Jan. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023

Today’s Gft from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.

— Hannah Arendt

Resentments keep us in the past, a past that can never be relived. Resentments keep a stranglehold on our mind. They keep us from appreciating the beauty of a moment. They stop us from hearing the loving voices of friends. We forget that we have a mission to fulfill God’s Divine plan for our life.

Fortunately, we can shake this hold on us, and our freedom comes when we decide to forgive whatever transgressions are made against us. This decision, with some practice, can become second nature.

Clearly the choice to resent no one is our opportunity to free our mind and heart for the real activities God hopes we’ll attend to. Our purpose in this life goes unfulfilled when we’re consumed by resentments. Now we have a program of recovery to help us develop a forgiving heart and find the peace and joy that are part of God’s will for each of us.

Holding resentments against others hurts me. Forgiveness can make me glad I’m alive today.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023

Today, live just for today. I cannot nor do I want to forget yesterday for it has lessons to carry into tomorrow. Nor do I want to be so preoccupied with tomorrow that I neglect today for I may miss some good that someone or some experience have to offer. I can plan for tomorrow, but I cannot fret over it and dread what demons or challenges my yesterdays have programmed me to expect. But that programming from my yesterdays was fueled by a whiskey bottle and, God granting, there is no whiskey bottle in my today. I therefore cannot fear that what I do today will poison my tomorrow. My life, my sobriety, my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my recovery – all are today. Today is all I have, and I must not be lax in strengthening it to make tomorrow’s today the promise of something good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

Drinking cuts you off from God. No matter how you were brought up, no matter what your religion is, no matter if you say you believe in God, nevertheless you build up a wall between you and God by your drinking. You know you’re not living the way God wants you to live. As a result, you have that terrible remorse. When you come into AA, you begin to get right with other people and with God. A sober life is a happy life because, by giving up drinking, we’ve got rid of our loneliness and remorse.

Do I have real fellowship with other people and with God?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that all sacrifice and all suffering is of value to me. When I am in pain, I am being tested. Can I trust God, no matter how low I feel? Can I say, “Thy will be done,” no matter how much I am defeated? If I can, my faith is real and practical. It works in bad times as well as in good times. The Divine Will is working in a way that is beyond my finite mind to understand, but I can still trust in it.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may take my suffering in my stride. I pray that I may accept pain and defeat as part of God’s plan for my spiritual growth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023

Reflection for the Day

One of the most constructive things I can do is to learn to listen to myself and get in touch with my true feelings. For years, I tuned myself out, going along, instead, with what others felt and said. Even today, it sometimes seems that they have it all together, while I’m still stumbling about. Thankfully, I’m beginning to understand that people-pleasing takes many forms. Slowly but steadily, I’ve also begun to realize that it’s possible for me to change my old patterns.

Will I encourage myself to tune in to the real me? Will I listen carefully to my own inner voice with the expectation that I’ll hear some wonderful things?

Today I Pray

I pray that I may respect myself enough to listen to my real feelings, those emotions which for so long I refused to hear or name or own, which festered in me like a poison. May I know that I need to stop often, look at my feelings, listen to the inner me.

Today I Will Remember

I will own my feelings.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023

Nothing great was ever achieved without overcoming great obstacles, and no hero of history deserves more acclaim than those who were triumphant over self. But do not let us swell up too much with pride. If we are honest, we know that with our character-weakened souls, with our “fogbound” brains, we could accomplish nothing of ourselves. It was only when we, in our desperate surrender, threw our lives and our wills into His keeping that He, in His mercy, removed the obstacle. Unknown, even to ourselves, there must have slept in us that Faith of a mustard seed, that can remove mountains.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2023 – Good morning and let’s work for a fantastic Tuesday

 

Good morning and here’s your wake-up call to get out there and have a thoroughly terrific Tuesday …and we won’t have it if we empower anyone and anything to make it miserable

Jan. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Jan. 30, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Lovely Thoughts

What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness.

— Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Thinking lovely thoughts during recovery encourages lovely acts. It is true that what starts as lovely will produce an air of loveliness around those of us who work for spiritual things. Truth has a relationship with lovely deeds. John Keats wrote that “beauty is truth and truth beauty,” and also gave us the familiar words, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

Our thoughts determine the way we behave and shape the personal image that we pass on to those around us. There is an “outer show of an inner glow” that results from kindness and beauty of mind. Unhealthy thoughts or false fronts are destructive. We are what we think we can be and want to be. If we recognize the best and most healthy in the world around us, we will be worthy of the honest image others have of us.

Let me think only the best thoughts so that I might be the best I can be.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Monday, Jan. 30, 2023

Today, progress, not perfection. In recognizing the difference, I might learn patience over impatience not only with others but with myself. Progress requires that I focus on just this day while perfection forces me to look to the unrealistic and unattainable goals beyond tomorrow. And by preoccupying myself with tomorrow, I am likely to neglect something today – and that failure will likely sabotage any tomorrow I might have. Tomorrow will hold nothing good if I neglect today. Today, then, will be focused on one thing at a time and first things first. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Jan. 30, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
A drinking life isn’t a happy life. Drinking cuts you off from other people and from God. One of the worst things about drinking is the loneliness. And one of the best things about AA is the fellowship. Drinking cuts you off from other people, at least from the people who really matter to you, your family, your co-workers and your real friends. No matter how much you love them, you build up a wall between you and them by your drinking. You’re cut off from any real companionship with them. As a result, you’re terribly lonely.

Have I got rid of my loneliness?

Meditation for the Day
I will sometimes go aside into a quiet place of retreat with God. In that place, I will find restoration and healing and power. I will plan quiet times now and then, times when I will commune with God and arise rested and refreshed to carry on the work which God has given me to do. I know that God will never give me a load greater than I can bear. It is in serenity and peace that all true success lies.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strengthen my inner life, so that I may find serenity. I pray that my soul may be restored in quietness and peace.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Monday, Jan. 30, 2023

Reflection for the Day
Have I gained freedom simply because one day I was weak and the next day I became suddenly strong? Have I changed from the helpless and hopeless person I once seemed to be simply by resolving, “from now on, things will be different …?” Is the fact that I am more comfortable today than ever before the result of my own willpower? Can I take credit for pulling myself up by my own bootstraps? I know better, for I sought refuge in a Power greater than myself – a Power which is still beyond my ability to visualize.

Do I consider the change in my life a miracle far beyond the workings of any human power?

Today I Pray
As the days of sobriety lengthen, and the moment of decision becomes farther behind me, may I never lose sight of the Power that changed my life. May I remember that my sobriety is an ongoing miracle, not just a once-in-a-lifetime transformation.

Today I Will Remember
Life is an ongoing miracle.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Monday, Jan. 30, 2023

After several years on the Program, we still have to guard against rationalizing. When it comes to selling ourselves a bill of goods, we are tops. Our drinking was most always occasioned by a “good reason,” or so we thought; the real reason – the fact that we were alcoholics and therefore compulsive drinkers – never occurred to us. A good reason can always be found for our actions, but the real reason is frequently obscure. Lord, teach us to know the difference.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2023 – Good morning and let’s take on another Monday and new week with confidence

 

Good morning and to get everyone in a good mood for another Monday and new week, here’s a cute little puppy dog with soulful eyes and bearing a rose just for you

Jan. 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

We seek God until He finds us.

— Madeleine L’Engle

The day comes when we suddenly realize we are not caught up in our addiction. That’s the moment we know we’re living in recovery, that we’re practicing the principles of recovery in all areas of our lives.

This awakening can come suddenly, as the result of a crisis, or it can happen subtly, over time, bringing with it a deepening of our commitment to the Twelve Step program. We find ourselves turning away from the addiction and toward our Higher Power. We find the joy of living in God’s will.

Working the Twelve Steps frees us from the tyranny of addiction by giving us the awareness that God has removed the addiction because we’ve let go of it. Things are restored to their proper order. The addiction is outside of us; we have ourselves and our relationship with our Higher Power. It’s then that we can reach out to other addicts because we finally have someone to give them — ourselves.

I am not my addiction. My addiction is not my Higher Power.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023

Today, if I am holding onto a resentment that I have turned over to my Higher Power but have taken back, I will do what the Program suggests: pray daily for two weeks for the target of my resentment. We are told encouraged that the Program’s suggestions give us serenity and freedom from the character defects that weigh us down. No defect that weighs us down is stronger than resentment. Today, I’ll give the Program’s suggestion to pray for the person I resent a try, however grudgingly, and admit my prayers aren’t totally altruistic. They are actually for me …because neither the person I resent nor anyone else is worth the mental and physical cost of holding and feeding my resentment and anger. Enough is enough: no more empowering someone else to mess with my recovery and serenity and live in my brain rent-free. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
What a load wasting money puts on your shoulders! They say that members of AA have paid the highest initiation fee of any club members in the world, because we’ve wasted so much money on liquor. We’ll never be able to figure out how much it was. We not only wasted our own money, but also the money we should have spent on our families. When you come into AA, that terrible load of wasted money falls off your shoulders. We alcoholics were getting round-shouldered from carrying all those loads that drinking put on our shoulders. But when we come into AA, we get a wonderful feeling of release and freedom.

Can I throw back my shoulders and look the whole world in the face again?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that the future is in the hands of God. He knows better than I what the future holds for me. I am not at the mercy of fate or buffeted about by life. I am being led in a very definite way, as I try to rebuild my life. I am the builder, but God is the architect. It is mine to build as best I can, under His guidance.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may depend on God, since He has planned my life. I pray that I may live my life as I believe God wants me to live it.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023

Reflection for the Day
I used to imagine my life as a grotesque abstract painting; a montage of crises framed by end-upon-end catastrophies. My days all were grey and my thoughts grayer still. I was haunted by dread and nameless fears. I was filled with self-loathing. I had no idea who I was, what I was or why I was. I miss none of those feelings. Today, step by step, I am discovering myself and learning that I can be free to be me.

Am I grateful for my new life? Have I taken the time to thank God today for the fact that I am clean and sober – and alive?

Today I Pray
May calm come to me after the turmoil and nightmares of the past. As my fears and self-hatred dissipate, may the things of the spirit replace them. For in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. May I be filled with the spirit of my Higher Power.

Today I Will Remember
Morning scatters nightmares.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023

On that awful day when the world had toppled about us, when all hope had departed and only wild desperation remained, then was the night darkest and nearest was the dawn. At this darkest hour, we “hit our bottom.” There was no way to go but UP.

As dawn follows darkness in Nature’s scheme, so darkness follows again in its turn. All things, save God, are transitory and what one day can bring, another day can take away. Let us not feel too secure in our sobriety, for darkness will come in the regular course of events, and we must be sure we have provided ourselves with the Light which will enable us to keep our footing on the slippery paths ahead.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2023 – Good morning and, because it’s Sunday, just relax

 

Good morning and have a great and paced Sunday without the responsibilities, worries and uncertainties we face every day …and take a break from people and things that do nothing good for us

Jan. 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Desire is the very essence of man.

— Benedict de Spinoza

There is nothing wrong with desire. It is part of being human. During our active addiction, our desires directed our lives. Our desires made our choices for us. If it felt good, well then, “Just do it!” We placed our desires ahead of our values and spiritual principles. This is the mistake we made.

Desires are like children; they need to be guided. In recovery, we use the Steps to guide and direct our desires. We now desire to do the right thing. We desire to get close to people. We desire to be good family members and good citizens. Why? Because this is what we’ve wanted all along. We desire to be good people with good lives.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me guide the energy of my desires toward what you want me to do. Help me to place principles before desire.

Today’s Action

I will make a list of five times I’ve placed my desires ahead of what is right for me and others. I will call and share my list with someone in recovery.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023

Today, at day’s end, I will look back and know by the grace of God that I did the best I could in all my affairs. If in prayer and meditation I find that I have not fully surrendered to my Higher Power some problem or character defect, I will know I have asked for the wisdom and humility to surrender it once and for all and that, if there is a tomorrow for me, I may be one day closer to that total surrender. I will not have reason to regret some communication with someone else because I was either cruel or indifferent to their needs or feelings. I will be grateful that I was not tempted to take the first drink that always leads to disaster, and I will go to sleep tonight with the comfort that my Higher Power blessed me with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
What a load hangovers put on your shoulders! What terrible physical punishment we’ve all been through. The pounding headaches and jumpy nerves, the shakes and the jitters, the hot and cold sweats! When you come into AA and stop drinking, that terrible load of hangovers falls off your shoulders. What a load remorse puts on your shoulders! That terrible mental punishment we’ve all been through. Ashamed of the things you’ve said and done. Afraid to face people because of what they might think of you. Afraid of the consequences of what you did when you were drunk. What an awful beating the mind takes! When you come into AA, that terrible load of remorse falls off your shoulders.

Have I got rid of these loads of hangovers and remorse?

Meditation for the Day
When you seek to follow the way of the spirit, it frequently means a complete reversal of the way of the world which you had previously followed. But it is a reversal that leads to happiness and peace. Do the aims and ambitions that a person usually strives for bring peace? Do the world’s awards bring heart-rest and happiness? Or do they turn to ashes in the mouth?

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not be weary, disillusioned or disappointed. I pray that I may not put my trust in the ways of the world, but in the way of the Spirit.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023

Reflection for the Day
Now that I am in The Program, I am no longer enslaved by alcohol and other drugs. Free, free at last from the morning-after tremors, the dry heaves, the three-day beard, the misplaced eyelashes. Free, free at last from working out the alibis and hoping they won’t unravel; free from blackouts; free from watching the clock so that I can somehow get that desperately needed “first one.”

Do I treasure my freedom from chemical enslavement?

Today I Pray
Praise God that I am free of chemicals. This is my first freedom, from which other freedoms will develop – freedom to appraise my behavior sanely and constructively, freedom to grow as a person, freedom to maintain relationships with others on a sound basis. I will never cease to thank my Higher Power for leading me away from enslavement.

Today I Will Remember
Praise God for my freedom.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023

Man was created in the image of God. We are told that the heart of man is the Temple of the Holy Ghost. A realization of this fact makes the desecration of the body as sacrilegious as the desecration of any church.

We alcoholics have a lot of mess to clean up in our Temples in order to make them a fit place for communion with the God in us.

If we really want God to work in and through us in the rehabilitation of other alcoholics, we must provide Him at least a clean workshop.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2023 – Good morning with hopes for a serene Saturday for everyone

 

Good morning and let’s set aside all our weekday worries, fears and insecurities and take this wonderful Saturday to simply be grateful for the good in our lives

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

He has served who now and then
Has helped along his fellow men.

— Edgar A. Guest

It’s hard to be interested in something that seems too remote. Sure, we’re sorry for starving people in faraway places. And the TV news story about whole villages disappearing in an earthquake makes us feel terrible — until the next news story comes on. It doesn’t mean we’re bad people when we don’t respond much to such tragedies. It only means they’re not personal — and only the personal is real.

We care most about what we’re involved in directly. If we’re not personally involved, we’re not very enthusiastic either. If we are the ones starting a new Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) meeting, setting up the chairs, and making the coffee, the success of that meeting means a lot to us. If our children are on drugs, we’re not bored by city council meetings where new drug programs are discussed. It’s our stake in something that makes it important.

The world doesn’t need any more spectators. To feel more alive, we must be more alive. Caring is life, and involvement is growth.

Today, I will not sit on the sidelines. I will act on behalf of a good cause that deserves my support.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

Today, “Let Go and Let God” does not absolve me from responsibility to be an active participant in my redemption from the damage and pain to others of my drinking days. “Let Go and Let God” commands that I turn my will over to my Higher Power for knowledge of HIS will for me and “the power to carry (it) out.” It does not give me the easy out by expecting God to do it for me. In accepting an active role in my recovery instead of expecting it to come to me by reading the Big Book and going to meetings, I understand that sobriety is a two-level process. On the surface, I cannot drink; on a deeper level, I cannot expect a change in spiritual and emotional conditions that come solely by not drinking. I am responsible for my condition as an alcoholic; likewise, I am responsible for my recovery. “Let Go and Let God” does not excuse me from either responsibility. Today, I “Let Go and Let God” by surrendering MY self-will and listening to my Higher Power for HIS will and the knowledge to carry it out. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
Alcoholics carry an awful load around with them. What a load lying puts on your shoulders! Drinking makes liars out of all of us alcoholics. In order to get the liquor we want, we have to lie all the time. We have to lie about where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing. When you are lying, you are only half alive because of the fear of being found out. When you come into AA and get honest with yourself and with other people, that terrible load of lying falls off your shoulders.

Have I got rid of that load of lying?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. As fears and worries and resentments depart out of my life, the things of the spirit come in to take their places. Calm comes after a storm. As soon as I am rid of fears and hates and selfishness, God’s love and peace and calm can come in.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may rid myself of all fears and resentments, so that peace and serenity may take their place. I pray that I may sweep my life clean of evil, so that good may come in.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

Reflection for the Day
I can attain real dignity, importance and individuality only by a dependence on a Power which is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to use this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good.

Just for today, will I try to live this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once?

Today I Pray
May I make no decision, engineer no change in the course of my lifestream, without calling upon my Higher Power. May I have faith that God’s plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself.

Today I Will Remember
God is the architect. I am the builder.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

We alcoholics are the world’s greatest squanderers. During our drinking days we squandered our money, our health, our time, our intellect, our reputations, in fact everything – not for a purpose, but to make ourselves oblivious to the fact that we were doing so.

We who have accepted the AA way of living must never give up our old habit, but we should learn to spend ourselves for a constructive purpose.

That purpose is to help the other alcoholic. We are the best qualified people in the world for the job. Years of conditioning and thousands of dollars went into the process of making us experts. We have no other means of atoning for the past, no other way of showing our appreciation for the Grace of God which saved us, but to squander ourselves for this world-needed purpose.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 – Good morning, and just breathe and have a good Friday

 

Good morning and let’s set out on this magnificent Friday with optimism that we can handle whatever the day and anyone else have in store

Jan. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Letting Go of Confusion

Sometimes, the way is not clear.

Our minds get clouded, confused. We aren’t certain what our next step should be, what it will look like, what direction we are headed.

That is the time to stop, ask for guidance, and rest. That is the time to let go of fear. Wait. Feel the confusion and chaos, then let it go. The path will show itself. The next step shall be revealed. We don’t have to know now. We will know in time. Trust that. Let go and trust.

Today, I will wait if the way is not clear. I will trust that out of the chaos will come clarity.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

Today, my Program, cemented in three concepts: choice, consequences, and responsibility. I understand now that drinking is a choice and the reasons I concoct to justify it are nothing more than rationalizations – excuses – or contributing factors to which I am surrendering my control. If I choose to drink, there are inevitable consequences as all actions have, and my long history with drinking proves that the consequences are usually the same, are never less and usually worsen. And with those consequences comes responsibility to them, and the consequences are predictable – a hangover, regret for what I did or said when I was drunk, maybe another DUI, possibly waking up in the county jail’s drunk tank – again. Today, the consequences are too high for me, and I don’t want to be responsible to them. And if I don’t want to be responsible to the consequences of drinking, the choice is clear and logical – don’t drink. I choose not to. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023