Daily Recovery Readings - 12/15

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Daily Reflections

DOING ANYTHING TO HELP

Offer him [the alcoholic] friendship and fellowship. Tell
him that if he wants to get well you will do anything to
help.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 95

I remember how attracted I was to the two men from A.A.
who Twelfth-Stepped me. They said I could have what they
had, with no conditions attached, that all I had to do was
make my own decision to join them on the pathway to
recovery. When I start convincing a newcomer to do things
my way, I forget how helpful those two men were to me in
their open-minded generosity.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Service to others makes the world a good place. Civilization
would cease if all of us were always and only for ourselves. We
alcoholics have a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the
well-being of the world. We have a common problem. We find
a common answer. We are uniquely equipped to help others
with the same problem. What a wonderful world it would be
if everybody took their own greatest problem and found the
answer to it and spent the rest of their lives helping
others with the same problem, in their spare time. Soon we
would have the right kind of a world. Do I appreciate my unique
opportunity to be of service?

Meditation For The Day

Today can be lived in the consciousness of God's contact,
upholding you in all good thoughts, words and deeds. If
sometimes there seems to be a shadow on your life and you
feel out of sorts, remember that this is not the withdrawal
of God's presence, but only your own temporary unwillingness
to realize it. The quiet gray days are the days for doing
what you must do, but know that the consciousness of God's
nearness will return and be with you again, when the gray
days are past.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may face the dull days with courage. I pray
that I may have faith that the bright days will return.

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As Bill Sees It

Do It Our Way?, p. 329

In praying, our immediate temptation will be to ask for specific
solutions to specific problems, and for the ability to help other people
as we have already thought they should be helped. In that case, we
are asking God to do it our way. Therefore, we ought to consider
each request carefully to see what its real merit is.

Even so, when making specific requests, it will be well to add to each
one of them this qualification: ". . . if it be Thy will."

12 & 12, p. 102

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Walk In Dry Places

Watching our boundaries.
Personal relationships
Setting boundaries in personal relationships is how we manage actions that could otherwise get out of control. One firm boundary in AA, for example, is maintaining other members' anonymity, as well as our own. We are always overstepping boundaries if we disclose another's AA membership without permission.
It's wise, too, not to expect the easy familiarity of the meetings to carry over into all other activities. One member who was employed by another AA member apparently wondered why his boss was so easygoing and cordial at AA meetings and so remote and businesslike in the factory. It made perfect sense, however; their relationship in the plant was different from their AA relationship and required another set of boundaries.
We can protect ourselves and others by being careful to establish proper boundaries for all relationships. This means that what's appropriate for one setting may not be for another.
I'll check to be sure that I'm observing proper boundaries, for myself and others. I must not violate others' rights any more than I want my own violated.

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Keep It Simple

As ass is beautiful to an ass, and a pig to a pig.-- English proverb.
When we see someone drunk and out of control, can we see the beautiful person inside them?
If we can't, who will? Step Twelve reminds us that we have to help the alcoholic or other drug addict who suffers. This task has been given to us because we, most of all, should be able to look past the drunkenness and see the person. We were there. We know what it's like to be trapped in a world without meaning. If these memories have faded, we may need to go back over Step One. We may find ourselves angry with the practicing drunk or other drug addict. This is a sign that we have gotten too far from our past. Remember, "But for the grace of God..."
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, Help me remember my past and what it's like now. This helps me care about the person who still suffers.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll respect my illness. I'll look for the beauty inside every drunk and other drug addict.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

It Might Have Been Worse
Alcohol was a looming cloud in this banker's bright sky. With rare foresight he realized it could become a tornado.

I was desperately in earnest to follow through and understand what was expected of me as a member of A.A. and to take each step of the twelve as rapidly as possible. To me this meant telling my associates that I had joined Alcoholics Anonymous; that I didn't know what was expected of me by A.A., but that whatever it was, it was the most important thing in life for me; that sobriety meant more to me than anything in this world. It was so important that it must come ahead of anything.

p. 357

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Creation gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them we wouldn't be complete human beings. If men and women didn't exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival. If they didn't reproduce, the earth wouldn't be populated. If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society. So these desires--for the sex relation, for material and emotional security, and for companionship--are perfectly necessary and right, and surely God-given.

p. 42

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Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening
ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the
potential to turn a life around.
--Leo Buscaglia

He who speaks sows, and he who listens harvests.
--Argentinean Proverb

God is my compass, may I follow direction.
--Shelley

"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your
energies on moving forward toward finding the answer."
--Denis Waitley

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and
thinking that having problems is a problem."
--Theodore Rubin

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

POVERTY

"The poor you always have with
you."
-- Jesus (John 12:8)

Whoever said that life was going to be easy? A great number of people are placed in
circumstances that are beyond their control and they die in helpless poverty. The poor
are always with us. I cannot understand this dilemma and I have few answers for
most of the world's suffering. However, I have a faith in God's love being
realized beyond the grave for everyone.

But many of "the poor" are spiritually destitute by their own making. They choose to
live lives that are consistently destructive and they refuse to change. Alcoholics and
drug addicts are committing suicide by their lifestyle! I know because for years I was
one. This produces a spiritual poverty that need not remain. This is a poverty that
can be overcome. Recovery is finding the hidden treasure that is within.

Let me find Your treasure in the loving care I give myself.

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Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by
God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is
abundant through Christ."
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful;
he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,
he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
I Corinthians 10:13

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Daily Inspiration

Add excitement to the day by meeting everything as though it is your very first time. Lord, give me the ability to change the ordinary into something special, to do more than just slide through the moments of the day and take time to notice that my life really is terrific most of the time.

We have two ends; one for sitting and one for thinking. My success depends on which one I use more. Lord, grant me the determination and the necessary energy that I need to accomplish my goals for today and for my future.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Great symphonies begin with just one note. --Priscilla Young Pratt
Sometimes it's really hard to get going. We put off things we don't want to do, or are afraid to try. We occasionally feel overwhelmed by the size of a job to be done like cleaning out the cellar or reading a long book for a class.
But think a minute. If Beethoven had thought about how complicated it was to write his Ninth Symphony, with all those instruments and voices and notes to blend together, do we really think he would ever have started? But he didn't get overwhelmed. He sat down and wrote just one small note, and then another, and a third. It took him months, but writing one note led to a second, and, one note at a time, he completed it.
We begin the same way with whatever tasks we have ahead of us. Each tiny bit of progress helps us go on to the next part. We begin by reading one page of that book, or taking one box of junk from the cellar. That's all we have to do. The rest will follow almost on its own. The trick is to begin.
What needs to be done today, and how do I start?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
My mother was dead for five years before I knew that I loved her very much.
--Lillian Hellman
Each day it helps us to remember that we are always changing. Whatever is most clear to us today or is most prominent in our feelings - the difficulties we may be having with parents, wives or lovers, the worries we have about our children - is a part of an unfolding of events we cannot foresee. Just when we think we know exactly the direction things are going, they surprise us with change. Relationships continue to evolve and mature as we do. Even when separated from loved ones, our relationships may improve because we continue to grow.
Our task for this day is to be honest with ourselves, to be respectful to others, and to stay open to our Higher Power. Continuing to go forward, we put one foot in front of the other. We are changing internally, and circumstances around us are changing too. We remain hopeful for the future because outcomes are in the hands of God.
I cannot predict the direction of my growth. I will simply remain true to myself today and stay open for surprises.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Happiness is a form of freedom, and of all people I should be the freest. I've earned this happiness and this freedom.
--Angela L. Wozniak
Life is a process, and we are progressing beautifully. We are no longer abusing our bodies and minds with drugs. We are taking special time, daily, to look for guidance. We are working the Steps of the program, better and better as the abstinent days add up. We are free from past behaviors. And we can be free from our negative attitudes too.
Making a decision to look for the good in our experiences and in our friends and acquaintances frees us from so much frustration. It ushers in happiness, no only for us but for the others we are treating agreeably. Happiness is a byproduct of living the right kind of life.
We can take a moment today, each time an action is called for, to consider our response. The one that squares with our inner selves and feels good, is the right one. Happiness will accompany it.
Happiness is always within my power. My attitude is at the helm.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Feelings
It's okay to have and feel our feelings - all of them.
Years into recovery, we may still be battling with ourselves about this issue. Of all the prohibitions we've lived with, this one is potentially the most damaging and the most long-lived.
Many of us needed to shut down the emotional part of ourselves to survive certain situations. We shut down the part of us that feels anger, sadness, fear, joy, and love. We may have turned off our sexual or sensual feelings too. Many of us lived in systems with people who refused to tolerate our emotions. We were shamed or reprimanded for expressing feelings, usually by people who were taught to repress their own.
But times have changed. It is okay now for us to acknowledge and accept our emotions. We don't need to allow our emotions to control us; neither do we need to allow our emotions to control us; neither do we need to rigidly repress our feelings. Our emotional center is a valuable part of us. It's connected to our physical well being, our thinking, and our spirituality.
Our feelings are also connected to that great gift, instinct. They enable us to give and receive love.
We are neither weak nor deficient for indulging in our feelings. It means we're becoming healthy and whole.
Today, I will allow myself to recognize and accept whatever feelings pass through me. Without shame, I will tune in to the emotional part of myself.


Today I am experiencing all of my life. It is exciting to be alive in each moment. written by ~ Ruth Fishel

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You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

We Are Sick

Until we realize fully that we are sick, we do not begin to recover. As long as we feel that all we need is a good diet and some willpower, we do not understand the nature of our disease. We would have been able to stop eating compulsively long ago if the answer had been willpower and diet.

When we examine the history of our obesity in the light of the OA program, we see that we are in the grip of an incurable illness, which gets progressively worse, never better. Once we accept the fact that there is no cure for our disease, we can begin to develop control. Until we recognize the seriousness of our illness, we do not succeed in controlling it.

By acknowledging that our very life depends on maintaining abstinence and practicing the OA principles, we come to terms with the reality of our situation. We can live satisfying, full, rewarding lives if we do not forget that we are sick and that our recovery will never be complete.

Each day, may I not forget that I am sick.

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Wisdom for Today
All those personality flaws and character defects do not need to last forever. I have seen many addicts and alcoholics find a way to solve these problems. I have certainly seen healing and change in my life. This is a process that takes time, and some of these characteristics are more resistant to change than others. I wasn't really sure just how to go about this change, but slowly over time three things occurred that brought about tremendous change in my life. What are these three things that happened you might ask. Well, let me see if I can describe the process and then tell you what happened.
First of all, I pulled myself together with a lot of help from my friends in the program. I had to be able to think straight in order to make the changes I needed to make. Where this change started was with personal honesty. I had to get honest with myself and with others. Not an easy process, but necessary if I was ever going to reclaim what I had lost - personal integrity! The second thing that occurred with the return of personal integrity was that I needed honestly to face my problems. I could no longer run from the truth. This is where the process of the Step Four inventory was so helpful. For the first time in a long time I could see where I really stood. This honest self-assessment showed me that I had strengths as well as weaknesses. Finally I could face the facts and not make excuses anymore for my behavior. This last step in the process brought me to a place of personal responsibility. Personal integrity, honest self-assessment, and personal responsibility were the things that recovery provided me and enabled changes to occur. Am I working to get these three gifts of recovery?
Meditations for the Heart
Why me? This is a question I have asked myself many times. I asked this when I was in trouble with my addiction to alcohol and drugs. I asked this question again early in recovery. Why me? Why did I have to get this disease? No one came to my school when I was growing up and asked me if I wanted to be an addict or an alcoholic when I grew up. I didn't volunteer for this disease saying, "Oh, please, I want to be a drunk." I asked the question again when look at all my character flaws and defects. I mean, wasn't it bad enough that I got this illness? Why did I have to suffer with these problems, too? After working with the steps for a while and finding a new sense of hope, I still asked the question, Why me? Why was I chosen to get a chance in recovery? Funny how the question changes with time! This in part is why the spiritual aspects of the program are so important. It allows God the opportunity to change the question. Do I see that I have been chosen and given a chance that many other addicts and alcoholics never get?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
The path of recovery that You lead me on is not always easy. Many of the changes are hard. Still I know and trust that this is the right path and You will lead me each step of the way. Help me to work through all the issues I need to. Let me make needed changes, and grant me wisdom and courage along the way.
Amen.