July 2, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances.
 -- Julia Soul

Do we avoid making new friends because we're scared they won't like us? Do we get embarrassed when we make a mistake and avoid trying again? When we get our feelings hurt, do we think we're bad, or that something is wrong with us?

Being scared or shy or hurt are all part of being alive. When we try to stay away from painful feelings, we keep ourselves from having many wonderful adventures. If we're afraid to meet new people, we may never have any close friends. If we stop trying when we're embarrassed, we may never learn a better way of doing things. And if we don't share our hurt feelings, we may never find out that everyone else has the same feelings we have.

What can I try again today that I failed at yesterday?

From the book:

Today's Gift by Anonymous

Today's Gift © 1985, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Today, if it should be the anniversary of the passing of someone dear to me or any other observance that rekindles a sense of loss and bittersweet, let me look to my Program not to mourn what is gone but to be grateful that I experienced the good in the first place. And let me look to the lessons and examples of who or what I was once blessed enough to have to pay respect to their memories. As a drinking alcoholic, loss was a cornerstone of my existence; today, in recovery, gratitude and honoring the memories of people or things now gone are my hope. The Program of AA has given me the tools to come to terms with loss but, more importantly, how to handle the sometimes unkind changes of life without alcohol, self-pity, anger, anguish and a subtle longing for days and times long gone. Today, if the date resurrects the bittersweet, the gift of sobriety can overcome the bitter. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

In memory of:
Vicki Stewart
July 2, 1953-Jan. 12, 2008

July 2, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, July 2, 2014

AA Thought for the Day
In the association with members of the AA group to which we belong, we have the advantage of sincere friendship and understanding of the other members who, through social and personal contact, take us away from our old haunts and environments and help to remove in large measure the occasions of alcoholic suggestion. We find in this association a sympathy and a willingness on the part of most members to do everything in their power to help us.

Do I appreciate the wonderful fellowship of AA?

Meditation for the Day
"Except ye become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." In this saying, it is urged that all who seek heaven on earth or in the hereafter should become like little children. In seeking things of the spirit and in our faith, we should try to become childlike. Even as we grow older, the years of seeking can give us the attitude of the trusting child. Not only for its simple trust should we have the childlike spirit, but also for its joy in life, its ready laughter, its lack of criticism and its desire to share. In Charles Dickens' story "A Christmas Carol," even old Scrooge changed when he got the child-spirit.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may become like a child in faith and hope. I pray that I may, like a child, be friendly and trusting.

Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Reflection for the Day

During our days of active addiction, many of us displayed almost dazzlingly fertile powers of imagination. In no time at all, we could dream up more reasons - or, excuses - for pursuing our addictions than most people use for all other purposes in their entire lives. When we first come to The Program, our once-imaginative minds seem to become lethargic and even numb. "Now what do I do?" many of us wonder. Gradually, however, the lethargy disappears. We begin learning to live and become turned on to life in ways that we never dreamed possible.

Am I finding that I can now enjoy activities that I wouldn't even consider in the old days?

Today I Pray

May God give me a new surge of energy directed toward "turning on to life" rather than making excuses for not handling my responsibilities. May He allow my out-of-order imagination to be restored - not to the buzzing over-activity of my compulsive days, but to a healthy openness to life's boundless possibilities.

Today I Will Remember

Turn on to life.

Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

We not only are judged by our words and actions, but also we are frequently misjudged by them. If you do or say anything at all, you will be either judged or misjudged and the purity of your motives will not affect the verdict.

Therefore, take but little thought of the judgment of men but in all things strive to earn the commendation of that still, small voice within you.

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

We have the power to direct our minds to replace the feelings of being upset, depressed, and fearful with the feeling of inner peace.
 -- Gerald G. Jampolsky

Learning to identify negative thoughts is a powerful way to begin changing our negative behavior. We always think before we act, even if the thinking has become automatic.

As we become committed to being aware of negative thoughts, we can stop, take a deep breath, and repeat a positive affirmation. Practicing this process will actually change the way we feel about ourselves. By thinking about positive things, we can change how we feel about a situation and about ourselves, too. Now, life has more promise, more joy.

Today, let me have the courage to change the way I think.

From the book:

Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast

Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Tuesday, July 1, 2014

"God will constantly disclose more to you ...Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. ...(O)bviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 11 ("A Vision for You"), p 164.

Today: "This is the Great Fact for us." And the Great Fact, according to the Big Book, is "great events" for me and "countless others" and answers that I may not have yet but will receive. This Great Fact is not free, however, also according to the Big Book. We are required to have a relationship that is right with our Higher Power, and our own house has to be in order before we can carry out the command of the 12th Step to help someone else. But if our relationship with our God as we understand him is "right" and our own house is in order, this - the promise of the Program - comes to us. Today, I focus my vision on the promise of what will be instead of returning to what drinking does to me. And my beginning echoes back to Step One: "(I am) powerless ..."). Second, I seek the willingness to come to believe in that Power greater than myself. I want the promise of the Program, and I am willing and ready to work for it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

July 1, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, July 1, 2014

AA Thought for the Day
In following the AA program with its twelve steps, we have the advantage of a better understanding of our problems. Day after day, our sobriety results in the formation of new habits, normal habits. As each 24-hour period ends, we find that the business of staying sober is a much less trying and fearsome ordeal than it seemed in the beginning.

Do I find it easier as I go along?

Meditation for the Day
Learn daily the lesson of trust and calm in the midst of the storms of life. Whatever of sorrow or difficulty the day may bring, God's command to you is the same. Be grateful, humble, calm and loving to all people. Leave each soul the better for having met you or heard you. For all kinds of people, this should be your attitude: a loving desire to help and an infectious spirit of calmness and trust in God. You have the answer to loneliness and fear, which is calm faith in the goodness and purpose in the universe.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be calm in the midst of storms. I pray that I may pass on this calmness to others who are lonely and full of fear.

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Reflection for the Day

Fear may have originally brought some of us to The Program. In the beginning, fear alone may help some of us stay away from the first drink, pill, joint or whatever. But a fearful state is hardly conducive to comfort and happiness - not for long. We have to find alternatives to fear to get us through those first empty hours, days or even weeks. For most of us, the answer has been to become active in and around The Program. In no time, we feel that we truly belong; for the first time in a long time, we begin to feel a "part of" rather than "apart from."

Am I willing to take the initiative?

Today I Pray

May God please help me find alternatives to fear - that watchdog of my earliest abstinence. I thank Him for directing me to a place where I can meet others who have experienced the same compulsions and fears. I am grateful for my feeling of belonging.

Today I Will Remember

I am "a part of," not "apart from."

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, July 1, 2014

A sinner is usually a sinner because he is thinking wrong, whereas a mean person has a warped and deformed personality.

A sinner's faults usually lie in his thoughtlessness, but the mean person is nearly always a person of strong will and determination.

Sinning stems from weakness, meanness from strength.

A dog will love a sinner but seldom a mean person.

Hazelden Foundation

June 30, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Monday, June 30, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.
 -- Charles P. Steinmetz

We often pass up the chance to ask a question of someone because we don't want to feel stupid. In the past, we kept very busy trying to look like we were in control; trying to seem as though we already knew what we needed to know. Now, in our new awareness that we can't live life alone, there is much we need to ask. We can learn a lot from children in this area. They are so wonderfully free of inhibitions when it comes to asking questions, and as a result, they learn. Their world expands.

We understand ourselves and others better when we ask questions, when we seek out new knowledge. We haven't experienced, studied, read about, or heard everything there is to know, so we have many questions, especially in the area of recovery. Now we know we can go ahead and ask, that it's okay, that the answer may help improve the quality of our lives. The more we search, the more we will learn, and the more serenity we will find. Like children, our minds are hungry for knowledge.

Today help me ask questions, without worrying about looking foolish, and respond to questions in the most helpful way I can.

From the book:

Body, Mind, and Spirit by Anonymous

Body, Mind, and Spirit © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation