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| Malcolm Boyd |
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March 1, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
-- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Newcomer
Initially, I was excited about recovery. I felt better for a while. I hate to say it, but now that I'm not at the beginning any more, everything seems worse. I feel more cynical than ever.
Initially, I was excited about recovery. I felt better for a while. I hate to say it, but now that I'm not at the beginning any more, everything seems worse. I feel more cynical than ever.
Sponsor
What you're experiencing is part of the process of recovery. Many of us go through a "honeymoon" phase in early recovery. Our craving may feel miraculously lifted. Change feels easy, and hope replaces despair.
What you're experiencing is part of the process of recovery. Many of us go through a "honeymoon" phase in early recovery. Our craving may feel miraculously lifted. Change feels easy, and hope replaces despair.
Then, life feels difficult again. We may perceive ourselves as having gotten worse, but that's not accurate. What's really happening is that, though our addictive craving has been treated, we still have our old problems, habits, and states of mind. We may be getting through the day, showing up for our work responsibilities, attending meetings, but not having much fun. We may wonder if what we've heard is really true -- that "our worst day in recovery is better than our best day of active addiction." We may wonder whether recovery really is the answer after all.
Our doubt makes clear to us that we have to do something. Staying where we are is too uncomfortable. We can attend a Step meeting and read program literature to begin to familiarize ourselves with our next Step. For spirits in need of healing, Step work leads to the next phase of recovery.
Today, I have the courage to move forward in my journey of recovery.
You are reading from the book:
If You Want What We Have © 1998 by Joan Larkin
March 1, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Today, if Step 10 detects a truth that what was valid once is invalid now, I need not be alarmed: given that the Program is about sobriety and not alcoholism, I hope I can say with honesty and objectivity that I have grown since my last 10th Step and that I might finally be thinking in terms of being sober instead of not getting drunk. But if Step 10 now shows that I have "out-grown" some of the defects that I drank to avoid, I cannot by any measure claim I am "cured," and I must return to the Fourth Step for a new inventory - and grant that I may find that the Program I had a year ago is not applicable now because sobriety, like life itself, is an evolutionary and ever-changing dynamic, and the Program I had a year ago may not work for me now. God granting, what works for me now will not work next year because I will hopefully grow. Sobriety is ever-changing and, as such, my Program to retain and prosper must also be adapted to accommodate its growth. Today, I pray an honest and objective review of my 10th Step will find that I must adapt my Program to my sobriety and not my alcoholism. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
March 1, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, March 1, 2015
AA Thought for the Day
When I find myself thinking about taking a drink, I say to myself: "Don't reach out and take that problem back. You've given it to God and there's nothing you can do about it." So I forget about the drink. One of the most important parts of the AA program is to give our drink problem to God honestly and fully and never to reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. If we let God have it and keep it for good and then cooperate with Him, we'll stay sober.
Have I determined not to take the drink problem back to myself?
Meditation for the Day
Constant effort is necessary if I am to grow spiritually and develop my spiritual life. I must keep the spiritual rules persistently, perseveringly, lovingly, patiently and hopefully. By keeping them, every mountain of difficulty shall be laid low, the rough places of poverty of spirit shall be made smooth, and all who know me shall know that God is the Lord of all my ways. To get close to the spirit of God is to find life and healing and strength.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that God's spirit may be everything to my soul. I pray that God's spirit may grow within.
Hazelden Foundation
March 1, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
A Day at a Time
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Reflection for the Day
Now that we're free and no longer chemically-dependent, we have so much more control over our thinking. More than anything, we're able to alter our attitudes. Some members of Alcoholics Anonymous, in fact, choose to think of the letters AA as an abbreviation for "Altered Attitudes." In the bad old days, I almost always responded to any optimistic or positive statement with, "Yes, but ..." Today, in contrast, I'm learning to eliminate that negative phrase from my vocabulary.
Am I working to change my attitude? Am I determined to "accentuate the positive ...?"
Today I Pray
May I find that healing and strength which God provides to those who stay near Him. May I keep to the spiritual guidelines of The Program, considering the Steps, taking the steps - one by one - then practicing them again and again. In this is my salvation.
Today I Will Remember
To practice at least one Step.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Reflection for the Day
Now that we're free and no longer chemically-dependent, we have so much more control over our thinking. More than anything, we're able to alter our attitudes. Some members of Alcoholics Anonymous, in fact, choose to think of the letters AA as an abbreviation for "Altered Attitudes." In the bad old days, I almost always responded to any optimistic or positive statement with, "Yes, but ..." Today, in contrast, I'm learning to eliminate that negative phrase from my vocabulary.
Am I working to change my attitude? Am I determined to "accentuate the positive ...?"
Today I Pray
May I find that healing and strength which God provides to those who stay near Him. May I keep to the spiritual guidelines of The Program, considering the Steps, taking the steps - one by one - then practicing them again and again. In this is my salvation.
Today I Will Remember
To practice at least one Step.
Hazelden Foundation
March 1, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, March 1, 2015
The door of living that opened upon our advent into AA is also able to close upon those years of daily dying that are behind us. That door opened into a long hall that stretched out to a vanishing point; our eye could not perceive its end. We should not be content to just pass through this portal and close the door upon our past, but we should move on for our happiness is up that hall, and we must constantly advance to attain our happy goal.
Hazelden Foundation
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