Daily Recovery Readings - 1/9

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Daily Reflections

AN ACT OF PROVIDENCE

It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have
warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive
drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it
from us.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

My act of Providence, (a manifestation of divine care
and direction), came as I experienced the total
bankruptcy of active alcoholism - everything meaningful
in my life was gone. I telephoned Alcoholics Anonymous
and, from that instant, my life has never been the same.
When I reflect on that very special moment, I know that
God was working in my life long before I was able to
acknowledge and accept spiritual concepts. The glass was
put down through this one act of Providence and my
journey into sobriety began. My life continues to unfold
with divine care and direction. Step One, in which I
admitted I was powerless over alcohol, that my life had
become unmanageable, takes on more meaning for me - one
day at a time - in the life-saving, life-giving
Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we were drinking, most of us had no real faith in
anything. We may have said that we believe in God, but we
didn't act as though we did. We never honestly asked God
to help us and we never really accepted His help. To us,
faith looked like helplessness. But when we came into A.A.,
we began to have faith in God. And we found out that faith
gave us the strength we needed to overcome drinking. Have
I learned that there is strength in faith?

Meditation For The Day

I will have faith, no matter what may befall me. I will be
patient, even in the midst of troubles. I will not fear
the strain of life, because I believe that God knows just
what I can bear. I will look to the future with confidence.
I know that God will not ask me to bear anything that
could overcome me or destroy me.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may put this day in the hands of God. I pray
for faith, so that nothing will upset me or weaken my
determination to stay sober.

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As Bill Sees It

Single Purpose, p. 304

There are those who predict that A.A. may well become a new
spearhead for a spiritual awakening throughout the world. When our
friends say these things, they are both generous and sincere. But we
of A.A. must reflect that such a tribute and such a prophecy could well
prove to be a heady drink for most of us--that is, if we really came to
believe this to be the real purpose of A.A., and if we commenced to
behave accordingly.

Our Society, therefore, will prudently cleave to its single purpose:
The carrying of the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Let us
resist the proud assumption that since God has enabled us to do well in
one area we are destined to be a channel of saving grace for
everybody.

A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 232

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Walk in Dry Places

Coming to grips with Fear____ Finding courage.
Fear, a universal human emotion, strikes each of us in different ways. The brave parachute jumper may be afraid of public speaking, and the brilliant orator may have a fear of flying. An alcoholic's drinking is partly an attempt to cope with the feelings of fear. The recovering person, now having no drug, must face fear by using the tools of the program. The sober way to deal with fear is to admit that one has fears, to discuss them with a sponsor or another understanding person, and to seek the help of one's Higher Power in living with fear or having it removed.
When we share our experience with fear, we hear different kinds of stories. One person may declare that fear was completely removed by prayer. Another person, who prayed with what seemed to be the same degree of sincerity, may still be troubled by occasional fears. We cannot know exactly how the program will help each person cope with fear, but we can be confident that it will work for all of us. We have met fear successfully when we continue to stay sober and meet our responsibilities in all sorts of threatening situations.
I will not let fear keep me from any good thing today. My Higher Power can see me through any difficult or threatening situation.

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Keep It Simple

Everything is funny as long as it happening to someone else.--Will Rogers
We laugh when others do something silly. We're amused when something funny happens to them. But if the same happens to us and people laugh, we might give them the evil eye. Yet, when others laugh, it can free us. It frees us to see the world through new eyes. Likewise, when we laugh at ourselves, we're free to see ourselves with new eyes. Instead of trying to be perfect, we accept we're human. To laugh at ourselves is to accept ourselves. There's no room for shame when we laugh. We enjoy ourselves just as we are.
Can I accept the fact I'm human and I have limits?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I refuse to accept that I'm only human, be gentle with me. I know that, when I least expect it, You will remind me that I'm only human.
Action for the Day: I will share with a friend one or two stories about funny mistakes I've made.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

TIGHTROPE
Trying to separate worlds was a lonely charade that ended when this gay alcoholic finally landed in A.A.

My alcoholism and my lifestyle had led me to reject the religion and the God of my upbringing; I had never replaced them. Instead, I was an agnostic, doubting the existence of God but afraid to say so in case I was wrong. My self-pity and sense of victimization led me to doubt that a caring God could exist; if He did, why had He given me so many problems? I was very wary of the members who talked of their spiritual lives.

pp. 365-366

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

Businesswomen in A.A. will naturally find that many of these questions apply to them, too. But the alcoholic housewife can also make the family financially insecure. She can juggle charge accounts, manipulate the food budget, spend her afternoons gambling, and run her husband into debt by irresponsibility, waste, and extravagance.

p. 51

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You cannot think your way into sober living.
You live your way into sober thinking.

Worry doesn't help tomorrow's troubles, but it does ruin today's happiness.

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." --Robert Byrne

"When you stand outside a room where a group of Alcoholics
Anonymous is meeting, the most frequent sound you hear is laughter.
Mellow laughter, which can come only from people who have looked
destruction and catastrophe in the face, not once but continuously
over long years, and now are free and unafraid. The laughter, in
short, of people who hold God's hand and feel safe."
c. Letter to a Woman Alcoholic (A.A. Pamphlet P-14) - page 13

My creed is that; Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so. --Robert G. Ingersoll

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. --Storm Jameson

It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has. --Henry Ward Beecher

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

EXTREMISTS

"Extremists think that
'communication' means agreeing
with them."
-- Leo Rosten

As an alcoholic I was an extremist. I was not only compulsive and
obsessive about alcohol, but I became compulsive and obsessive about
my opinions, my thoughts and my attitude towards life. Anybody who
disagreed with me was wrong or a fool! I only listened to those who
were saying what I wanted to hear.

For years I played at being God. But that spiritual part of me, that I
believe exists in all of us, was isolated and unhappy with this
behavior. Although I would never admit it, I knew that often I was
wrong, bull-headed and in pain. I would spend sleepless nights
thinking how I could say I was sorry without apologizing! For years
my pride and ego kept me sick and unhappy.

Today I appreciate those who have a different view on life. Today I
can disagree with my neighbor without carrying a grudge. Today I
can live with difference.

I pray that I may always hear what my opponent is saying.

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"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you." Deuteronomy 16:17

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
Matthew 7:7-8

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Daily Inspiration

If the strong won't protect the weak, who will? Lord, grant me the courage to stand up for what I believe and the wisdom to be an encouragement to others.

God will never fail you or abandon you. Lord, I am sure that everything that happens is for the purpose of strengthening me and bringing me closer to You. I trust in You to continually bless me with all that I need to successfully handle my circumstances.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Life gives us so much time to collect bizarre thoughts and feelings. --Claire Weekes
As we go through life, we run into all kinds of negative messages: teasing on the school bus, insulting nicknames, and other put-downs. Pretty soon we may discover that some of these messages stick in our minds, repeating themselves over and over like broken records. These messages can make us feel bad about ourselves. But when we hear one of these tapes playing inside us, we have the power to push the STOP button. Then we can record a new message. We can even say it out loud, so that our voice settles emphatically into our thoughts. We can't make others stop saying these things, but we can stop listening to them. They only have power over us when we give it to them. We have the ability and freedom to let negative thoughts float by us, like water going downstream.
What positive message can I send to myself?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival. --Hannah Arendt
We men face fear many times in life. Sometimes it's an inner voice, warning us of danger. Some fears remain from the paranoia caused by our former abuses and excesses. In recovery, we feel many new emotions, and we're afraid because we don't understand them. Any normal feeling can seem abnormal and frightening to a man who is feeling it for the first few times. We may think it isn't manly to be afraid, so we become afraid of our fear! At these times, we need to turn to our Higher Power for guidance.
We have friends we can talk to. When we simply say, "I am afraid" to a trusted friend, the fear may vanish. Sometimes it's not that easy, and we have to talk in detail about our fear. In the end, when we submit our lives to the care of our Higher Power, we know that whatever happens, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
In my fear, help me remember the comfort of my closeness to my Higher Power and my loved ones. I can reach out, and I am never alone.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
The Chinese say that water is the most powerful element, because it is perfectly nonresistant. It can wear away a rock and sweep all before it. --Florence Scovel Shinn
Nonresistance, ironically, may be a posture we struggle with. Nonresistance means surrendering the ego absolutely. For many of us, the ego, particularly disguised as false pride, spurred us on to struggle after struggle. "Can't they see I'm right?" we moaned, and our resistance only created more of itself. Conversely, flowing with life, "bubbling" with the ripples, giving up our ego, releases from us an energy that heals the situation that smoothes the negative vibrations in our path. Peace comes to us. We will find serenity each time we willingly humble ourselves.
Resistance is more familiar. Nonresistance means growth and peace. I'll try for serenity today.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Responsibility for Ourselves
We have been doing the wrong things for the right reasons. --Codependent No More
Caretaking: the act of taking responsibility for other people while neglecting responsibility for ourselves. When we instinctively feel responsible for the feelings, thoughts, choices, problems, comfort, and destiny of others, we are caretakers. We may believe, at an unconscious level, that others are responsible for our happiness, just as we're responsible for theirs.
It's a worthy goal to be a considerate, loving, nurturing person. But caretaking is neglecting us to the point of feeling victimized. Caretaking involves caring for others in ways that hamper them in learning to take responsibility for themselves.
Caretaking doesn't work. It hurts other people; it hurts us. People get angry. They feel hurt, used, and victimized. So do we.
The kindest and most generous behavior we can choose is taking responsibility for ourselves - for what we think, feel, want, and need. The most beneficial act we can perform is to be true to ourselves, and let others take responsibility for themselves.
Today, I mil pay attention to my actual responsibilities to myself. I will let others do the same. If I am in doubt about what my actual responsibilities are, I will take an inventory.


I dare to listen to my inner voice with a new trust today. --Ruth Fishel

[admin]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Use the Telephone

When we join OA, we discover that we are not alone. We become part of a large network of individuals who share a common problem, compulsive overeating, and who gain strength and support from each other. The telephone is our lifeline. A phone conversation is a mini meeting, and most of us find that we need several each day.

It is suggested that we make at least three phone calls every day, in addition to calling our food sponsor. We call in times of temptation and difficulty, and we also call when we have good news to share. A phone call may be a means of preventing problems later in the day or it may be simply a gesture of friendship and fellowship - keeping in touch.

Whatever the reason, the person called is helped as much as the caller. The telephone call is a reminder that none of us is alone, that we have a program, which sustains us, and that together we shall succeed.

May I not be too proud or too shy or too busy to use the telephone.

[admin]

Wisdom for Today
Transformation seems to be a common occurrence in the program. It is not what I read in a book or even what I heard someone say at a meeting that convinced me that the program works. What really convinced me was seeing what happened in my own life and what I saw happen in the lives of others. I mean, after all, here I was a drunk and a drug addict. I could not stop on my own, but now I was alcohol and drug free. As I saw new people come into the program, I watched the same thing happen to them, if they were willing to go to the necessary lengths.

But it was not just abstinence that convinced me; it was how my life was changed. There was a real level of pathology in my thinking, emotional responses and behaviors. My beliefs were all screwed up. Working my way through the Steps, I became a useful person in society. I saw myself make changes in my thinking, emotional responses and behaviors. I saw myself change my belief system. I saw these things occur in my life and in the lives of others. Transformation does indeed happen in the Twelve Step program. Seeing is believing. Have I seen change in my life and in the lives of those who surround me?
Meditations for the Heart
Am I willing to do the next right thing? It is easy to pay lip service to this question and say “yes,” but it is much harder to actually do this day in and day out. Over time I have become convinced that the only way to accomplish this is to have a strong spiritual foundation. This means believing in a divine principle, that God is in charge. I need to be willing to let my Higher Power run the show and trust that He has the knowledge and the love to lead me in the right direction. The other factor involved in this divine principle is the willingness to actually accept and follow this guidance. Most of the time it is easy to know what my Higher Power would want me to do. The hard part is then doing it. Obedience is not always easy; but I have found that when I do follow God’s directions, I am less likely to get lost. In the long run this divine principle is the easier, softer way. Do I seek after this divine principle in all that I do?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,

Sometimes it is not easy to follow Your directions. I find there are things that come up in my life, and I do not want to seek You out for guidance. Yet, time and time again, I see that following You is the easier, softer way in the long run. When I get stubborn or foolish, guide me back to this path. Keep me on the path of truth.

Amen.