Daily Recovery Readings - 9/9

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Daily Reflections

OPENING NEW DOORS

They [the Promises] are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly,
sometimes slowly.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

The Promises talked about in this passage are slowly coming to life for
me. What has given me hope is putting Step Nine into action. The Step
has allowed me to see and set goals for myself in recovery. Old habits
and behaviors die hard. Working Step Nine enables me to close the
door on the drunk I was, and to open new avenues for myself as a
sober alcoholic. Making direct amends is crucial for me. As I repair
relationships and behavior of the past, I am better able to live a sober
life! Although I have some years of sobriety, there are times
when the "old stuff" from the past needs to be taken care of, and
Step Nine always works, when I work it.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When an alcoholic is offered a life of sobriety by following the A.A.
program, he will look at the prospect of living without alcohol and he
will ask: "Am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring
and glum, like some of the righteous people I see? I know I must get
along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient
substitute?" Have I found a more than sufficient substitute for
drinking?

Meditation For The Day

In God's strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the
grace of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you
want to make the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God,
the Master and Giver of all life. Your regard for depending on God's
strength will be sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to
face life, sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people
brought to a new way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all
your own doing, but largely the working out of the grace of God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to rely more fully on the grace of God. I pray
that I may live a victorious life.

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As Bill Sees It

A Different Swinging Door, p. 62

When a drunk shows up among us and says that he doesn't like the
A.A. principles, people, or service management, when he declares that
he can do better somewhere else--we are not worried. We simply say,
"Maybe your case really is different. Why don't you try something
else?"

If an A.A. member says he doesn't like his own group, we are not
disturbed. We simply say, "Why don't you try another one? Or start
one of your own."

To those who wish to secede from A.A. altogether, we extend a cheerful
invitation to do just that. If they can do better by other means, we are
glad. If after trial they cannot do better, we know they face a choice:
They can go mad or die or they can return to A.A. The decision is
wholly theirs. (As a matter of fact, most of them do come back.)

Twelve Conceptions, p. 72

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Keep It Simple

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears---by listening to them. ---Dean Rusk
We hate being told what to think. We like to make up our own minds. It helps to talk things out with another person who, listens to us. Someone who care what we think.
We can give this respect to others. We can listen their point of view. We can try to understand them and care about what they think.
When we do this, others start to care what we think too. We share ideas. The ideas get a little more clear. They change a little. We get a little closer to agreement. We both feel good.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know when to listen and when to talk today. Work for me and though me. Thanks.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for chances to listen to others when I really want to talk. I’ll say, “Tell me more about that.” And I’ll listen.

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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.

I went home and called a friend I had seen at the local mall a week earlier. I hadn't talked to her for a couple of years, but I had noticed how different she looked and behaved. As we spoke, she said she hadn't had a drink for over a year. She told me about a group of friends who were helping her stay sober. I lied to her and claimed I hadn't had a drink myself for quite some time. I don't think she believed me, but she gave me her phone number and encouraged me to call if I would like to meet her friends. Later, when I worked up the nerve to call her, I admitted that I had a drinking problem and wanted to stop. She picked me up and took me to my first A.A. meeting.

p. 455
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."

SELF-SUPPORTING alcoholics? Who ever heard of such a thing? Yet we find that's what we have to be. This principle is telling evidence of the profound change that A.A. has wrought in all of us. Everybody knows that active alcoholics scream that they have no troubles money can't cure. Always, we've had our hands out. Time out of mind we've been dependent upon somebody, usually money-wise. When a society composed entirely of alcoholics says it's going to pay its bills, that's really news.

p. 160

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Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to
be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped
off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me
surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.
--Melody Beattie

We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Today I will spend some time putting my own needs aside to help
someone else. It is so good to know that I can be filled with such good
feelings and I get so much when I give of myself.
--Ruth Fishel

God loves all of us, whether we walk away pain-free or not. Keep
taking care of yourself, no matter what. God, transform my pain into
compassion for others and myself.
--Melody Beattie

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
--Jesse Jackson

My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but
doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next
moment.
--Oprah Winfrey

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were
always yours. And if they don't, they never were."
--Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet"

Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it...
--unknown

The task before you is never greater than the power behind you...
--unknown

Always, He will watch over us and comfort us.
--Ernest Holmes

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

RELIGION

"Science without religion is
lame, religion without science is
blind."
-- Albert Einstein

In the field of addiction we need to work together and listen to the
professionalism we all bring: the answer will be in "the many".

So often we divide ourselves up into "ghettos" of learning and miss
what "the others" are saying -- and the disease wins! This is
reminiscent of the old days in the church when science was seen as
the enemy, the world was flat and the earth was the center of the
universe. Pride and ego kept people sick, isolated and afraid -- and
thousands suffered and died. However, people began to listen to each
other and the world benefited from the shared wisdom.

As addictionologists and recovering people we need to listen to each
other.

Help me to see You in the honest experience of every man.

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Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love.
Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
Psalm 109:26-27

With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I
will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to
save his life from those who condemn him.
Psalm 109:30-31

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
James 1:2-3

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Daily Inspiration

If a part of your past continues to haunt you and rob you of your joy, forgive. Lord, I can not undo the past, but with Your help, I can let go by forgiving myself and everyone else that has hurt me.

Do not let yourself be judged by others or ruled by approval or disapproval. Lord, may I always trust in myself and You and live each day accordingly.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth. --Lao-tzu
Imagine yourself with a pile of dirt in front of you and building plans for a one-story structure. It would be easy to think, "Oh, this is impossible--it will never get done."
But the architect hires people to help. A foundation is built, and then the frame. From there, step-by-step, the rest is filled in. We have all watched a building take shape and become a finished product.
Building plans are like the goals we all have. We want to be a better person or friend, a better artist or athlete. Reaching a goal is like putting up a building. Once we have a goal, we need a strong foundation to support us. All of us need the help of others to reach our goals.
What small step can I take toward a goal today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. --R. L. Evans
Feelings of discouragement are to be expected as part of life. We will have our times of greater energy and hope and our times of feeling depleted and lost. As we mature we learn to see many peaks and valleys across the landscape.
Giving ourselves over to feelings of discouragement is self-indulgent and saps our strength. We cannot see into the future. The dailiness of our lives isn't always dramatic and doesn't usually offer great changes. But we are part of an unfolding process. Looking back over just a week or a month, we can recall troubled times that now seem insignificant. We see other' people and their progress, and we know they too grew just one day at a time and couldn't see what the future would bring them. So we continue - knowing that our process is hopeful - even though we cannot foresee the details of our future.
I have the strength to live through the peaks and valleys and to stay faithful to my recovery.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I do not want to die . . . until I have faithfully made the most of my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown. --Kathe Kollwitz
There's so much to do before we rest . . . so much to do. We each are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others' talents, but unique in how we'll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents? We need only to dare to dream, and there they'll be.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no purpose, fearing we'll take life nowhere, dreading others' expectations of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We can expect adventure, and we'll find it. We can look for our purpose; it's at hand. We can remember, we aren't alone. We are in partnership every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Perspective
Too often, we try to gain a clear perspective before it is time.
That will make us crazy.
We do not always know why things are happening the way they are. We do not always know how a particular relationship will work out. We do not always understand the source of our feelings, why we've been led down a particular path, what is being worked out in us, what we are learning, why we needed to recycle, why we had to wait, why we needed to go through a time of discipline, or why a door closed. How our present circumstances will work into the larger scheme of events is not always clear to us. That is how it needs to be.
Perspective will come in retrospect.
We could strain for hours today for the meaning of something that may come in an instant next year.
Let it go. We can let go of our need to figure things out, to feel in control.
Now is the time to be. To feel. To go through it. To allow things to happen. To learn. To let whatever is being worked out in us take its course.
In hindsight, we will know. It will become clear. For today, being is enough. We have been told that all things shall work out for good in our life. We can trust that to happen, even if we cannot see the place today's events will hold in the larger picture.
Today, I will let things happen without trying to figure everything out. If clarity is not available to me today, I will trust it to come later, in retrospect. I will put simple trust in the truth that all is well, events are unfolding as they should, and all will work out for good in my life - better than I can imagine.


It feels so comfortable when I trust my own truth. It is both powerful and peaceful to know that we are all at choice. Each and everyone of us is being led on a path to peace and love. --Ruth Fishel

[admin]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Amends to Others

The people most affected by our disease were undoubtedly the members of our own family. Then came our closest friends, if we had any when we were overeating. These people were directly affected by our negative moods and by our withdrawal away from them into overeating. They also may have been affected by not getting food which should have been theirs, but which we had eaten. Some of us stole money to buy food that we did not need but had to have. Some of us stole food.

Making amends is sometimes embarrassing and often difficult. It involves much pride swallowing. A simple, sincere apology may be all that is necessary. There may be concrete acts, which we can perform. As with making amends to ourselves, the best way we can make up for the hurt we have caused to family and friends is by abstaining from compulsive overeating. As we abstain, we reach out to those around us instead of withdrawing. Our own sanity is the best gift we can give to others.
May I have the courage to make amends.

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Wisdom for Today
When I was active in my addiction, I thought I was having fun and that life was good. As my disease progressed, I began to experience all the harmful consequences associated with my drinking and using. Early in my recovery life was not a lot of fun. It seemed as if my whole life had been taken away from me. I had a hard time seeing that what was actually happening was that I was finally getting my life back. I kept going to meeting after meeting, and little by little I found my life and myself again. There were times I could laugh again. I found myself being able to look others and myself in the face again. I found that I no longer felt like I was on the wrong side of the tracks. It didn’t happen all at once, but over time I found meaning in my life again. Do I believe that the program can bring meaning back into my life?
Meditations for the Heart
I will search after the Divine Spirit in life and trust that God will bring meaning back into my life. I will search to improve my conscious contact with God, as I understand Him. For in doing this, I know that I will find the answers I am looking for. I know that when I search after this Higher Purpose, I find not only what I am looking for; but I also find what I need. Am I willing to search for God’s will for me?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,

Today let me laugh and find enjoyment in the simple gifts that the program provides. Help me to remain forever grateful for each day I am given back in recovery. Help me to see that even my bad days now are far better than when I was wasted.

Amen.