KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrecovery

Skill to do comes of doing.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

Often, we just want to sit and do nothing. And why not? We go to meetings, work the Twelve Steps, read, make new friends. All this takes energy and means taking risks. Haven’t we earned the right to just sit and take a break from it all?

No! In the past, we avoided life. Now we’re becoming people of action. We take risks. We’re becoming people who get involved in life. We practice caring about people and caring about ourselves. At times, we may complain, but we do what is needed to stay sober. We gain skills by doing.

Why? We do it to save our lives. How? By trusting. We now trust that our Higher Power and friends will be there for us. They will help us push past our fears. As we practice daily how to stay sober, our skills grow.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, Yours is a spirit of action. Allow me to become skilled at being active.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll work at being active and alive. Maybe I’ll start a new friendship or try a new meeting.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation 

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A DAY AT A TIME #essentialsofrecovery

Reflection for the Day

We learn in the Program and its Twelve Steps that, as we grow spiritually, we find that our old attitudes toward our instinctual drives need to undergo drastic revisions. Our demands for emotional security and wealth, for personal prestige and power, all have to be tempered and redirected. We learn that the full satisfaction of these demands cannot be the sole end and aim of our lives. But when we’re willing to place spiritual growth first—then and only then do we have a real chance to grow in healthy awareness and mature love. Am I willing to place spiritual growth first?

Today I Pray

May my development as a spiritual person temper my habitual hankerings for material security. May I understand that the only real security In life is spiritual. If I have faith in my Higher Power, these revisions in my attitudes will follow. May I grow first in spiritual awareness.

Today I Will Remember

Value the life of the spirit.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation 

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrecovery

Hitch your wagon to a star.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

Millions of people are sober and have peace of mind through the Twelve Steps. Like the stars, the Steps are always there. At times, clouds block our view of the stars, but we know they’re still there. Let’s view the Twelve Steps the same way.

It is said that the stars are the gate to heaven, that we pass through their beauty to get ready to enter heaven. The Twelve Steps are the gate to spirituality here on earth. We travel through their beauty on our way to a spiritual awakening. Hitch your wagon to the Steps, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime!

Prayer for the Day

I pray to remember that the Steps keep me sober. I pray that I will follow where the Steps take me.

Action for the Day

I’ll look at the stars tonight. I’ll think of them as symbols of my life touched by the Twelve Steps.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrecovery

The Twelve Step program is spiritual, based on action coming from love. . .

~ Martha Cleveland ~

To be spiritual means to be an active person. It means spending time with others. It means sharing love. It means looking for ways to be more loving to others. It means looking for ways to make the world a better place.

Step Three helps us to look at the world better. We turn our lives over to the care of our Higher Power. So let’s allow care to direct our lives. Let’s always be asking ourselves, “Is what I’m doing something that shows I care?”

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, let me be active in a loving, caring way. Let the love in my heart be my guide.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll do something good for someone and keep it a secret.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation 

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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofr4ec #Recovery #Humility

The Beginning of Humility, p. 191

“There are few absolutes inherent in the Twelve Steps. Most Steps are open to interpretation, based on the experience and outlook of the individual.

“Consequently, the individual is free to start the Steps at whatever point he can, or will. God, as we understand Him, may be defined as a ‘Power greater . . .’ or the Higher Power. For thousands of members, the A.A. group itself has been a ‘Higher Power’ in the beginning. This acknowledgment is easy to make if a newcomer knows that most of the members are sober and he isn’t.

“His admission is the beginning of humility–at least the newcomer is willing to disclaim that he himself is God. That’s all the start he needs. If, following this achievement, he will relax and practice as many of the Steps as he can, he is sure to grow spiritually.”

Letter, 1966 

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions #essentialsofrec

 Step Six – “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”

Let’s dispose of what appears to be a hazardous open end we have left. It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. We note that some delay, however, might be pardoned. That word, in the mind of a rationalizing alcoholic, could certainly be given a long term meaning. He could say, “How very easy! Sure, I’ll head toward perfection, but I’m certainly not going to hurry any. Maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems indefinitely.” Of course, this won’t do. Such a bluffing of oneself will have to go the way of many another pleasant rationalization. At the very least, we shall have to come to grips with some of our worst character defects and take action toward their removal as quickly as we can.

p. 69

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Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #TwelveSteps #Recovery

And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

—Matt. 15:14

The Twelve Step programs are sometime called self-help programs. But they’re not really, because we all help each other. We don’t stay sober by ourselves. Sometimes we call Twelve Step programs peer programs. And they are. All of us equal. No one is an expert. But we need to be careful who we choose for a sponsor. We each need to find someone who has been sober longer than us. Someone who understands the Steps. Someone who lives by them. Some we want to be like. We need to stick with the winners.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know I’m like a blind person who is just beginning to see. Help me follow the path of those who see better than I do.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list the people in my program I go to for help. Am I sticking with the winners?

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Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Problems

Principles are Enduring
Problem Solving

We often emphasize -Principles before personalities– in Twelve Step programs, sometimes without fully understanding what’s involved. The real message of this slogan is that we should treat people equally while following certain guidelines in our own actions.
While we are influenced by strong personalities, we cannot rely on them for complete guidance and direction. People can betray us or simply fail us through no fault of their own. Principles, on the other hand, are enduring and will be with us long after personal relationships wither away.
One unfailing principle for living is to live each day remembering that God is guiding and directing all actions and outcomes. While we will be grateful for the assistance and cooperation of others, we will not hold them responsible for our success or failures.


I’ll live today with the belief that God’s good plan is working in all people’s lives. I will not expect too much or too little of others, but rather will deal with them fairly and decently.

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One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Recovery #TwelveSteps

LOOKING AT THE STARS


“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

Oscar Wilde

Before I made the Twelve Steps part of my life, I considered myself to have been in the gutter. My weight had doubled, I was in a major depression, and I was going through the motions of life. Those looking at me from afar saw only a perfect marriage, a perfect career, a perfect home, and perfect children. Although I was blessed, the disease I suffered from day in and day out made it quite obvious to anyone who truly knew me that I was not “looking at the stars.” It took my first sponsor to start the healing process for me.

As I began to work Steps One, Two and Three, I felt “different.” Nothing had changed . . . everything had changed. It’s hard to describe because outwardly I looked the same … but my entire being opened up. Weight began to come off because I was able to focus on a plan of eating. I found my feelings returned … the ability to love and accept love came back. My spirituality blossomed once again. I truly felt alive.

One day at a time…
I want to remember each time I find myself in the gutter and giving up hope … to look at the stars … and remember that my program works if I will just work it.

~ Mari

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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #NA #Addiction #Recovery

Self-Acceptance
“The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery.”

IP No. 19, “Self-Acceptance”

Most of us came to Narcotics Anonymous without much self-acceptance. We looked at the havoc we had wreaked in our active addiction, and we loathed ourselves. We had difficulty accepting our past and the self-image produced by it.

Self-acceptance comes more quickly when we first accept that we have a disease called addiction, because it’s easier to accept ourselves as sick people than as bad people. And the easier it is to accept ourselves, the easier it becomes to accept responsibility for ourselves.

We achieve self-acceptance through the process of ongoing recovery. Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous teaches us to accept ourselves and our lives. Spiritual principles like surrender, honesty, faith, and humility help relieve us of the burden of our past mistakes. Our attitude changes with the application of these principles in our daily lives. Self-acceptance grows as we grow in recovery.

Just for today: Self-acceptance is a process set in motion by the Twelve Steps. Today, I will trust the process, practice the steps, and learn to better accept myself.


pg. 120

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Just For Today #essentialsofrec #NA #TwelveSteps #Addiction #Recovery

Twelve Steps Of Life

“Through abstinence and through working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous, our lives have become useful.”

Basic Text, p. 8

Before coming to Narcotics Anonymous, our lives were centered around using. For the most part, we had very little energy left over for jobs, relationships, or other activities. We served only our addiction.

The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous provide a simple way to turn our lives around. We start by staying clean, a day at a time. When our energy is no longer channelled into our addiction, we find that we have the energy to pursue other interests. As we grow in recovery, we become able to sustain healthy relationships. We become trustworthy employees. Hobbies and recreation seem more inviting. Through participation in Narcotics Anonymous, we help others.

Narcotics Anonymous does not promise us that we will find good jobs, loving relationships, or a fulfilling life. But when we work the Twelve Steps to the best of our ability, we find that we can become the type of people who are capable of finding employment, sustaining loving relationships, and helping others. We stop serving our disease, and begin serving God and others. The Twelve Steps are the key to transforming our lives.

Just for today: I will have the wisdom to use the Twelve Steps in my life, and the courage to grow in my recovery I will practice my program to become a responsible, productive member of society.

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Love #Live

Life I love you, all is groovy.

~ Paul Simon 

Working the Twelve Steps is more than recovery from alcohol or other drug addiction. It’s also about how to enjoy life.

Our illness pulled us toward death. Our spirits were dying, and maybe our bodies were dying. Now our spirits are coming to life. We feel more alive than ever before. Our feelings are coming alive. We feel hope and faith, love, and joy, and even hurt and fear. We notice the sunshine as well as the clouds. We know life needs both sunshine and rain, both joy and pain. We are alive!

Prayer for the Day:

Higher Power, help me let go of my fears and enjoy life. I haven’t always known how to enjoy life, but You can teach me. All life is from You, so teach me to be free in Your light and love.

Action for the Day:

Right now, I can think of at least three things in life that make me feel like sunshine. What are they?

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

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A Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Slip

Reflection For The Day
Another common denominator among those who slip is failure to use the tools of The Program — the Twelve Steps. The comments heard most often are, “i never got past the First Step,’ “I worked The Steps too slow,” or “too fast” or “too soon.” What it boils down to, is that these considered the Steps, but didn’t conscientiously and sincerely apply the Steps to their lives. Am I learning how to protect myself and help others?

Today I Pray
May I be a doer of the Steps and not a hearer only. May I see some of the common mid-Steps which lead to a fall: Being too proud to admit Step One; Being too tied to everyday earth to feel the presence of a Higher Power; Being over-whelmed by the thought of preparing Step Four, a complete moral inventory; Being too reticent to share that inventory. Please, God, guide me as I work the Twelve Steps.

Today I Will Remember
To watch my Steps.

© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

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AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrec #BillW #Choice

 Page 88 ~

Will Power and Choice

“We A.A.’s know the futility of trying to break the drinking obsession by will power alone. However, we do know that it takes great willingness to adopt A.A.’s Twelve Steps as a way of life that can restore us to sanity.

“No matter how grievous the alcohol obsession, we happily find that other vital choices still be made. For example, we can choose to admit that we are personally powerless over alcohol; that dependence upon a `Higher Power’ is a necessity, even if this be simply dependence upon an A.A. group. Then we can choose to try for a life of honesty and humility, of selfless service to our fellows and to `God as we understand Him.’

“As we continue to make these choices and so move toward these high aspirations, our sanity returns and the compulsion to drink vanishes.”

~ LETTER, 1966 ~

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Secret #Success

The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
~ Benjamin Disraeli ~

In Twelve Step meetings, we don’t talk about counseling, treatment centers, or non-program reading. Many of us have been helped in these ways, but we shouldn’t con-fuse them with Twelve Step programs.

We must keep our Twelve Step programs pure, no matter what is in style among counselors or at treatment centers, or what the latest books say. Certainly, we should use these sources if they help us, but not in our program meetings. There, we must stick to the basics that have helped addicts recover all over the world for many years. Steps, traditions, meetings, sponsorship—these things work, no matter what is in style.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, let me be there to help an addict in need, by sharing my Twelve Step program.

Action for the Day

I will help out today by being a sponsor or by calling a new group member, just to say hello.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Newness #TwelveSteps

With each sunrise,we start anew.

~ Anonymous ~

Like a tree, our life depends on new growth. There are many ways to bring new ideas and growth into our lives. We can attend Twelve Step retreats. We can study books and tapes on spirituality. We can attend different Twelve Step meetings.

But our spiritual newness may not just come from the Twelve Steps. We can do volunteer work or be active in other types of groups. We need to invite new ideas into our lives. We need to stay open to change. It doesn’t matter what renews our spiritual growth. What matters is that we keep our spiritual lives fresh and growing.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, spring is one of the four seasons. Help me feel like spring. Help me to be strong but not stuck. Help me be firm yet open to spiritual growth.

Action for the Day

Today I’ll try to do something new. When I get stuck or stubborn, I’ll see that it’s due to my fear of trying new ideas.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Spirituality #'Action

The Twelve Step program is
spiritual, based on action
coming from love. . .

~ Martha Cleveland 

To be spiritual means to be an active person. It means spending time with others. It means sharing love. It means looking for ways to be more loving to others. It means looking for ways to make the world a better place.

Step Three helps us to look at the world better. We turn our lives over to the care of our Higher Power. So let’s allow care to direct our lives. Let’s always be asking ourselves, “Is what I’m doing something that shows I care?”

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, let me be active in a loving, caring way. Let the love in my heart be my guide.

Action for the Day

Today, I’ll do something good for someone and keep it a secret.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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THE EYE OPENER #essentialsofrec #Recovery #AA

In AA no man is the official mouthpiece of the Movement. No one person represents AA officially. Here you find a God of your own understanding; when you talk you give only your own opinions, you give your own interpretation of the Twelve Steps and practice them as you think they should be practiced.

If you use your method and stay sober, we will admit your way is good for you but we admit no authority on your part to tell us how to work them. Because it worked for you is no sign it might not be poison for someone else.

Published by Hazelden

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Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Winners #Prudence #TwelveSteps

Sticking with the winners

Prudence

“Stick with the winners,” newcomers are told at Twelve Step meetings. The real message of this statement is to share the attitudes and actions of people who are successful in living sober.
No recovering person can have a successful day while dwelling on ideas that can be harmful. We’ll meet people in the course of the day whose attitudes may appall us. We may work with people who are critical, gossipy, or resentful. It’s not our duty to correct them or argue with them. We’re wise, however, not to accept what we recognize as wrong thinking.
Winners, in AA terms, are people who seek sobriety first and live up to the principles of the program. Seem them out for help in doing likewise.


I’ll try to associate with people who exemplify the highest and best in good attitudes.

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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrecovery

A RESTING PLACE

All of A.A.’s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55

After writing down my character defects, I was unwilling to talk about them, and decided it was time to stop carrying this burden alone. I needed to confess those defects to someone else.  I had read – and been told – I could not stay sober unless I did. Step Five provided me with a feeling of belonging, with humility and serenity when I practiced it in my daily living.

It was important to admit my defects of character in the order presented in Step Five: “to God, to ourselves and to another human being.” Admitting to God first paved the way for admission to myself and to another person . As the taking of the Step is described, a feeling of being at one with God and my fellow man brought me to a resting place where I could prepare myself for the remaining Steps toward a full and meaningful sobriety. 

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