Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #AA #Relationships

 9
April 

A.A. Thought For The Day

Third, alcoholics recover their proper relationship with other people. they think less about themselves and more about others. They try to help other alcoholics. They make new friends so that they’re no longer lonely. They try to live a life of service instead of selfishness. All their relationships with other people are improved. They solve their personality problems by recovering their personal integrity, their faith in a Higher Power, and their way of fellowship and service to others. Is my drink problem solved as long as my personality problem is solved?

Meditation For The Day

All that depresses you, all that you fear, is really powerless to harm you. These things are but phantoms. So arise from earth’s bonds, from depression, distrust, fear, and all that hinders your new life. Arise to beauty, joy, peace, and work inspired by love. Rise from death to life. You do not even need to fear death. All past sins are forgiven if you live and love and work with God. Let nothing hinder your new life. Seek to know more and more of that new way of living.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may let God live in me as I work for Him. I pray that I may go out into the sunlight and work with God.

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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Selfish #Program

 8
April

It’s a simple formula: Do your best and somebody might like it.

–Dorothy Baker

Our program is a selfish program. It tells us to let go of what others think. We’re staying sober for ourselves, not for anyone else. Our body and our spirit are at stack. And we know what we need to do to stay sober.

If we fell shaky about going to a party, we don’t go—no matter who gets upset.

If our job makes it hard to stay sober, we get a different one—no mater who it upsets. It’s simple we must take good care of ourselves before we can be good to others. In doing this, we learn how to be a friend, a good parent, a good spouse. we have to care for ourselves to have good relationships. Do I believe it okay to be selfish when it comes to my program?

Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, help me do what is best for my recovery, no matter what others think.

Action for the Day: I will remind myself that staying sober is simple. I don’t use chemicals. And I work the program.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Selfishness

 3
April
A.A. Thought For The Day

When I was drinking, I was absolutely selfish, I thought of myself first, last, and always. The universe revolved around me at the center. When I woke up in the morning with a hangover, my only thought was how terrible I felt and about what I could do to make myself feel better. And the only thing I could think of was more liquor. To quit was impossible. I couldn’t see beyond myself and my own need for another drink. Can I now look out and beyond my own selfishness?

Meditation For The Day

Remember that the first quality of greatness is service.
In a way, God is the greatest servant of all, because He is always waiting for us to call on Him to help us in all good endeavors. His strength is always available to us, but we must ask it of Him through our own free will. It is a free gift, but we must sincerely seek for it. A life of service is the finest life we can live. We are here on earth to serve others. That is the beginning and the end of our real worth.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may cooperate with God in all good things. I pray that I may serve God and others and so lead a useful and happy life.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #AA

30
March 

A.A. Thought For The Day

Before I met A.A., I was very unloving. From the time I went away to school, I paid very little attention to my mother and father, I was on my own and didn’t even bother to keep in touch with them. After I got married, I was very unappreciative of my spouse. Many a time I would go out all by myself to have a good time. I paid too little attention to our children and didn’t try to understand them or show them affection. My few friends were only drinking companions, not real friends. Have I gotten over loving nobody but my self?

Meditation For The Day

Be calm, be true, and be quiet. Do not get emotionally upset by anything that happens around you. Feel a deep, inner security in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Be true to your highest ideals. Do not let yourself slip back into the old ways of reacting. Stick to your spiritual guns. Be calm always. Do not talk back or defend yourself too much against accusation, whether false or true. Accept criticism as well as you accept praise. Only God can judge the real you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not be upset by the judgment of others. I pray that I may let God be the judge of the real me.

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Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Bigbook

 29
February


"Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of
our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-
seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they
retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation,
but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made
decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be
hurt."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 62~

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrecovery.com #Recovery #Decisions #Self-Pity

 23
February 

We always have choices
Decision Making

Self-pity is often rooted in the strong feeling that people or conditions have victimized us. “I never had a chance” and “You deceived me!” are common complaints that reveal self-pity.

It is astonishing and humbling to learn that we always have choices, even when other people or bad conditions are grinding us down. One of the great discoveries of the Twelve Step movement is that alcoholics could begin to recover no matter how helpless they had become, no matter how far they had slid into defeat and despair. Once a decision was made to seek sobriety as a primary goal, other choices and decisions became possible.

We choose our attitudes and responses. We have neither the power nor the right to control others, but we can choose to soften our attitudes toward them, and we can forgive and release people we don’t like.

We can always choose how we want to think and feel. It may take effort to break the habit of feeling victimized and sorry for ourselves, but our higher power will show us the way if we decide that is what we really want.

Nobody can ruffle my feathers today or make me feel oppressed and victimized. I can always make choices that will enhance my sobriety and place me on a better footing for the days ahead.

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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrecovery.com #Recovery #AA

 22
February

To thine own self be true.
–AA medallions

Sometimes we hear that we have a “selfish program.” Being “selfish” means that we ask for help when we need it. We only go to places that are safe for us, no matter what others are doing. Being selfish comes to mean safety for us.

Being selfish doesn’t mean we act like brats. We must act in ways that show respect and love—for ourselves and for others. being selfish means we do what is good for us. What is good for us? First, we have to save our lives by stopping our drinking and drugging. Next, we start working the Steps. We come to know a loving Higher Power. This is how we come to know our true self.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be true to myself and my values. Help me be “selfish” about spending time to talk with You each day.

Action for the Day: I’ll list ten ways I need to be “selfish” in recovery. If I get stuck, I’ll be “selfish” and ask for help.

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The Eye Opener #essentialsofrecovery #Selfish #Program

 18
February

The Program is often referred to as a Selfish Program, and it is primarily that. Jesus of Nazareth told us to “Love our neighbors AS ourselves.” We are supposed to love ourselves, and in so doing, we should give to ourselves all the happiness we can. We have found out, however, by practical application, that we can only receive happiness if we give happiness.

We should fulfill all our duties to our families, to our communities and to our neighbors so that we can keep in the good graces of our own conscience, for that is the only avenue of approach to happiness and peace of mind.

If you really love that guy in the mirror, you must of necessity love your Creator and your neighbor.

Copyright Hazelden Foundation

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrecovery.com #recovery #Selfishness

 10
January 

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we were drinking most of us were full of pride and selfishness. We believed we could handle our own affairs, even though we were making a mess of our lives. We were very stubborn and didn’t like to take advice. We resented being told what to do. To us, humility looked like weakness. But when we came into A.A., we began to be humble. And we found out that humility gave us the power we needed to overcome drinking. Have I learned that there is power in humility?

Meditation For The Day

I will come to God in faith and He will give me a new way of life. This new way of life will alter my whole existence, the words I speak, the influence I have. They will spring from the life within me. I see how important is the work of a person who has this new way of life. The words and the example of such a person can have a whole influence for good in the world.

Prayer For The Day

 

I pray that I may learn the principles of the good life. I pray that I may meditate upon them and work at them, because they are eternal.

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Today's Gift #essentialsofrecovery.com #God #Love #Recovery

  2
January


I will radiate love and good will to others that I may open a channel for God‘s love to come to all.

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Our spiritual well-being is hindered whenever we isolate ourselves, whenever we withhold our care and attention from the group or a friend. During these moments, our self-centeredness cuts off our connection to our Higher Power, causing peace to elude us and fear to set in.

The converse is also true. Whenever we selflessly express love and genuine concern for others, we can know the presence of God and can be exhilarated by that knowledge.

In this, we have freedom. No one else controls our thoughts or our decisions to give unconditional love and genuine attention to others. We are in charge. It is up to us to keep the channel to our Higher Power always open, always freely flowing. Our spiritual health is our responsibility and it’s an easy one to handle. The only requirement is that we offer love and good will to others.

I will enhance my spiritual health today by focusing my love on the women and men on my path so that I may feel God’s presence.

Copyright Hazeldon Foundation

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Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery.com #Recovery #NA #Selfishness #Addiction

    20
December 

Overcoming Self-Obsession

“In living the steps, we begin to let go of our self-obsession.”

—Basic Text p.94

Many of us came to the program convinced that our feelings, our wants, and our needs were of the utmost importance to everyone. We had practiced a lifetime of self-seeking, self-centered behavior and believed it was the only way to live.

That self-centeredness doesn’t cease just because we stop using drugs. Perhaps we attend our first NA function and are positive that everyone in the room is watching us, judging us, and condemning us. We may demand that our sponsor be on call to listen to us whenever we want—and they, in turn, may gently suggest that the world does not revolve around us. The more we insist on being the center of the universe, the less satisfied we will be with our friends, our sponsor, and everything else.

Freedom from self-obsession can be found through concentrating more on the needs of others and less on our own. When others have problems, we can offer help. When newcomers need rides to meetings, we can pick them up. When friends are lonely, we can spend time with them. When we find ourselves feeling unloved or ignored, we can offer the love and attention we need to someone else. In giving, we receive much more in return—and that’s a promise we can trust.

Just for today: I will share the world with others, knowing they are just as important as I am. I will nourish my spirit by giving of myself.




From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services