Daily Recovery Readings - 9/7

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Daily Reflections

"OUR SIDE OF THE STREET"

We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that
nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never
trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed.
We stick to our own.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 77-78

I made amends to my dad after I quit drinking. My words fell on
deaf ears since I had blamed him for my troubles. Several months
later I made amends to my dad again. This time I wrote a letter in
which I did not blame him nor mention his faults. It worked, and at last
I understood! My side of the street is all that I'm responsible for
and--thanks to God and A.A.-- it's clean for today.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Another of the mottoes of A.A. is "Easy Does It." This means that we
just go along in A.A. doing the best we can and not getting steamed up
over problems that are in A.A. or outside of it. We alcoholics are
emotional people and we have gone to excess in almost everything we
have done. We have not been moderate in many things. We have not
known how to relax. Faith in a Higher Power can help us to learn to
take it easy. We are not running the world. I am only one among many.
We are resolved to live normal, regular lives. From our A.A.
experience we learn that "easy does it." Have I learned to take it
easy?

Meditation For The Day

"The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms." Sheltering arms express the loving protection
of God's spirit. Human beings, in their troubles and difficulties need
nothing so much as a refuge, a place to relax where they can lay
down their burdens and get relief from cares. Say to yourself:
"God is my refuge." Say it until its truth sinks into your very soul. Say
it until you know it and are sure of it. Nothing can seriously upset you
or make you afraid, if God is truly your refuge.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may go each day to God as a refuge until fear goes and
peace and security come. I pray that I may feel deeply secure in the
Haven of His spirit.

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As Bill Sees It

Search For Motives, p. 64

Some of us clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt
anybody but ourselves. Our families didn't suffer, because we always
paid the bills and seldom drank at home. Our business associates
didn't suffer, because we were usually on the job. Our reputations
didn't suffer, because we were certain few knew of our drinking.
Those who did would sometimes assure us that, after all, a lively
bender was only a good man's fault. What real harm, therefore, had
we done? No more, surely, than we could easily mend with a few
casual apologies.

This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It
is an attitude which can be changed only by a deep and honest search
of our motives and actions.

12 & 12, p. 79

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Walk In Dry Places

A New approach to Freedom
Staying Sober
Most of us discover that we've had mixed-up ideas about the nature of freedom. Real freedom
is not simply doing exactly as one pleases; privileges would be
the correct term for that. And desirable as political freedom is,
it cannot give us what we're really seeking.
We should approach freedom by recognizing that we're really seeking release from
the bondage of self. This self-concern can be one of the worst tyrannies
humans face. As we are released from the bondage of self, we learn that our choices begin to multiply. We make wise decisions instead of being driven to certain actions. We are truly free.
Today I'll enjoy a freedom that is available to anybody who seeks it
wholeheartedly. I'll know it as the freedom only God can
offer.

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Keep It Simple

A lair needs a good memory. --- Quintilian
Many of us wasted a lot of energy trying to keep track of whom we had told what. For example, we’d tell our boss one story and our family another. Then we’d work hard to make sure they never met.
How wonderful to be done with that way of life! We now have a life based on honestly. We can now be ourselves where we go.
Our program tell us that to get sober, we must live a life of strict honesty. Honesty is our rule to get and stay sober. Life is much more simple this way. We can relax and think of the happy details of life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to live honestly. Being honest brings me closer to You. Help me become closer to You.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll read the first three pages of Chapter Five in Alcoholics Anonymous (Third Edition).
Here, I’ll learn why honesty is so important to my recovery.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

SAFE HAVEN - This A.A. found that the process of discovering who he really was began with knowing who he didn't want to be.

Periodically I worked as a broadcast journalist and reported many news stories on location. I regularly drank on the job and was frequently loaded when calls came in about alcohol-related automobile accidents. There I was with microphone in one hand and flask in the other as I jumped into the news van and rushed to the scene of an accident, just as drunk or more so than the one who caused it. It was inevitable that I would one day become the news, rather than just report it, by causing a serious accident as a result of my drinking.

p. 454
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Six - "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."

At first glance, it did look like a good thing. Then doubt crept in. The association wanted to use our member's full name in all its advertising; he was to be described both as its director of publicity and as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Of course, there couldn't be the slightest objection if such an association hired an A.A. member solely because of his public relations ability and his knowledge of alcoholism. But that wasn't the whole story, for in this case not only was an A.A. member to break his anonymity at a public level, he was to link the name Alcoholics Anonymous to this particular educational project in the minds of millions. It would be bound to appear that A.A. was now backing education--liquor trade association style.

p. 158

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Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish one's
growth without destroying one's roots.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what God has done.
--unknown

"Whatever you are trying to avoid won't go away until you confront
it."
--Anonymous

Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within the storm.
--unknown

"We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have
turns it into more."
--Codependent No More

Inner peace should not be determined by outward experiences.
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

WORK

"Without work all life goes rotten."
-- Albert Camus

A spiritual discovery that I have made is that I work in order to be,
not simply to exist. To work is human. Work opens the door to the
meaning of life, and it stops life from being boring and dull. Work is
creative. When I was drinking, I did not have this understanding of
work and so it became a burden, something I had to get through,
something I had to do for money or security. I missed the creative
dynamic of work and how it could enable me to feel good about myself.

In recovery I work, create and grow not only in my job, but also in
my leisure hours. Indeed the distinction between the two often
overlaps because the program I take into the office is the same
program I take into the party or disco.

Today God is to be found in everything.

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"Happy are those...whose hope is in the Lord their God."
Psalm 146:5

"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"
Luke 9:23

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the
middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river
stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the
nations."
Revelation 22:1-2

Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for
the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20

"To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul."
Psalm 25:1

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Daily Inspiration

The way to freedom is the belief that we have the ability to choose. Lord, help me make good choices and never be blinded by the false idea that I am a victim of circumstances.

The more difficult your burden, the stronger you are after you overcome it. Lord, bless me as You bring me to everlasting life.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The sun's the life giver. . . I talk to it like you would to a god. --Peter Firth
Having a Power greater than ourselves to believe in is like knowing the sun is in the sky. There are days when the sun shines with a brilliance that lights up everything around us--tree branches, snowflakes, the faces of our friends. When a seed is planted, it is the sun's warmth that invites it out of the ground to grow into a fruit or flower. The sun is the center the earth rotates around. The sun gives warmth and light to the earth, sometimes in ways we don't always notice.
There are days we do not see the sun--it is obscured by thick clouds. Yet even on these days, we know the sun's rays still reach the earth and nourish her.
God nourishes and warms our lives the same way the sun does the earth. Some days we easily see the presence of such a power in our lives, and other days we cannot see past the clouds. But God gives our lives a light-filled center and nourishes us even on quiet cloudy days.
How is God present in my life right now?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Friendship and community are, first of all, inner qualities. --Henri J. M. Nouwen
Many of us mistakenly search outside ourselves for answers. We feel small inside and not very powerful. Many of us men have tried to change our lives by affecting the people around us. Naturally, when we think of making friends, we assume we would start by getting a friend. But such beginnings often don't lead very far.
Friendship begins as an inward attitude or feeling before it is expressed outwardly. Perhaps we could first notice whom we feel friendly toward. Whom do we admire? Whom do we feel an affinity with? Let that friendliness exist within, and it will begin to express itself. Are we grasping for acceptance or response? Let us remain with our own goodwill and not return to old attempts to get someone else to change. Friendship exists as a feeling of admiration, of love, of fellowship, without demand. And when we are another man's friends, let us accept his friendship and enjoy it without trying to change it or him.
Today, I will simply notice my friendly feelings toward others.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Remember your good memories, but live for today and keep the memories behind you. --Jodi K. Elliott
The stuff of our memories comprises who we have become. Each recollection is akin to an ingredient in a simmering pot of stew. The full flavor of our lives is enhanced by each additional experience, whether it is painful or joyful.
Our experiences have a way of dovetailing, of grouping themselves, perhaps even tailoring themselves, to provide us the best advantage. So human is our tendency to linger in thought on past times that we fail to take advantage, to be fully present in the moment, which is assuredly making a necessary contribution to the total panorama of our lives.
Who are we to judge the value of any single experience? It's how all experiences have mingled, that we must trust. We can be certain in retrospect, that those situations that created the most inner turmoil also offered us the most as growing, developing women.
The experiences offered today, in the 24 hours ahead, are significant because they are unique. I will cherish them for the addition they are making to my total person.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Powerless over Others
Stop making excuses for other people.
Stop making excuses for ourselves.
While it is our goal to develop compassion and achieve forgiveness, acceptance, and love, it is also our goal to accept reality and hold people accountable for their behavior. We can also hold ourselves accountable for our own behavior and, at the same time, have compassion and understanding for ourselves.
When we claim powerlessness, we are not claiming irresponsibility. We have no power to control others, what they do, what they did, or what they might do. We're stating that we are willing to end an ineffective life based on willpower and control. And we're beginning a spiritual, mental, and emotional journey in which we take responsibility for ourselves.
We are not victims. We are not helpless. Accepting powerlessness when that is appropriate enables us to begin owning our true power to take care of ourselves.
Today, I will avoid making excuses for my own or someone else's behavior. I will let consequences and responsibility fall where they belong.


Today I'm getting all the guidance I need to take care of myself. I need not keep pushing beyond my limitations. I am learning to listen to my body and my mind, and rest when I get the message. --Ruth Fishel

[admin]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

I Am a Compulsive Overeater

The one fact, which I need to remember constantly, is that I am a compulsive overeater. If I forget it, I will eventually break my abstinence. There is no way that I can eat "normally," like most other people. I either eat according to my OA plan or I eat very abnormally, according to my compulsion.

Because I am a compulsive overeater, I do not take tastes of this or that, and I do not have snacks. I have found from sad experience that this kind of uncontrolled eating is impossible for me to handle. I know that I need to plan every day the three measured meals, which I will eat.

Because of the new life that OA has given to me, I am grateful for my disease. Without it, I would not have found the measure of peace and serenity, which comes to me every day as I work the program.
May I remember I am a compulsive overeater.

[admin]

Wisdom for Today
Freedom is a concept that is too often difficult to grasp. I believe that too many addicts and alcoholics see freedom as meaning “no strings attached.” Certainly, when we were using, our view of freedom was distorted. We thought we were free to choose to use alcohol or drugs whenever we wanted. But this kind of freedom led to our bondage. Our disease imprisoned us. Addiction took control of our will. We were no longer able to make free choices. We had to use.

Freedom in recovery comes with a price. There is a string attached. Freedom in recovery requires responsibility. We may not be responsible for becoming addicted. Certainly none of us chose to be alcoholic or drug addicted, but we must choose to be responsible for our recovery. We are required to do “the next right thing” if we are to maintain our recovery program. We must be responsible and go to meetings, use our sponsors and work the steps. The freedom that recovery offers comes only with this string attached. Am I willing to be responsible for my recovery in order to find freedom?
Meditations for the Heart
Making the choice to be free is not something we can do all by ourselves. My will always wants to choose the wrong way to freedom. My will wants to find the easier, softer way. I believe that our will gets short-circuited in addiction. I believe addiction fries the circuits of the will. It is only by the grace of God that we are able to again choose the responsible path. Step Two talks of being restored to sanity. Do I recognize that my “Higher Power” is the only hope I have for being restored? Do I see that my circuitry needs to be rewired in order for me to make responsible choices that will lead me to freedom?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,

Too many times I have tried to do it my way and failed. Help me to see that my only hope is through You. Help me to choose the responsible path to freedom in recovery. Help me to see that my way will not work and that I must rely on You to lead me to freedom.

Amen.