Sept. 5, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019

"Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." - The Fifth Tradition

Today, as a humble member of one of thousands of AA groups, I look to this tradition to determine if my contribution to my home group is sufficient or if I can find more that I can and should do. And what I do must be within the command of the Fifth Tradition - to reach out to the alcoholic who still suffers. This tradition does not limit itself to the drinking alcoholic, however, and includes those who still struggle in recovery. As part of my group, let me remember that not only is my group there for me, but I am there for the group, and my example to those who continue to suffer must be a reflection of the Program itself. Today, I try to understand that my sobriety comes with the responsibility to represent the Program that led me to sobriety. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2019

Sept. 5, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019

AA Thought for the Day
One of the mottoes of AA is, "First Things First." This means that we should always keep in mind that alcohol is our number one problem. We must never let any other problem, whether of family, business, friends or anything else take precedence in our minds over our alcoholic problem. As we go along in AA, we learn to recognize the things that may upset us emotionally. When we find ourselves getting upset over something, we must realize that it's a luxury we alcoholics can't afford. Anything that makes us forget our number one problem is dangerous to us.

Am I keeping sobriety in first place in my mind?

Meditation for the Day
Spiritual progress is the law of your being. Try to see around you more and more of beauty and truth, knowledge and power. Today try to be stronger, braver, more loving as a result of what you did yesterday. This law of spiritual progress gives meaning and purpose to your life. Always expect better things ahead. You can accomplish much good through the strength of God's spirit in you. Never be too discouraged. The world is sure to get better, in spite of setbacks of war, hate and greed. Be part of the cure of the world's ills rather than part of the disease.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may keep progressing in the better life. I pray that I may be a part of the forces for good in the world.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 5, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019

Reflection for the Day
We're often told that alcoholics and other addictive persons are perfectionists, impatient about any shortcomings - especially our own. We tend to set impossible goals for ourselves, struggling fiercely to reach our unattainable ideals. Then, of course - since no person could possibly meet the extremely high standards we demand of ourselves - we find ourselves falling short. Discouragement and depression set in; we angrily punish ourselves for being less than superhuman. The next time around, rather than setting more realistic goals, we set them even higher. And we fall farther, then punish ourselves more severely.

Isn't it about time I stopped setting unattainable goals for myself?

Today I Pray
May God temper my own image of myself as a super-person. May I settle for less than perfection from myself, as well as from others. For only God is perfect, and I am limited by being human.

Today I Will Remember
I am not God; I am only human.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 5, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019

If you are a person who likes his drink and yet has to forego his pleasure in order to retain some semblance of order in your life, you will naturally be miserable.

For you there is but one remedy. Get busy on the Program, talk it, work it, preach it, think it, pray it, live it - then you will find that you like it.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 5, 2019 - Let's tackle Thursday with the goal to do it awesome

Sept. 4, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The wisdom of all ages and cultures emphasizes the tremendous power our thoughts have over our character and circumstances. — Liane Cordes

“As we think, so we are.” We are gifted with the personal power to make thoughtful choices and thus decide whom we are. Our actions and choices combine to create our character, and our character influences the circumstances of our lives.

Our personal mind power will work to our advantage when we think positively, or it will contribute to our disadvantage. Imagining our good fortunes will prepare us for them. Imagining the successful completion of a task heightens and strengthens the commitment we must make daily to it. Imagining the steps necessary to the successful accomplishment of any goal directs our efforts so we don’t falter along the way. Our minds work powerfully for our good. And just as powerfully to our detriment, when fears intrude on all our thoughts.

The program has given me positive personal power; it lies in the relationship I have with my higher power. My outlook and attitude toward life reveals the strength of my connection to God. I will work with God and imagine my good fortune today.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 4, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019

Today, remember gratitude and its importance in recovery. I can be grateful that the lifeline of recovery was tossed to me when I needed it, grateful for the peers in the Program who stood with me and picked me up when I stumbled and fell, grateful that the 12 Steps have kept me clean and sober the last 24 Hours and, maybe most importantly, grateful that whatever problems I have even in sobriety are nowhere near as bad as they were in my drinking days. In feeling with sincerity a gratitude that my life in sobriety is far better than it was in my drinking, I can hope to develop the humility that is required to make progress in my sobriety - humility being my total surrender to my Higher Power and seeking His will for my life, not mine. Today, I measure my gratitude with the goal to bolster it for the sake of progress. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2019

Sept. 4, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019

AA Thought for the Day
"We must be careful never to show intolerance or hatred of drinking as an institution. Experience shows that such an attitude is not helpful to anyone. We are not fanatics or intolerant of people who can drink normally. Prospects are relieved when they find we are not witch burners. Temperate drinking is okay, but we alcoholics can't get away with it. And no alcoholic likes to be told about alcohol by anyone who hates it. We shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility."

Do I have tolerance for those who can drink normally?

Meditation for the Day
Do not become encumbered by petty annoyances. Never respond to emotional upsets by emotional upset. Try to keep calm in all circumstances. Try not to fight back. Call on the grace of God to calm you when you feel like retaliating. Look to God for inner strength to drop those resentments that drag you down. If you are burdened by annoyances, you will lose your inward peace and the spirit of God will be shut out. Try to keep peaceful within.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may do the things that make for peace. I pray that I may have a mission of conciliation.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 4, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019

Reflection for the Day

Though I have prayed at various times in my life, I realized after several months in The Program that I'd never really prayed properly. I'd always tried to make deals with God, much like a foxhole atheist; I'd always pleaded, "Grant me my wishes," instead of, "Thy will - not mine - be done." The result was that I remained self-deceived and was thus incapable of receiving enough grace to restore me to sanity.

Do I see that in the past, when I prayed to God, I usually asked that two and two not make four?

Today I Pray

May I look back and review how I have prayed before, for specific solutions that I from my earthly vantage felt were best. May I question, in the longer view of time, whether those solutions would have been right, had God chosen to do things my way. In retrospect, may I see that my pleas were not always so wise. May I be content to trust God.

Today I Will Remember

God may not do it my way.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 4, 2019 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019

Too many of us ex-drunks expect too much when we get dried out. We, with characteristic impatience, see no reason why we can't, overnight, regain all our lost ground and get the fifteen thousand dollar job that other sober men get.

Drying out only gives us the opportunity to realize our ambitions. Ability always has been, and always will be, a factor to be reckoned with. Getting sober won't make a musician out of a boilermaker.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 4, 2019 - Good morning to a beautiful and magnificent Wednesday