Daily Recovery Readings - 1/11

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Daily Reflections

THE 100% STEP

Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were
powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 68

Long before I was able to obtain sobriety in A.A., I knew without a
doubt that alcohol was killing me, yet even with this knowledge, I was
unable to stop drinking. So, when faced with Step One, I found it
easy to admit that I lacked the power to not drink. But was my life
unmanageable? Never! Five months after coming into A.A., I was
drinking again and wondered why.

Later on, back in A.A. and smarting from my wounds, I learned that
Step One is the only Step that can be taken 100%. And that the only
way to take it 100% is to take 100% of the Step. That was many
twenty-four hours ago and I haven't had to take Step One again.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we were drinking, most of us never thought of helping others.
We liked to buy drinks for people, because that made us feel like big
shots. But we only used others for our own pleasure. To really go out
and try to help somebody who needed help never occurred to us. To
us, helping others looked like a sucker's game. But when we came
into A.A., we began to try to help others. And we found out that helping
others made us happy and also helped us to stay sober. Have I learned that
there is happiness in helping others?

Meditation For The Day

I will pray only for strength and that God's will be done. I will use
God's unlimited store of strength for my needs. I will seek God's will
for me. I will strive for consciousness of God's presence, for He is the
light of the world. I have become a pilgrim, who needs only marching
orders and strength and guidance for this day.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may seek God's guidance day by day. I pray that I may
strive to abide in God's presence.

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As Bill Sees It

Comradeship in Peril, p. 302

We A.A.'s are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after
rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness, and democracy
pervade the vessel from steerage to captain's table.

Unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in
escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways.
The feeling of sharing in a common peril--relapse into
alcoholism--continues to be an important element in the powerful
cement which binds us of A.A. together.

<< << << >> >> >>

Our first woman alcoholic had been a patient of Dr. Harry Tiebout's,
and he had handed her a prepublication manuscript copy of the Big
Book. The first reading made her rebellious, but the second convinced
her. Presently she came to a meeting held in our living room, and from
there she returned to the sanitarium carrying this classic message to a
fellow patient: "We aren't alone any more."

1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 17
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 18

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Walk in Dry Places

BEING DOWN
Overcoming Depression
It would be difficult to find a group of people more subject to mood swings than alcoholics. While we were drinking, most of us were not perceptive enough to realize most of us were not perceptive enough to realize that our moods rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern. We did not mind being "up," but it distressed us greatly when we were "down." Alcohol was the "upper" most of us took when we were depressed.
In sobriety, there is usually no chemical "upper" that's safe to take for any of our down moods. Some of us have been helped by vitamins or by inspirational reading. But most of us simply have to RIDE OUT our down moods, doing the best we can until things are on the upswing again. In spite of being down, we do not have to drink.
Whatever the causes of mood swings, we can live with them, and we do not need any mood-altering drugs to see us through a down period. Our depression will pass, and we might even notice its hold lessening as we continue to grow in sobriety.
I will accept my feelings today, and I will not be disturbed if my mood seems somewhat low. This, too, will pass away.

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Keep It Simple

If there is a harder way of doing something, someone will find it.---Ralph E. Ross
When we used alcohol or other drugs, we did most things the hard way. We could turn a simple task into a day-long project. We could turn a simple problem into an argument. We were creative giants in doing things the hard way! we need to change this. We deserve easier lives. It's okay to take the smooth road .
In our program ,We have slogans for this: Keep It Simple, Let Go and Let God, First Things First, and Easy Does It. These slogans remind us that it's okay to live with as little trouble as possible.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, show me how to live a simple life. I don't have to do everything the hard way if I listen better to You.
Action for the Day: I'll list three or four things I do that makes my life harder than it needs to be. I'll share them with a friend.

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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.

He suggested that for me a good starting point would simply be recognition of the fact that I had failed in running the world--in short, acceptance of the fact that I was not God. He also suggested that I might try occasionally to act as if I believed. Somewhere I had heard that it is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way acting, and this made sense in the context of "acting as if."

p. 366

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

The most common symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry, anger, self-pity, and depression. These stem from causes which sometimes seem to be within us, and at other times to come from without. To take inventory in this respect we ought to consider carefully all personal relationships which bring continuous or recurring trouble. It should be remembered that this kind of insecurity may arise in any area where instincts are threatened. Questioning directed to this end might run like this: Looking at both past and present, what sex situations have caused me anxiety, bitterness, frustration, or depression? Appraising each situation fairly, can I see where I have been at fault? Did these perplexities beset me because of selfishness or unreasonable demands? Or, if my disturbance was seemingly caused by the behavior of others, why do I lack the ability to accept conditions I cannot change? These are the sort of fundamental inquiries that can disclose the source of my discomfort and indicate whether I may be able to alter my own conduct and so adjust myself serenely to self-discipline.

p. 52

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"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every
time we fall." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"All I need to know I learned from my cat." --Suzy Becker

Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing
peace, abolishing strife. --Kahlil Gibran

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when
you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in
the spirit of love. --Henry Drummond

I know and trust that God cares for me, and takes care of all my
needs. --Shelley

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PHILOSOPHY

"To teach men how to live without
certainty and yet without being
paralyzed by hesitation is perhaps
the chief thing philosophy can do."
-- Bertrand Russell

I suppose the "Twelve Steps" are a practical philosophy of how to
live positively with the disease of alcoholism: (a) Don't drink. (b) Find
a God in your life that is understandable. (c) Begin to make positive
choices in attitudes and behaviors. (d) Let "never forget" be an
essential part of the message.

The miracle of this philosophy is that it reaches out to so many who
suffer with addictive compulsions and teaches us how to live with
being imperfect. I believe the Twelve Steps are the answer to "The
Fall" of man --- we are going home to God.

Let me see beyond the logic to Your loving energy.

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Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. Colossians 3:16

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Daily Inspiration

Look beyond a person's faults so that you can see the real person. Lord, may I learn to focus on the goodness that is in each person and love them because all are your children.

The moment of absolute certainty over decisions made never arrives, so make your decision and move on. Lord, grant me wisdom and confidence in making my choices and the ability to recognize when new decisions need to be made.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
It does make a difference what you call things. --Kate Douglas Wiggin
Most of us think of dandelions as weeds. We buy special tools and poisons when they crop up and complain about them as surely as we welcome the spring that brings them. Yet is there anything more lovely than a sea of yellow dandelions by the side of the road in June? Or as remarkable in transformation as the filaments of the mature dandelion blowing on the wind? Sometimes we let someone else define for us what are weeds and what are flowers. We don't have to. Much of the beauty of the world is that we ourselves decide what is beautiful according to our own feelings. How lucky we are that, when we choose to, we can open our eyes and see!
Can I see the beauty in those around me right now?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
All truth is an achievement. If you would have truth at its full value, go win it. --Munger
Truth can seem so elusive. Yet, at times it is so simple and obvious. In entering this program, many of us thought of ourselves as honest men. Some of us couldn't bear the anguish of our dishonesty. As we repeatedly face ourselves, take our personal inventories, and hold ourselves accountable, we realize we have all grown in our honesty. What seemed honest before now looks like half-truth. It was the best we could do at the time. Our perception of truth has deepened by the grace of God and as a result of our hard work.
Truth is won when we have the courage to feel the pain of knowing it. Some of our pain has been the grief of realizing what we missed or lost in our insanity. Some has been the anguish of facing the harm we caused the ones we love, and some in admitting honestly how we ourselves were hurt.
Truth does make me free. The richness in my life is a generous reward for courage.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Fear is only an illusion. It is the illusion that creates the feeling of separateness the false sense of isolation that exists only in. your imagination --Jeraldine Sounders
We are one. We are connected, interdependent parts of the whole. We are not separate from each other except in the mind, in our false understanding of reality. As we come to understand our connectedness, our need for one another to complete the whole of creation, our fears will die.
It is often said we learn who we really are by closely observing our behavior toward the people in our lives. We meet ourselves in those others. They are our reflections. They are, perhaps, parts we ourselves have not yet learned to love. The program's message is to trust, to have faith; our higher power is in control. We are faced with no person, no situation too big to handle if we trust the program, if we remember the connections among us all.
I will look around today at others, with knowledge of our oneness. Fearing not, I will smile upon the wholeness of life.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Guilt
"There's a good trick that people in dysfunctional relationships use," said one recovering woman. "The other person does something inappropriate or wrong, then stands there until you feel guilty and end up apologizing."
It's imperative that we stop feeling so guilty.
Much of the time, the things we feel guilty about are not our issues. Another person behaves inappropriately or in some way violates our boundaries. We challenge the behavior, and the person gets angry and defensive. Then we feel guilty.
Guilt can prevent us from setting the boundaries that would be in our best interests, and in other people's best interests. Guilt can stop us from taking healthy care of ourselves.
We don't have to let others count on the fact that we'll always feel guilty. We don't have to allow ourselves to be controlled by guilt - earned or unearned! We can break through the barrier of guilt that holds us back from self care. Push. Push harder. We are not at fault, crazy, or wrong. We have a right to set boundaries and to insist on appropriate treatment. We can separate another's issues from our issues, and let the person experience the consequences of his or her own behavior, including guilt. We can trust ourselves to know when our boundaries are being violated.
Today, I will let go of my big and little guilty feelings. Light and love are on my side.


I am listening to the voice of truth and love today. --Ruth Fishel

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You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

No Amount Is Enough

For the compulsive overeater, one extra bite is too much and a thousand are not enough. No matter how much we eat, we are never "satisfied." We think we remember a time when a small extra treat made us feel completely satisfied and content, and we try desperately to recapture that sensation.

The more we eat, the worse we feel. Now, rather than satisfying us, the one extra, compulsive bite triggers an insatiable craving which drives us to consume enormous quantities of unnecessary food. Sometimes we stuff ourselves until we are exhausted, physically ill, or have run out of things to eat, but we are still not satisfied.

The more we eat, the more we want to eat. Each excess increases an already out of control appetite. Since no amount will ever be enough to produce the kind of satisfaction we seek, our only hope is to abstain from the first extra, compulsive bite. Honestly following a food plan and eliminating all excesses and binge foods will eventually bring our runaway appetites under control. Conscientiously working the steps of the OA program will day by day bring us the emotional and spiritual satisfactions, which we can never acquire from food.

Lord, show me how to work for true satisfaction.

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Wisdom for Today
There was no doubt that I could not stop drinking and using drugs on my own. The same was true with my defects of character. My personality flaws were resistant to change. Even when I realized and accepted that these defects were just as destructive to me as my drinking and using, I continued to think, behave and emotionally respond to life in ways that hurt those around me or myself. Even when I tried to change, I continued to come back to my old behavior. My big mistake was thinking that I could change these things on my own.
In Step Six it clearly stated that God was the one who was to remove these defects of character, yet I persisted in trying to do this on my own. I guess, that in my stubborn way, I had to learn again that I was powerless. As my attempts to change myself repeatedly failed, I began to see that I could not rid myself of these defects of character. I began to understand my need for God’s help. I began to talk with my Higher Power and admit that I was not perfect. In these prayers I began to see that God was my only hope. I began to stop asking for perfection and simply told God that I was ready to get better. Slowly over time, my defects of character have either disappeared or diminished to the point of no longer being destructive. What has surprised me is the fact that my personality strengths have grown. I have learned new ways to cope with life. I don’t have to follow the old rules anymore. Do I let the old rules continue to run my life?
Meditations for the Heart
In becoming entirely ready to have God remove these defects, I was reborn of the Spirit. I do not mean that I was literally reborn, but I was given a new chance on how I lived my life. All those old rules that said I had to lie, cheat, be egotistical, fearful, etc. were challenged; and I began to see and live life differently. I began to know a new freedom and was shown new ways to cope with and behave differently in my life. I may never fully understand why I behaved the way that I once did, but I don’t have to. I can simply accept that this new way of living my life is better than the old way I lived. Making myself ready for change was not an easy or pleasant process, but accepting my own humanity and imperfection opened the door to a new life in and with the Spirit. Do I see the miracle of personality change that is possible in the Spirit?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Today I can thank You for making me uncomfortable with my old ways of thinking, behaving and emotionally responding to life. You have given me a new chance to live life with new rules. Through Your Spirit I have been given new options and a new attitude. I am grateful for the chance to be better.
Amen.