May 2, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Sunday, May 2, 2021

Today, if I have made sincere amends to those I wronged "except when to do so would hurt" them or others, I must progress beyond regret, shame and anger to what may be my single strongest and most meaningful amend: committing myself to sobriety and recovery. For all I might have said or done as an alcoholic and now sober, I cannot become the proverbial doormat and let anyone or anything hammer me for the mistakes I have tried to correct, especially by those who cannot or will not accept my apologies. I can allow a margin of regret that I may not be forgiven by all I have hurt, but I cannot afford to be kicked down repeatedly. Today, if I have been rebuffed or cannot make amends because doing so might lead to more damage, I can find reconciliation in being sober. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

May 2, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, May 2, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
In AA, we often hear the slogan, "Easy Does It." Alcoholics also do everything to excess. They drink too much. They worry too much. They have too many resentments. They hurt themselves physically and mentally by too much of everything. So when they come into AA, they have to learn to take it easy. None of us knows how much longer we have to live. It's probable that we wouldn't have lived very long if we had continued to drink the way we used to. By stopping drinking, we have increased our chances of living for a while longer.

Have I learned to take it easy?

Meditation for the Day
You must be, before you can do. To accomplish much, be much. In all cases, the doing must be the expression of the being. It is foolish to think that we can accomplish much in personal relationships without first preparing ourselves by being honest, pure, unselfish and loving. We must choose the good and keep choosing it before we are ready to be used by God to accomplish anything worthwhile. We will not be given the opportunities until we are ready for them. Quiet times of communion with the Higher Power are good preparation for creative action.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may constantly prepare myself for better things to come. I pray that I may only have opportunities when I am ready for them.

Hazelden Foundation

May 2, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Sunday, May 2, 2021

Reflection for the Day
When I was drinking, I was certain that my intelligence, backed by willpower, could properly control my inner life and guarantee me success in the world around me. This brave and grandiose philosophy, by which I played God, sounded good in the saying, but it still had to meet the acid test: how well did it actually work? One good look in the mirror was answer enough.

Have I begun to ask God each day for strength?

Today I Pray
May I stop counting on my old standbys, my "superior intelligence" and my "willpower," to control my life. I used to think, with those two fabulous attributes, that I was all-powerful. May I not forget, as my self-image is restored, that only through surrender to a Higher Power will I be given the power that can make me whole.

Today I Will Remember
Check for "head-tripping."

Hazelden Foundation

May 2, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Sunday, May 2, 2021

The United Nations and the old League of Nations both recognized the fact that man's conquest of time and space has brought the nations of the earth into such close and intimate relationship that national problems are now world problems and must be dealt with accordingly.

Their lack of success, up to the present time, stems from their inability to recognize the common Fatherhood of God and the inherent brotherhood of man. They attempt to settle world affairs without consulting the Power that made both the world and the men in it.

God put no problems in the world; they are all man-made and far too often, we fear, they bear the stamp "Made in the USA."

Hazelden Foundation

May 2, 2021 - Good morning to this beautiful Sunday and let's make it serene, relaxing yet productive and safe

 

Good morning and let's aim for a relaxing and serene but worthwhile and productive Sunday ...have a truly wonderful day, and people and things out to mess it up don't deserve our time and attention

May 1, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Hope and patience are two sovereign remedies for all, the surest reposals, the softest cushions to lean on in adversity. — Robert Burton

It is just as easy to think “I can” as it is to think “I can’t.” Both attitudes are habitual orientations to life that can become automatic with practice. Neither attitude has as much to do with the task at hand as it does with the inner spirit of the person facing the task. In either case, the task is the same — only the attitude is different.

But what a difference! The “I can” people are the ones we want to spend time with and to use as models. These are the people who either have never lost, or have worked to regain the positive outlook we are all born with. It never occurs to a baby, for example, that all that staggering and falling means he or she will never learn to walk. Babies grow, move forward, succeed. They haven’t learned to hang back or fear defeat. Knee-jerk negativity is something we can all do without. Let’s backtrack to that time in our lives when all things were possible…because they still are.

Today, I will focus on my successes. “I can” is my credo.

Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Saturday, May 1, 2021

Today, not as an alcoholic working to avoid a relapse but as a sober alcoholic embracing the addictive habit of recovery. I can now find the tragic irony of all I have wasted and lost only to be led to this point when I no longer have to drink - because sobriety has replaced my addiction to alcohol. I can be grateful for the relief that I now think in terms of wanting sobriety more than drinking because, now, I don't need the drink or high. I can be grateful for realizing I have made my journey in sobriety so needlessly complicated because I overlooked a simple and basic truth: I want sobriety more than drinking. With that, I can work the Steps with less fear and hesitation, a higher self-esteem - and the hope and faith that my sobriety has progressed to where I want recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

May 1, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, May 1, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
The AA program is one of charity because the real meaning of the word "charity" is to care enough about other people to really want to help them. To get the full benefit of the Program, we must try to help other alcoholics. We may try to help somebody and think we have failed, but the seed we have planted may bear fruit some time. We never know the results even a word of ours might have. But the main thing is to have charity for others, a real desire to help them, whether we succeed or not.

Do I have real charity?

Meditation for the Day
All material things, the universe, the world, even our bodies, may be Eternal Thought expressed in time and space. The more the physicists and astronomers reduce matter, the more it becomes a mathematical formula, which is thought. In the final analysis, matter is thought. When Eternal thought expresses itself within the framework of space and time, it becomes matter. Our thoughts, within the box of space and time, cannot know anything first hand except material things. But we can deduce that outside the box of space and time is Eternal Thought, which we can call God.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be a true expression of Eternal Thought. I pray that God's thoughts may work through my thoughts.

Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Saturday, May 1, 2021

Reflection for the Day
For those of us who have lost our faith, or who have always had to struggle along without it, it's often helpful just to accept - blindly and with no reservations. It's not necessary for us to believe at first; we need not be convinced. If we can only accept, we find ourselves becoming gradually aware of a force for good that's always there to help us.

Have I taken the way of faith?

Today I Pray
May I abandon my need to know the why's and wherefore's of my trust in a Higher Power. May I not intellectualize about faith, since by its nature it precludes analysis. May I know that "head-tripping" was a symptom of my disease, as I strung together - cleverly, I thought - alibi upon excuse upon rationale. May I learn acceptance - and faith will follow.

Today I Will Remember
Faith follows acceptance.

Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Saturday, May 1, 2021

The aim of AA is not Sobriety but Happy Sobriety. The most effective and, incidentally, the soberest group, is the happiest group. It is possible that you can't speak at meetings, maybe you are not in a position to "carry the message," but you can and should show your happy sobriety in the radiance of your smile. It is our only advertisement and it should outshine in brilliance the gaudiest of neon sign.

The poor guy still in the gutter isn't interested in your sobriety; he's interested in the price of another drink. He is, however, very much interested in happiness. It's what he has been looking for all his life and thought he could buy by the "fifth."

Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2021 - Good morning to Saturday and the weekend, and let's make both of them refreshing but worthwhile

 

Rise 'n shine with gratitude for a spectacular Saturday and weekend with the goal to make both peaceful but productive and worthwhile ...and don't bother with anything and anyone thinking they can screw up the day you choose to have