Daily Recovery Readings - 1/17

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Daily Reflections

HAPPINESS COMES QUIETLY

"The trouble with us alcoholics was this: We demanded
that the world give us happiness and peace of mind in
just the particular order we wanted to get it - by the
alcohol route. And we weren't successful. But when we
take time to find out some of the spiritual laws, and
familiarize ourselves with them, and put them into
practice, then we do get happiness and peace of mind. . .
There seem to be some rules that we have to follow, but
happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and
free to anyone."
DR. BOB AND THE GOOD OLDTIMERS, p. 308

The simplicity of the A.A. program teaches me that
happiness isn't something I can "demand." It comes upon
me quietly, while I serve others. In offering my hand
to the newcomer or to someone who has relapsed, I find
that my own sobriety has been recharged with
indescribable gratitude and happiness.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

It doesn't do much good to come to meetings only once in
a while and sit around, hoping to get something out of
the program. That's all right at first, but it won't help
us very long. Sooner or later we have to get into action,
by coming to meetings regularly, by giving a personal
witness of our experience with alcohol, and by trying to
help other alcoholics. Building a new life takes all the
energy that we used to spend on drinking. Am I spending
at least as much time and effort on the new life that I'm
trying to build in A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

With God's help, I will build a protective screen around
myself which will keep out all evil thoughts. I will
fashion it out of my attitude toward God and my attitude
toward other people. When one worrying or impatient
thought enters my mind, I will put it out at once. I
know that love and trust are the solvents for the worry
and frets of life. I will use them to form a protective
screen around me.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that frets and impatience and worry may not
corrode my protective screen against all evil thoughts.
I pray that I may banish all these from my life.

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As Bill Sees It

Daily Inventory, p. 296

Often, as we review each day, only the closest scrutiny will reveal
what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient
enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct which
was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had
good motives and reasons when we really hadn't.

We "constructively criticized" someone who needed it, when our
real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned
not being present, we thought we were helping others to
understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel
superior by pulling him down.

We hurt those we loved because they needed to be "taught a
lesson," but we really wanted to punish. We were depressed and
complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for
sympathy and attention.

12 & 12, p. 94

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Walk in Dry Places

Avoiding AA Chauvism___Friendliness toward Others
The term "chauvinism" has often been applied to men who are prejudiced toward women. But "chauvinism" has broader meanings as well. It is a belief in the alleged superiority of one's own nation or group. AA members can develop this peculiar chauvinism in supposing that there is some superiority in having survived alcoholism.
In the past, some of us have been particularly critical of non-alcoholics who choose to work in the alcoholism field. We may have relied on the axiom "it takes an alcoholic to understand an alcoholic" when in fact there are many people who have suffered from other problems and can understand our sufferings.
Perhaps one of the worst things about AA chauvinism is that it can offend people who could benefit from its principles and could become our allies in the work of helping alcoholics. While we have been highly successful in helping others, we still have not reached more than a small percentage of those who suffer. Additional breakthroughs are needed in the field of alcoholism, and the vital information might come from a non-alcoholic who empathizes with our suffering and wants to do something about it. Even AA has received some of its best ideas from non-alcoholics.
I will know today that membership in AA really means that I've found a rightful place in a larger fellowship; The Human Race. I'll view the world as a friendly place.

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Keep It Simple

When all else fails, read the instructions. Agnes Allen
The instructions for recovery are in our Twelve Step program. Yet, there are times when we feel our program isn't working. at these times, we need to read the instructions. Have you followed the "instructions," the wise words are found in The Big Book, The Twelve and Twelve, and other recovery literature? When we do, we recover. It's hard at times, and easy at others. Our problems go deeper than just staying sober. No matter what our problems, our program can help us start fixing them, if we follow the instructions. Don't use alcohol or other drugs. Go to meeting. Talk often with sponsors and program friends. Work the Steps. Think. Easy Does It. First Things First. Listen. Let Go and Let God. One Day at a Time.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, tell me which instructions to read today. If I'm headed for trouble, help me out.
Today's Action: I'll read the instructions today.

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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.

When I first came to this Fellowship, I had lost my health and sanity, my friends, much of my family, my self-respect, and my God. In the years since, all of these have been restored to me. I no longer have the sense of impending doom. I no longer wish for death or stare at myself in the mirror with loathing. I have a dozen years in the A.A. Fellowship, I was able to join a religious group and have now become active in the organization. I have a full, happy life, with friends and loving family. Recently I retired and have begun to travel throughout the world. I have attended and felt welcome at A.A. meetings wherever I have gone inside and outside the United States. Even more important, I have returned to my home group and am still asked to make coffee. I now have an extended family that is international in scope, all the members of which are joined by bonds of shared pain and joy.

pp. 368

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Five - "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If we have swept the searchlight of Step Four back and forth over our careers, and it has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather not remember, if we have come to know how wrong thinking and action
have hurt us and others, then the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.

p. 55

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Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. --Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

The best portions of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts, of kindness and love. --William Wordsworth

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. --Helen Keller

A good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up.

Nothing hath separated us from God but our own will, or rather our own will is our separation from God. --William Law

Relinquish pain and suffering. Experience joy and serenity. Let go and move forward. --Deborah Ann Smith

Love yourself. Accept yourself. Be honest about what heals and helps you. Then you'll bring your healing gifts to others. Your life will be a gift to the world. --Melody Beattie

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CREATIVITY

"Creative intelligence in its
various forms and activities is
what makes man."
-- James Harvey Robinson

Spirituality is being a positive and creative human being in all areas
of my life; this I know to be true today. I am not only creative, I am a
creative human being. God created me to create. I am a part of His
love for the world; through me great and wonderful events can
happen. Although I am not divine, I know that I share divinity. I am
special.

But with this knowledge comes tremendous responsibility because
things are only going to happen if I make them happen in my life. To
know that I am creative does not make me creative. I have to do
something, make something, create something in my life.

Today I work at my life like a carpenter works at his wood. I chip
away those things I do not want; I smooth down the rough areas of
my life, and I polish up those things I want people to see. I accept
responsibility for my creativity, and I thank God, on a daily basis, for
it.

Teach me, O Creator of the universe, to use my life as a tool for
goodness, joy and truth.

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"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God... Ephesians 2:8

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10

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Daily Inspiration

God will put things in order if we are patient and prayerful. Lord, You know all of my needs and wants. I trust that You will provide.

When we give in to fears and worries they will take charge of our lives. Lord, I place my trust in You so that I may experience every opportunity and not miss in life that which is meant for me.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Man cannot remake himself without suffering. For he is both the marble and the sculptor. --Alexis Carrell
A sculptor begins with an unformed piece of marble. He must be able to envision what he wants to create. Then, armed with tools and courage, he begins to chink away at the marble he does not need. Every day he examines how it looks and what he wants it to become.
Every one of us who is trying to be a better person is like the sculptor. We envision who we want to be and what kind of qualities we believe in. Some of these qualities might be kindness, good self-esteem, the ability to love and feel loved. If we are honest, we must also look with the artist's eye at our faults. We might see some jealousy and resentment, or feelings of superiority. Our faults, human as they are, are like unwanted marble that keeps our most loving selves from taking shape. Carving away at our faults is hard work, and sometimes-even hurts. Yet we do not do this work alone--we can only do it with the help of our God.
What can I chisel away today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Wherever I found the living, there I found the will to power. --Friedrich Nietzsche
It has been said that addiction and codependency are problems of power. Recovery certainly calls us to admit the limits of our power. Yet, to reach for power seems to come from the deepest part of our nature. If this is so, can it be all bad? Men have used power in many ways for the good of all people. We have been defenders, protectors, and active community servants. At our best, we have taken strong stands for what was right.
We need not shun all power, but rather we learn to use it wisely. Our blindness to the limitations of power created great problems in our lives. Then we learned our first lessons about powerlessness. As humble men, we know we can be wrong, but we cannot be passive and still continue to grow.
I pray for guidance as I learn to assert my strength and power for the cause of well being.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself. --Anas Nin
How aptly these words describe the woman so many of us were. Many activities were not attempted, courses weren't taken, conversations weren't initiated because we lacked confidence. The pain, the constant search for acceptance and love in the eyes and behavior of others, still haunts us. But those days are past. We are daring to be ourselves, one day at a time.
Confidence still wavers on occasion, and we may need assurance that we're lovable. Gratefully, we can look to one another for the additional boost we may need to face the day. Being there for one another, knowing that we understand each other's fears as women offers the strength to go ahead that we may lack today or tomorrow.
Today a woman may need me to dare to be herself. I will be there.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Acting As If
The behavior we call "acting as if' can be a powerful recovery tool. Acting as if is a way to practice the positive. It's a positive form of pretending. It's a tool we use to get ourselves unstuck. It's a tool we make a conscious decision to use.
Acting as if can be helpful when a feeling begins to control us. We make a conscious decision to act as if we feel fine and are going to be fine.
When a problem plagues us, acting as if can help us get unstuck. We act as if the problem will be or already is solved, so we can go on with our life.
Often, acting as if we are detached will set the stage for detachment to come in and take over.
There are many areas where acting as if - combined with our other recovery principles - will set the stage for the reality we desire. We can act as if we love ourselves, until we actually do begin to care for ourselves. We can act as if we have a right to say no, until we believe we do.
We don't pretend we have enough money to cover a check. We don't pretend an alcoholic is not drinking. We use acting as if as part of our recovery, to set the stage for our new behaviors. We force ourselves through positive recovery behaviors, disregarding our doubts and fears, until our feelings have time to catch up with reality.
Acting as if is a positive way to overcome fears, doubts, and low self esteem. We do not have to lie; we do not have to be dishonest with ourselves. We open up to the positive possibilities of the future, instead of limiting the future by today's feelings and circumstances.
Acting as if helps us get past shaky ground and into solid territory.
God, show me the areas where acting as if could help set the stage for the reality I desire. Guide me as I use this powerful recovery tool to help create a better life and healthier relationships.


Today I am not afraid of the silence. I find peace in this silence and I am able to listen to God's will for me. --Ruth Fishel

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You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

All We Have Is Now

We can only live now, this moment. We cannot erase the mistakes we made yesterday or bring back the good times we had. We cannot know what tomorrow will require of us, nor can we ensure future security and happiness. Now is what we have, and now is everything.

We can follow our food plan now. We can abstain this moment. We can deal with the problems, which confront us today as best we can, trusting God to guide us. We can be in touch with our Higher Power only in the present.

As we focus on the present moment, we live it deeper, and we derive a satisfaction that we did not know when we were regretting the past and worrying about the future. Whatever happens now is all I can manage and all I need.

Thank you; Lord, for this present moment.

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Wisdom for Today
One of the slogans you hear early on in the program is, "Easy does it." I needed this slogan alot in the beginning of my recovery, but had no idea how important it would become in addressing my character defects. As an addict and alcoholic I was used to doing everything in excess. I drank too much and got high too often. I built up a lot of resentments, worries, and confusion. My excess hurt me physically and mentally. My excess also had a lot to do with my defects.
Many of my defects were because I had taken things to an extreme. Fear is a healthy reaction when a threat is present. But when fear is taken to an extreme and it controls your every decision, fear becomes unhealthy. My fear became paranoia and controlled much of my life. Self-confidence is a good thing; but when it is exaggerated and becomes grandiosity and arrogance, it also becomes unhealthy. Being care free can be a good thing until it is taken to the extreme of carelessness. I needed to learn easy does it when it came to my defects. I had to work on them one at a time and not try to fix all of them at once. I had to slow down and think before I reacted. I had to stop and ask myself if my actions and behavior were appropriate in every situation. Have I learned to take it easy in addressing my defects?
Meditations for the Heart
I also learned that I had to "be" before I could "do". If I wanted to "be" a person of character, then I had to do the work of becoming honest, humble, trusting, and caring if I ever wanted to "do" things that showed I had good character. If I wanted to accomplish much, I had to be much. Who I was affected everything I did in life. If I wanted to "be" a good father, or "be" a good employee, then I had much I needed to change in who I was. Only then would I be able to "do" those things. If I was going to change who I was, I would need help. This is where my Higher Power would come in. In order to do the things that I valued, then I would need my Higher Power's help to "be" what He wanted me to "be." To become a new me was a lot of what needed to happen in my life. Have I asked God for help to "be" what He wants me to be?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Teach me this day to be who you want me to be. Let me take each moment and cherish what you give me. Help me to slow down and "easy does it" when I need to. Lead me through this day as I am given opportunity to change who I am.
Amen