Jan. 27, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Jan. 27, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
Alcoholics carry an awful load around with them. What a load lying puts on your shoulders! Drinking makes liars out of all of us alcoholics. In order to get the liquor we want, we have to lie all the time. We have to lie about where we've been and what we've been doing. When you are lying, you are only half alive because of the fear of being found out. When you come into AA and get honest with yourself and with other people, that terrible load of lying falls off your shoulders.

Have I got rid of that load of lying?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. As fears and worries and resentments depart out of my life, the things of the spirit come in to take their places. Calm comes after a storm. As soon as I am rid of fears and hates and selfishness, God's love and peace and calm can come in.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may rid myself of all fears and resentments, so that peace and serenity may take their place. I pray that I may sweep my life clean of evil, so that good may come in.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, Jan. 27, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
I can attain real dignity, importance and individuality only by a dependence on a Power which is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to use this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good.

Just for today, will I try to live this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once?

Today I Pray
May I make no decision, engineer no change in the course of my lifestream, without calling upon my Higher Power. May I have faith that God's plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself.

Today I Will Remember
God is the architect. I am the builder.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Jan. 27, 2014
 
We alcoholics are the world's greatest squanderers. During our drinking days we squandered our money, our health, our time, our intellect, our reputations, in fact everything - not for a purpose, but to make ourselves oblivious to the fact that we were doing so.

We who have accepted the AA way of living must never give up our old habit, but we should learn to spend ourselves for a constructive purpose.

That purpose is to help the other alcoholic. We are the best qualified people in the world for the job. Years of conditioning and thousands of dollars went into the process of making us experts. We have no other means of atoning for the past, no other way of showing our appreciation for the Grace of God which saved us, but to squander ourselves for this world-needed purpose.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Monday, Jan. 27, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

In three words I can sum up everything
I've learned about life:
It goes on.
 -- Robert Frost

Most of us are afraid of anything we can't control. Life is one of these things. During our drinking and drugging days, we had checked out of life. We were sitting on the sidelines, pretending we could get back into it whenever we wanted. But life went on without us. Friends built careers and loving families, and we fell behind. Friends built deeper intimate relationships. They became skillful at living a life of values and communicating with their Higher Power. We fell behind.

Working the Steps requires us to get working. Ours is a program of action. At times we will want to stop and sit on the side of the road again. But we must go on! Go and be of service. Go talk to a friend. Go to an extra meeting. We got sober to have a life, not to sit on the sidelines. We must be recovery in motion, living a program of action.

Prayer for the Day
Place me in the middle of life, Higher Power.
Help me be a person of action. When fear says, "Stop!"
Please whisper in my ear, "Go on, go on!"

Today's Action
Today I will be active and involved in my program and in life. I will be a doer not a watcher. 

From the book:

God Grant Me... by Anonymous

God Grant Me. . . © 2005 by Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 

Today, I can simplify my Program as it has evolved to three concepts: choice, consequences, and responsibility. I understand now that drinking is a choice and the "reasons" I concoct to justify taking a drink are nothing more than rationalizations or contributing factors that I am surrendering my control to choose wisely. If I choose to drink, there are the inevitable consequences as all actions have consequences, and my long history with drinking proves that the consequences are usually the same, are never less and usually worsen. And with those consequences comes responsibility to them, and the consequences are predictable: a hangover, probable regret for what I did or said when I was drunk, maybe another DUI, possibly waking up in the county jail's drunk tank - again. Today, the consequences are too high for me, and I don't want to be responsible to them. And if I don't want to be responsible to the consequences of drinking, the choice is clear and logical: choose not to drink. And I choose not to. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

Jan. 26, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
As we became alcoholics, the bad effects of drinking came more and more to outweigh the good effects. But the strange part of it is that, no matter what drinking did to us, loss of our health, our jobs, our money and our homes, we still stuck to it and depended on it. Our dependence on drinking became an obsession. In AA, we find a new outlook on life. We learn how to change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. And we find out that we can no longer depend on drinking for anything. We depend on a Higher Power instead.

Have I entirely given up that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day
I will try to keep my life calm and unruffled. This is my great task, to find peace and acquire serenity. I must not harbor disturbing thoughts. No matter what fears, worries and resentments I may have, I must try to think of constructive things, until calmness comes. Only when I am calm can I act as a channel for God's spirit.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may build up instead of tearing down. I pray that I may be constructive and not destructive.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
Personal freedom is mine for the taking. No matter how close are the ties of love and concern that bind me to my family and friends, I must always remember that I am an individual, free to be myself and live my own life in serenity and joy. The key word in this realization is personal. For I can free myself from many involvements that seem necessary. Through The Program, I am learning to develop my own personality.

Am I reinforcing my personal freedom by leaving others free to control their actions and destinies?

Today I Pray
May I find personal freedom, by re-evaluating associations, establishing new priorities, gaining respect for my own personhood. May I give others equal room to find their own kinds of personal freedoms.

Today I Will Remember
Take the liberty; it's yours.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
 
We alcoholics were up to our necks in the quicksand of yesterdays with a lifetime of tomorrows on our shoulders. Of course we sought escape in the bottle, for no man has courage and strength enough to survive this ordeal.

AA has taught us that TODAY is the only day we have. Those horrible TOMORROWS which we hold in such dread have no substance except such as we give them in our living of successive TODAYS.

Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't been, and may never be born.

It is on the foundation of today that we build tomorrow.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Being able to be wrong
We had to compete with everyone, sometimes subtly, sometimes less subtly. We always had to be right, to be wrong seemed unbearable. We could never seem to bring ourselves to say simply, "I was wrong." We were afraid of what would happen to us if we did. Our egos were very fragile; we were never as strong as we had led ourselves to believe.

We came to discover, however, that real strength comes from being able to be wrong and from being willing to change our ways of thinking and living.

Can I face being wrong and learn from it?

Higher Power, help me realize each day that it is okay to be wrong, that real communication with other people depends on my being willing to see other points of view, and that being teachable is a divine quality.

From the book:

Day by Day - Second Edition by Anonymous

Day by Day © 1974, 1998 by Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 25, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step

Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 

Today: "Courage to change the things I can," the command of the Serenity Prayer that WE - not our Higher Power - take on those things we CAN change. Though our options might be limited, the one thing we CAN change, even control, is our attitude and how we integrate into this day, how we react and respond to it. Thus, today I will not take the easier, softer way and complain about ANYTHING the day serves up and, instead, I will start with the POSITIVE by willing myself to make this day good and that nothing in it will poison the rest of the day. If there is something I do not want to do, if required, I will do it, if for no other reason than to have it done and over with and earn the luxury to say one more bad chore is done. For some, negativity and complaining can be an excuse in disguise to get out of our obligation to sobriety. Today, I am positive, not negative, and this day WILL be good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

Jan. 25, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
We used to depend on drinking for a lot of things. We depended on drinking to help us enjoy things. It gave us a "kick." It broke down our shyness and helped us to have a "good time." We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low physically. If we had a toothache or just a hangover, we felt better after a few drinks. We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low mentally. If we'd had a tough day at work or if we'd had a fight with our husband or wife, or if things just seemed against us, we felt better under the influence of alcohol. For us alcoholics, it got so that we depended on drinking for almost everything.

Have I got over that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that complete surrender of my life to God is the foundation of serenity. God has prepared for us many mansions. I do not look upon that promise as referring only to the after-life. I do not look upon this life as something to be struggled through, in order to get the rewards of the next life. I believe that the Kingdom of God is within us and we can enjoy "eternal life" here and now.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to do God's will. I pray that such understanding, insight and vision shall be mine, as shall make my life eternal, here and now.

Hazelden Foundation