Daily Recovery Readings - 8/30

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Daily Reflections

THE ONLY REQUIREMENT. . .

"At one time. . .every A.A. group had many membership rules.
Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would
capsize the boat. . .The total list was a mile long. If all those rules had
been in effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A.
at all. . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139-40

I'm grateful that the Third Tradition only requires of me a desire
to stop drinking. I had been breaking promises for years. In the
Fellowship I didn't have to make promises, I didn't have to
concentrate. It only required my attending one meeting, in a foggy
condition, to know I was home. I didn't have to pledge undying love.
Here, strangers hugged me. "It gets better," they said, and "One
day at a time, you can do it." They were no longer strangers, but
caring friends. I ask God to help me to reach out to people
desiring sobriety, and to, please, keep me grateful!

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure
immunity from drinking as extensive work with other alcoholics.
Carry the message to other alcoholics. You can help when no one
else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Life
will take on new meaning for you. To watch people recover, to see
them help others in turn, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a
fellowship grow about you, to have a host of friends, this is an
experience you must not miss." Am I always ready and willing to help
other alcoholics?

Meditation For The Day

One secret of abundant living is the art of giving. The paradox of
life is that the more you give, the more you have. If you loose your
life in the service of others, you will save it. You can give
abundantly and still live abundantly. You are rich in one respect – you
have a spirit that is inexhaustible. Let no mean or selfish thought
keep you from sharing this spirit. Of love, of help, of
understanding, and of sympathy, give and keep giving. Give your
personal ease and comfort, your time, your money, and most of all,
yourself. And you will be living abundantly.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live to give. I pray that I may learn this secret of
abundant living.

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As Bill Sees It

Principle Before Expediency, p. 103

Most of us thought good character was desirable. Obviously, good
character was something one needed to get on with the business of
being self-satisfied. With a proper display of honesty and morality,
we'd stand a better chance of getting what we really wanted. But
whenever we had to choose between character and comfort,
character-building was lost in the dust of our chase after what we
thought was happiness.

Seldom did we look at character-building as something desirable in
itself. We never thought of making honesty, tolerance, and true love of
man and God the daily basis of living.

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

How to translate a right mental conviction into a right emotional result,
and so into easy, happy and good living, is the problem of life itself.

1. 12 & 12, pp. 71-72
2. Grapevine, January 1958

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Walk In Dry Places

THE MASKS ARE FALLING
Openness Individuals and families can be quite successful at masking personal problems and feelings. This doesn't always work very well with alcoholics, though some of us did manage to conceal our problem for long periods before our lives began to break down.
However, it is becoming more acceptable to admit to such problems, and it is no longer surprising to read that a prominent person is being treated for an addiction.
This new openness has also made it possible to abandon the masks we've been wearing to hide our feelings. When people learn they can be more open with their problems and need for help, it also becomes easier to admit that they are angry. fearful. unhappy, or even frightened.
Removing our masks and letting others see us as we are is only the first phase in the real honesty we're seeking. After expressing ourselves authentically, do we find we like who we are?
Now that we know and admit the truth about ourselves, what are we going to do to make needed changes?
I will face who and what I really am today. I will use my strengths and not let any shortcomings keep me from being effective.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Student Of Life

Living at home with her parents, she tried using willpower to beat the obsession to drink. But it wasn't until she met another alcoholic and went to an A.A. meeting that sobriety took hold.

I attempted to "drink right" for the next eight years. My progression was phenomenal; there is absolutely no period in my drinking career that can be described as social drinking. I blacked out almost every time I put alcohol in my system, but I decided I could live with that; it was a small price to pay for the power and confidence alcohol gave me. After drinking for less than six months, I was almost a daily drinker.

pp. 320-321

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."

Then our trustees wrote a bright page of A.A. history. They declared for the principle that A.A. must always stay poor. Bare running expenses plus a prudent reserve would henceforth be the Foundation's financial policy. Difficult as it was, they officially declined that ten thousand dollars, and adopted a formal, airtight resolution that all such future gifts would be similarly declined. At that moment, we believe, the principle of corporate poverty was firmly and finally embedded in A.A. tradition.

p. 165

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"When anger spreads through the breast, guard thy tongue from
barking idly."
--Sappho

Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to
you.
--Madeline Bridges

Words are powerful, may I use them wisely.
--Shelley

Today I will do all that I am capable of doing at this time of my life
to free myself of past mistakes. And then I will let go and live in my
now...fully enjoying today.
--Ruth Fishel

Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."
-- Lou Holtz

We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us . . .

Sobriety is a gift, not a right.

AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.

Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started.

While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LISTENING

"If other people are going to
talk, conversation becomes
impossible."
-- James McNeill Whistler

Part of my addiction was never listening to what people were saying.
This was part arrogance, part denial, part fear, part control, part ego
--- the bottom line was that I did not listen. I was bored and unhappy
with my life because I was a prisoner of my own thoughts.

My spiritual awakening --- which I consider a process rather than an
event, a process that is still going on in my life on a daily basis --- was
in allowing some new information into my life that led to admittance
and acceptance. The day that I was able to admit that I was an
alcoholic was the day I took a step towards acceptance.

Today I receive immense help and comfort from other people,
especially recovering alcoholics. Two people experiencing an honest
conversation are part of God's promised love for His world.

Let the words I hear be acceptable in Your sight

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"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who
dwell therein."
Psalms 24:1

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you
nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

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Daily Inspiration

The best things in life aren't really things at all. Lord, thank You for all that I am and for all that I am able to be and thank You for my family, my friends, and for all those that touch my life in a special way.

Spend less time trying to change and more time making the best of who you are. Lord, help me daily to put Your words into action.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If I cry tears let them wash away your fears--make a rainbow of love for you. --Thom Klika
It takes both sun and rain to make a rainbow in the sky. The rainbow is a rare and beautiful thing--each color brilliant beside the other. Rain falls to earth like the tears we all shed sometimes. Sunlight shines like the happiness we find inside when we feel peaceful.
The colors of the rainbow are like all the different feelings we have. Let's say red is anger and green is fear and orange is joy and violet is contentment. All these feelings create a whole person, in the same way that all these colors make the whole rainbow. We become more colorful people as we learn to express all our emotions.
A person who is learning to share feelings radiates the same kind of beauty as a rainbow in the sky.
Who can I share a feeling with today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Procrastination is the thief of time. --Edward Young
When we have a problem with putting things off, we seem to add to our troubles by mentally flogging ourselves. We know we are losing time. We criticize ourselves for our irrational behavior. Whether we are putting off an important task in our lives or letting many little undone jobs accumulate, we could benefit from stopping the self-criticism and asking ourselves for the spiritual message in our actions. Perhaps we need some quiet time to do absolutely nothing. Maybe our perfectionism is paralyzing us. Is an "all or nothing" attitude telling us if we can't do the whole job right away, there is no point in beginning? Unexpressed anger may be blocking us from doing what we need to do.
Whenever we find ourselves doing things that seem irrational we can ask, "What is the message from my Higher Power in this behavior?" This question will carry us much further toward spiritual growth than the mental criticism we are tempted to do.
Today, I will do what I can within the limits of one day, and I will stay in communication with my Higher Power.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I like my friend for what is in her heart, not for the way she does things. --Sandra K. Lamberson
We find good in situations, experiences and people when we look for it. Generally we find just what we expect to find. The power attaching to our attitudes is awesome. Often it is immobilizing; too seldom is it positive.
We each create the personal environment that our soul calls home, which means that at any moment we have the power to change our perspective on life, our response to any particular experience and most of all, our feelings about ourselves. Just as we will find good in others when we decide to look for it, we'll find good in ourselves.
We are such special women, all of us. And in our hearts we want joy. What the program offers is the awareness that we are the creators of the joy in our hearts. We can relinquish the past and its sorrows, and we can leave the future in the hands of our higher power. The present is singular in its importance to our lives, now.
Behavior generally reveals attitudes, which are of the mind and frequently in conflict with the heart. I will strive for congruence. I will let my heart lead the way. It will not only find the good in others, it will imitate it.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Accepting Our Best
We don't have to do it any better than we can - ever.
Do our best for the moment, and then let it go. If we have to redo it, we can do our best in another moment, later.
We can never do more or better than we are able to do at the moment. We punish ourselves and make ourselves feel crazy by expecting more than our reasonable best for now.
Striving for excellence is a positive quality.
Striving for perfection is self-defeating.
Did someone tell us or expect us to do or give or be more? Did someone always withhold approval?
There comes a time when we feel we have done our best. When that time comes, let it go.
There are days when our best is less than we hoped for. Let those times go too. Start over tomorrow. Work things through, until our best becomes better.
Empowering and complimenting ourselves will not make us lazy. It will nurture us and enable us to give, do, and be our best.
Today, I will do my best, and then let it go. God, help me stop criticizing myself so I can start appreciating how far I've come.


It feels so good to be alive and be a part of this universe. No matter where I am in my life today, to matter what it is that I am doing, I know that I am growing richer and richer with love and with life. --Ruth Fishel

[admin]

Doing Good, Feeling Good

"We examine our actions, reactions, and motives. We often find that we've been doing better than we've been feeling."
Basic Text p.42

The way we treat others often reveals our own state of being. When we are at peace, we're most likely to treat others with respect and compassion. However, when we're feeling off center; we're likely to respond to others with intolerance and impatience. When we take regular inventory, we'll probably notice a pattern: We treat others badly when we feel bad about ourselves.

What might not be revealed in an inventory, however, is the other side of the coin. When we treat others well, we feel good about ourselves. When we add this positive truth to the negative facts we find about ourselves in our inventory, we begin to behave differently.

When we feel badly, we can pause to pray for guidance and strength. Then, we make a decision to treat those around us with kindness, gentleness, and the same concern we'd like to be shown. A decision to be kind may nurture and sustain the happiness and peace of mind we all wish for. And the joy we inspire may lift the spirits of those around us, in turn fostering our own spiritual well-being.

Just for today: I will remember that if I change my actions, my thoughts will follow.
pg. 252

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Wisdom for Today
When I first walked through the doors of the program, I thought that drinking and drugging were my only problem. I assumed that if I stopped using that my family, work, legal, and financial problems would magically disappear. I was wrong. I had lots of work to do. I wanted to hurry up and fix all my problems. Soon I found out that I needed to slow down. I needed to trust the process. I was told that I really only had two problems – staying clean and sober, and all the rest. If I didn’t stay clean, I had no chance of fixing any of the other problems I had.

With sobriety, I soon found that my other problems were disappearing. Later, I found out that in addition to my practical problems that I also had problems with my character. These defects of character continued to be problematic until I was ready to let go. I had to learn to trust that God would finish the work He started. Am I willing to trust God and His process?
Meditations for the Heart
Patience was something I was not good at. I had this attitude – I want what I want and I want it right now. Recovery has a way of teaching patience. I soon found out that all my troubles would not be fixed in one day. It would take some time to correct the problems I was experiencing. My character would not magically change. I had to be willing to work at it. I had to practice patience. Am I willing to practice the principles of the program? Am I willing to follow the directions I am given?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,

Today teach me to be patient and help me to trust Your process. Help me to realize that You are still at work and that You are not finished with me yet.

Amen

[admin]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Getting Honest with Ourselves

The day we realize that we are and always will be compulsive overeaters and that we can permit ourselves no deviousness when it comes to food - that is the day when we begin to take the OA program seriously. Half measures do not work. Lingering exceptions in the back of our minds will defeat us. Beginning the program with the idea of quitting when we have lost a certain number of pounds will not bring success.

Nothing short of an honest, wholehearted commitment to abstinence and the OA program will give us the ability to stop eating compulsively. If we think we can get away with small deviations here and there, we are deluding ourselves. Our disease is progressive, and unless we take the steps outlined in the program, it will eventually destroy us.

If we are not honest with ourselves, we are divided, weak, and sick. Getting honest means getting strong and well.

May I be directed by the truth.

[admin]

Keep It Simple

Love is something if you give away, you end up having more. --- Malvina Reynolds

Service is how we give love away. It’s the “self” of self-help. Service is not a duty; a gift that’s been given to us. We help ourselves by helping others. It’s how we make sure the program will be here tomorrow. We “carry the message.” It’s just one way we see how important we are to others. The world needs us. The world needs our love.

Prayer for the Day
I pray for help in making service a big part of my program. Higher Power, help me to “carry the message.”

Action for the Day
Which people could use a kind word and a little love? I will go visit them or give them a call.