Aug. 2, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

The Serenity Prayer

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

At 70, my dad is just like he was at 35 - only more so. It's frightening that the same thing could happen to me.
 -- Jerry Z

More of the same gets more of the same. What we were given to practice, we practiced. What we practiced, we became. What we became, we are continuing to become - only more so - every day of our lives. We can do ourselves a favor by being aware of what we practice. Has the past taught us to withdraw? Think of how isolated we'll be twenty years from now! Have we practiced generalized distrust? Imagine how deep the roots of fear are growing.

But there's another side to that truth. If we practice finding beauty today, we'll find twice as much beauty tomorrow. If we work on forgiveness today, tomorrow we may be free of resentments. If we choose to relate rather than isolate, we can walk with friends through all the years that stretch before us. What will the future bring us? Whatever we have invested in it.

I pray for the wisdom to see my future as largely the work of my own hands and heart. I pray for the courage to take responsibility for choosing my own direction.

From the book:

Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty. © 1987, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 2, 2014 - Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer

Step by Step
Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014

" ...I had my first drink and I still remember it, for every 'first' drink afterwards did exactly the same trick - I could feel it go right through every bit of my body ...But each drink after the 'first' seemed to become less effective and, after three or four, they all seemed like water. ...(T)he more I drank, the quieter I got, and the drunker I got, the harder I fought to stay sober. ...Even that first night I blacked out, which leads me to believe that I was an alcoholic from my very first drink." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Personal Stories," Ch 6 ("The Vicious Cycle"), p 241.

Today, grant that I always remember my last drink if I cannot remember my first - for it is the last one that brought me to my knees and set me on my search for something better. Even if I cannot remember the first drink or whether I became alcoholic with my first or 1,000th one, I cannot forget that I was in alcoholism with my last drink. And if I can't remember my last drink, it might not really be my last one; thus, the reason for AA . Regardless of how recently or long ago my last drink was, the Program is here to strengthen and guide me from taking the next one. Today, I am only as good as the guy whose last drink was yesterday even if mine was a thousand yesterdays ago and, today, I will remember my last drink. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

Aug. 2, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014

AA Thought for the Day
Alcoholics Anonymous has no quarrel with medicine, psychiatry or religion. We have great respect for the methods of each. And we are glad for any success they may have had with alcoholics. We are desirous always of cooperating with them in every way. The more doctors, the more psychiatrists, the more clergymen and rabbis we can get to work with us, the better we like it. We have many who take a real interest in our program and we would like many more.

Am I ready to cooperate with those who take a sincere interest in AA?

Meditation for the Day
God is always ready to pour His blessings into our hearts in generous measure. But like the seed-sowing, the ground must be prepared before the seed is dropped in. It is our task to prepare the soil. It is God's to drop the seed. This preparation of the soil means many days of living, choosing the right and avoiding the wrong. As you go along, each day you are better prepared for God's planting, until you reach the time of harvest. Then you share the harvest with God - the harvest of a useful and more abundant life.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that my way of living may be properly prepared day by day. I pray that I may strive to make myself ready for the harvest which God has planted in my heart.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 2, 2014 - A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer

A Day at a Time
Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014

Reflection for the Day
When I begin to compare my life with the lives of others, I've begun to move toward the edge of the murky swamp of self-pity. On the other hand, if I feel that what I'm doing is right and good, I won't be so dependent on the admiration or approval of others. Applause is well and good, but it's not essential to my inner contentment. I'm in the Program to get rid of self-pity, not to increase its power to destroy me.

Am I learning how others have dealt with their problems so I can apply these lessons to my own life?

Today I Pray
God, make me ever mindful of where I came from and the new goals I have been encouraged to set. May I stop playing to an audience for their approval, since I am fully capable of admiring or applauding myself if I feel I have earned it. Help me to make myself attractive from the inside, so it will show through, rather than adorning the outside for effect. I am tired of stage make-up and costumes, God; help me be myself.

Today I Will Remember
Has anyone seen ME?

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 2, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer

The Eye Opener
Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014
 
The very basis of AA is kindness to the suffering alcoholic, but the question often arises as to what is the kind thing to do. Sometimes we have to do things that might be considered cruel in order to be kind.

There are occasions when it is an act of kindness to have a man locked up if he is apt to hurt himself or others. Sometimes drastic steps have to be taken to prevent a man from driving his car when he is drunk. Occasionally it might be the best thing for a man if his boss should fire him or if his family left him.

We are frequently called upon for this kind of advice. Who are we to decide such issues? God has the answer, and it is best to turn the query over to Him.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 1, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

The Serenity Prayer

Friday, Aug. 1, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

The darkness was encumbering only because I relied upon my sight for everything I did, not knowing that another way was to let power be the guide.
 -- Carlos Castaneda

We don't need to be blind in order not to see. Remember how long it took for us to "see" our addictions? Remember how the blindfold of denial kept us from seeing the reality of our lives?

But it took a person or people to help us "see" our way into the program. And now that we are members, we still need others to guide us in our recovery. Sometimes pride gets in the way and tells us we can do it alone, yet those are the times when we stumble and fall. Perhaps today was a day when we refused the guidance of others. We may have felt we were strong enough to "go it alone." But we will feel the effects of such blind groupings if we don't remember that we need others.

Just as the blind person has a cane or a companion or an animal for guidance, so must we rely upon the power of the group and our Higher Power to help us "see" our way.

Have I been blind to the help offered by others? Can I ask for help to "see"?

From the book:

Night Light by Amy E. Dean

Night Light by Amy E. Dean. © 1986, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 1, 2014 - Step by Step

Get on the Wagon

Step by Step
Friday, Aug. 1, 2014
 
Today, grant me the wisdom not to pervert "Take It Easy" into procrastination or neglect of the new responsibilities that sobriety has given me. "Take It Easy" affords me not only the luxury but the necessity to tend to my own spiritual and emotional care lest I be unqualified to help someone else with their own. Adversely, "Take It Easy" does not bestow "permission" to put off or ignore responsibilities to myself, others and the 12th Step edict to carry the Program's message to the alcoholic who still suffers. The Program shows me how to balance the scale between taking it easy and procrastination, and if it's weighted down by taking it easy at the expense of responsibility to myself and others, I am as irresponsible dry as I was when I was drinking. Today, I seek that balance between taking it easy all the time and giving all my time to everything and everyone else. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

Aug. 1, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Aug. 1, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
The Alcoholics Anonymous program has borrowed from medicine, psychiatry and religion. It has taken from these what it wanted and combined them into the program which it considers best suited to the alcoholic mind and which will best help the alcoholic to recover. The results have been very satisfactory. We do not try to improve on the AA program. Its value has been proved by the success it has had in helping thousands of alcoholics to recover. It has everything we alcoholics need to arrest our illness.

Do I try to follow the AA program just as it is?

Meditation for the Day
You should strive for a union between your purposes in life and the purposes of the Divine Principle directing the universe. There is no bond of union on earth to compare with the union between a human soul and God. Priceless beyond all earth's rewards is that union. In merging your heart and mind with the heart and mind of the Higher Power, a oneness of purpose results, which only those who experience it can even dimly realize. That oneness of purpose puts you in harmony with God and with all others who are trying to do His will.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may become attuned to the will of God. I pray that I may be in harmony with the music of the spheres.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 1, 2014 - A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer

A Day at a Time
Friday, Aug. 1, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
Self-pity is one of the most miserable and consuming defects I know. Because of its interminable demands for attention and sympathy, my self-pity cuts off my communication with others, especially communication with my Higher Power. When I look at it that way, I realize that self-pity limits my spiritual progress. It's also a very real form of martyrdom, which is a luxury I simply can't afford. The remedy, I've been taught, is to have a hard look at myself and a still harder one at The Program's Twelve Steps to recovery.

Do I ask my Higher Power to relieve me of the bondage of self?

Today I Pray
May I know from observation that self-pitiers get almost no pity from anyone else. Nobody - not even God - can fill their out-sized demands for sympathy. May I recognize my own unsavory feeling of self-pity when it creeps in to rob me of my serenity. May God keep me wary of its sneakiness.

Today I Will Remember
My captor is my self.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 1, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer

The Eye Opener
Friday, Aug. 1, 2014
 
It has been observed by many in AA that the surest bet to get our Program is the man who needs it most desperately. His very desperation lends strength to his efforts. He has been backed up to a wall and he must fight his way out of his dilemma or else he must die. There is no alternative.

Only the coward quits in despair, and the alcoholic can't be a coward for, if he was, he would have quit the unequal game long before his alcoholism was fully developed.

Yes, it takes a brave man to fight his way to the gutter, and it takes a brave and desperate man to fight his way out.

Hazelden Foundation

July 31, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

The Serenity Prayer

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Without discipline, there's no life at all.
 -- Katharine Hepburn

We all have deadlines we must meet. We have bills to pay, responsibilities at work, children with school projects - all the innumerable small markers that push life forward.

When we realize we're procrastinating, we need to be committed to not shaming ourselves. Procrastination is not an indication that we have failed. How realistic would it be if we looked forward to doing unpleasant things? It's human to avoid what we'd rather not do.

As we free ourselves from the burden of perfectionism, we're free to better accept our responsibilities. Meeting deadlines as well as we can, one at a time, pays off in serenity and a manageable life. When we are crisis ridden, we are forced to live by other peoples' demands, rather than by our choices. In the face of procrastination, resentment, or perfectionism, we can turn to Step Ten for an inventory. We can forgive ourselves, try to laugh at ourselves, live in the present, and keep going. Today can be better than yesterday.

I may as well admit it - there's probably something I'm avoiding. Is today the day to do it?

From the book:

Answers in the Heart by Anonymous

Answers in the Heart © 1989 by P. Williamson and S. Kiser