A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrecovery

I don’t train for a marathon when I simply want to run five-mile races.

~ Patricia Roth Wuertzer ~

Our insecurity, our fear that we’re inadequate, pushes us to overextend ourselves. We spent many years using alcohol and other drugs rather than ful-filling our dreams and aspirations. We may try to make up for lost time by demanding too much of ourselves now.

Making some progress every day is the best way to succeed at our goals. We’ll discover almost immediately how good it feels to say we’ll do some-thing and then do it. But we must be wary of the compulsion to do too much. We’re still addicts, after all.

Life is a process. Recovery is a process. Every day we get chances to learn whatever we didn’t master yesterday. No one is keeping score. Let’s ease up, make some progress, and leave time to smell the roses.

Today I’ll remind myself that I don’t have to complete a big project every day. Making some progress is enough.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation 

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Just For Today #essentialsofrec

The Masks Have To Go

“… we covered low self-esteem by hiding behind phony images that we hoped would fool people. The masks have to go” 

Basic Text, p.32

Over-sensitivity, insecurity, and lack of identity are often associated with active addiction. Many of us carry these with us into recovery; our fears of inadequacy, rejection, and lack of direction do not disappear overnight. Many of us have images, false personalities we have constructed either to protect ourselves or please others. Some of us use masks because we’re not sure who we really are. Sometimes we think that these images, built to protect us while using, might also protect us in recovery.

We use false fronts to hide our true personality, to disguise our lack of self-esteem. These masks hide us from others and also from our own true selves. By living a lie, we are saying that we cannot live with the truth about ourselves. The more we hide our real selves, the more we damage our self-esteem.

One of the miracles of recovery is the recognition of ourselves, complete with assets and liabilities. Self esteem begins with this recognition. Despite our fear of becoming vulnerable, we need to be willing to let go of our disguises. We need to be free of our masks and free to trust ourselves.

Just for today: I will let go of my masks and allow my self esteem to grow. 

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrec #Progress #Fear

I don’t train for a marathon when I simply want to run five-mile races.

~ Patricia Roth Wuertzer 

Our insecurity, our fear that we’re inadequate, pushes us to overextend ourselves. We spent many years using alcohol and other drugs rather than fulfilling our dreams and aspirations. We may try to make up for lost time by demanding too much of ourselves now.

Making some progress every day is the best way to succeed at our goals. We’ll discover almost immediately how good it feels to say we’ll do some-thing and then do it. But we must be wary of the compulsion to do too much. We’re still addicts, after all.

Life is a process. Recovery is a process. Every day we get chances to learn whatever we didn’t master yesterday. No one is keeping score. Let’s ease up, make some progress, and leave time to smell the roses.

Today I’ll remind myself that I don’t have to complete a big project every day. Making some progress is enough.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrec #Insecurity #Economics

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING

Fear . . . of economic insecurity will leave us.

~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 ~

Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic circumstances improve, are two different things. When I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I thought fear would leave me only when I started making money. However, another line from the Big Book jumped off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial difficulties: “For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded.” (p. 127). I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee. I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears.

Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit others. I’ve found that is what others valued all along. I try to remember that I no longer work for myself. I only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have “owned” it. My life’s purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrecovery

Healing is learning to trust my own wisdom, my own intuition.

~ Mary Zink ~

Being insecure is common with our disease. Some think insecurity triggered our abuse of chemicals. Yet it doesn’t matter which came first, the chemical abuse or the insecurity. They were good partners for years. Unfortunately, the partnership left us bankrupt!

Getting into recovery is like putting money in the bank. Working the Steps, going to meetings, getting a sponsor, being a sponsor, and taking time every day to commune with our Higher Power are I he deposits we make in our account. When we hit u rough spot, we have something to fall back on.

Believing that we can think clearly about the important matters in our lives is concrete progress. Our confidence about handling problems is growing. In time, what used to baffle us no longer will.

I am wise. I’ll know what to do today in every situation if I open my heart to my Higher Power.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrecovery

SECURITY

I’m gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around, and I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down. Gonna stand my ground, and I won’t back down.

~ Tom Petty 

Security is the result of a dedicated effort toward a goal. We feel secure in our Fellowship, some more, some less. Security comes from the safety and confidence we get from building on the working principles of our Program of spiritual growth.

We know that our progress can never be taken away from us by force or under-handed dealings of others. Our belief in the security of the Program defies those who try to betray our trust or draw us back into addiction. Security is the knowledge that it is possible for the most hopeless and helpless victims of any addiction to find recovery. Security is also a shield against our own acts of carelessness or feelings of overconfidence.

I have come to feel secure in the Program and my recovery. I won’t let others or myself bring me down.

©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden 

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WALK IN DRY PLACES #essentialsofrecovery

HOMELESS AND UNEMPLOYED

Economic Insecurity

Alcoholism isn’t the sole cause of the homelessness and unemployment that troubles our world. Even in sobriety, people can lose their jobs and homes, through no fault of their own.

Recovery makes it less likely that we will cause such conditions in our own lives. Beyond that , by keeping sober, we will be better able to deal with any setbacks that do occur. It is a painful fact that it is almost impossible to help any destitute alcoholic find a home or employment unless he or she stops drinking. We learn that much through our experience.

Our true home is with our Higher Power, and our best work bay be in the sharing of our experience and strength with others. Remembering this, we can be sympathetic and understanding about the general problems of homelessness and unemployment. We don’t have the complete answer, but we do have answers.

I’ll be grateful and understanding in any consideration of today’s problems of homelessness and unemployment. By staying sober, I am at least helping to alleviate some of the general problems.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation 

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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec

Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave you. . .

Alcoholics Anonymous

We don’t have to fear people. They can’t wreck our spirit. We don’t have to fear money problems. We won’t have to starve to death. Our Higher Power will lead us on a safe path through life.  Our Higher power wants us to be safe, happy, and wise. Our Higher power wants us to feel loved.

We’ll learn to trust our Higher Power. And we’ll learn to trust the happiness we find in our new way of life. People may still hurt us, but there will be much more love to carry us through.

Prayer For the Day: Higher Power, I know You protect me and care for me. Help me stop worrying.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list four fears I have. I will talk with my sponsor about how to turn these over to my Higher Power.

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Recovery #insecurity

16
October 

Homeless and unemployed
Economic Insecurity

Alcoholism isn’t the sole cause of the homelessness and unemployment that troubles our world. Even in sobriety, people can lose their jobs and homes, through no fault of their own.

Recovery makes it less likely that we will cause such conditions in our own lives. Beyond that , by keeping sober, we will be better able to deal with any setbacks that do occur. It is a painful fact that it is almost impossible to help any destitute alcoholic find a home or employment unless he or she stops drinking. We learn that much through our experience.

Our true home is with our Higher Power, and our best work bay be in the sharing of our experience and strength with others. Remembering this, we can be sympathetic and understanding about the general problems of homelessness and unemployment. We don’t have the complete answer, but we do have answers.

I’ll be grateful and understanding in any consideration of today’s problems of homelessness and unemployment. By staying sober, I am at least helping to alleviate some of the general problems.

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Fear #Insecurity

10
September 

NEIGHBORS

“The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

As a drunk I said cruel things about other people. My prejudices hid my fears and insecurities. I condemned in others what I saw in myself. I deflected attention from me by the name-calling others: sick manipulations. “Neighbor” was only a word that I could spell and interpret, useful for religious homilies or pretentious innuendoes but not something I really experienced.

Today I am able to be the “good neighbor” to many people, known and unknown. My recovery has brought people into my life. Relationships mean something; friends are important; the world is one. Black, Asian, Hispanic — all add a variety to my life that enable me to get in touch with buried feelings of my “difference”. In the stranger I discover something of myself; the foreigner has become both friend and neighbor.

God, I never cease to be amazed at the mystery and variety that is “me”.

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Courage #Fear

11
May 

COURAGE


“The courage of life is often less a dramatic spectacle
than the courage of the final moment;
but it is no less than a magnificent mixture
of triumph and tragedy.”

John F. Kennedy

As a little girl, I often daydreamed of a knight in shining armor who would ride bravely into my life and rescue me from my fears and insecurities. This knight would be fearless; un-phased by fire-breathing dragons, deep dark caves, or howling winds. He would have courage where I had only fear.

The knight never came. I began to look for other rescuers in my friends, role-models, teachers, and church. Still I could not find what I sought. My fears continued to scream in my soul … and I felt so weak. I turned to food in an attempt to silence the monsters in my belly.

Sometimes my fear and hopelessness were so desperate that I almost ended my life – yet something inside of myself stopped me from doing so. Something inside of me clung to life and eventually brought me to The Recovery Group.

In this group of amazing people I immediately noticed the courage they exhibited in confronting the challenges in their lives and in choosing to learn and grow from every failure and every success. I marvel at the courage with which they keep moving towards more and more healing, in spite of their fears.

They have courage in spite of their fears.

The open, honest sharing of dear friends in recovery has taught me that even I had courage all along. Courage is not the absence of fear;
if there were no fear, there’d be no need for courage.

Courage means making the choice to move forward in spite of our fears.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will honor the courage I have. I will thank God for giving me the strength to move forward in spite of fear. I will celebrate the courage I see in my friends and I will encourage them on their journey.

~ Lisa V.

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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrec #recovery #insecurity

21
March

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING

Fear … of economic insecurity will leave us.

 –ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic circumstances improve, are two different things. When I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I thought fear would leave me only when I started making money. However, another line from the Big Book jumped off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial difficulties: “For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded.”(p. 127). I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee. I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears. Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit others. I’ve found that is what others valued all along. I try to remember that I no longer work for myself. I only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have “owned” it. My life’s purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?