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

 

Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Making the stretch

Some of us come into the program and are gung ho for the first three to six weeks. We’re like a quarter horse, good for the short run but not for the long stretch. After we come down from the high of winning our first run, reality and responsibility seep in and we step out, possibly even give up.

So something has to carry us through, and that is our Higher Power, providing we let it. Then, as time passes, we find we no longer feel the need to use drugs. Our Higher Power is what guides us through.

Am I good for the long stretch?

Higher Power, guide me with your loving light for the whole race.

Today I will improve my stamina by practicing …

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 21, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelen Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Some people spend their lives failing and never notice. — Judith Rossner

It’s doubtful that those of us in Twelve Step programs fail at something very often without taking special notice. We’re more likely to see a setback as a sign we’re complete failures than as a necessary learning experience for growth.

The Big Book’s suggestion that this is a program of progress, not perfection may be fine for everyone else. But we still often feel we must get every promotion we try for, or an “A” on every exam, or win every game when we bowl. To be merely good, or worse yet only average, is much too humiliating.

When we’re feeling this way, it’s way past time for a talk with our Higher Power. How swiftly we forget that whatever our particular limitations, talents, or abilities, we always have a place in God’s plan. We are not expected to accomplish more than we can today. We are expected to be human, learning as we go. In God’s world we are perfect just as we are.

I will learn from my mistakes and accept my limitations today.

Hazelden Foundation