The road to recovery and clearing the path

Oct. 9, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
Am I willing to be bored sometimes at meetings? Am I willing to listen to much repetition of AA principles? Am I willing to hear the same thing over and over again? Am I willing to listen to a long blow-by-blow personal story, because it might help some new member? Am I willing to sit quietly and listen to long-winded members go into every detail of their past? Am I willing to take it, because it is doing them good to get it off their chest? My feelings are not too important. The good of AA comes first, even if it is not always comfortable for me.

Have I learned to take it?

Meditation for the Day
God would draw us all closer to Him in the bonds of the spirit. He would have all people drawn closer to each other in the bonds of the spirit. God, the great Spirit of the universe, of which each of our own spirits is a small part, must want unity between Himself and all His children. "Unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace." Each experience of our life, of joy, of sorrow, of danger, of safety, of difficulty, of success, of hardship, of ease, each should be accepted as part of our common lot, in the bonds of the spirit.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may welcome the bonds of true fellowship. I pray that I may be brought closer to unity with God and other people.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 9, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013

Reflection for the Day
I remember once hearing someone in The Program say, "Life is a series of agreeings or disagreeings with the universe." There is much truth in that statement, for I'm only a small cog in the machinery of the universe. When I try to run things my way, I'll experience only frustration and a sense of failure. If, instead, I learn to let go, I'll have time to count my blessings, work on my shortcomings, and live fully and richly in The Now.

Do I believe that what I am meant to know will come to my knowledge if I practice the Eleventh Step - praying only for knowledge of God's will for me and the power to carry that out?

Today I Pray
May I take my direction from the Eleventh Step - and not fall into my usual habit of making itemized lists for God of all my pleas and entreaties and complaints. May I no longer second-guess God with my specific solutions, but pray only that His will be done. May I count my blessings instead of my beseechings.

Today I Will Remember
Stop list-making for God.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 9, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013

So you killed the goose that laid the Golden Egg? That's too bad. You can't bring it back to life, but you can do the next best thing - you can eat the goose. You can't unscramble an egg, but you can bake a cake.

It is water going over the dam that drives the machinery. You are an alcoholic - you can't help that fact, but you can use your alcoholism for the benefit of other alcoholics and society generally.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 9, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved . . . the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. -- George Eliot
We've all heard many times that we must love ourselves if we're ever to love another. Too often we mistakenly think that means we shouldn't need to hear someone's affirmation of love. That assumption is wrong. Praise from others builds our self-confidence, keeps us on track, aware of how we're presenting ourselves moment by moment.

But many of us didn't develop healthy egos in our youth because we didn't get feedback that affirmed us. We didn't hear we were loved. As adults, we're scrambling to feel confident, to feel sure of our direction and our value to society. And we're hoping to hear we're loved. We can be certain someone close will be helped by hearing our words of love.

There's no time like the present for sharing love.

From the book:

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey

Oct. 8, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013

"In AA, we can begin again no matter how late it may be. I have begun again. At 54, I have had come true for me the old wish, 'If only I could live my life over, knowing what I know.' That's what I am doing, living again, knowing what I know. I hope I have been able to impart ...at least a bit of what I know; the joy of living, the irresistible power of divine love and its healing strength, and the fact that we, as sentient beings, have the knowledge to choose between good and evil, and, choosing good, are made happy." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Lost Nearly All," Ch 11 ("He Who Loses His Life"), p 543.

Today, it's not too late until it's too late - and it's too late only when I've died. Until then, I have the lifeline and the choice of sobriety, and all I need do is grab and hold onto the lifeline, the lifeline being the AA Program. Even if I cannot yet envision the Program's promises of sobriety if I adhere to the code of ethics, or the Twelve Steps, I know already and all too well the life I have if I don't begin anew. In the end, the decision is a matter of choice - to continue in the life of active drinking that I already know with agonizing pain, or to choose something better. Today, I choose something better; it's not too late because I'm here! And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Oct. 8, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
There is such a thing as being too loyal to any one group. Do I feel put out when another group starts and some members of my group leave it and branch out into new territory? Or do I send them out with my blessing? Do I visit that new offshoot group and help it along? Or do I sulk in my own tent? AA grows by the starting of new groups all the time. I must realize that it's a good thing for a large group to split up into smaller ones, even if it means that the large group - my own group - becomes smaller.

Am I always ready to help new groups?

Meditation for the Day
Pray - and keep praying until it brings peace and serenity and a feeling of communion with One who is near and ready to help. The thought of God is balm for our hates and fears. In praying to God, we find healing for hurt feelings and resentments. In thinking of God, doubts and fears leave us. Instead of those doubts and fears, there will flow into our hearts such faith and love as is beyond the power of material things to give, and such peace as the world can neither give nor take away. And with God, we can have the tolerance to live and let live.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have true tolerance and understanding. I pray that I may keep striving for these difficult things.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 8, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013

Reflection for the Day
Determination - our clenched-jaw resolve that we can do something about everything - is perhaps the greatest hindrance to achieving serenity. Our old tapes tell us, "The difficult can be done immediately; the impossible will take a little longer." So we tighten up and prepare ourselves for battle, even though we know from long experience that our own will dooms us in advance to failure. Over and over, we are told in The Program that we must "Let Go and Let God." And we eventually do find serenity when we put aside our own will while accepting His will for us.

Am I learning to relax my stubborn grip? Do I allow the solutions to unfold by themselves?

Today I Pray
May I loosen my tight-jaw, my tight-fists, my general up-tightness - outward indications of the "do-it-myself" syndrome which has gotten me into trouble before. May I know from experience that this attitude - of "keep a grip on yourself" and on everybody else, too - is accompanied by impatience and followed by frustration. May I merge my own will with the greater will of God.

Today I Will Remember
Let up on the strangle-hold.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 8, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013

A shipwrecked sailor on a desert island may eventually find another in a like predicament, but the poor alcoholic is all alone with himself, even in a world full of alcoholics.

That is one of the most brutal characteristics of the malady that separates us from the world about us and makes us men without a country, without a hope and without a friend.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 8, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Willing to Make Amends

The Eighth Step is talking about a change of heart, a healing change.

This attitude can begin a great chain of repair and healing in our relationships with others and ourselves. It means we become willing to let go of our hard heartedness - one of the greatest blocks to our ability to give and receive love.

In the Eighth Step, we make a list of all people we have harmed, and we allow ourselves to experience a healing attitude toward them. It is an attitude of love.

We do not, in this Step, dash madly about and begin yelling, "Sorry!" We make our list, not to feel guilty, but to facilitate healing. Before we actually make amends or begin to consider appropriate amends, we allow ourselves to change our attitude. That is where healing begins - within us.

It can change the energy. It can change the dynamics. It can begin the process, before we ever open our mouths and say sorry.

It opens the door to love. It opens the door to the energy of love and healing. It enables us to release negative feelings and energy, and opens the door to positive feelings and energy.

That energy can be felt around the world, and it starts inside us.

How often have we, after we have been hurt, wished that the person would simply recognize our pain and say, "I'm sorry?" How often have we wished that the person would simply see us, hear us, and turn the energy of love our way? How often have we longed for at least a change of heart, a small dose of reconciliation, in relationships tainted by unfinished business and bad feelings? Often, others do too. It is no secret. The energy of healing begins with us. Our willingness to make amends may or may not benefit the other person; he or she may or may not be willing to put matters to rest.

But we become healed. We become capable of love.

Today, I will work on a change of heart if hard-heartedness, defensiveness, guilt, or bitterness are present. I will become willing to let go of those feelings and have them replaced by the healing energy of love.

From the book:

The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

Oct. 7, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, Oct. 7, 2013

"The spark that was to flare into the first AA group was struck at Akron, Ohio, in June 1935, during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician. Six months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience, following a meeting with an alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford Groups of that day. He had also been greatly helped by the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, a New York specialist in alcoholism ...From this doctor, the broker had learned the grave nature of alcoholism. Though he could not accept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Foreword to the Second Edition," pp-xv, xvi.

Today, "moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God." With that simple objective, the ensuing Twelve Steps guide me to the great promise of the Program: sobriety, serenity, humility, and service. I need not complicate or make a mystery of my reason to seek out AA or how to earn the gifts of recovery and sobriety. With my admission that I am powerless over alcohol and whatever else I cannot control and a determination and commitment to go to any extent to make my life one without alcohol, and to make it work, nothing exists to complicate my recovery. Today, being drunk 24/7 has had its run; I want sobriety. Today, I begin. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Oct. 7, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Oct. 7, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
Do I put too much reliance on any one member of the group? That is, do I make a tin god out of some one person? Do I set that person on a pedestal? If I do, I am building my house on sand. All AA members have "clay feet." They are all only one drink away from a drunk, no matter how long they have been in AA. This has been proved to be true more than once. It's not fair to any member to be singled out as a leader in AA and to always quote that member on the AA program. If that person should fail, where would I be?

Can I afford to be tipped over by the failure of my ideal?

Meditation for the Day
You must always remember that you are weak but that God is strong. God knows all about your weakness. He hears every cry for mercy, every sign of weakness, every plea for help, every sorrow over failure, every weakness felt and expressed. We only fail when we trust too much to our own strength. Do not feel bad about your weakness. When you are weak, that is when God is strong to help you. Trust God enough, and your weakness will not matter. God is always strong to save.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may learn to lean on God's strength. I pray that I may know that my weakness is God's opportunity.

Hazelden Foundation