Feb. 3, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Reflection for the Day
The experiences of thousands upon thousands of people have proven that acceptance and faith are capable of producing freedom from dependence on chemicals. When we apply the same principles of acceptance and faith to our emotional problems, however, we discover that only relative results are possible. Obviously, for example, nobody can ever become completely free from fear, anger or pride. None of us will ever achieve perfect love, harmony or serenity. We'll have to settle for very gradual progress, punctuated occasionally by very heavy setbacks.

Have I begun to abandon my old attitude of "all or nothing"?
Today I Pray
May God grant me the patience to apply those same principles of faith and acceptance, which are keys to my recovery to the whole of my emotional being. May I learn to recognize the festering of my own human anger, my hurt, my frustration, and my sadness. With the help of God, may I find appropriate ways to deal with these feelings without doing harm to others or myself.
Today I Will Remember
Feelings are facts. 

From the book: 

 

A Day at a Time (Softcover) by Anonymous 

A Day at a Time © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Feb. 2, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 

Today, I understand - perhaps for the first time - that dependency is not confined to alcohol and the dynamics of addiction to it, and that dependency CAN impact my relationships with other people. For years, I depended on alcohol to drown feelings I did not want, to "create" feelings I wanted and to shape my attitude and perspective. Is it not logical, then, that I depended on alcohol to define - in part - my relationships with other people? Honesty says yes! And my expectations in those relationships were either to dominate THEM, or to be so emotionally needy and dependent on them that MY unrealistic expectations of them drove them away. Now, in sobriety, I have to admit that quitting drinking is not enough, that I must also be sober in my relationships and find the compromise between being the dominating one - and the needy one. Today, I begin the search for the way to being a contributor to healthy relationships. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Feb. 2, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
We got a kick out of the first few drinks, before we got stupefied by alcohol. For a while, the world seemed to look brighter. But how about the letdown, the terrible depression that comes the morning after? In AA, we get a real kick: not a false feeling of exhilaration, but a real feeling of satisfaction with ourselves, self-respect, and a feeling of friendliness toward the world. We got a sort of pleasure from drinking. For a while, we thought we were happy. But it's only an illusion. The hangover the next day is the opposite of pleasure.

In AA, am I getting real pleasure and serenity and peace?

Meditation for the Day
I will practice love, because lack of love will block the way. I will try to see good in all people, those I like and also those who fret me and go against the grain. They are all children of God. I will try to give love; otherwise, how can I dwell in God's spirit whence nothing unloving can come? I will try to get along with all people, because the more love I give away, the more I will have.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may do all I can to love others, in spite of their many faults. I pray that as I love, so will I be loved.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 

Reflection for the Day
Looking back, I realize just how much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of others. It provided much self-satisfaction, to be sure, but I see now just how subtle and actually perverse the process became. After all was said and done, the net effect of dwelling on the so-called faults of others was self-granted permission to remain comfortably unaware of my own defects.

Do I still point my finger at others and thus self-deceptively overlook my own shortcomings?

Today I Pray
May I see that my preoccupation with the faults of others is really a smokescreen to keep me from taking a hard look at my own, as well as a way to bolster my own failing ego. May I check out the "why's" of my blaming.

Today I Will Remember
Blame-saying is game-playing. 

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 

Probably no class of people has been brought into deep and turbulent waters of life to the extent of us alcoholics. Thousands of us were saved by a merciful God and emerged from our ordeal cleaner and stronger. That we were spared can be attributed only to the Grace of God. There is nothing haphazard about God's actions. He led us into deep water for a purpose; He extracted us for a purpose. Be sure you fulfill that purpose. 

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Humility is our acceptance of ourselves. -- Anonymous

It is strange how we can go to school and learn a lot of facts, but never learn much along the way about ourselves. We can take up nursing, teaching, counseling, and giving ourselves to the needs of others, while never having our own needs met.

Why does it seem as if it is easier to solve the problems of the world than to solve our own problems? We simply don't know ourselves very well. When we look into a mirror and attempt to understand ourselves, our conclusions about what we see are usually very different from what a friend sees. When we finally take the time and make ourselves a priority, we make a startling discovery. There exists within us at all times a Higher Power that is the builder of all successes and our comforter during times of trial.

I understand myself only in relation to my Higher Power. The image I see and the identity I have is then one of humility before that Power. Humility is my acceptance of myself.

From the book:

Easy Does It by Anonymous

Easy Does It © 1999 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Feb. 1, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

Today, I begin to tear down the wall that BITTERNESS has built between me and the promises of the Program and recovery - serenity with the world and myself, inclusion instead of exclusion from others in recovery who have found what I have not, a positive instead of a negative influence of everyone around me. Unlike anger, which in some cases is justified, bitterness has NO justification; like alcohol, the power of bitterness is in its destruction not only of everything and everyone around me but of myself as well. And, like alcohol, bitterness is the epitome of selfishness, of rejection of all that is good and constructive - and a validated ticket to loneliness. With as much work as I expended on drinking, it takes as much if not more work emotionally and physically to keep bitterness going. Today, I'm too tired and disgusted with bitterness to give it the time and effort needed to empower it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Feb. 1, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
When we think about having a drink, we're thinking of the kick we get out of drinking, the pleasure, the escape from boredom, the feeling of self-importance and the companionship of other drinkers. What we don't think of is the letdown, the hangover, the remorse, the waste of money and the facing of another day. In other words, when we think about that first drink, we're thinking of all the assets of drinking and none of the liabilities.

What has drinking really got that we haven't got in AA? Do I believe that the liabilities of drinking outweigh the assets?

Meditation for the Day
I will start a new life each day. I will put the old mistakes away and start anew each day. God always offers me a fresh start. I will not be burdened or anxious. If God's forgiveness were only for the righteous and those who had not sinned, where would be its need? I believe that God forgives us all of our sins, if we are honestly trying to live today the way He wants us to live. God forgives us much and we should be very grateful.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and fear and selfishness. I pray that I may have a glad, thankful and humble heart.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 

Reflection for the Day
The longer I'm in The Program, the more clearly I see why it's important for me to understand why I do what I do and say what I say. In the process, I'm coming to realize what kind of person I really am. I see now, for example, that it's far easier to be honest with other people than with myself. I'm learning, also, that we're all hampered by our need to justify our actions and words.

Have I taken an inventory of myself as suggested in the Twelve Steps? Have I admitted my faults to myself, to God and to another human being?

Today I Pray
May I not be stalled in my recovery process by the enormity of The Program's Fourth Step, taking a moral inventory of myself or by admitting these shortcomings to myself, to God and to another human being. May I know that honesty to myself about myself is all-important.

Today I Will Remember
I cannot mend if I bend the truth. 

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

To us alcoholics, our Twelve Steps of Recovery are the stars on which we set our course of sobriety. Like the seafaring man, we will not get them completely in our grasp, nor do we need to do so. If we but follow the course they indicate, we, too, will reach our haven.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Action carries us in the direction we choose.

Recovery involves doing - going to meetings working our program, reaching out to others. We don't get a job by sitting at home thinking about it, and we don't get a degree by looking at college catalogs.

It's true that we need to reflect; we need quiet times when we pray for guidance. There comes a point, however, when action is called for, when we use the power we are given to carry out our Higher Power's will for our lives to the best of our understanding.

One action leads to another. Doing what we need to do to be abstinent today adds 24 hours to recovery.

Today, I will act on my best understanding of my Higher Power's will or me.

From the book:

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L.

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.