March 31, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Withdrawal is a preparation for emergence. — Nor Hall

A man lost his family in a car accident and wanted to be alone for a while, but he worried whether he was doing the right thing. Then one day a friend told him that when pine cones fall off the lodge pole pine trees, they are sealed shut so the seeds inside can’t get out. The pine cones lie on the forest floor — sometimes for decades — until a forest fire sweeps through. Heat from the fire melts the seal and the seeds fall out and finally grow, and that’s why the lodge pole pine is called a “fire-origin species.”

The man felt good about himself when he heard the story. “Fire-origin species” is a good name for people who’ve been burned by life and find new growth as a result.

How have I grown because of pain and difficulty?

Hazelden Foundation

March 31, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Today, no self-pity to shake my recovery regardless if my recovery began 24 months or 24 hours ago. Self-pity may be the deadliest of poisons that can undo, in the blink of an eye, any progress I've made. Self-pity is giving up my belief and total surrender to my Higher Power and is the epitome of selfishness. If there is adversity this day, I will face it with the courage, strength, hope and dignity with which AA endows me, and I've already been endowed with courage, strength, hope and dignity merely by committing myself to recovery. Nor will I whine, "Why me?" And if I say no to self-pity today, I have no reason or excuse to drink, to use - and this day, then, will be good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2022

March 31, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, March 31, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

Since I've been in AA, have I made a start towards being more unselfish? Do I no longer want my own way in everything? When things go wrong and I can't have what I want, do I no longer sulk? Am I trying not to waste money on myself? And does it make me happy to see my family and my home have enough attention from me?

Am I trying not to be all get and no give?

Meditation for the Day

Each day is a day of progress, steady progress forward, if you make it so. You may not see it, but God does. God does not judge by outward appearance. He judges by the heart. Let Him see in your heart a simple desire always to do His will. Though you may feel that your work has been spoiled or tarnished, God sees it as an offering for Him. When climbing a steep hill, a person is often more conscious of the weakness of his stumbling feet than of the view, the grandeur or even of the upward progress.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may persevere in all good things. I pray that I may advance each day in spite of my stumbling feet.

Hazelden Foundation

March 31, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Reflection for the Day

My illness is unlike most other illnesses in that denial that I am sick is a primary symptom that I am sick. Like such other incurable illnesses as diabetes and arthritis, however, my illness is characterized by relapses. In The Program, we call such relapses "slips." The one thing I know for certain is that I alone can cause myself to slip.

Will I remember at all times that the thought precedes the action? Will I try to avoid "stinking thinking?"

Today I Pray

May God give me the power to resist temptations. May the responsibility for giving in, for having a "slip," be on my shoulders and mine only. May I see beforehand if I am setting myself up for a slip by blame-shifting, shirking my responsibility to myself, becoming the world's poor puppet once again. My return to those old attitudes can be as much of a slip as the act of losing my sobriety.

Today I Will Remember

Nobody's slip-proof.

Hazelden Foundation

March 31, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, March 31, 2022

We as alcoholics are so used to getting by with a minimum of effort on our part that we sometimes fail to appreciate that only those things earned have any real lasting value.

We allowed our families to cover up for us and support us, we panhandled, we were experts in the game of something for nothing.

Nothing free is worth having. AA has no initiation fees or dues, but it also costs a lot if you want to get a lot. You can procure a two-bit brand of AA, but we don't guarantee it will work.

Hazelden Foundation

March 31, 2022 - Good morning and let's raise the coffee mugs in toast to a fabulous Thursday

 

Good morning and let's roll up the sleeves and make it a marvelous Thursday, meaning we don't find marvelous in people and things out to screw it up

March 30, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with drinking. In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences, the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release and strength.

Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing?

Meditation for the Day

We cannot fully understand the universe. The simple fact is that we cannot even define space or time. They are both boundless, in spite of all we can do to limit them. We live in a box of space and time, which we have manufactured by our own minds, and on that depends all our so-called knowledge of the universe. The simple fact is that we can never know all things, nor are we made to know them. Much of our lives must be taken on faith.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my faith may be based on my own experience of the power of God in my life. I pray that I may know this one thing above all else in the universe.

Hazelden Foundation

March 30, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Today, I cannot crumble to the temptation of "just one" drink. Regardless of how many 24 Hours of sobriety, none of us is immune to the thought, however fleeting, that maybe one drink won't do any damage. Of course it will, as we know from bitter experience. If temptation is a human foible, it is one that none of us in recovery can afford. For us, temptation is our failure to integrate into the deepest of our souls the Program's first four words - "Admitted we were powerless ..." Temptation also sets off our self-will run riot and rejection of surrendering our will to our Higher Power. Still, if temptation sneaks in, may I have burned in my conscience the outcome of all those times in the past when I did cave. And the memory of that outcome is too costly and painful to give in. Today, I hope I am not tempted, but I will not take for granted that I won't so that, if I am, I am strong and secure enough in my Program to rise above it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2022

March 30, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

Before I met AA, I was very unloving. From the time I went away to school, I paid very little attention to my mother and father. I was on my own and didn't even bother to keep in touch with them. After I got married, I was very unappreciative of my spouse. Many a time I would go out all by myself to have a good time. I paid too little attention to our children and didn't try to understand them or show them affection. My few friends were only drinking companions, not real friends.

Have I gotten over loving nobody but myself?

Meditation for the Day

Be calm, be true, be quiet. Do not get emotionally upset by anything that happens around you. Feel a deep, inner security in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Be true to your highest ideals. Do not let yourself slip back into the old ways of reacting. Stick to your spiritual guns. Be calm always. Do not talk back or defend yourself too much against accusation, whether false or true. Accept abuse as well as you accept praise. Only God can judge the real you.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not be upset by the judgment of others. I pray that I may let God be the judge of the real me.

Hazelden Foundation

March 30, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Reflection for the Day

"When I meditate upon such a vision," Bill W. continued, "I need not be dismayed because I shall never attain it, nor need I swell with presumption that one of these days its virtues shall all be mine. I only need to dwell on the vision itself, letting it grow and ever more fill my heart ...Then I get a sane and healthy idea of where I stand on the highway to humility. I see that my journey towards God has scarcely begun. As I thus get down to my right size and stature, my self-concern and importance become amusing."

Do I take myself too seriously?

Today I Pray

May the grandiosity which is a symptom of my chemical addiction be brought back into proportion by the simple comparison of my powerlessness with the power of God. May I think of the meaning of Higher Power as it relates to my human frailty. May it bring my ego back down to scale and help me shed my defenses of pomp or bluster or secret ideas of self-importance.

Today I Will Remember

He is great. I am small.

Hazelden Foundation

March 30, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

The truly great man can afford to be humble, for hundreds of others are exalting him. You have only one horn to blow and other people can't toot it if you are eternally tooting it yourself.

The proud man is aggressive in his own interest; the humble man is aggressive in the ideals he believes in. Humility is not passive resignation; it is, rather, subjecting self for lofty purposes.

Hazelden Foundation

March 30, 2022 - Good morning with a pledge to make today a magnificent Wednesday

 

Good morning and let's set the tone for a terrific Wednesday by avoiding people and things who offer nothing but trauma and drama

March 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

We can handle everything as it is, just for today.

We want to change so many aspects of our lives. We want drinkers to get sober, jobs to be more fulfilling, defects to disappear. And we want it all to happen today! Impatience complicates the flow of our lives. “We get what we need when we need it,” say the wiser ones among us. Little by little we are coming to believe that there is a timetable for how our lives unfold; it simply is God’s timetable, not ours.

What helps us accept this is believing that we can handle everything as it is, just for today. Surely one more day of a job we don’t like can be tolerated. Living with an active addict can be handled too if we keep our focus on today only. Some new, positive behavior such as regularly saying more than just a cursory hello to other people can be tried just for today. The results will astound us. The possibilities will excite us.

Living just for today will give us a fresh outlook on every day as it unfolds. Few things will overwhelm us when we keep our focus on today.

I look forward to every experience today, knowing that God is giving me what I need.

Hazelden Foundation

March 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Today, if I start out with dread, I probably need to do a 10th Step or re-do my Fourth. Clearly something is wrong and I have not yet reaped benefits of sobriety or, worse, I am little more than a dry drunk. The Serenity Prayer tells me that I have no control over what this day might serve up, but it also tells me what I can change is me. The Program gives me the tools to do it, from its first four words - "Admitted (I am) powerless" - to the 12th Step's promise of a new me through a spiritual awakening and its command to practice all the Steps "in all (my) affairs." And if I take the attitude that the day ahead is something to just get through, I will likely make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Today, I am powerless over whatever this day has in store, but my attitude can make or break the serenity that recovery promises. Sobriety and life are not made to simply endure or just get through. Today, I will live, not just endure or get through. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2022

March 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

Before I met AA, I was very dishonest. I lied to my spouse constantly about where I had been and what I'd been doing. I took time off from my work and pretended I'd been sick or gave some other dishonest excuse. I was dishonest with myself, as well as with other people. I would never face myself as I really was or admit when I was wrong. I pretended to myself that I was as good as the next person, although I suspected I wasn't.

Am I now really honest?

Meditation for the Day

I must live in the world and yet live apart with God. I can go forth from my secret times of communion with God to the work of the world. To get the spiritual strength I need, my inner life must be lived apart from the world. I must wear the world as a loose garment. Nothing in the world should seriously upset me, as long as my inner life is lived with God. All successful living arises from this inner life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may live my inner life with God. I pray that nothing shall invade or destroy that secret place of peace.

Hazelden Foundation

March 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Reflection for the Day

What is the definition of humility? "Absolute humility," said AA co-founder Bill W., "would consist of a state of complete freedom from myself, freedom from all the claims that my defects of character now lay so heavily upon me. Perfect humility would be a full willingness, in all times and places, to find and to do the will of God." 

Am I striving for humility?

Today I Pray

May God expand my interpretation of humility beyond abject subservience or awe at the greatness of others. May humility also mean freedom from myself, a freedom which can come only through turning my being over to God's will. May I sense the omnipotence of God, which is simultaneously humbling and exhilarating. May I be willing to carry out His will.

Today I Will Remember

Humility is freedom.

Hazelden Foundation

March 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Do you want to be happy? Then go buy that strange kid on the corner a bag of candy. It may help cause his teeth to decay, but what's a tooth between two glad hearts?

Hazelden Foundation

March 29, 2022 - Good morning and let's aim for a terrific Tuesday

 

Good morning with hopes for a great Tuesday for everyone ...it won't be so great if we waste time on people and things wanting to make us miserable

March 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, March 28, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

There’s a period of life where we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside. — Pearl Bailey

For too many of us, feelings of shame, even self-hatred, are paramount. No one of us has a fully untarnished past. Every man, every woman, even every child experiences regret over some action. We are not perfect. Perfection is not expected in the Divine plan. But we are expected to take our experiences and grow from them, to move beyond the shame for them, to celebrate what they have taught us.

Each day offers us a fresh start at assimilating all that we have been. What has gone before enriches who we are now, and through the many experiences we’ve survived, we have been prepared to help others, to smooth the way for another woman, perhaps, who is searching for a new direction.

We can let go of our shame and know instead that it sweetens the nuggets of the wisdom we can offer to others. We are alike. We are not without faults. Our trials help another to smoother sailing.

I will relish the joy at hand. I can share my wisdom. All painful pasts brighten someone’s future, when openly shared.

Hazelden Foundation

March 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Monday, March 28, 2022

Today, I will not romanticize my drinking days as "fun" or good if a newcomer to the Program or even a veteran talk about "the good old days." By embellishing drinking before "things went bad" and even constructing a vision that any of it was good, I am probably pining for days when I might have drank "safely" without being honest that those days never existed at all. And by longing for non-existent "good old days," I am vulnerable to a slip or relapse and denying the truth that I am now, and forever will be, "powerless over alcohol." More pointedly, if I try to re-do my last drunk into something that is not true, I have basically forgotten my last drunk. And as one of the Program's old sayings goes, if I can't remember my last drunk, I haven't had it. Today, I will remember with honesty how it was and that it has been, so far by the grace of God, my last drunk. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2022

March 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, March 28, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

When you come into an AA meeting, you're not just coming into a meeting, you're coming into a new life. I'm always impressed by the change I see in people after they've been in AA for a while. I sometimes take an inventory of myself to see whether I have changed and, if so, in what way. Before I met AA, I was very selfish. I wanted my own way in everything. I don't believe I ever grew up. When things went wrong, I sulked like a spoiled child and often went out and got drunk.

Am I still all get and no give?

Meditation for the Day

There are two things that we must have if we are going to change our way of life. One is faith, the confidence in things unseen, the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. The other is obedience: that is, living according to our faith, living each day as we believe that God wants us to live, with gratitude, humility, honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Faith and obedience, these two, will give us all the strength we need to overcome sin and temptation and to live a new and more abundant life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have more faith and obedience. I pray that I may live a more abundant life as a result of these things.

Hazelden Foundation

March 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Monday, March 28, 2022

Reflection for the Day

We must think deeply of all those sick persons still to come to The Program. As they try to make their return to faith and to life, we want them to find everything in The Program that we have found, yet more, if that be possible. No care, no vigilance, no effort to preserve The Program's constant effectiveness and spiritual strength will ever be too great to hold us in full readiness for the day of their homecoming.

How well do I respect the Traditions of The Program?

Today I Pray

God help me to carry out my part in making the group a lifeline for those who are still suffering from addictions, in maintaining the Steps and the Traditions which have made it work for me for those who are still to come. May The Program be a "homecoming" for those of us who share the disease of addiction. May we find common solutions to the common problems which that disease breeds.

Today I Will Remember

To do my part.

Hazelden Foundation

March 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Monday, March 28, 2022

Why is the world? Why are we here? What is our purpose? Why must we live and suffer and die? Without God, there would be no answer. We do not know the great extent of God's purpose, but we do know that we as individuals, each and every one, must somehow fit into that purpose.

We can only know God as He has revealed Himself to us. We know His principle attribute is goodness. Therefore, His purpose must be good, and we can best serve that purpose by aspiring to the highest standard of goodness that we can conceive.

Hazelden Foundation

March 28, 2022 - Good morning and let's roll up the sleeves for another Monday

 

Good morning and let's get going with determination to make today a spectacular Monday ...and in making it good, we don't have time for people and things wanting to screw it up

March 27, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The essence of prayer, even of a mystical experience, is the way we are altered to see everything from its life-filled dimension. — Matthew Fox

Prayer can change us dramatically. It can open our eyes to the intricate beauty in the things and people in our life. Prayer can help us see the people we pray for — whether friend or adversary — with greater clarity and love. Our gratitude for friends is heightened; our resentment toward adversaries lessens. Barriers mysteriously disappear when we look upon our enemies prayerfully.

The Eleventh Step suggests that prayer may be as simple as asking for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out. We therefore seek God’s presence anywhere we are and in anyone we’re with. This is prayer as action, as a commitment to fully invest ourselves in life. When prayer is how we live our life, we are able to honor whatever life gives us by responding with acceptance and hope.

Today I will look upon the people and events in my life prayerfully, and be open to the riches I am afforded.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Sunday, March 27, 2022

Today, if I am afraid, anxious, worried or uncertain about anything, I can draw strength from the mercy and blessing of my Higher Power that guided me through the darkness of active alcoholism to face the challenges before me now. If I believe that drinking was the darkest chapter of my life but that I survived with the strength of a Higher Power, I can also believe that the same strength can lead me through a lesser turmoil. Step 2 of coming to believe in a Higher Power is refuge from any storm I am weathering now, and the Third Step of yielding to a greater Power calms any fears or doubts with faith. Today, I can draw strength and hope from the yesterday when I had my last drink to believe that, with faith and strength in the Power that got me through those days, I can get through anything less - with unconditional faith and by seeking His will over mine. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2022

March 27, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, March 27, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

You get the power to overcome drinking through the fellowship of other alcoholics who have found the way out. You get power by honestly sharing your past experience by a personal witness. You get power by coming to believe in a Higher Power, the Divine Principle in the universe which can help you. You get power by working with other alcoholics. In these four ways, thousands of alcoholics have found all the power they needed to overcome drinking.

Am I ready and willing to accept this power and work for it?

Meditation for the Day

The power of God's spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Our conquest of each other, the great kings and conquerors, the conquest of wealth, the leaders of the money society, all amount to very little in the end. But he that conquers himself is greater than he who conquers a city. Material things have no permanence. But God's spirit is eternal. Everything really worthwhile in the world is the result of the power of God's spirit.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may open myself to the power of God's spirit. I pray that my relationships with others may be improved by this spirit.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Reflection for the Day

Storing up grievances is not only a waste of time, but a waste of life that could be lived to greater satisfaction. If I keep a ledger of "oppressions and indignities," I'm only restoring them to painful reality.

"The horror of that moment," the King said, "I shall never, never forget."

"You will, though," said the Queen,

"if you don't make a memorandum of it." - Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"

Am I keeping a secret storehouse for the wreckage of my past?

Today I Pray

God keep me from harboring the sludge from the past - grievances, annoyances, grudges, oppressions, wrongs, injustices, put-downs, slights, hurts. They will nag at me and consume my time in rehashing what I "might have said" or done until I face each one, name the emotion it produced in me, settle it as best I can - and forget it. May I empty my storehouse of old grievances.

Today I Will Remember

Don't rattle old bones.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Many of us can recall being fired from jobs for drinking and at the same time being given a letter of recommendation that spoke in glowing terms about our ability, Of course, the former boss was trying to be kind in avoiding any mention of the drinking problem, but such letters are actually dishonest, and it was equally dishonest when we used them to procure new jobs.

How much better it would have been if they had tried to do something constructive about the problem rather than lowering us in our own esteem by making us a party to the deceit.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2022 - Good morning and allow nothing and no one to mess up this fabulous Sunday

 

Good morning and do well whatever has to be done on this beautiful Sunday ...have a truly worthwhile and productive but safe day, and don't waste time on people and things that can upset it

March 26, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, March 26, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Facing Problems

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. — Anonymous

We are constantly aware that problems aren’t burdens suffered by us alone. Since the beginning of time, all humanity has had to cope with problems. We need to remember to identify with others and their problems, and not compare our problems to theirs to see who has the greater troubles. This will also eliminate self-pity during crises.

By accepting these difficulties, we can begin at once to seek advice from friends who have solved similar problems. By walking through problems without complaint instead of timidly trying to sneak around them, we will grow spiritually.

Problems won’t get rid of my character defects; problems expose them. By facing difficulties through the program, I will grow spiritually.

Hazelden Foundation

March 26, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Saturday, March 26, 2022

Today, recognize that much of my life has been expecting other people to meet my demands and expectations and fill my needs and wants. In selfishness and vanity, I rejected those who failed or would not give me what I wanted or needed when I wanted and needed it. In those times of looking to the outside for fulfillment, I had not a clue how to look inside myself and beyond something stronger than other people to attain what since have become different needs and expectations. In recovery, I understand that sobriety is first and foremost above everyone and everything. Once, my expectations of others were so unrealistic and selfish that I became needy to the point of being pathetic. Now I see the consequences, sometimes disastrous, of putting all my expectations on others. Now I am able to look inside myself and to a stronger Power to earn what I need. Today, I will take what my Program has given me to meet my needs and not weigh anyone with expectations so selfish and heavy that I ignore that they, too, have their own needs. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2022