Daily Recovery Readings - 8/23

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Daily Reflections

BRINGING THE MESSAGE HOME

Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our
sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS , pp. 111 -112

My family members suffer from the effects of my disease. Loving and
accepting them as they are - just as I love and accept A.A. members
- fosters a return of love, tolerance and harmony to my life. Using
common courtesy and respecting other's personal boundaries are
necessary practices for all areas of my life.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"We who have accepted the A.A. principles have been faced with the
necessity for a thorough personal housecleaning. We must face and
be rid of the things in ourselves that have been blocking us. We
therefore take a personal inventory. We take stock honestly. We
search out the flaws in our make-up that caused our failure.
Resentment is the number one offender. Life that includes deep
resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. If we are to
live, we must be free of anger." Am I free of resentment and anger?

Meditation For The Day

Keep in mind the goal you are striving for, the good life you are
trying to attain. Do not let little things divert you from the
path. Do not be overcome by the small trials and vexations of each
day. Try to see the purpose and plan to which all is leading. if,
when climbing a mountain, you keep your eyes on each stony or
difficult place, how weary is your climb. But if you think of each
step as leading to the summit of achievement from which a glorious
landscape will open out before you, then your climb will be endurable
and you will achieve your goal.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may realize that life without a goal is futile.
I pray that I may find the good life worth striving for.

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As Bill Sees It

Trouble: Constructive or Destructive?, p. 110

"There was a time when we ignored trouble, hoping it would go
away. Or, in fear and in depression, we ran from it, but found it was
still with us. Often, full of unreason, bitterness, and blame, we fought
back. These mistaken attitudes, powered by alcohol, guaranteed our
destruction, unless they were altered.

"Then came A.A. Here we learned that trouble was really a fact of
life for everybody--a fact that had to be understood and dealt with.
Surprisingly, we found that our troubles could, under God's grace, be
converted into unimagined blessings.

"Indeed, that was the essence of A.A. itself: trouble accepted,
trouble squarely faced with calm courage, trouble lessened and often
transcended. This was the A.A. story, and we became a part of it.
Such demonstrations became our stock in trade for the next
sufferer."

Letter, 1966

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Walk In Dry Places

Planning for others.
Letting Go.
There are times when we think we see perfectly what others ought to be doing. It pains and disturbs us when loved ones..... our children, perhaps... do not heed our advice. In planning for others, we can easily fall into the trap of enabling. An enabler is a person who supports others in an unhealthy addiction or
dependency.
We must not plan the lives of others, no matter how dear they are to us or how attached we become to them. They must have the freedom to live without obligation or the belief that they could not have succeeded
without our help. Freedom of choice is a precious right that includes the freedom to make
mistakes.
I'll release any tendency I have to plan for others. At all times, my responsibility is to keep on the right track and let others
be free.

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Keep It Simple

Where there is no vision, a people perish.---Ralph Waldo Emerson
Working our program teaches us to see things more clearly. We learn to look at who we really are. At first, we’re scared to see ourselves. But it turns out okay, even though were not perfect.
We also begin to see others more clearly. We see good in people we don’t like. And we see faults in people we thought we’re prefect. But we don’t judge people anymore. Nobody is perfect. Just as our program friends accept us as we are, we learn to accept others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, sometimes I don’t like what I see. Help me to believe Your way will for me. Help me have a vision.
Action for the Day: I will use my new way of seeing thing to avoid trouble today.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

My Chance To Live

A.A. gave this teenager the tools to climb out of her dark abyss of despair.

Today, I reside among the living, no better, no worse than any of God's other children. Today I look in the mirror when putting on my make up and smile, rather than shy away from looking myself in the eye. Today I fit in my skin. I am at peace with myself and the world around me.

p. 318

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

"To my surprise, the response of the groups was slow. I got mighty sore about it. Looking at this avalanche of mail one morning at the office, I paced up and down ranting how irresponsible and tightwad my fellow members were. Just then an old acquaintance stuck a tousled and aching head in the door. He was our prize slippee. I could see he had an awful hangover. Remembering some of my own, my heart filled with pit. I motioned him to my inside cubicle and produced a five-dollar bill. As my total income was thirty dollars a week at the time, this was a fairly large donation. Lois really needed the money for groceries, but that didn't stop me. The intense relief on my friend's face warmed my heart. I felt especially virtuous as I thought of all the ex-drunks who wouldn't even send the Foundation a dollar apiece, and here I was gladly making a five-dollar investment to fix a hangover.

pp. 162-163

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Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness
without action.
--Benjamin Disraeli

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just
sit there.
--Will Rogers

First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to
others.
--Thomas A. Kempis

There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself.
--Anthony Rapp

I can repeat the past, or I can create new and better experiences.
--Shelley

Today I will take enough time to do something good for myself only.
I will buy myself a gift or spend worthwhile time doing something
pleasant and fulfilling. I have enough time today and I deserve this
time for myself.
--Ruth Fishel

"Children stand more in need of example than criticism."
--Joseph Joubert

What is not love is fear. Anger is one of fear's most potent faces.
And it does exactly what fear wants it to do. It keeps us from
receiving love at exactly the moment when we need it most.
-- Marianne Williamson

The spiritual path is not one of attainment, but return.
--Alan Cohen

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CONFIDENCE

"There is no sort of work that
could ever be done well if you
minded what fools say."
-- George Eliot

Part of the risk in my recovery is arousing the displeasure of others. I
know that I cannot please all the people --- and yet my disease tells me
that I must! For years I missed life's opportunities because I listened
to negative and frightened people. Today I choose to shout my "yes"
to life, and I ignore the fools. The fools are rarely friends. Rather,
they seek to keep me in the same prison as themselves. If they truly
loved me, they would encourage me to be imaginative and creative.

Today I have a joyride "letting go and letting God" because God is a
great risk-taker!

I pray that I may always listen to the advice of others, but never miss
my power of decision.

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The Lord watches over you.....
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
Psalm 121 : 5

"Judge not according to the appearance."
John 7: 24

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing
spirit."
Psalm 51:12

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives
in us and his love is made complete in us."
I John 4:12

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Daily Inspiration

Life has a way of working itself out if you simply make the best of this moment, one moment at a time. Lord, You have given me this moment. Grant me the wisdom to live it in a way that will make a difference for me and for those around me.

No one has ever asked of God and not received an answer. Lord, bless me with quiet resolve to hear You and wisdom to accept Your Will.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Whenever you fall, pick something up. --Oswald Avery
There was once a very active boy who fell and broke his leg. He could run again in the spring, the doctors said, but only if he stayed in bed for an entire month and kept his leg still. At first the boy fought the rule, but he found that the more he thought about things he couldn't do, the more tired and angry he felt.
His parents put in a phone by his bed and friends called every day. He'd never much liked talking on the phone, but he felt better when they called. He wrote letters and got replies, and was surprised at what fun it was. Usually, he didn't have time to write letters.
He learned to play chess and began to enjoy reading. His days were slower and quieter than he'd been used to, but he learned a month really isn't a very long time. When spring came, he was running again, a little more joyfully than before.
When we can learn to accept our troubles, we find, like the boy, that they are just packages in which new growth and discoveries are wrapped.
If something unexpected slows me down today, what joys might I find at the slower pace?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision. --Stevie Wonder
It has been easy for many of us to meet our limitations with self-pity. Maybe we think being a real man means always being strong, capable, good looking, and in charge. If we have a handicap, like blindness or a learning disability, we may have thought we were less masculine or less worthy.
All of us have handicaps. Some are greater than others, and some are more visible than others. These handicaps confront us with our powerlessness. We do not find our finest human qualities until we have met our limitations and accepted them. A new side of our strength develops when we accept our powerlessness and yield to it rather than trying to take charge of it. We develop greater vision when we stop feeling sorry for ourselves about our handicap and surrender to its truth. We then see our kinship with all men and women who struggle with their limitations.
Today, I will set aside self-pity and remember to be grateful for the lessons my limitations have taught me.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Were our knowledge of human relationships a hundredfold more reliable than it is now, it would still be foolish to seek ready-made solutions for problems of living in the index of a book. --Mirra Komarovsky
The problems each of us experience have within their own parameters the solutions most fitting. And we each must discover those solutions, understand their appropriateness, and absorb them into the body of information that defines who we are and who we are becoming.
We learn experientially because only then is our reality significantly affected. Others' experiences are helpful to our growth and affirm how similar is our pain, but each of us must make our own choices, take responsible action in our own behalf.
How fortunate that we are now in a position to make healthy decisions about our relationships! No longer the victim, we have the personal power to choose how we want to spend our time and with whom. Through active participation in all our relationships, we can discover many of the hidden elements in our own natures and develop more fully all the characteristics unique to our personhood. Our growth as recovering women is enhanced in proportion to our sincere involvement within the relationships we've chosen.
I can inform myself about who I am within my relationships. Therein lie the solutions to my problems.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Self Care
When will we become lovable? When will we feel safe? When will we get all the protection, nurturing, and love we so richly deserve? We will get it when we begin giving it to ourselves. --Beyond Codependency
The idea of giving ourselves what we want and need can be confusing, especially if we have spent many years not knowing that it's okay to take care of ourselves. Taking our energy and focus off others and their responsibilities and placing that energy on to our responsibilities and ourselves is a recovery behavior that can be acquired. We learn it by daily practice.
We begin by relaxing, by breathing deeply, and letting go of our fears enough to feel as peaceful as we can. Then, we ask ourselves: What do I need to do to take care of myself today, or for this moment?
What do I need and want to do?
What would demonstrate love and self-responsibility?
Am I caught up in the belief that others are responsible for making me happy, responsible for me? Then the first thing I need to do is correct my belief system. I am responsible for myself.
Do I feel anxious and concerned about a responsibility I've been neglecting? Then perhaps I need to let go of my fears and tend to that responsibility.
Do I feel overwhelmed, out of control? Maybe I need to journey back to the first of the Twelve Steps.
Have I been working too hard? Maybe what I need to do is take some time off and do something fun.
Have I been neglecting my work on daily tasks? Then maybe what I need to do is get back to my routine.
There is no recipe, no formula, no guidebook for self care. We each have a guide, and that guide is within us. We need to ask the question: What do I need to do to take loving, responsible care of myself? Then, we need to listen to the answer. Self-care is not that difficult. The most challenging part is trusting the answer, and having the courage to follow through once we hear it.
Today, I will focus on taking care of myself. I will trust myself and my Higher Power to guide me in this process.


Everywhere I turn I know I am being supported by powerful, positive energy. I am finding love and support wherever I go.
--Ruth Fishel

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Decision Making

"Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking."
Basic Text p. 87

Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences. When we were using, our decisions were usually driven by our disease, resulting in self-destructive actions and dire consequences. We came to see decision making as a rigged game, one we should play as little as possible.

Given that, many of us have great difficulty learning to make decisions in recovery. Slowly, by working the Twelve Steps, we gain practice in making healthy decisions, ones that give positive results. Where our disease once affected our will and our lives, we ask our Higher Power to care for us. We inventory our values and our actions, check our findings with someone we trust, and ask the God of our understanding to remove our shortcomings. In working the steps we gain freedom from the influence of our disease, and we learn principles of decision making that can guide us in all our affairs.

Today, our decisions and their consequences need not be influenced by our disease. Our faith gives us the courage and direction to make good decisions and the strength to act on them. The result of that kind of decision making is a life worth living.

Just for today: I will use the principles of the Twelve Steps to make healthy decisions. I will ask my Higher Power for the strength to act on those decisions.
pg. 245

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Wisdom for Today
Good and bad things happen in recovery. Life is like that. The trick is finding a way to be content, serene, at peace regardless of the cards you are dealt. It would seem easy to do this when things are going well, but it isn’t as easy as it looks. When every thing is great it becomes easy to become grandiose, cocky, or arrogant claiming credit for the good things that are happening.
On the other side of the coin, it is easy to get remorseful, resentful, or on the pity pot when everything is going badly.

Finding the inner calm and serenity requires that we acknowledge God’s handiwork in our lives. When things are good we need to thank God for the blessings and gifts we receive. And when things look the worst, we need to recognize that God’s hand is there to help us along the way. Do I give credit where credit is due?
Meditations for the Heart
The longer I stay clean and sober the more I recognize God’s presence in my life. I have become convinced that nothing I have achieved and nothing I have survived was done without His presence and help. At meetings I not only hear the “Promises” of the program read but I see them become reality in my life and in the lives of many others who walk the walk. Things that used to absolutely baffle me now seem simple because of the 12 steps. It is simple. No one said it would be easy. Have I come to believe that a Power greater than I is working for and with me in my recovery? Do I look for evidence that this is true in my life and in the lives of others?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,

Today let me see the evidence that you are active in my life. Fill me with gratitude and help me remain focused. Walk with me step by step one moment to the next. Help me to encourage others who walk the same path. Let me accept encouragement from others.

Amen

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You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Envy

When my inside looked at your outside, I overate. Envy of what others seemed to be and of the possessions they had was a prime trigger for overeating, turning to food to compensate for an apparent lack. No amount of food can satisfy envy.

Why is it that the other person seems so much more fortunate, or talented, or happier than we? We are painfully aware of our own inadequacies and quick to envy whoever appears to "have it together." Looking at the outside image or mask is deceptive, however, and prevents us from seeing that underneath is a fellow human being beset with problems and difficulties just as we are.

Who we are, where we are, and what we have is God's gift to us. What we do with ourselves is our gift to God. The more we seek to do His will, the less we envy our neighbor's abilities and possessions. The peace of mind we receive through this program fills us with such gratitude that there is increasingly less room for envy.

Take away my envy, I pray.