Six asks of me is to become willing to name my defects, claim them as my own, and be willing to discard the ones I can, just for today. As I grow in the program, many of my defects become more objectionable to me than previously and, therefore, I need to repeat Step Six so that I can become happier with myself and maintain my serenity.    

Just For Today

Recovery Doesn’t Happen Overnight

“The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous are a progressive recovery process established in our daily living.”

 Basic Text, p. 96

After some time in recovery, we may find we are faced with what seem like overwhelming personal problems, angry feelings, and despair. When we realize what’s going on, we may wail, “But I’ve been working so hard. I thought I was…” Recovered, maybe? Not hardly. Over and over, we hear that recovery is an ongoing process and that we are never cured. Yet we sometimes believe that if we just work our steps enough, pray enough, or go to enough meetings, we’ll eventually… Well, maybe not be cured, but be something!

And we are “something.” We’re recovering-recovering from active addiction. No matter what we’ve dealt with through the process of the steps, there will always be more. What we didn’t remember or didn’t think was important in our first inventory will surely present itself later on. Again and again, we’ll turn to the process of the steps to deal with what’s bothering us. The more we use this process the more we’ll trust it, for we can see the results. We go from anger and resentment to forgiveness, from denial to honesty and acceptance, and from pain to serenity.

Recovery doesn’t happen overnight, and ours will never be complete. But each day brings new healing and the hope for more tomorrow.

Just for today: I will do what I can for my recovery today and maintain hope in the ongoing process of recovery.    

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Drinking is the way we alcoholics express our maladjustment’s to life. I believe that I was a potential alcoholic from the start. I had an inferiority complex. I didn’t make friends easily. There was a wall between me and other people. And I was lonely. I was not well adjusted to life. Did I drink to escape from myself?

Meditation For The Day

According to the varying needs of each person, so does each person think of God. It is not necessary that you think of God as others think of Him, but it is necessary that you think of Him as supplying what you personally need. The weak need God’s strength. The strong need God’s tenderness. The tempted and fallen need God’s saving grace. The righteous needs God’s pity for sinners. The lonely need God as a friend. The fighters for righteousness need a leader in God. You may think of God in any way you wish. We usually do not turn to God until we need Him.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may think of God as supplying my needs. I pray that I will bring all my problems to Him for help in meeting them.  

As Bill Sees It

Imagination Can Be Constructive, p. 157

We recall, a little ruefully, how much store we used to set by imagination as it tried to create reality out of bottles. Yes, we reveled in that sort of thinking, didn’t we? And, though sober nowadays, don’t we often try to do much the same thing?

Perhaps our trouble was not that we used our imagination. Perhaps the real trouble was our almost total inability to point imagination toward the right objectives. There’s nothing the matter with truly constructive imagination; all sound achievement rests upon it. After all, no man can build a house until he first visions a plan for it.

12 & 12, p. 100

Walk in Dry Places

My opportunities are in change
Personal Growth.

It’s common to hear a recovering person voice apprehensions about an impending change. This apprehension only results from our fear that change will mean loss.

There can never be any permanent loss if we are solidly anchored in our spiritual program. Our Higher Power is the guiding force in all change and will make all things right as events unfold.

We should also remember that change brought us to our present situation. Any good we now enjoy came to us by a certain process. Even painful experiences have been valuable lessons.

There is no way we can avoid change; it is a built-in condition of life. We can accept it more gracefully if we view it as God’s way of bringing us opportunity.

Any change that I sense today is just a signal for the arrival of new opportunities. Even if changes seem uncomfortable, I’ll welcome all such change.   

Keep It Simple

Fortunate are the people whose roots are deep.

—Agnes Meyer

A tree’s roots seek water and minerals. Though the roots can’t be seen easily seen, they are there.

The life of the tree depends on them. The stronger a tree’s roots, the higher a tree can grow.

We need to set deep roots into the soil of recovery. The soil of recovery is made up of the Twelve Steps, fellowship, and service to others. We’ll have to get through storms and high winds in our return to health. In so doing, we’ll become beautiful, strong, and spiritual. We’ll be able to live with both the gentle breezes and the heavy winds of life.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe in what I can’t see. Just as I believe that the roots of a tree are there because I can see the leaves. I believe in a Higher Power because I can see the results.

Action for the Day: I will ask myself, “Which Step do I need to work on the most right now?” I will volunteer to give a meeting on that Step. 

Father Leo’s

SCIENCE

“As long as men are free to ask what they must – free to say what they think – free to think what they will – freedom can never be lost and science can never regress.”

–J. Robert Oppenheimer


We need to press on in this wonderful journey of life because new discoveries await us in our tomorrows. Spirituality always brings joy in the journey. In the traveling is the fun for we will never reach our destination in this life.

The freedom to question is the discipline of science, and science is involved in the treatment and recovery of addiction. We must always be looking for better ways of treatment, more vivid ways of teaching and creative aids to recovery.

Science, and every other creative discipline, should be used in the treatment of addictions: God is to be found in the many.

Lord, let us remember that You gave mankind a scalpel and a prayer book.

Fr. Leo Booth    

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Adjusting myself to things as they are, and being able to love without trying to interfere with or control anyone else, however close to me — that’s one of the important things I search for and can find in The Program. The learning is sometimes painful; however, the reward is life itself — full and serene. Is The Program helping restore me to a sane and reasonable way of thinking, so I can handle my interpersonal relationships with love and understanding?

Today I Pray

May I respect those that I love enough to set them free — to stop controlling, manipulating, scheming, balling them out of trouble. May I love them enough to let them make their own mistakes and take responsibility for them. May I learn to let go.

Today I Will Remember

Love is letting Go.

One Day At A Time

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

–Helen Keller

While traveling through life, I have made choices that have injured myself and others. Others have made choices that have hurt me. Remembering and writing about my past has proved to bring up a plethora of negative emotions. At this moment I feel pain, remorse, anger, frustration, and am overwhelmed.

Every human on earth experiences these same feelings at one time or another. This is part of what I am here for. How could I ever comprehend bliss without experiencing misery? How could I enjoy inspiration without suffering depression? How could I appreciate peace without encountering turmoil? I am grateful for the problems life gives me — partnered with the emotions they bring — because without the bad I could not understand the good. Everything has its opposite. Things will always change. Things will always get better, just like the sun shines after each storm. The good news is that even though I may be experiencing negative feelings, I am learning empathy and I am gaining wisdom. And how much more will I value the rays of sunshine that break through the gray clouds?

One day at a time…

I will allow myself the honor of feeling human emotion. I will ask my Higher Power to give me comfort in my hardships and to help me remember why I am here. I will ask my Higher Power to open my heart to the lessons I am learning. For today, with hope and faith, I will look for the sunbeams shining through the haze.

~ Susanne   

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

“We need to save those Elders who cannot speak for themselves — the trees.”

–Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

The trees are the Elders of the Earth. Go to the forest or to the mountains and find a young tree. Then find an old tree. Spend time with each. Sit by the young tree and listen to your thoughts. Then move to an old tree and listen to your thoughts again. Just being in the presence of an old tree, you will feel more calm. Your thoughts will contain wisdom and your answers will be deeper. Why is this so? These old trees know more, have heard more, and are the Elders of the Earth. We must ensure these trees live so we can learn from them.

My Creator, help me to protect the trees and listen to them. 

Today’s Gift

A good anger acted upon is beautiful as lightning and swift with power. A good anger swallowed clots the blood like slime.

—Marge Piercy

How does it feel when someone tells us we should play basketball when we don’t want to? Often, it angers us that someone else is telling us what to do. After we have been told we should do something many times, we begin to believe it and forget how we really feel. Even though we have forgotten what we wanted to do, we feel angry, often without realizing it. Such hidden anger can leave us feeling bad without knowing why.

It is important to know when we are angry, and to say so. There are healthy ways of expressing anger without blaming others. Saying we are angry, and thereby claiming it as our own feeling and not something others force on us, is a way to express it, which also affirms our right to be angry.

If there is anger in me today, can I express it correctly? 

The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #BigBook #Founders #AA

Before the philosophy or theory of AA was ever committed to writing in the “Big Book,” it was devised by the Founders after many trials and errors, after many disheartening failures and setbacks.

Because of our phenomenal growth, we are prone to think our birth was painless.

AA was not invented; it was born in the labors of suffering men and women who, by pooling their common experiences, arrived at an answer to the alcoholic problem – one that would work.

Hazelden Foundation    

Daily Tao /157 - Optimal

If you are best in the morning,
Cultivate Tao in the morning.
If you are best in the evening,
Cultivate Tao in the evening.

Whatever the optimal time of day is for you, you should devote it to the cultivation of Tao. For example, dawn, when it is quiet, the world is fresh, and the mind is untainted by the day's events, is an ideal time to devote yourself to study. Morning, the time of birth, should not be wasted on a quick breakfast, a hastily read newspaper, and a manic rush to work. If is far better to awake from peaceful sleep, wash yourself, drink clear water, and immerse yourself in the rising energy of the day.

If your optimal time is evening, there are two propitious intervals : twilight, when day and night come into balance, and midnight, when the first breath of the coming day arises. In the night, worldly cares are put aside, rest and relaxation are paramount, and the entire world withdraws into nocturne. Night is the time of regeneration, and it should not be wasted on wanton entertainment, indulgent sexuality, and too much sleep. It is far better to retire from the cares of the day, bathe, and immerse yourself in the gestating power of the dark.   

Daily Zen

Madness, the way they
gallop off to foreign shores!
Turning to the One Mind,
I find my Buddhahood,
Above self and others,
beyond coming and going.
This will remain when all else is gone.

- Tanzan (1819- 1892) 

Daily Reflections

ENTIRELY READY?

“This is the Step that separates the men from the boys.” … the difference between “the boys and the men” is the difference between striving for a self determined objective and for the perfect objective which is of God. It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection.  The moment we say, “No, never!” our minds close against the grace of God. This is the exact point at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward God’s will for us.

-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 63, 68, 69

Am I entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character?  Do I know at long last that I cannot save myself? I have come to believe that I cannot. If I am unable, if my best intentions go wrong, if my desires are selfishly motivated and if my knowledge and will are limited — then I am ready to embrace God’s will for my life.     

Just For today

Honest prayer

“Although honesty is difficult to practice, it is most rewarding.”

Basic Text, p. 96

––––=––––

How difficult we find it to be honest! Many of us come to NA so confused about what really happened in our lives that it sometimes takes months and years to sort it all out. The truth of our history is not always as we have told it. How can we begin to be more truthful?

Many of us find it the easiest to be honest in prayer. With our fellow addicts, we sometimes find that we have a hard time telling the whole truth. We feel certain that we won’t be accepted if we let others know us as we really are. It’s hard to live up to the “terminally hip and fatally cool” image so many of us portrayed! In prayer, we find an acceptance from our Higher Power that allows us to open our hearts with honesty.

As we practice this honesty with the God of our understanding, we often find that it has a ripple effect in our communications with others. We get in the habit of being honest. We begin to practice honesty when we share at meetings and work with others. In return, we find our lives enriched by deepening friendships. We even find that we can be more honest with ourselves, the most important person to be truthful with!

Honesty is a quality that is developed through practice. It isn’t always easy to be totally truthful, but when we begin with our Higher Power, we find it easier to extend our honesty to others.

––––=––––

Just for today: I will be honest with God, myself, and others.    

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We alcoholics are fortunate to be living in a day and age when there is such a thing as Alcoholics Anonymous. Before A.A. came into being, there was very little hope for the alcoholic. A.A. is a great rebuilder of human wreckage. It takes men and women whose personality problem expresses itself in alcoholism and offers them a program that, if they are willing to accept it, allows them not only to get sober, but also to find a much better way of living. Have I found a better way of living?

Meditation For The Day

Very quietly God speaks through your thoughts and feelings. Heed the Divine voice of your conscience. Listen for this and you will never be disappointed in the results in your life. Listen for this small, still voice and your tired nerves will become rested. The Divine voice comes to you as strength as well as tenderness, as power as well as restfulness.  Your moral strength derives its effectiveness from the power that comes when you listen patiently for the still, small voice.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may listen for the still, small voice of God. I pray that I may obey the leading of my conscience.  

As Bill Sees It

Perception of Humility, p. 156

An improved perception of humility starts a revolutionary change in our outlook. Our eyes begin to open to the immense values which have come straight out of painful ego-puncturing. Until now, our lives have been largely devoted to running from pain and problems. Escape via the bottle was always our solution.

Then, in A.A., we looked and listened. Everywhere we saw failure and misery transformed by humility into priceless assets.

***************************************

To those who have made progress in A.A., humility amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be.

12 & 12

1. pp. 74-75
2. p. 58 

Walk in Dry Places

Looking at the long term.
Living Today.

Though we’re encouraged to live one day at a time, we must also be aware of the future. We should not knowingly do anything today that creates unneeded risks and penalties further down the road.

We should not, for example, take on unreasonable debt simply to live well today. We should not put off things that will get worse with time. We should not avoid unpleasant decisions that will have to be made sooner or later.

Living one day at a time really means planning to do our best each day. While we cannot predict or control the future, we do have a responsibility to act so that our tomorrows will also be good days for living.

I’ll face today with the confidence that all my actions will be good for the long term as well as for today.    

Keep It Simple

Life is only this place, this time, and these people right here and now.
-Vincent Collins


Staying in the present can be hard. This busy world pulls our focus from the present. We often wonder if the future will bring good times or bad times.

Life is right before us. Look around. Life is happening–now! The more we live in the moment, the better we feel. Why? Because we can do something about the present. We can’t do anything about the future. We have choices in the present, and we can do something with our lives. Addiction ran our lives before. Now with the help of others and our Higher Power, we run our lives again. This give us peace of mind.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for giving back my life. Teach me how to run my life. Have me seek others when I need help. It’s okay to ask for it.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list five things I do well. Then I’ll list three things I don’t do well. I’ll think of people who can help me, and I’ll call them.  

Father Leo’s

REASON

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use.”

–Galileo Galilei

An essential part of being human is the ability to think, reflect and reason. Spirituality is involved in our ideas and perceptions because that is historically how man has grown and been able to change. As Descarte said, “Cogito ergo sum – I think therefore I am.”

The tragedy is that few people experience the freedom to think and create because of the stifling addictions that are epidemic in our society: food, alcohol, drugs, religion, work, money and sex. We are so afraid of what others might think or say that we never fully experience our spiritual selves and everybody suffers. It is the “risks” in life that make man great.

Help me to challenge what I do not believe in order to discover what I do believe. 

One Day At A Time

HONESTY

“Our lives improve only when we take chances ~ and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”

–Walter Anderson

After the initial shock and realization that I am a compulsive overeater, it transpired that in order to recover, I had to get honest. This was — and still is — a painful process for me, yet it is an essential step towards my recovery.

First I had to admit that I wasn’t in control of my life and that recovery couldn’t be achieved unaided. As with most revelations, this was an uncomfortable truth to behold. I was also prompted through honesty to stop blaming everyone else for my unwillingness to help myself. I had to find conviction in my actions and not just emptiness in my words.

I conceded that I am not as perfect as I would like to think. I make mistakes and sometimes slip from the path of recovery, but with honesty comes acceptance that I am only human. This disease would deceive me into thinking that I am a failure when in fact it’s my actions that have failed me. Like a magician who performs illusions for the crowd, this disease would have me think I have committed unforgivable sins. Honesty is the key to my recovery; it unlocks the chains that have imprisoned me for so long. It allows me to recognize my weaknesses and turn them into strengths. It turns simple existence into life ~ and inner-conflicts into outward serenity.

One day at a time …

I will be honest with myself.

~ Sue G. 

Elder’s Meditation

“It is not through the great skill of the hunter himself that success is achieved, but through the hunter’s awareness of his place in Creation and his relationship to all things.”

–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW


If only the human being could understand the power of proper relationships, the need for power and control could be abandoned. It’s not what is going on that matters, but how we look at what is going on. It’s our relationship to it that counts. Nothing in the world has any meaning except the meaning we give to it. To be more effective at this, we need to consider our relationship with the Creator. Our relationship to the Great Spirit determines how we will perceive the meanings we put to places, people, institutions, and things. We need to let the Creator tell us and guide our thoughts about these relationships. Any relationship that we have that is causing problems means we need to pray for a new point of view.

Creator, let me see the world and the people through your eyes. 

Today’s Gift

To render ourselves insensible to pain we must forfeit also the possibilities of happiness.

—Sir John Lubbock

A caterpillar knows instinctively that it must spin a cocoon. When finished it will use the protection it has made to turn itself into a beautiful butterfly. When the time is right, the butterfly will break through the cocoon and stretch its wings to meet the world.

We sometimes protect ourselves by withdrawing into a cocoon of our own. We stop talking to others and find ourselves growing lonely and longing for our friends. Perhaps it was some pain that made us retreat, but the pain of loneliness is greater. When we have the courage to break out of our cocoon, knowing and accepting the fact that we will experience both pain and happiness, we will change. We will become, for that moment, something new and beautiful like the butterfly.

What fearful thing do I have the courage to face today?     

The Eye Opener

Alcoholics are by nature the great “I AM.” We work ourselves into a lather in doing AA work, and sometimes we are rewarded with a degree of success and we begin to puff up like a pouter pigeon, forgetting we are of ourselves able to do nothing. We are still but a drink away from a stumble-bum.

We are what we are by the Grace of God only. We accomplish what little we do by a Power greater than ourselves. How can you help anybody? You were never even able to help yourself?

Hazelden Foundation