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01-01-2009, 02:06 PM
Wisdom for Today
Step Five is like standing at the crossroads between our old way of living and the opportunity to begin living a new life. I remember when I first came into the program. I thought my life started all over again when I admitted my powerlessness and unmanageability. In some ways it did, but I continued to live my life without change except for abstinence from mood-altering chemicals. In completing Step Five, I now had an opportunity to make significant changes in my life as well as begin the repair work I needed to do.
Completing Steps One through Five is a lot like taking out an insurance policy on recovery. While it is not a guarantee, these Steps certainly act as a strong insurance policy against relapse. If we are painstaking about this phase of our program, we will not wish to return. The remaining Steps are how we continue to pay our insurance premium. I really did not expect to get to a point where I no longer desired to get wasted or high. Now I can't imagine not paying my insurance premiums. Have I experienced the freedom that an honest Step Five brings?
Meditations for the Heart
Insurance brings a sense of security. It is not a false sense of security, because tragedy can strike; but there is a comfort in knowing that your recovery is protected. This is the security I felt when I accepted the gift of forgiveness that God offers. This is the sense of security I felt when I knew I was accepted by others in the program and when I could truly accept myself. Insurance does protect, but it does not mean that relapse can no longer occur. Indeed, if this were all that was needed, then there would only be Five Steps in the program. The founders of the Twelve Step program knew that there was more needed in order to stay clean and sober. In fact, they established seven more Steps. Am I resting on Step Five and not doing the repair work that is needed?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
You have provided me and thousands like me the Steps needed to escape from the bondage of addiction. For this I am grateful. Walk with me this day as I continue my journey in recovery. Let me experience the security that the program offers. Keep me motivated to experience the promises of the Twelve Steps.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
January 2
Take a deep breath and talk to God
"Sometimes when we pray, a remarkable thing happens: We find the means, ways, and energies to perform tasks far beyond our capacities."
Basic Text p. 44
Coping successfully with life's minor annoyances and frustrations is sometimes the most difficult skill we have to learn in recovery. We are faced with small inconveniences daily. From untangling the knots in our children's shoelaces to standing in line at the market, our days are filled with minor difficulties that we must somehow deal with.
If we're not careful, we may find ourselves dealing with these difficulties by bullying our way through each problem or grinding our teeth while giving ourselves a stern lecture about how we should handle them. These are extreme examples of poor coping skills, but even if we're not this bad there's probably room for improvement.
Each time life presents us with another little setback to our daily plans, we can simply take a deep breath and talk to the God of our understanding. Knowing we can draw patience, tolerance, or whatever we need from that Power, we find ourselves coping better and smiling more often.
Just for today: I will take a deep breath and talk to my God whenever I feel frustrated.
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Help!
When we hit bottom and are ready to swallow our pride, help is available. When we admit that by ourselves we are powerless, a Higher Power takes over. Most of us have tried for years to control what we eat by ourselves. Often it seems that the harder we try, the more miserably we fail. We despair. When we are truly desperate and ask for help, OA can help us.
We have proven that we cannot solve our problem alone. A diet is not enough. We need a program that fills our emotional and spiritual needs as well as our physical ones.
Step by step and day by day we can learn to live without overeating. We will gradually become convinced that no amount of physical food will ever satisfy our emotional and spiritual hunger. The Higher Power, which infuses each OA GROUP, becomes our lifesaver and our nourishment.
God, save me from myself.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Happiness is like manna; it is to be gathered and enjoyed every day. --Tryon Edwards
Life is like a winding path surrounded by flowers, butterflies, and delicious fruit, but many of us spend much of life looking for happiness around the next corner. We do not bend to enjoy the happiness which is ours for the taking just at our feet.
In our desire to reach the "pot of gold," the complete and lasting happiness we all want to fill our lives, we ignore anything which doesn't seem worthy of such a large ambition, or which can't give us the whole thing all at once.
Happiness is all around us, but it often comes in small grains. When we gather it grain by grain, we soon have a basketful.
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
When you can't stand criticism you learn to be a perfectionist. --Anonymous
It's human to make mistakes and to feel incomplete. Perhaps if we were all smooth plastic printouts we could expect perfection of ourselves. Each man is actually a process. We are not things, but events -- happenings--and the events are still unfolding. These are our creative spiritual adventures.
We have somehow learned that openness to criticism is dangerous. Perhaps we thought someone would not like us if we were wrong, or that we would get hurt or belittled. When we live with a relationship to our Higher Power, we can stand up for ourselves. A man has a right to make some mistakes! We grow more if we allow ourselves the leeway of simply being in process.
I will not ask to have the power of perfection. I will only ask that I not be alone in the process of living my life.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I believe that true identify is found . . . in creative activity springing from within. It is found, paradoxically, when one loses oneself. Woman can best re-find herself by losing herself in some kind of creative activity of her own. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Creative activity might mean bird watching, tennis, quilting, cooking, painting, writing. Creative activity immerses us fully in the here and now, and at the same time it frees us. We become one with the activity and are nourished by it. We grow as the activity grows. We learn who we are in the very process of not thinking about who we are.
Spirituality and creativity are akin. There is an exhilaration rooted deep within us that is a lifeline to God. Creative activity releases the exhilaration, and the energy goes through us and out to others. We find ourselves and our higher power through the loss of our self-conscious selves while creating--a picture, a sentence, a special meal.
Creativity is a given. It is another dimension of the spiritual presence guiding us all. I'll get out of its way today.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Healthy Limits
Boundaries are vital to recovery. Having and setting healthy limits' is connected to all phases of recovery: growing in self esteem, dealing with feelings, and learning to really love and value ourselves.
Boundaries emerge from deep within. They are connected to letting go of guilt and shame, and to changing our beliefs about what we deserve. As our thinking about this becomes dearer, so will our boundaries.
Boundaries are also connected to a Higher Timing than our own. We'll set a limit when we're ready, and not a moment before. So will others.
There's something magical about reaching that point of becoming ready to set a limit. We know we mean what we say; others take us seriously too. Things change, not because we're controlling others, but because we've changed.
Today, I will trust that I will learn, grow, and set the limits I need in my life at my own pace. This timing need only be right for me.
I am beginning to trust myself. I am beginning to discover that I am okay. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!
Step Five is like standing at the crossroads between our old way of living and the opportunity to begin living a new life. I remember when I first came into the program. I thought my life started all over again when I admitted my powerlessness and unmanageability. In some ways it did, but I continued to live my life without change except for abstinence from mood-altering chemicals. In completing Step Five, I now had an opportunity to make significant changes in my life as well as begin the repair work I needed to do.
Completing Steps One through Five is a lot like taking out an insurance policy on recovery. While it is not a guarantee, these Steps certainly act as a strong insurance policy against relapse. If we are painstaking about this phase of our program, we will not wish to return. The remaining Steps are how we continue to pay our insurance premium. I really did not expect to get to a point where I no longer desired to get wasted or high. Now I can't imagine not paying my insurance premiums. Have I experienced the freedom that an honest Step Five brings?
Meditations for the Heart
Insurance brings a sense of security. It is not a false sense of security, because tragedy can strike; but there is a comfort in knowing that your recovery is protected. This is the security I felt when I accepted the gift of forgiveness that God offers. This is the sense of security I felt when I knew I was accepted by others in the program and when I could truly accept myself. Insurance does protect, but it does not mean that relapse can no longer occur. Indeed, if this were all that was needed, then there would only be Five Steps in the program. The founders of the Twelve Step program knew that there was more needed in order to stay clean and sober. In fact, they established seven more Steps. Am I resting on Step Five and not doing the repair work that is needed?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
You have provided me and thousands like me the Steps needed to escape from the bondage of addiction. For this I am grateful. Walk with me this day as I continue my journey in recovery. Let me experience the security that the program offers. Keep me motivated to experience the promises of the Twelve Steps.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
January 2
Take a deep breath and talk to God
"Sometimes when we pray, a remarkable thing happens: We find the means, ways, and energies to perform tasks far beyond our capacities."
Basic Text p. 44
Coping successfully with life's minor annoyances and frustrations is sometimes the most difficult skill we have to learn in recovery. We are faced with small inconveniences daily. From untangling the knots in our children's shoelaces to standing in line at the market, our days are filled with minor difficulties that we must somehow deal with.
If we're not careful, we may find ourselves dealing with these difficulties by bullying our way through each problem or grinding our teeth while giving ourselves a stern lecture about how we should handle them. These are extreme examples of poor coping skills, but even if we're not this bad there's probably room for improvement.
Each time life presents us with another little setback to our daily plans, we can simply take a deep breath and talk to the God of our understanding. Knowing we can draw patience, tolerance, or whatever we need from that Power, we find ourselves coping better and smiling more often.
Just for today: I will take a deep breath and talk to my God whenever I feel frustrated.
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Help!
When we hit bottom and are ready to swallow our pride, help is available. When we admit that by ourselves we are powerless, a Higher Power takes over. Most of us have tried for years to control what we eat by ourselves. Often it seems that the harder we try, the more miserably we fail. We despair. When we are truly desperate and ask for help, OA can help us.
We have proven that we cannot solve our problem alone. A diet is not enough. We need a program that fills our emotional and spiritual needs as well as our physical ones.
Step by step and day by day we can learn to live without overeating. We will gradually become convinced that no amount of physical food will ever satisfy our emotional and spiritual hunger. The Higher Power, which infuses each OA GROUP, becomes our lifesaver and our nourishment.
God, save me from myself.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Happiness is like manna; it is to be gathered and enjoyed every day. --Tryon Edwards
Life is like a winding path surrounded by flowers, butterflies, and delicious fruit, but many of us spend much of life looking for happiness around the next corner. We do not bend to enjoy the happiness which is ours for the taking just at our feet.
In our desire to reach the "pot of gold," the complete and lasting happiness we all want to fill our lives, we ignore anything which doesn't seem worthy of such a large ambition, or which can't give us the whole thing all at once.
Happiness is all around us, but it often comes in small grains. When we gather it grain by grain, we soon have a basketful.
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
When you can't stand criticism you learn to be a perfectionist. --Anonymous
It's human to make mistakes and to feel incomplete. Perhaps if we were all smooth plastic printouts we could expect perfection of ourselves. Each man is actually a process. We are not things, but events -- happenings--and the events are still unfolding. These are our creative spiritual adventures.
We have somehow learned that openness to criticism is dangerous. Perhaps we thought someone would not like us if we were wrong, or that we would get hurt or belittled. When we live with a relationship to our Higher Power, we can stand up for ourselves. A man has a right to make some mistakes! We grow more if we allow ourselves the leeway of simply being in process.
I will not ask to have the power of perfection. I will only ask that I not be alone in the process of living my life.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I believe that true identify is found . . . in creative activity springing from within. It is found, paradoxically, when one loses oneself. Woman can best re-find herself by losing herself in some kind of creative activity of her own. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Creative activity might mean bird watching, tennis, quilting, cooking, painting, writing. Creative activity immerses us fully in the here and now, and at the same time it frees us. We become one with the activity and are nourished by it. We grow as the activity grows. We learn who we are in the very process of not thinking about who we are.
Spirituality and creativity are akin. There is an exhilaration rooted deep within us that is a lifeline to God. Creative activity releases the exhilaration, and the energy goes through us and out to others. We find ourselves and our higher power through the loss of our self-conscious selves while creating--a picture, a sentence, a special meal.
Creativity is a given. It is another dimension of the spiritual presence guiding us all. I'll get out of its way today.
You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Healthy Limits
Boundaries are vital to recovery. Having and setting healthy limits' is connected to all phases of recovery: growing in self esteem, dealing with feelings, and learning to really love and value ourselves.
Boundaries emerge from deep within. They are connected to letting go of guilt and shame, and to changing our beliefs about what we deserve. As our thinking about this becomes dearer, so will our boundaries.
Boundaries are also connected to a Higher Timing than our own. We'll set a limit when we're ready, and not a moment before. So will others.
There's something magical about reaching that point of becoming ready to set a limit. We know we mean what we say; others take us seriously too. Things change, not because we're controlling others, but because we've changed.
Today, I will trust that I will learn, grow, and set the limits I need in my life at my own pace. This timing need only be right for me.
I am beginning to trust myself. I am beginning to discover that I am okay. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!