More Recovery Readings - 12/12

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NA Just For Today
December 12
Fear Of Change

"By working the steps, we come to accept a Higher Power's will.... We lose our fear of the unknown. We are set free."
Basic Text pg. 16

Life is a series of changes, both large and small. Although we may know and accept this fact intellectually, chances are that our initial emotional reaction to change is fear. For some reason, we assume that each and every change is going to hurt, causing us to be miserable.

If we look back on the changes that have happened in our lives, we'll find that most of them have been for the best. We were probably very frightened at the prospect of life without drugs, yet it's the best thing that's ever happened to us. Perhaps we've lost a job that we thought we'd die without, but later on we found greater challenge and personal fulfillment in a new career. As we venture forth in our recovery, we're likely to experience more changes. We will outgrow old situations and become ready for new ones.

With all sorts of changes taking place, it's only natural to grab hold of something, anything familiar and try to hold on. Solace can be found in a Power greater than ourselves. The more we allow changes to happen at the direction of our Higher Power, the more we'll trust that those changes are for the best. Faith will replace fear, and we'll know in our hearts that all will be well.

Just for today: When I am afraid of a change in my life, I will take comfort from knowing that God's will for me is good.


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You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Meal by Meal

We abstain from compulsive overeating day-by-day and meal-by-meal. After breakfast, we do not worry about how we will feel at dinnertime. After breakfast we know that we have had an abstinent meal and that we can forget about food until it is time for lunch. If we allow ourselves to start thinking about what we will have for the next meal, and the meal after that, we turn on our obsession.

The beauty of abstinence is that it permits us to get from one meal to the next without being constantly preoccupied with food. By abstaining from refined sugars and carbohydrates and our individual binge foods, we no longer have to fight the craving for more. By working the Twelve Steps, we fill our minds with nourishing thoughts, which drive out our former obsession with food.

This meal, which I have planned, is the only one that concerns me now. I do not need to think about other meals or other foods. I will enjoy this meal, and then I will walk away from food into the rest of my life.

Keep me abstinent, meal-by-meal.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Patience is needed with everyone, but first of all with ourselves. --Saint Francis De Sales
One night Sandra was having trouble putting a puzzle together. Angrily, she pushed all the pieces into a huge pile.
"I can't do this," she said. She got up and walked over to the couch and plopped down.
"Let me tell you a story," said her dad, as he sat down next to her. "There was a daughter who helped her dad take care of her baby sister. Again and again, she helped her baby sister stand and try to walk. One day the daughter tried to put a puzzle together but gave up after only a few tries. She had forgotten how many times she had helped her baby sister."
We are all like Sandra, sometimes. We forget to allow ourselves to fail, even though our growth up to now has been a series of failures that we learned from. With patience, we allow ourselves to take chances we might not otherwise explore, and we widen our world of possibilities. Life has been patient with us so far, now it's our turn.
What have I failed at that I can try again today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
I like a man with faults, especially when he knows it. To err is human - I'm uncomfortable around gods. --Hugh Prather
We are more comfortable around a man who has faults and knows it. We respect such a man. So why do we have such a hard time admitting our own faults? This matter of honesty comes very gradually and only with hard work. We may have to force ourselves to admit a fault because we expect to feel unworthy. In fact, what we do feel after admitting a fault is peacefulness and self-respect. We may expect to be rejected and judged by friends, but usually friendships grow more solid when we admit our faults. A true friend does not need to trust that we will always be right, only that we will be honest.
At this moment are we being nagged by some fault? Is there something about the way we have talked to someone that doesn't seem right? Have we been unfair or dishonest? This is a program of progress, not perfection. So, to make progress we admit our imperfections, and as we do, we become more fully human.
God, in this moment when I feel my human mistakes, help me to be open to your love.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
If I am to be remembered, I hope it is for the honesty I try to demonstrate, the patience I try to live by, and the compassion I feel for others. --JoAnn Reed
Each of us hopes we are leaving a lasting, positive impression on those we befriend and maybe even those we encounter by chance. Having others speak well of us provides the strokes that are often necessary to our "keeping on" when difficulties surface. What we sometimes forget is that we are responsible for whatever lasting impression we leave.
Our behavior does influence what another person carries away from our mutual experience.
We may have left unfavorable impressions during our using days. On occasion, we do yet. However, it's progress, not perfection, we're after. And each day we begin anew, with a clear slate and fresh opportunities to spread good cheer, to treat others with love and respect, to face head-on and with full honesty all situations drawing our attention and participation.
As I look forward to the hours ahead, I will remember that I control my actions toward others. If I want to be remembered fondly, I must treat each person so.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
God's Will
Each day, ask God what God wants us to do today; then ask God to help. A simple request, but so profound and far reaching it can take us anywhere we need to go.
Listen: all that we want, all that we need, all the answers, all the help, all the good, all the love, all the healing, all the wisdom, all the fulfillment of desire is embodied in this simple request. We need say no more than Thank You.
This Plan that has been made for us is not one of deprivation. It is one of fullness, joy, and abundance. Walk into it.
See for yourself.
Today, I will ask God to show me what God wants me to do for this day, and then ask for help to do that. I will trust that is sufficient to take me into light and joy.


There is something special waiting for me to do with this day. I know that when it is time I will be inspired from a place deep within myself. I trust that I will know what to do when the time is right. --Ruth Fishel

God help me to stay sober and clean today!

[francie21805]

Wisdom for Today

Some people say there aren't any heroes anymore. But I know this is just not the case. Anyone who is engaged in battle and fights with courage certainly is a hero. I meet heroes all the time at meetings. These are the people who have fought the good fight against the disease of addiction. They all have demonstrated courage under fire, and all have come out of the battle a changed person. I say this because, when I first met these people, I thought they were just a bunch of drunks. But as I began to know these people, I was surprised to find them reaching out to me. They taught me the ways of recovery quite unselfishly. They had been through exactly what I had been through. They were more unselfish than I ever was.

As I spent time with these people, I began to think about myself less and a little more about other people. I began to share the things I had been taught with others. More and more often I was confronted with parts of my life that were still a mess. These same people continued to teach me all that they knew. I began to realize that I did not have to rely on myself to get clean and sober. I began to realize that through these people, I gained strength. These people continue to act in unselfish and heroic ways. They continue to teach, and I continue to learn. Am I now depending more on others and less on myself?


Meditations for the Heart

I remember the first time someone came up to me after a meeting and said, "I want to thank you for what you had to say tonight. It really hit home." I can't for the life of me remember what I had said, but I do remember looking into the eyes of the person who said this to me. Something about that look told me that I had honestly touched that individual in some way. I also remember going up to my sponsor and telling him. He said, "Now you finally understand service work." I guess I was really confused because I had always thought that setting up before a meeting or cleaning up afterwards was service work. So I asked my sponsor what he meant, and he smiled and said, " You see, serving others is about unselfishly sharing your experience, strength and hope." I thought about this for a long time. It made me more eager to openly share at meetings. So much so many different individuals had taught me, that I realized I needed to give back to the program and the people who had helped me so much. Do I give back what I have been given?


Petitions to my Higher Power

God,

Thank You for the many heroes You have placed in my life. They have made my walk along this path of recovery so much easier. I know now that it is You who gave them the words to say that have so impacted my life. I pray this day that You guide my words so that I may give back what I have been given.

Amen.


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December 12 - Daily Feast

Misery seems to justify making someone pay - but there is sweet revenge in finding our own inner spirit can expand quickly to push out unfairness and bitterness. Who doesn't have the right to be bitter? A hard thing to forget, a mountain to overcome - but such peace follows. Peace spreads like warm honey across a hot biscuit and permeates all the little places that capture and hold it. The heart lifts its hands in praise for relief from the darkness of bitter memories. All of us can do it - all of us must if we are to be well and have something to share. Just let it go. Life will balance the books, it always does.

~ While living I want to live well. ~

GERONIMO - CHIRACAHUA APACHE

'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 12

"In order for our children to survive in the world, they need a firm understanding and belief in the basic principles of sharing freedom and respect of individuality."

--Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

There is a saying: Tell me, I'll forget; Show me, I'll remember; Engage me; I'll understand. The adults need to determine what the younger generation is the learn. The principle of sharing keeps the youth from being greedy and selfish. The principle of freedom teaches the youth about choices, decisions and consequences. The principle of respect keeps us from playing God and becoming a controller of all things. We need to learn theses lessons so we may demonstrate them for our children.

Great Teacher, help me to understand Your principles

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'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

At night sometimes the world seems so topsy-turvy and you're so weary of doing things the same old way. Then nothing seems to please....You try desperately for something new and different, something that doesn't seem so much like you. Why? Tonight you are different.

One cannot expect the world to be top side up all the time. Such perfection does not come so easily to human nature. And always there is a search for something new and different. A change of pace....that thought that I don't want to be me today, to think my thoughts and do my daily chores. I want to make a complete change now, to know a whole new way of life. And it is good to leave behind the many daily situations that sometimes stand too closely to be seen clearly, but to be wise enough to know which things should be left behind.

There have been clean sweeps that have left behind the dearest things....and have taken along the same dreary, dark unhappy things of the mind that should have been left behind.

A line from the prayer of serenity is "The wisdom to know the difference....." And wisdom, says Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is common sense in an uncommon degree. If one has the wisdom to wait a bit, wait until morning - or several mornings - that uncommon degree of common sense will give us the wisdom to know the difference.

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Daily Relationship Reading

"I'm sooooooooooo fat". It's a vicious circle; I get angry at myself for not meeting expectations, and end up feeling miserable over my lack of "will power". No matter how I try to handle my feelings of shame and low self-worth, I eventually find myself using food again to help me deal with those feelings, and packing in more calories.
Maybe my SO says unkind words about my weight, or withdraws emotionally or sexually, and I feel even less self-worth. Even when my SO accepts my appearance with open arms, I find it hard to believe I'm really attractive. Are my struggles with weight really my fault though? Isn't being hard on myself self-defeating?
It's impossible for me to meet others' faulty definitions of what beauty is. When my weight causes me physical as well as emotional discomfort, there may be any number of reasons, ones where "self-control" may be the most harmful thing I can try.
The real cause could be a physical disorder, repressed sexual abuse, low feelings of self-worth, or any number of other roots. My weight may actually be my body's way of protecting me until I begin to heal the underlying causes.

Just for Today
Today instead of seeing my weight as a problem, I'll start looking it as a symptom of a deeper struggle, and let it help me heal the important things inside me - my belief, trust, and love of myself. When I criticize myself for my weight, I'll remember that there are many things that I simply can't control, even when it comes to myself

If only we could be as happy losing at losing other things, as we are in losing our weight.

[francie21805]

Daily Inspiration for women

http://www.meditationsforwomen.com/dailys/992001.html (http://www.meditationsforwomen.com/dailys/992001.html)

[francie21805]

Daily OM
December 12, 2008

Wild Wisdom
Animals As Teachers
Since prehistoric times, animals have acted as companions to humans on their journey toward enlightenment. Animals as disparate in character as house pets, birds, sea creatures, and insects have been our mentors, teachers, and guides. There is much we can learn from animals, as they offer us the unique opportunity to transcend the human perspective. Unlike human teachers, animals can only impart their wisdom by example, and we learn from them by observation. An animal teacher can be a beloved pet or an animal in the wild. You may even find yourself noticing the animals in your backyard. Even robins and bumblebees have lessons to share with you.

Animals teach us in a variety of ways about behavior, habit, and instinct. House pets embody an unconditional love that remains unchanged in the face of our shape, size, age, race, or gender. They care little for the differences between us and them and simply enjoy loving and being loved. Our pets encourage us to let our guards down, have fun, and take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy life. You can also learn lessons from the animals you encounter in the wild if you take the time to observe their habits. Cold-blooded animals show us adaptability and sensitivity to one’s environment. Mammals serve as examples of nurturing and playfulness. Animals that live in oceans, lakes, and rivers demonstrate the value of movement and grace. It is even possible to learn from insects that live in highly structured communities that everyone plays a vital role.

Animals teach us about life, death, survival, sacrifice, and responsibility. If you find yourself drawn to a particular animal, ask yourself which of its traits you find most intriguing and think about how you might mimic those traits. Think of what you might learn from observing the little bird on your windowsill or the mosquito buzzing around a picnic table. Animals express themselves with abandon, freedom, and integrity. It’s natural to be drawn to the wisdom offered by our animal teachers, and in doing so, discover what is natural and true within you.

Published with permission from Daily OM