Daily Recovery Readings - 7/18

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Daily Reflections

GRATEFUL FOR WHAT I HAVE, p.208

During this process of learning more about humility, the most profound result of all was the change in our attitude toward God.
12 & 12, p. 75

Today my prayers consist mostly of saying thank you to my Higher Power for my sobriety and for the wonder of God's abundance, but I need also to ask for help and the power to carry out His will for me. I no longer need God each minute to rescue me from the situations I get myself into by not doing His will. Now my gratitude seems to be directly linked to humility. As long as I have the humility to be grateful for what I have, God continues to provide for me.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Two things can spoil group unity--gossip and criticism. To avoid these divisive things, we must realize that we're all in the same boat. We're like a group of people in a life-boat after the steamer has sunk. If we're going to be saved, we've got to pull together. It's a matter of life or death for us. Gossip and criticism are sure ways of disrupting any A.A. group. We're all in A.A. to keep sober ourselves and to help each other to keep sober. And neither gossip nor criticism helps anyone to stay sober. Am I guilty of gossip or criticism?

Meditation For The Day

We should try to be grateful for all the blessings we have received and which we do not deserve. Gratitude to God for all His blessings will make us humble. Remember that we could do little by ourselves, and now we must rely largely on God's grace in helping ourselves and others. People do not care much for those who are smug and self-satisfied or those who gossip and criticize. But people are impressed by true humility. So we should try to walk humbly at all times. Gratitude to God and true humility are what make us effective.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may walk humbly with God. I pray that I may rely on His grace to carry me through.

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As Bill Sees It

"Do as I Do . . .", p. 146

Perhaps more often than we think, we make no contact at depth with
alcoholics who are suffering the dilemma of no faith.

Certainly none are more sensitive to spiritual cocksureness, pride,
and aggression than they are. I'm sure this is something we too often
forget.

In A.A.'s first years, I all but ruined the whole undertaking with this
sort of unconscious arrogance, God as I understood Him had to be for
everybody. Sometimes my aggression was subtle and sometimes it
was crude. But either way it was damaging--perhaps fatally so--to
numbers of nonbelievers.

Of course this sort of thing isn't confined to Twelfth Step work. It is
very apt to leak out into our relations with everybody. Even now, I
catch myself chanting that same old barrier-building refrain: "Do as
I do, believe as I do--or else!

Grapevine, April 1961

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Walk In Dry Places

What is a new freedom?
Release
We're promised a "new freedom" in the 12 Step program. How does this differ from the "old freedom" we've known?
The new freedom is an inner feeling of release from the bondage of compulsion. We are no longer serving as our own jailers. We are free from useless things that have held us back. Think of the burdens we had assumed by fearing others, by holding grudges, by having needless regrets.
This new freedom has nothing to do with political or civil liberties, which we hope to enjoy as our birthright. But nobody can give us freedom if we are locked into compulsions that bind us. We must seek the new freedom within ourselves.
Throughout the day, I'll think of myself as a completely free person. I'm free at last from the bondage I imposed upon myself.

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Keep It Simple

It takes twenty years to become an overnight success.---Eddie Cantor
Successful people make life look easy. But it's not. Years of hard work, trial and error, and learning probably went on into each success. The key is this: We must choose to do what we really like. If we want to be successful, we'll have to work at it. We'll have letdowns, and we'll get bored at times. But we'll be happy because we're doing what we want, what we know is best for us. Real success has to do with our own happiness.
In our programs, we'll meet many successful people. They've worked hard at recovery, and they are still learning. And they're happy to share their success with us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for the success the program has already given me.
Action for the Day: I'll list three ways I know I am a success today. Number one: I'm sober!

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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.

If you saw who I really was, you would turn away in disgust or use my many weaknesses to destroy me. One way or the other I was convinced I'd be hurt. I couldn't allow that to happen, so I kept the real me veiled behind a force field of rough-edged attitude. How I got to this place is still a mystery to me.

p. 309

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."

Nowadays, when oldtimers who know Ed foregather, they exclaim, "What if we had actually succeeded in throwing Ed out for blasphemy? What would have happened to him and all the others he later helped?"
So the hand of Providence early gave us a sign that any alcoholic is a member of our Society when he says so.

p. 145

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Seldom will we remember next week what bothers us so much today.
--Karen Casey

Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.
--Hazrat Inayat Khan

"There is no failure except in no longer trying."
--Elbert Hubbard

"The impossible is often the untried."
--Jim Goodwin

"There is no point at which you can say, `Well, I'm successful now. I might as well take a nap.'"
--Carrie Fisher

Present-moment living, getting in touch with your "now," is at the heart of effective living. When you think about it, there really is no other moment you can live. Now is all there is, and the future is just another present moment to live when it arrives. One thing is certain, you cannot live it until it does appear.
--Wayne Dyer

Man Plans..... God Laughs!
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

VOCATION

"It is well for a man to respect his
own vocation, whatever it is, and
to think himself bound to uphold it
and to claim for it the respect it
deserves."
--Charles Dickens

Nobody else is quite like me. Nobody else can view the world, experience the world, feel the world in the way I can. I am the center of the universe. Other people can love -- but it is not the same as my love. Other people can offer the hand of friendship -- but it is not the same as the friendship that I can offer. Other people can utter a kind word -- but the phrasing of my words belong to me. I am unique and I must remember that. Even my space in the world is special. Nobody can take up the place that I have on the earth; you cannot get into my space. We may both be looking at the same scene, but I see it from my place in the world. Today I respect my uniqueness.

Let me continue to discover something of Your unique image in my life.

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Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, and you will honor me.
Psalm 50:15

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in him."
I John 4:15-16

If it seems that we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live.
2 Cor 5:13-14

You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail.
Prov. 19:21

Human plans, no matter how wise or well advised, cannot stand against the LORD.
Prov. 20:31

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Daily Inspiration

Share the lighthearted moments of your life with others. Lord, may I be instrumental in relieving tensions by lifting the spirits of others with a little cheerfulness.

We are as weak as our fears and as strong as our faith. Lord, with Your help, I can do.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
The great end of life is not knowledge but action. --Thomas Huxley
Sometimes we have good ideas about how to make things better. We might know we need to spend more quality time with others. We might know it would be better if mealtime was not so hectic and really became a time for sharing the day's events. Knowing what needs to happen is part of the process of change. But we have to put that knowledge into action.
All our good intentions, no matter what they may be, do not really mean anything until we move into action. A hug is better than a thought of love; a story read together is better than a wonderful vacation that did not get past the planning stage, just as a finished house is something we can live in, while the blueprint is soon forgotten. When we act on our ideas, we put ourselves into the world as a force for change.
What change can I set loose in the world today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
How should one live? Live welcoming to all. --Mechtild of Magdeburg
Welcoming is a spiritual practice we met when we came to this program. We may recall our first meetings and how welcome we felt in this group of fellow sufferers. It gave us hope when we felt desperate and continues to provide us with a nourishing place to grow.
To be welcoming means to accept others as they are, without passing judgment on their worth. It means to encourage them when they are despairing and to accept that they have a rightful place in our world. Welcoming is being generous with our resources. We do not have to feel close to someone to be welcoming. We can welcome a stranger. As we practice this attitude toward others, regardless of their status in life, regardless of their good or bad actions, we are changed inside. We learn from the people we welcome, and we are reminded that in the sight of God we are all loved as equals.
Today, 1 will practice a welcoming attitude toward everyone I meet.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Have the courage to act instead of react. --Darlene Larson Jenks
Taking the time to be thoughtful about our responses to the situations we encounter offers us the freedom to make choices that are right for us. Impulsive behavior can be a thing of our past, if we so choose. It seldom was the best response for our well being.
Decision-making is morale boosting. It offers us a chance to exercise our personal powers, an exercise that is mandatory for the healthy development of our egos. We need to make careful, thoughtful choices because they will further define our characters. Each action we take clearly indicates the persons we are becoming. When we have consciously and deliberately chosen that action because of its rightness for us, we are fully in command of becoming the persons we choose to be.
Our actions reveal who we are, to others and ourselves. We need never convey an inaccurate picture of ourselves. We need only take the time and risk the courage necessary to behave exactly as we choose. We will know a new freedom when we are in control.
I will exercise my power to act and feel the fullness of my being.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Time to Get Angry
It's about time you got angry - yes, that angry.
Anger can be such a potent, frightening emotion. It can also be a feeling that guides us to important decisions, sometimes decisions difficult to make. It can signal other people's problems, our problems, or simply problems we need to address.
We deny our anger for a variety of reasons. We don't give ourselves permission to allow it to come into our awareness - at first. Understand that it does not go away; it sits in layers under the surface, waiting for us to become ready, safe, and strong enough to deal with it.
What we may do instead of facing our anger and what it is telling us about self-care, is feel hurt, victimized, trapped, guilty, and uncertain about how to take care of ourselves. We may withdraw, deny, make excuses, and hide our heads in the sand - for a while.
We may punish, get even, whine, and wonder.
We may repeatedly forgive the other person for behaviors that hurt us. We may be afraid that someone will go away if we deal with our anger toward him or her. We may be afraid we will need to go away, if we deal with our anger.
We may simply be afraid of our anger and the potency of it. We may not know we have a right, even a responsibility - to ourselves - to allow ourselves to feel and learn from our anger.
God, help my hidden or repressed angry feelings to surface. Help me have the courage to face them. Help me understand how I need to take care of myself with the people I feel anger toward. Help me stop telling myself something is wrong with me when people victimize me and I feel angry about the victimization. I can trust my feelings to signal problems that need my attention.


Fears sometimes still lingers in my mind. I can be okay when that happens. I can feel them through and talk about them and go on in spite of them, not letting myself picture the worst, but seeing the results in a positive light. --Ruth Fishel

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The Gift Of Desperation

"Our disease always resurfaced or continued to progress until, in desperation, we sought help from each other in Narcotics Anonymous."
Basic Text, p. 13

When we think of being desperate, we envision an undesirable state: a poor, bedraggled soul frantically clawing at something sorely needed, a desperate look in the eyes. We think of hunted animals, hungry children, and of ourselves before we found NA.

Yet it was the desperation we felt before coming to NA that compelled us to accept the First Step. We were fresh out of ideas, and so became open to new ones. Our insanity had finally risen higher than our wall of denial, forcing us to get honest about our disease. Our best efforts at control had only worn us out; hence, we became willing to surrender. We had received the gift of desperation and, as a result, were able to accept the spiritual principles that make it possible for us to recover.

Desperation is what finally drives many of us to ask for help. Once we've reached this state, we can turn around and start anew. Just as the desperate, hunted animal seeks a safe haven, so do we: in Narcotics Anonymous.

Just for today: The gift of desperation has helped me become honest, open-minded, and willing. I am grateful for this gift because it has made my recovery possible.
pg. 208

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Wisdom for Today
I can't really say that life has fallen into place, but I can say that all the pieces are fitting together. Just like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, one piece after another seems to fit back together again. It was more like I was a clay pot that had been dropped and shattered into a million pieces. One after another the pieces have been glued back together again. As time passed, the program has taught me how to live with inner peace. I am content with where I am in life. Even though I am far from putting all the pieces back together again, with the help of the program this once broken vessel is now useful again. I am not tossed around by events in my life like I used to be. In the past it seemed like I was just about able to fit another broken piece of my life back together again when something would happen, and I would drop the piece before it had been fit back into place.
The program has provided me with a place of rest. A quiet place for my heart and mind to concentrate on the best way to fit the broken pieces of my life back together again. One after another has successfully been fitted together again. It has been glued in place with the steps and faith in a Higher Power. What has been surprising is that my Higher Power has instructed me to put these broken pieces back together again in a way that I would not have expected. Slowly this new vessel has become a container for inner peace. Even in the midst of insanity going on all around me, I can still carry this inner peace. Do I carry peace inside of me in every situation?
Meditations for the Heart
In all of us there is an imprinting on our heart that tells us of God. It helps to explain God to us in a way that we can understand Him. This imprinting of our hearts also speaks to us in a still, small voice. When we are quiet and look within, we can access this voice and listen to the words of wisdom that it provides. We will hear reminders when they are needed. We will hear new ideas and new solutions to old problems if we listen. This small voice will talk with us and provide suggestions and course corrections when needed. This imprint also provides us with an inner light, so that we can explore those inner pits of darkness without fear. We are able to access this inner light to brighten our days. We are able to access this inner light to shine on the paths of others in our lives. Here is where inner peace resides. Each of us can access this inner place with only two words - "Dear God." Am I praying to God as I understand Him?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
I wake this morning to find the inner peace that You provide. Let me use the steps this day to continue to put the missing pieces in place. Guide me and direct me as I move through this day. Help me use this inner light and peace to shine brightly in this new day. Thank You for keeping me clean and sober.
Amen.

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You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Don't Jump

When we have achieved a significant period of abstinence from compulsive overeating, it is as though we have slowly climbed many flights of stairs all the way up to the top floor of a skyscraper. Telling ourselves that we will make a small exception and break abstinence just one time is like saying we will jump out a window on the top floor of the skyscraper and fall down only as far as the next floor.

The nature of our disease is such that one small compulsive bite inevitably leads to eventual disaster. We may be able to postpone the binge for a day or a week or even longer, but once we give up our control, we put ourselves in a pattern of downward descent.

All we need do in order to stay on the top floor of the skyscraper is to maintain our abstinence. A small price to pay for such a magnificent view!

Protect me from a fatal jump.