admin
10-08-2008, 06:58 AM
Wisdom for Today
All addicts and alcoholics in recovery will face times when cravings or urges to drink or use will come into our life. For most of us this tends to happen early on in our recovery attempts. This is when that “voice of addiction” screams the loudest. But, even if we make it through these times, we are not immune from having cravings or urges to use come back into our lives. There is little we can do to change our physical response to abstinence. Our brains simply tell us that we are hungry or thirsty. When we experience drug hunger or get thirsty for a drink, we must act wisely and use the tools we are given in the program. We have to tell on our disease; we need to reach out and call someone who understands and talk it through. It will pass. However, when we get caught up in magical thinking and euphoric recall, it is easy to set ourselves up to fail. When I think about drinking or using, that “voice of addiction” reminds me of the good times. The fun I used to have and the camaraderie of my drinking buddies is what I want to focus on. This is dangerous.
I must train myself to remember the hard times and the consequences of my use. Rather than romancing the high, I must focus on the harm. I have to train myself to do that which seems unnatural to me. It is much easier to think about the good times rather than the bad times. Yet, I have learned that this must be my first defense. I must stop my “stinking thinking” and take action to protect myself from the voice of addiction that whispers in my ear. I need to see that the program can offer me everything that addiction did. I can find friends and laughter at meetings. I can find relief and real answers to my problems. I can find everything I need around the tables and on the phone, talking with people who understand. Do I have a concrete plan in place to deal with cravings or urges?
Meditations for the Heart
I can start each day new. I no longer have to carry the past with me wherever I go. Each new breath I take is a gift from God. For this I must be grateful. I can choose to keep walking in shame, or I can accept the forgiveness that God offers. If God only gave forgiveness to “good” people, where is the need for it? I believe that my Higher Power gives me forgiveness when I ask for it. It is His grace that provides this gift. I also need to respect the gift that is offered through my genuine desire to change the things I can. Recovery does not demand perfection, only progress. I must look carefully at each of the choices I make and ask myself, “What does God want me to do?” I must choose wisely. I know I will never get it perfect, but I can improve each day and with each breath. Do I recognize that God can and will forgive me?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Today I need to be reminded of Your will for me. With each breath I take and each choice I face today, remind me of Your presence. Give me the courage and wisdom to make healthy choices each step of the way. Help me to both ask for and accept Your forgiveness in my life.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
A New Pattern Of Living
"We suspect that if we do not use what we have, we will lose what we have."
Basic Text p. 75
Addiction gave a pattern to our lives, and with it a meaning - a dark, diseased meaning, to be sure, but a meaning nonetheless. The Narcotics Anonymous recovery program gives us a new pattern of living to replace our old routines. And with that new pattern comes a new meaning to our lives, one of light and hope.
What is this new pattern of living? Instead of isolation, we find fellowship. Instead of living blindly, repeating the same mistakes again and again, we regularly examine ourselves, free to keep what helps us grow and discard what doesn't. Rather than constantly trying to get by on our own limited power, we develop a conscious contact with a loving Power greater than ourselves.
Our life must have a pattern. To maintain our recovery, we must maintain the new patterns our program has taught us. By giving regular attention to these patterns, we will maintain the freedom we've found from the deadly disease of addiction, and keep hold of the meaning recovery has brought to our lives.
Just for today: I will begin a new pattern in my life: the regular maintenance of my recovery.
pg. 294
-----
October 8 - Daily Feast
St. James says to keep quiet, control your tongue - though no one ever has. Your boat may be huge, but your little tongue is a rudder that can turn a very big ship in the wrong direction. The tongue is like kindling wood that can set a whole woods on fire. Keep your tongue quiet, very quiet. And then St. Mark says to speak - speak to the mountain and tell it to be gone. Not only be gone but sink into the sea. A mountain of trouble needs us to use our tongues. Speak what you want and need, not what you do not want. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. These are the times that make us who we are, what we are, and what we will have. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
~ You say you are right and we are wrong. How do you know this to be true? ~
RED JACKET - SENECA, 1800s
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
Elder's Meditation of the Day - October 8
"I think there was a big mistake made (when) people separated religion and the government. That was one of the big mistakes that was made, because when they did that, then they removed the Creator from their life - or at least from half to three-quarters of their life."
--Tom Porter, MOHAWK
The Elders tell us that every thing the Creator made is interconnected. Nothing can be separated. The Elders say we should pray before we do anything. We should ask the Creator, what do You want us to do? We are put on the Earth to do the will of God. If we run our governments, communities, families or ourselves without the spiritual we are doomed to failure.
My Creator, guide my life to include the spiritual in everything I do.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Isn't it true that when someone says something is wrong, our first thought is, "What have I done wrong now?" That constant fear of having a finger of accusation pointed in our direction - that guilt complex that can plague us into admitting guilt when it isn't ours.
Shakespeare wrote, "The mind of guilt is full of scorpions." And surely it is. For we often take more on with a feeling of guilt than is required of us. It is more often a feeling of fear, fear of being ridiculed, blamed, or even threatened.
A guilt complex can be erased. Not in a day, and maybe not completely, unless we are dedicated to keeping it out of our minds. We are so prone to throw fuel on the fire that we must always be completely aware of the thoughts we entertain.
But certainly, with turning to our innate faith and wisdom we can find enough courage to recognize the ghosts of guilt and see them for what they are.
Perhaps in the final analysis we find we were not guilty at all. We feel relieved, but if we were guilty, the relief of admitting mistakes is just as great.
-----
Daily Relationship Reading
If someone asked me to carry a 200 lb sack of potatoes for them, what would my first reaction likely be? I'd probably say no, because such a heavy load would be more than I was willing to lift. It would be much easier to say yes however, if the 200 lb. sack were split up into 10 lb. bags. It might take me a bit longer, but certainly it would be more than manageable.
How often do I try to tackle big problems in our relationship the same way? I look at the whole problem, and the weight of it seems overwhelming. Yet if I take the time to break it into smaller parts, I can see that it might take longer to find solutions, but at least it's within my power to handle.
Often I discover there are little things I can do to make small but noticeable changes. Something as simple as a short walk in the fresh air can have a wonderful effect on my perspective. Talking to my SO about one small aspect of the problem - and limiting my talk to that for now - can also produce surprising results. Before I know it, each small step I have taken has brought me further than the biggest leap I could ever make.
Just for Today
Today I'll look at a problem I'm facing, and see how many smaller pieces I can break it into. By handling one small part at a time, I'll have plenty of strength left to deal with the normal challenges of the day, while making at least some progress on a major difficulty. Before I know it, I might be surprised to see all these small steps have taken me to a real solution.
An avalanche can be started with a snowball.
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Learning from Mistakes
We can learn from our mistakes so that we do not have to make the same ones over and over again. If a particular attitude or situation consistently makes it difficult for us to follow our food plan, then that attitude or situation needs to be changed. Slips do not just happen. They indicate that something is wrong with our program and that we have not yet learned what we need to know about ourselves.
Being aware of the circumstances, which make us vulnerable to overeating, helps us to be prepared for temptation and to find ways to avoid it wherever possible. If there are certain foods, which we cannot resist, then we should not have those foods available. If trying to do too much makes us tired and emotionally upset, then we need to be less ambitious and learn to delegate responsibility. Compulsive overeating or emotional bingeing indicates that we are not living in a way, which satisfies our basic needs.
Lord, may we learn from our mistakes.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Learn what you are and be such. --Pindar
The most precious gift we can give those closest to us is honesty. Yet we often hide our true selves from friends, fearing we won't be accepted or loved if we let them see the real us. Often, we show parts of ourselves that hide who we really are. We have often heard ourselves or others say, "My parents would just die if . . . ," or, "don't argue in front of the children."
If we hide too much behind false images, we run the risk of losing track of what is real and what is false. We become actors instead of real people, trying to please Aunt Jane, our grandparents, our big brother, or our children.
When we conquer our fear of letting others in, we are able to see ourselves honestly. When we discover that others accept us as we are, we can accept and love ourselves. To know oneself is to know a person of value.
What part of me have I been hiding?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We cannot avoid
Using power,
Cannot escape the compulsion
To afflict the world,
So let us, cautious in diction
And mighty in contradiction,
Love powerfully.
--Martin Buber
The use and misuse of power by men give us much to weep over and much to admire. In our own families we see how our parents fought over power, how they used it both wisely and abusively. Our problems with power and control are a central part of our addictions and codependency. Admitting our powerlessness has started us toward recovery. Admitting our power will help carry us further.
No one is innocent beyond childhood. We affect the people around us, and it matters how we treat them. We cannot come and go unnoticed. Since we will make an impact, we learn to treat ourselves and the people around us with respect and justice. Our only solution is to learn to love and be loved.
Today, I will be more aware of the power I have in others' lives.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
The great creative power is everything. If you leave out one whole chunk of it, by making God only masculine, you have to redress the balance. --Martha Boesing
What a blessing, to be part of God! For many of us, invoking God with a male pronoun put an obstacle in the path of our spiritual growth. We felt left out. Worship of something called "He" or "Him" didn't jibe with our spirituality. When we pray, we pray to a spiritual source that includes everything, that leaves nothing out: sexes, all races, all ages and conditions.
Some of us had no trouble understanding that God is everything, no matter how God is invoked. But whatever our path to spirituality, the Twelve Step program has enriched our understanding. Before we practiced the Twelve Steps, we had allowed ourselves to forget the strength and nurture that are always at hand, and now we are grateful to be reminded that God is with us, within us, and all is well.
One woman says, "When I feel far from God, I ask myself: Who moved?" God is always there. Today I will pray for the wisdom to stay close to my spiritual source, the Creator Spirit.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Learning to Wait
I've started to realize that waiting is an art, that waiting achieves things. Waiting can be very, very powerful. Time is a valuable thing. If you can wait two years, you can sometimes achieve something that you could not achieve today, however hard you worked, however much money you threw up in the air, however many times you banged your head against the wall. . .
--The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey
The people who are most successful at living and loving are those who can learn to wait successfully. Not many people enjoy waiting or learning patience. Yet, waiting can be a powerful tool that will help us accomplish much good.
We cannot always have what we want when we want it. For different reasons, what we want to do, have, be, or accomplish is not available to us now. But there are things we could not do or have today, no matter what, that we can have in the future. Today, we would make ourselves crazy trying to accomplish what will come naturally and with ease later.
We can trust that all is on schedule. Waiting time is not wasted time. Something is being worked out - in us, in someone else, in the Universe.
We don't have to put our life on hold while we wait. We can direct our attention elsewhere; we can practice acceptance and gratitude in the interim; we can trust that we do have a life to live while we are waiting - then we go about living it.
Deal with your frustration and impatience, but learn how to wait. The old saying, "You can't always get what you want" isn't entirely true. Often, in life, we can get what we want - especially the desires of our heart - if we can learn to wait.
Today, I am willing to learn the art of patience. If I am feeling powerless because I am waiting for something to happen and I am not in control of timing, I will focus on the power available to me by learning to wait.
Today I'm stretching myself and taking new risks. Today the faith is working to replace the fear that has held me back. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!
All addicts and alcoholics in recovery will face times when cravings or urges to drink or use will come into our life. For most of us this tends to happen early on in our recovery attempts. This is when that “voice of addiction” screams the loudest. But, even if we make it through these times, we are not immune from having cravings or urges to use come back into our lives. There is little we can do to change our physical response to abstinence. Our brains simply tell us that we are hungry or thirsty. When we experience drug hunger or get thirsty for a drink, we must act wisely and use the tools we are given in the program. We have to tell on our disease; we need to reach out and call someone who understands and talk it through. It will pass. However, when we get caught up in magical thinking and euphoric recall, it is easy to set ourselves up to fail. When I think about drinking or using, that “voice of addiction” reminds me of the good times. The fun I used to have and the camaraderie of my drinking buddies is what I want to focus on. This is dangerous.
I must train myself to remember the hard times and the consequences of my use. Rather than romancing the high, I must focus on the harm. I have to train myself to do that which seems unnatural to me. It is much easier to think about the good times rather than the bad times. Yet, I have learned that this must be my first defense. I must stop my “stinking thinking” and take action to protect myself from the voice of addiction that whispers in my ear. I need to see that the program can offer me everything that addiction did. I can find friends and laughter at meetings. I can find relief and real answers to my problems. I can find everything I need around the tables and on the phone, talking with people who understand. Do I have a concrete plan in place to deal with cravings or urges?
Meditations for the Heart
I can start each day new. I no longer have to carry the past with me wherever I go. Each new breath I take is a gift from God. For this I must be grateful. I can choose to keep walking in shame, or I can accept the forgiveness that God offers. If God only gave forgiveness to “good” people, where is the need for it? I believe that my Higher Power gives me forgiveness when I ask for it. It is His grace that provides this gift. I also need to respect the gift that is offered through my genuine desire to change the things I can. Recovery does not demand perfection, only progress. I must look carefully at each of the choices I make and ask myself, “What does God want me to do?” I must choose wisely. I know I will never get it perfect, but I can improve each day and with each breath. Do I recognize that God can and will forgive me?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Today I need to be reminded of Your will for me. With each breath I take and each choice I face today, remind me of Your presence. Give me the courage and wisdom to make healthy choices each step of the way. Help me to both ask for and accept Your forgiveness in my life.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
A New Pattern Of Living
"We suspect that if we do not use what we have, we will lose what we have."
Basic Text p. 75
Addiction gave a pattern to our lives, and with it a meaning - a dark, diseased meaning, to be sure, but a meaning nonetheless. The Narcotics Anonymous recovery program gives us a new pattern of living to replace our old routines. And with that new pattern comes a new meaning to our lives, one of light and hope.
What is this new pattern of living? Instead of isolation, we find fellowship. Instead of living blindly, repeating the same mistakes again and again, we regularly examine ourselves, free to keep what helps us grow and discard what doesn't. Rather than constantly trying to get by on our own limited power, we develop a conscious contact with a loving Power greater than ourselves.
Our life must have a pattern. To maintain our recovery, we must maintain the new patterns our program has taught us. By giving regular attention to these patterns, we will maintain the freedom we've found from the deadly disease of addiction, and keep hold of the meaning recovery has brought to our lives.
Just for today: I will begin a new pattern in my life: the regular maintenance of my recovery.
pg. 294
-----
October 8 - Daily Feast
St. James says to keep quiet, control your tongue - though no one ever has. Your boat may be huge, but your little tongue is a rudder that can turn a very big ship in the wrong direction. The tongue is like kindling wood that can set a whole woods on fire. Keep your tongue quiet, very quiet. And then St. Mark says to speak - speak to the mountain and tell it to be gone. Not only be gone but sink into the sea. A mountain of trouble needs us to use our tongues. Speak what you want and need, not what you do not want. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. These are the times that make us who we are, what we are, and what we will have. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
~ You say you are right and we are wrong. How do you know this to be true? ~
RED JACKET - SENECA, 1800s
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
Elder's Meditation of the Day - October 8
"I think there was a big mistake made (when) people separated religion and the government. That was one of the big mistakes that was made, because when they did that, then they removed the Creator from their life - or at least from half to three-quarters of their life."
--Tom Porter, MOHAWK
The Elders tell us that every thing the Creator made is interconnected. Nothing can be separated. The Elders say we should pray before we do anything. We should ask the Creator, what do You want us to do? We are put on the Earth to do the will of God. If we run our governments, communities, families or ourselves without the spiritual we are doomed to failure.
My Creator, guide my life to include the spiritual in everything I do.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Isn't it true that when someone says something is wrong, our first thought is, "What have I done wrong now?" That constant fear of having a finger of accusation pointed in our direction - that guilt complex that can plague us into admitting guilt when it isn't ours.
Shakespeare wrote, "The mind of guilt is full of scorpions." And surely it is. For we often take more on with a feeling of guilt than is required of us. It is more often a feeling of fear, fear of being ridiculed, blamed, or even threatened.
A guilt complex can be erased. Not in a day, and maybe not completely, unless we are dedicated to keeping it out of our minds. We are so prone to throw fuel on the fire that we must always be completely aware of the thoughts we entertain.
But certainly, with turning to our innate faith and wisdom we can find enough courage to recognize the ghosts of guilt and see them for what they are.
Perhaps in the final analysis we find we were not guilty at all. We feel relieved, but if we were guilty, the relief of admitting mistakes is just as great.
-----
Daily Relationship Reading
If someone asked me to carry a 200 lb sack of potatoes for them, what would my first reaction likely be? I'd probably say no, because such a heavy load would be more than I was willing to lift. It would be much easier to say yes however, if the 200 lb. sack were split up into 10 lb. bags. It might take me a bit longer, but certainly it would be more than manageable.
How often do I try to tackle big problems in our relationship the same way? I look at the whole problem, and the weight of it seems overwhelming. Yet if I take the time to break it into smaller parts, I can see that it might take longer to find solutions, but at least it's within my power to handle.
Often I discover there are little things I can do to make small but noticeable changes. Something as simple as a short walk in the fresh air can have a wonderful effect on my perspective. Talking to my SO about one small aspect of the problem - and limiting my talk to that for now - can also produce surprising results. Before I know it, each small step I have taken has brought me further than the biggest leap I could ever make.
Just for Today
Today I'll look at a problem I'm facing, and see how many smaller pieces I can break it into. By handling one small part at a time, I'll have plenty of strength left to deal with the normal challenges of the day, while making at least some progress on a major difficulty. Before I know it, I might be surprised to see all these small steps have taken me to a real solution.
An avalanche can be started with a snowball.
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Learning from Mistakes
We can learn from our mistakes so that we do not have to make the same ones over and over again. If a particular attitude or situation consistently makes it difficult for us to follow our food plan, then that attitude or situation needs to be changed. Slips do not just happen. They indicate that something is wrong with our program and that we have not yet learned what we need to know about ourselves.
Being aware of the circumstances, which make us vulnerable to overeating, helps us to be prepared for temptation and to find ways to avoid it wherever possible. If there are certain foods, which we cannot resist, then we should not have those foods available. If trying to do too much makes us tired and emotionally upset, then we need to be less ambitious and learn to delegate responsibility. Compulsive overeating or emotional bingeing indicates that we are not living in a way, which satisfies our basic needs.
Lord, may we learn from our mistakes.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Learn what you are and be such. --Pindar
The most precious gift we can give those closest to us is honesty. Yet we often hide our true selves from friends, fearing we won't be accepted or loved if we let them see the real us. Often, we show parts of ourselves that hide who we really are. We have often heard ourselves or others say, "My parents would just die if . . . ," or, "don't argue in front of the children."
If we hide too much behind false images, we run the risk of losing track of what is real and what is false. We become actors instead of real people, trying to please Aunt Jane, our grandparents, our big brother, or our children.
When we conquer our fear of letting others in, we are able to see ourselves honestly. When we discover that others accept us as we are, we can accept and love ourselves. To know oneself is to know a person of value.
What part of me have I been hiding?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We cannot avoid
Using power,
Cannot escape the compulsion
To afflict the world,
So let us, cautious in diction
And mighty in contradiction,
Love powerfully.
--Martin Buber
The use and misuse of power by men give us much to weep over and much to admire. In our own families we see how our parents fought over power, how they used it both wisely and abusively. Our problems with power and control are a central part of our addictions and codependency. Admitting our powerlessness has started us toward recovery. Admitting our power will help carry us further.
No one is innocent beyond childhood. We affect the people around us, and it matters how we treat them. We cannot come and go unnoticed. Since we will make an impact, we learn to treat ourselves and the people around us with respect and justice. Our only solution is to learn to love and be loved.
Today, I will be more aware of the power I have in others' lives.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
The great creative power is everything. If you leave out one whole chunk of it, by making God only masculine, you have to redress the balance. --Martha Boesing
What a blessing, to be part of God! For many of us, invoking God with a male pronoun put an obstacle in the path of our spiritual growth. We felt left out. Worship of something called "He" or "Him" didn't jibe with our spirituality. When we pray, we pray to a spiritual source that includes everything, that leaves nothing out: sexes, all races, all ages and conditions.
Some of us had no trouble understanding that God is everything, no matter how God is invoked. But whatever our path to spirituality, the Twelve Step program has enriched our understanding. Before we practiced the Twelve Steps, we had allowed ourselves to forget the strength and nurture that are always at hand, and now we are grateful to be reminded that God is with us, within us, and all is well.
One woman says, "When I feel far from God, I ask myself: Who moved?" God is always there. Today I will pray for the wisdom to stay close to my spiritual source, the Creator Spirit.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Learning to Wait
I've started to realize that waiting is an art, that waiting achieves things. Waiting can be very, very powerful. Time is a valuable thing. If you can wait two years, you can sometimes achieve something that you could not achieve today, however hard you worked, however much money you threw up in the air, however many times you banged your head against the wall. . .
--The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey
The people who are most successful at living and loving are those who can learn to wait successfully. Not many people enjoy waiting or learning patience. Yet, waiting can be a powerful tool that will help us accomplish much good.
We cannot always have what we want when we want it. For different reasons, what we want to do, have, be, or accomplish is not available to us now. But there are things we could not do or have today, no matter what, that we can have in the future. Today, we would make ourselves crazy trying to accomplish what will come naturally and with ease later.
We can trust that all is on schedule. Waiting time is not wasted time. Something is being worked out - in us, in someone else, in the Universe.
We don't have to put our life on hold while we wait. We can direct our attention elsewhere; we can practice acceptance and gratitude in the interim; we can trust that we do have a life to live while we are waiting - then we go about living it.
Deal with your frustration and impatience, but learn how to wait. The old saying, "You can't always get what you want" isn't entirely true. Often, in life, we can get what we want - especially the desires of our heart - if we can learn to wait.
Today, I am willing to learn the art of patience. If I am feeling powerless because I am waiting for something to happen and I am not in control of timing, I will focus on the power available to me by learning to wait.
Today I'm stretching myself and taking new risks. Today the faith is working to replace the fear that has held me back. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!