Jan. 4, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Jan. 4, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The perfection of innocence, indeed, is madness. — Arthur Miller

We’ve all said, “I didn’t do anything. Don’t blame me; I didn’t mean any harm.” Overdevelopment of innocence contradicts our spiritual growth. The painful truth is, we do have an impact on other people. Many times we have cultivated innocence as a style, and it has stood in our way of being accountable.

We cannot be in a relationship without sometimes hurting the ones we love. Spiritual growth requires us to take action and to take responsibility for what we do. It is painful to acknowledge we made a mistake and hurt someone. But giving up our innocent style is constructive pain. It opens the possibility to correct our ways, make repairs, and be forgiven. Then we are in the mainstream of a hearty spiritual life.

May I have the grace to let go of my innocence by taking action and admitting my mistakes.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 4, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Monday, Jan. 4, 2021

” …(O)ur problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 7 (“Working With Others”), p 103. 

Today, the fights have been many, the injuries deep and some scars permanent. Lies have been bountiful, hurt to myself and others indelible, and the fun ceased long ago if it ever was fun at all. Enough is enough. To continue as is, is a spiral downward into a pit from which there may be no escape; to change course now, hope prevails. Today is the day I begin to answer what exists in my emotional and spiritual psyche that is fueled by alcoholic drinking and thinking, and I have grown tired of “fighting anybody or anything.” My hope cannot be in my own will power; it is as mythical as the magical unicorn. Hope now falls on AA and my commitment to honestly and diligently working its Steps and Principles. There, I have no reason to fight anyone and anything – other than my own resistance to surrender completely. Today, enough is enough; I surrender. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2021

Jan. 4, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Jan. 4, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
Have I admitted I am an alcoholic? Have I swallowed my pride and admitted I was different from ordinary drinkers? Have I accepted the fact that I must spend the rest of my life without liquor? Have I any more reservations, any idea in the back of my mind that some day I’ll be able to drink safely? Am I absolutely honest with myself and with other people? Have I taken an inventory of myself and admitted the wrong I have done? Have I come clean with my friends?

Have I tried to make it up to them for the way I have treated them?

Meditation for the Day
I will believe that fundamentally all is well. Good things will happen to me. I believe that God cares for me and will provide for me. I will not try to plan ahead. I know that the way will unfold, step by step. I will leave tomorrow’s burden to God, because He is the great burden-bearer. He only expects me to carry my one-day’s share.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not try to carry the burden of the universe on my shoulders. I pray that I may be satisfied to do my share each day.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 4, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Monday, Jan. 4, 2021

Reflection for the Day

For a good part of my life, I saw things mostly in negative terms. Everything was serious, heavy or just plain awful. Perhaps now I can truly change my attitude, searching out the winners in The Program who have learned how to live comfortably in the real world – without numbing their brains with mood-altering chemicals.

If things get rough today, can I take a quiet moment and say to myself, as the philosopher Homer once said, “Bear patiently, my heart – for you have suffered heavier things …?”

Today I Pray

May the peace of God that passes all human understanding fill the place within me that once harbored my despair. May an appreciation for living – even for life’s trials – cancel out my old negative attitudes. During heart-heavy moments, help to remind me that my heart was once much heavier still.

Today I Will Remember

I, too, am a winner.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 4, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Monday, Jan. 4, 2021

Pride in ancestry has kept many alcoholics from the humbleness that is a prime requisite of success in our program. The deeper one is in his cups, the greater in his remorse for his condition – not because of his descent to the level of the animal, but because of his betrayal of his noble family traditions.

Ancestry is good only when it inspires living up to its traditions. When it becomes a throne built on other men’s accomplishments, it is nothing. We alcoholics should be reminded of Voltaire’s words when he said: “He who serves well has no need of ancestors.”

Let us think less of our ancestors and more about what kind of ancestors we will make.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 4, 2021 - Good morning with determination to do the first Monday and full week of the new year without worry and fear

Good morning to the first Monday and first full work week of 2021, but with faith that neither is going to hit us with anything we can handle ...that include anything and anyone out to trip us up ...have a really great and productive but SAFE day

Jan. 3, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

But the alcoholic…will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self-knowledge. — The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Our program says three things are more important than knowing ourselves: first, admitting we have no control over our addiction; second, believing in a Higher Power; and third, turning our lives over to the care of that Higher Power.

Knowing ourselves makes our lives better in recovery. But it does not give us sobriety. Sobriety starts with surrender to our Higher Power. We now know we need the faith and strength we get from a Higher Power. We also need the support of others in our program.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, thank you for my sobriety today. Teach me what I need to know about myself to do Your will today.

Action for the Day

Today I’ll talk with my sponsor about the change in my spirit that keeps me sober.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 3, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021

“We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals – usually brief – were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period, we get worse, never better.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 3 (“More About Alcoholism”), p 30.

Today, conceding to “our innermost selves” that we are alcoholic is the first step in recovery. Without that admission, every attempt to stop drinking is doomed to failure: our drinking histories are mute testimony to that. But if we can admit to ourselves that we are alcoholic, the answer to the next logical question – Why do I have to quit altogether instead of cutting back? – is obvious: alcoholism is a progressive condition that is never cured and, when fed, gets worse. But alcoholism can be arrested, and the only guaranteed method is total abstinence. Today, if I still struggle that my drinking has progressed into alcoholism, I have to retreat within my innermost self in absolute honesty and, if I acknowledge the obvious answer, recovery awaits me, just for the asking. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2021

Jan. 3, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021

AA Thought for the Day

When I came into AA, I learned what an alcoholic was and then I applied this knowledge to myself to see if I was an alcoholic. When I was convinced that I was an alcoholic, I admitted it openly. Since then, have I been learning to live accordingly? Have I read the book “Alcoholics Anonymous?” Have I applied the knowledge gained to myself? Have I admitted openly that I am an alcoholic?

Am I ready to admit it at any time when I can be of help?

Meditation for the Day

I will be renewed. I will be remade. In this, I need God’s help. His spirit shall flow through me and, in flowing through me, it shall sweep away all the bitter past. I will take heart. The way will open for me. Each day will unfold something good, as long as I am trying to live the way I believe God wants me to live.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be taught, just as a child would be taught. I pray that I may never question God’s plans, but accept them gladly.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 3, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021

Reflection for the Day

My addiction is three-fold in that it affects me physically, mentally and spiritually. As a chemically-dependent person, I was totally out of touch not only with myself, but with reality. Day after miserable day, like a caged animal on a treadmill, I repeated my self-destructive pattern of living.

Have I begun to break away from my old ideas? Just for today, can I adjust myself to what is, rather than try to adjust everything to my own desires?

Today I Pray

I pray that I may not be caught up again in the downward, destructive spiral which removed me from myself and from the realities of the world around me. I pray that I may adjust to people and situations as they are instead of always trying, unsuccessfully and with endless frustration, to bend them to my own desires.

Today I Will Remember

I can only change myself.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 3, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021

You can’t tell a drunk anything, but you can show him. All too frequently, we dry out on Monday, attend our first meeting on Tuesday and try our hand at Twelve Stepping on Wednesday.

With a sketchy conception of what it is all about, with little or no knowledge of the Program, sometimes with the smell of paraldehyde still on our breath, we venture forth to dry up the world and, when we fail, we wonder why.

Remember the 12th Step says, “Having had a Spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics.” You can’t carry the message before you receive it nor can you give it if you don’t possess it.

Hazelden Foundation