FR. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE

“No matter how old you get, if you keep the desire to be creative, you’re keeping the woman/ man-child alive.”

~ John Cassavetes ~

As a child, I played in the sand and made castles. I would build a fortress wall around the castle so it could withstand the wash of the waves. Today I build behavioral structures that withstand pressure and stress. I need to build my life on a sure foundation—and that foundation must be me! I take care of me so that I can enjoy my life.

How do I take care of me? As a recovering alcoholic, I choose not to drink alcohol. This is an important part of my self-love. I exercise regularly and watch what I eat. I rest in the evenings and take walks in the fresh air. The child that is in me still lives, but today that child is healthy.

Help me treat life responsibly but not too seriously. 

© 2008 Leo Booth 

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrecovery

Learning to Love Ourselves

What we want most is to feel good about ourselves.

~ Basic Text, p. 97 ~

We’ll love you until you can learn to love yourself! These words, heard so often in our meetings, promise a day we look forward to eagerly  the day when we’ll know how to love ourselves.

Self-esteem, we all want this elusive quality as soon as we hear about it. Some of us seem to stumble upon it accidentally, while others embark on a course of action complete with affirmations made to our reflections in the mirror. But fix-it-yourself techniques and trendy psychological cures can only take us so far.

There are some definite, practical steps we can take to show love for ourselves, whether we feel that love or not. We can take care of our personal responsibilities. We can do nice things for ourselves, as we would for a lover or a friend. We can start paying attention to our own needs. We can even pay attention to the qualities that we cherish in our friends – qualities like intelligence and humor – and look for those same qualities in ourselves. We’re sure to find that we really are lovable people, and once we do that, we’re well on our way.

Just for today: I will do something today that helps me recognize and feel love for myself.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc 

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Fr. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrecovery

REALITY

“It is the chiefest point of happiness that humankind is willing to he what it is.”

~ Desiderius Erasmus ~

I am an alcoholic. Today I am able to love myself because I am able to accept myself.

Because I am able to accept myself, I am able to be myself. The acceptance of my disease of alcoholism has taught me that I am not perfect and I do not live in a perfect world. This leads to an acceptance of others. My pain around alcohol has given me an insight into the sufferings of others, and this has produced spiritual growth in me. I am happy not because I am an alcoholic but because I know that I am an alcoholic. Today I can be what I was meant to be, rather than the fake I was becoming.

In the spiritual journey to You is my happiness. 

© 2008 Leo Booth 

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #OA #Self-Respect

HONORING MYSELF

“And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?”

–Kahlil Gibran

We are not bad people trying to become good; rather, we are sick people trying to get well. It takes a long time for some of us to believe this truth. We have been programmed to believe the worst about ourselves … or ironically, to believe ourselves to be much better than others. This appears to be a common denominator in our disease.

We despise the person we perceive ourselves to be. Virtually every event in our lives drives us deeper into the abyss of remorse, self-abuse, self-hate, and self-serving. We must stop believing lies about ourselves. The fact that we are here on Earth is proof that we belong and that we have the right — even the obligation — to be what we can be.

One day at a time…

I will honor and respect myself.

~ Jeremiah 

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FR. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrec #Self-Love

SELF-LOVE

“No matter how old you get, if you keep the desire to be creative, you’re keeping the woman/ man-child alive.”

~ John Cassavetes ~

As a child, I played in the sand and made castles. I would build a fortress wall around the castle so it could withstand the wash of the waves. Today I build behavioral structures that withstand pressure and stress. I need to build my life on a sure foundation—and that foundation must be me! I take care of me so that I can enjoy my life.

How do I take care of me? As a recovering alcoholic, I choose not to drink alcohol. This is an important part of my self-love. I exercise regularly and watch what I eat. I rest in the evenings and take walks in the fresh air. The child that is in me still lives, but today that child is healthy.

Help me treat life responsibly but not too seriously. 

© 2008 Leo Booth

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrec #Love #NA #Recovery

Learning to Love Ourselves

“What we want most is to feel good about ourselves.”
~ Basic Text, p. 97 ~

“We’ll love you until you can learn to love yourself!” These words, heard so often in our meetings, promise a day we look forward to eagerly – the day when we’ll know how to love ourselves.

Self-esteem, we all want this elusive quality as soon as we hear about it. Some of us seem to stumble upon it accidentally, while others embark on a course of action complete with affirmations made to our reflections in the mirror. But fix-it-yourself techniques and trendy psychological cures can only take us so far.

There are some definite, practical steps we can take to show love for ourselves, whether we “feel” that love or not. We can take care of our personal responsibilities. We can do nice things for ourselves, as we would for a lover or a friend. We can start paying attention to our own needs. We can even pay attention to the qualities that we cherish in our friends – qualities like intelligence and humor – and look for those same qualities in ourselves. We’re sure to find that we really are lovable people, and once we do that, we’re well on our way.

Just for today: I will do something today that helps me recognize and feel love for myself.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrecovery

LEARNING TO LOVE OURSELVES

Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded by people who loved us . . . We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by being dependent upon others . . . We still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or dependence.

~ AS BILL SEES IT, p. 252 ~

When I did my personal inventory I found that I had unhealthy relationships with most people in my life—my friends and family, for example. I always felt isolated and lonely. I drank to dull emotional pain.

It was through staying sober, having a good sponsor and working the Twelve Steps that I was able to build up my low self-esteem. First the Twelve Steps taught me to become my own best friend, and then, when I was able to love myself, I could reach out and love others.

Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc 

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE


“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”

– Oscar Wilde

Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me, there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good.

For years I thought that to love “self” was wrong and sinful, a misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me.

O God who created me to love, let me begin with me. 

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE


“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”

– Oscar Wilde

Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me, there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good.

For years I thought that to love “self” was wrong and sinful, a misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me.

O God who created me to love, let me begin with me.

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

FACTS

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

–Aldous Huxley

Reality is not dependent upon our acceptance. Addiction does not have to be accepted to be real. Alcoholism was killing people long before it had a name!

I need to remember this in the recovery program for my life. A big part of my life was spent denying that I had a problem. My manipulative art was exercised in discovering more acceptable excuses for my drunkenness, rather than looking at the problem. I danced toward death with God and denial on my lips. Belief in the God of Truth did not stop my dishonesty.

The process of self-love and acceptance began in my cry for help. Surrender brought me sanity. God was working His purpose out in my life because I was getting out of my way; I was facing the facts. Spirituality is making the words fit the feelings, and the feelings make the action.

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE

“No matter how old you get, if you keep the desire to be creative, you’re keeping the man-child alive.”
— John Cassavetes

When I was a child, I used to play in the sand and make castles. I would build a strong and firm fortress around the castle so that it could withstand the force of the sea.

Today I also like to play in my life and I need to build strong and firm behavioral structures that will withstand pressure and stress. Today I need to build my life on a sure foundation — and that foundation must be me! I need to take care of me so that I can enjoy my life.

How do I take care of me? I watch what I drink. I am a recovering alcoholic, and so I choose not to drink alcohol. I drink soda, orange juice and milk — but no alcohol. This is an important part of my self-love program. I exercise regularly. I watch what I eat and I avoid sugar and needless carbohydrates. I rest in the evenings and take walks in the fresh air. The child that is in me still lives, but today he is healthy.

Help me to treat life responsibly, but not too seriously.

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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrecovery

Reflection For The Day

There’s a world of difference between the idea of self-love and love of self. Self-love is a reflection of an inflated ego, around which — in our distorted view of our own self-importance– everything must revolve, Self-love is the breeding around for hostility, arrogance, and a host of other character defects which blind us to any points of view but our own. Love of self, in contrast, is an appreciation of our dignity and value as human beings. Love of self is an expression of self-realization, from which springs humility. Do I believe that I can love others best when I have gained love of self?

Today I Pray

May God, who loves me, teach me to love myself. May I notice that the most arrogant of officious humans are not so completely sure of themselves, after all. Instead, they are apt to have a painfully low self-image, and insecurity which they clock in pomp and princely trappings. May God show me that when I can like myself, I am duly crediting Him, since every living thing is a work of God.

Today I Will Remember

I will try to like myself.

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE


“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”

– Oscar Wilde

Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me, there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good.

For years I thought that to love “self” was wrong and sinful, a misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me.

O God who created me to love, let me begin with me.

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE


“Only a person who can live with himself can enjoy the gift of leisure.”

–Henry Greber

As an addict I could not tolerate my own company for long. I was
forever telephoning somebody, going over to a friend’s house, inviting people in, creating an “occasion” so I did not have to think or, at least, think about myself. Being alone terrified me. I was terrified because I would begin to think about what was happening in my life and I did not want to face it.

Spirituality is reality. Some years ago I decided to encounter the “real” me, painful but necessary. I began to develop an awareness of who I am. Acceptance followed: I am an alcoholic.

Today I know me; today I like me; today I can love me – and this awareness brings with it a knowledge of God, self and my neighbor.

Today I can be alone without feeling lonely.

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A Day at a Time #essentialsofrecovery

Reflection for the Day

In the process of learning to love myself and, in turn, to love others freely with no strings attached, I’ve begun to understand these words of St. Augustine: “Love slays what we have been, that we may be what we were not.” More and more, I feel this enormous power of such love in The Program; for me, the words, “we care,” also mean, “we love.”

Just for today, will I try to be loving in every thought and action?

Today I Pray

I pray that I may feel the enormity and the power of the love I find in The Program. May my own caring be added to that great energy of love which belongs to all of us. May I care with my whole heart that my fellow members maintain their sobriety and are learning to live with it comfortably and creatively. May I never doubt that they care the same way about me.

Today I Will Remember

Caring makes it happen.

Hazelden Foundation 

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essentialsofrecovery

I had always thought self-esteem was a state of being. Now I realize it’s the constant decision to love myself, regardless of circumstances, all day long.

~ Mary Casey ~

What does it mean to love ourselves all day long? It means loving ourselves even when we feel shame for having yelled at a friend. It means loving ourselves even when we secretly wish harm on another. It means continuing to love ourselves even when we let opportunities to do something good for other people slip by.

There will be days when we need to make the conscious decision to love ourselves moment by moment. We will never be perfect, but we can be better people than we were in the past. We are making progress. A brief personal inventory will reflect this: perhaps we are learning to think before we act; perhaps we are treating friends or even strangers less critically; perhaps we are seeing the benefits of loving others unconditionally.

In time we will realize the gains we have made. We will see that it is possible to love ourselves fully, even though we have not become perfect.

I will love my every attempt to be kind and thoughtful today. I will forgive each of my failures.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrecovery

SELF-LOVE

“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”

– Oscar Wilde

Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me, there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good.

For years I thought that to love “self” was wrong and sinful, a misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me.

O God who created me to love, let me begin with me. 

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrecovery

LOVE

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.  You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

–Lucille Ball

It took me a long time to learn what love truly means. I thought love included pleasing others, saying “yes” when I meant “no,” swallowing my true feelings and putting myself last. What I didn’t know is that I was practicing resentment, anger, fear, jealousy and everything but love. I could not love others because I did not love myself.
Then I decided to take care of myself first. I considered no one but me, took care of myself, (or so I thought) while actually alienating myself from those close to me. I ate compulsively to tame the self-loathing I felt inside. And I loathed myself because I did not treat myself with real love and kindness.

Today I know that loving myself must come first. If I love myself, I am better able to love everyone in my life because I do things from a place of honesty. If I treat myself with respect, I treat others with respect. Everyone wins when I love myself enough to accept myself, flaws and all.

One day at a time …

I will ask my Higher Power for the
ability to accept and love myself for where I
am this day, knowing I am a work in progress like a
tree that grows from self-care and nurturing.

~ Melissa 

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A Day at a Time #essentialsofrecovery

Reflection for the Day

The one thing, more than anything else, that can relieve my occasional feeling of depression is love. I have to keep myself “lovable” in the sense of being able to love others, rather than being concerned with whether others love me. In somehow losing myself in others, emotionally or spiritually, I usually find myself. Today I understand what they meant at those first blurry meetings of The Program when they told me that I was the most important person in the room.

Do I say the same thing to other new members today, and mean it?

Today I Pray

May I know that if I can love others, without expecting to be loved back, chances are that I will receive a share of love in return. It is only my expectation of approval which cancels out the value of my love.

Today I Will Remember

Love is not an investment, but a charitable contribution.

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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

Oscar Wilde

There’s a big difference between being self-centered and having self love. We’re self-centered when we think we don’t need people. We might think, “I’m more important than others.” Being self-centered ends up hurting us.

It makes us lonely. It keeps us from our Higher Power. Addiction is about being self-centered.

Recovery and the Twelve Steps are about self-love. If we love ourselves, we say, “We’re all equal and in need of each other.” Self-love includes having good relationships.

It includes trusting that they we’ll do what is best, with the help of our Higher Power. We must believe in ourselves to trust others.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me love myself as You love me. Help me take good care of myself.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three things I like about myself. I’ll talk with a friend and share these things. I’ll ask my friend what he or she likes about me. 

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