Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Confidence

Why it works.
Confidence.

Twelve Step meetings often begin with a reading from a famous Fifth chapter, “How it works.” We know that the program does work, but why? Is there a secret or magic to it?

The real reason the program works is neither secret nor magic. The program actually relies on ancient principles that always amaze people when they are employed: Help Others, and you help yourself. Clean up your own house. Put your trust in God, not frail human beings or shaky institutions. Remove false gods, such as alcohol and other drugs.

There may be additional reasons for the program’s success, but these are enough for a start. The Twelve Step program does work.

I’ll take comfort today in knowing that I’m walking in a way that has been tested and proven. The program works if I let it work. 

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A DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrec #courage #confidence

Reflection for the Day

As I attend meetings of the Program, may eyes open wider and wider. Other people’s problems make mine look small, yet they are facing them with courage and confidence. Others are trapped in situations as bad as mine, but they bear their troubles with more fortitude. By going to meetings, I find many reasons to be grateful. My load has begun to lighten. Do I expect easy solutions to my problems? Or do I ask only to be guided to a better way?

Today I Pray

Make the Program my way of life. Its goals are my goals. Its members are my truest friends. May I pass along the skills for coping I have learned there. May my turnabout and the resulting transformation in my life inspire others, as others have inspired me.

Today I Will Remember

May I be grateful.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrecovery

Why it works.
Confidence.
Twelve Step meetings often begin with a reading from a famous Fifth chapter, “How it works.” We know that the program does work, but why? Is there a secret or magic to it?

The real reason the program works is neither secret nor magic. The program actually relies on ancient principles that always amaze people when they are employed: Help Others, and you help yourself. Clean up your own house. Put your trust in God, not frail human beings or shaky institutions. Remove false gods, such as alcohol and other drugs.

There may be additional reasons for the program’s success, but these are enough for a start. The Twelve Step program does work.

I’ll take comfort today in knowing that I’m walking in a way that has been tested and proven. The program works if I let it work.

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DAILY TAO - CONFIDENCE #essentialsofrecovery

Truth perceived gives assurance.
Skill yields self-reliance.
With courage, we can defy danger.
To increase power, increase humility.

Through constant contemplation, we can arrive at the truth. The more experienced we are, the more thorough our understanding, and thus the more we can come to rely on our knowledge. When we exercise what we know, it not only extends our understanding of the truth but helps us take action in meaningful ways. The more we do, the more self-reliant we are.

Every achievement brings a wonderful dividend of confidence. We try greater and greater ventures, until we are brave enough to accomplish undertakings far beyond what the average person imagines. When we reach that level of consummate skill, it is a time of both celebration and extreme caution. We are justified to rejoice, for this is the level of ability that we have been striving so long and hard to attain. It is also the time for caution because the foolish will eventually try something too great for them to handle. Pride and passion will lead to their downfall.

Therefore, the more accomplished one becomes, the more circumspect one should be. The higher one’s skills, the more precarious one’s road.  The most powerful followers of Tao are also among the most humble. By veiling their light until the proper moments, they escape the greatest danger of all: hubris. 

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Daily Tao /093 - CONFIDENCE

Truth perceived gives assurance.

Skill yields self-reliance.

With courage, we can defy danger.

To increase power, increase humility.


Through constant contemplation, we can arrive at the truth. The more experienced we are, the more thorough our understanding, and thus the more we can come to rely on our knowledge. When we exercise what we know, it not only extends our understanding of the truth but helps us take action in meaningful ways. The more we do, the more self-reliant we are.

Every achievement brings a wonderful dividend of confidence. We try greater and greater ventures, until we are brave enough to accomplish undertakings far beyond what the average person imagines. When we reach that level of consummate skill, it is a time of both celebration and extreme caution. We are justified to rejoice, for this is the level of ability that we have been striving so long and hard to attain. It is also the time for caution because the foolish will eventually try something too great for them to handle. Pride and passion will lead to their downfall.

Therefore, the more accomplished one becomes, the more circumspect one should be. The higher one's skills, the more precarious one's road. The most powerful followers of Tao are also among the most humble. By veiling their light until the proper moments, they escape the greatest danger of all : hubris.

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

CONFIDENCE


“There is no sort of work that could ever be done well if you minded what fools say.”

– George Eliot

Part of the risk in my recovery is arousing the displeasure of others. I know that I cannot please all the people — and yet my disease tells me that I must! For years I missed life’s opportunities because I listened to negative and frightened people. Today I choose to shout my “yes” to life, and I ignore the fools. The fools are rarely friends. Rather, they seek to keep me in the same prison as themselves. If they truly loved me, they would encourage me to be imaginative and creative.

Today I have a joyride “letting go and letting God” because God is a great risk-taker!

I pray that I may always listen to the advice of others, but never miss my power of decision.

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrecovery

Confidence In the next phase.
Assurance

“God has carried me this far. I will not be let down now.” These are brave words of recovering people who find themselves facing new doubts and fears.

There’s nothing unrealistic about this attitude. Those of us in 12 Step programs and beneficiaries of a miraculous chain of events that brought our movement into being. Our responsibility is to continue carrying the message by proving how the program works.

It’s our success in dealing with life’s problems that eventually attracts others to our fellow ship. The best proof of how our spiritual program works is showing how our Higher Power continues to solve problems in our lives.

We don’t always know what the next phase in our lies will bring. We can only know that with God, all sorts of wonderful things continue to be possible.

Though I can’t see around the corner, I’ll know today that my Higher Power will guide me smoothly and safely through the next phase.

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrec #confidence #Goals #Women

Establishing goals and following through on them help women build self-confidence.
Sharon Walters ~

Alcohol and other drugs created the illusion of confidence for many of us before our recovery. Some of us held prominent positions in corporations. Others of us raised children and held jobs too. All of us took on responsibilities that might have overwhelmed us had we lacked the false security that drugs could offer. But their time ran out. Luckily for us, their time ran out.

Since giving up our drugs, we have had to develop new ways to build confidence. Fortunately, having this program and the Steps as guides, we have been able to make progress. The confidence we are building now through reliance on our Higher Power is substantive and real, not illusionary and temporary. We are learning who we are through our inventories, and that has made it possible to determine what we want to do with our lives. Our goals and our ability to follow through on plans are manifestations of our hard work. Self-confidence is the lasting reward.

My confidence will not waver today if I remember to let God help me handle each responsibility.
© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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A DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrec #Twelvesteps #Confidence

12
December

Reflection for the Day

These days, if I go through an experience that is new and demanding, I can do so in a spirit of confidence and trust. Thanks to the Program and Twelve Steps, I’ve come to know that God is with me in all places and in all endeavors. His Spirit is in me as well as in the people around me. As a result, I feel comfortable even in new situations and at home even among strangers. Will I continue to flow along and grow along with the Program, trusting in the power and love of God at work in me and in my life?

Today I Pray

May God’s comfort be with me in all situations, familiar or new. May He rebuild the sagging bridge of my confidence. May I acknowledge God in me and in others around me. May that mutual identity in God help me communicate with people on a plane of honesty. If I can learn to trust God, I can learn to trust the ones who share this earth with me.

Today I Will Remember

God teaches me how to trust.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Confidence #FrLeo

 23August 

CONFIDENCE


“There is no sort of work that could ever be done well if you minded what fools say.”

– George Eliot

Part of the risk in my recovery is arousing the displeasure of others. I know that I cannot please all the people — and yet my disease tells me that I must! For years I missed life’s opportunities because I listened to negative and frightened people. Today I choose to shout my “yes” to life, and I ignore the fools. The fools are rarely friends. Rather, they seek to keep me in the same prison as themselves. If they truly loved me, they would encourage me to be imaginative and creative.

Today I have a joyride “letting go and letting God” because God is a great risk-taker!

I pray that I may always listen to the advice of others, but never miss my power of decision.

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Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #PENOBSCOT #NativeAmerican

18
August


“You have to have confidence in your own ability to be able to go it alone, to go against what the rest of the culture is doing.”

–Eunice Baumann-Nelson, Ph.D., PENOBSCOT

God, this is hard.
Today, allow me to be a Warrior.
Let me be strong.
Let Your voice be clear to me.
Let me hear Your guidance.
My goal today is to serve You,
to develop myself to be the kind of Indian person that You would have me be.
To Walk the Red Road must sometimes be walked alone.

Great Spirit, let me walk the Red Road today with the confidence that You are with me. If I fall, I will quickly ask You to help me know what I should do next.

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Confidence

 9
August 

Confidence In the next phase.
Assurance

“God has carried me this far. I will not be let down now.” These are brave words of recovering people who find themselves facing new doubts and fears.

There’s nothing unrealistic about this attitude. Those of us in 12 Step programs and beneficiaries of a miraculous chain of events that brought our movement into being. Our responsibility is to continue carrying the message by proving how the program works.

It’s our success in dealing with life’s problems that eventually attracts others to our fellow ship. The best proof of how our spiritual program works is showing how our Higher Power continues to solve problems in our lives.

We don’t always know what the next phase in our lies will bring. We can only know that with God, all sorts of wonderful things continue to be possible.

Though I can’t see around the corner, I’ll know today that my Higher Power will guide me smoothly and safely through the next phase.

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Today’s Gift from Hazelden #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Pity

 7
August 

Pity is the deadliest feeling that can be offered to a woman.

— Vicki Baum

We must move forward with confidence, trusting that the strength we need will be given us, having faith in our visions to guide us. Problems need not daunt us. Rather, they can spur us on to more creative activity. They challenge our capabilities. They insist that we not stand still.

Pity from others fosters inaction, and passivity invites death of the soul. Instead, our will to live is quickened through others’ encouragement. All else dampens the will. Pity feeds the self-pity that rings the death knell.

We can give strokes wherever we are today and know that we are helping someone live. And each time we reach out to encourage another, we are breathing new life into ourselves, new life that holds at bay the self-pity that may appear at any moment.

We can serve one another best, never by commiserating with sadnesses, but by celebrating life’s challenges. They offer the opportunities necessary to our continued growth.

Someone needs a word of encouragement from me. I will brighten their vision of the future.

From the book:

Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey

Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey. © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

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#essentialsofrec #Recovery #Quotes #inspiration

18
June

Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions. ~ Earl Gray Stevens

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