Dec. 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022

Today, when resolutions for the coming new year are in vogue, I will make none because to do so skirts the Program’s suggestion to take life one day at a time. Further, I have no guarantee that an entire year is promised me, and I cannot live for a day in the future because, in doing that, I am neglecting today. Recovery discourages us from looking too far ahead if today is sacrificed and encourages us to make our resolutions daily. Today, awakening to a new day, my resolution is to adhere to the Steps and Principles of the Program and not drink and, further, to grow in sobriety one day at a time. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2022

Dec. 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

Participating in the privileges of the movement, I shall share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully. I am deeply grateful for the privileges I enjoy because of my membership in this great movement. They put an obligation upon me which I will not shirk. I will gladly carry my fair share of the burdens. Because of the joy of doing them, they will no longer be burdens, but opportunities.

Will I accept every opportunity gladly?

Meditation for the Day

Work and prayer are the two forces which are gradually making a better world. We must work for the betterment of ourselves and other people. Faith without works is dead. But all work with people should be based on prayer. If we say a little prayer before we speak or try to help, it will make us more effective. Prayer is the force behind the work. Prayer is based on faith that God is working with us and through us. We can believe that nothing is impossible in human relationships, if we depend on the help of God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my life may be balanced between prayer and work. I pray that I may not work without prayer or pray without work.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022

Reflection for the Day

The success of The Program, I’ve been taught, lies in large measure in the readiness and willingness of its members to go to any lengths to help others tyrannized by their addictions. If my readiness and willingness cools, then I stand in danger of losing all that I’ve gained. I must never become unwilling to give away what I have, for only by so doing will I be privileged to keep it.

Do I take to heart the saying, “Out of self into God into others …?”

Today I Pray

May I never be too busy to answer a fellow addict’s call for help. May I never become so wound up in my pursuits that I forget that my own continuing recovery depends on that helping – a half-hour or so on the telephone, a call in person, a lunch date, whatever the situation calls for. May I know what my priorities must be.

Today I Will Remember

Helping helps me.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 29, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022

Is someone happier, better or braver because of some act of yours today? If you can answer yes to any or all of them, then you can feel rather confident that you are progressing in the AA way of living.

If you can’t – then you are not giving it the old College try and you are cheating yourself out of a lot of happiness that could have been yours.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 29, 2022 – Good morning and here’s your wake-up call to a fabulous Thursday

 

Good morning and let’s commit to a stress- and worry-free Thursday, meaning we don’t waste time on people wanting to bring us down …have a truly great but productive and safe day

Dec. 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Men will find that they can prepare with mutual aid far more easily what they need and avoid far more easily the perils which beset them on all sides, by united forces. — Baruch Spinoza

Three travelers stopped in a small town on their way to the city. They had tents to sleep in, but no food or money. They knocked on doors asking for a little food, but the people were poor. with little to eat and nothing to spare.

Cheerfully, they returned to their camp and built a fire. “What are you doing?” asked a bystander, “Building a fire with nothing to cook?”

“But we do have something to cook!” they said. “Our favorite dish, stone soup. We only need a pot.” “I think I can find one,” said one of the bystanders, and she ran home to fetch it.

When she returned, the travelers filled the pot with water and placed two large stones in it. “This will be the finest soup we’ve ever made!” said the first traveler. “I agree,” said the second, “but don’t you think it would taste better with a cabbage in it?”

“I think I can find one,” said another bystander. And so it went the whole afternoon until, by evening, the travelers had a hearty, fragrant feast, which they shared with the hungry townspeople.

What can I do with help today, that I couldn’t do alone?

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022

Today, loosen my grip on my perspective that the Program hammers what I cannot do and, instead, what it enables me to do. While I cannot continue in futile endeavor to regain control over alcohol, I can control it by not feeding it. While I cannot continue to engage in conduct that injures myself and others, I can chart a 180-degree course change and start to give something nurturing instead of something destructive. And while I cannot always make direct amends for whatever reason, I can make indirect amends by working a Program in which my sobriety is its own amend. AA is not a Program of cannot; it is, instead, a Program of can. Today the first word in can’t is can. And I can. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M, 2022

Dec. 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

AA may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me to carry me through everything that may happen.

Am I pointed toward God and the good life?

Meditation for the Day

Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours; we should try to be always conscious of His power and love in the background of our lives.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may feel that God is not too far away to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of His readiness to give me the power that I need.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022

Reflection for the Day

The Program, for me, is not a place nor a philosophy, but a highway to freedom. The highway leads me toward the goal of a “spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps.” The highway doesn’t get me to the goal as quickly as I sometimes wish, but I try to remember that God and I work from different timetables. But the goal is there, and I know that the Twelve Steps will help me reach it.

Have I come to the realization that I – and anyone – can now do what I had always thought impossible?

Today I Pray

As I live The Program, may I realize more and more that it is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. May I keep in mind that the kind of spirituality it calls for is never complete, but is the essence of change and growth, a drawing nearer to an ideal state. May I be wary of setting time-oriented goals for myself to measure my spiritual progress.

Today I Will Remember

Timetables are human inventions.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022

It is very often easier to identify an alcoholic by his hang-over than by his drinking pattern. Alcoholics, for the most part, resemble the non-alcoholics when they have a load aboard, but in the morning, when the sweats and the shakes set in, then the alcoholic can be identified by the degree of his suffering. The alcoholic’s hang-over cannot be gotten rid of by 10:30 simply with aspirin or Bromos.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2022 – Good morning and welcome to a wonderful Wednesday

 

Good morning with the power of making this magnificent Wednesday what we want it to be and not by people and things who offer nothing worthwhile