May 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Monday, May 25, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

On the foundation of sobriety, we can build a life of honesty, unselfishness, faith in God, and love of our fellow human beings. We’ll never fully reach these goals, but the adventure of building that kind of a life is so much better than the merry-go-round of our old drinking life that there’s no comparison. We come into AA to get sober, but if we stay long enough we learn a new way of living. We become honest with ourselves and with other people. We learn to think more about others and less about ourselves. And we learn to rely on the constant help of a Higher Power.

Am I living the way of honesty, unselfishness, and faith?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that God had already seen my heart’s needs before I cried to Him, before I was conscious of those needs myself. I believe that God was already preparing the answer. God does not have to be petitioned with sighs and tears and much speaking. He has already anticipated my every want and need. I will try to see this, as His plans unfold in my life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may understand my real wants and needs. I pray that my understanding of those needs and wants may help to bring the answer to them.

Hazelden Foundation

May 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, May 25, 2020

"The remorse, horror and hopelessness of the next morning are unforgettable. The courage to do battle was not there. (The) brain raced uncontrollably and there was a terrible sense of impending calamity. ...(A) mental fog settled down. Gin would fix that. So two bottles, and - oblivion." - Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 1, p 6.

Today, gratitude that I awoke this morning with memory of what I did and said last night, and without dread of what this day will bring and without fear that some unknown disaster is about to explode. Today, I have clarity of all I said and did last night, no dread of what these 24 Hours will serve and no need to run from a non-existent fear. Recovery has strengthened me with faith and trust in a Higher Power who, in turn, has graced me with faith in the 12 Steps and, above all, with sobriety. But I cannot take for granted that I awoke sober today and with a sense of purpose. My reprieve from all those morning-afters of so many yesterdays is only for this day, and this day I must continue to work toward awakening to the next 24 Hours without "remorse, horror and hopelessness." And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

May 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, May 25, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
In Twelfth-Step work, the third thing is conviction. Prospects must be convinced that they honestly want to stop drinking. They must see and admit that their life is unmanageable. They must face the fact that they must do something about their drinking. They must be absolutely honest with themselves and face themselves as they really are. They must be convinced that they must give up drinking and they must see that their whole life depends on this conviction.

Do I care enough about other alcoholics to help them reach this conviction?

Meditation for the Day
There is no limit to what you can accomplish in helping others. Keep that thought always. Never relinquish any work or give up the thought of any accomplishment because it seems beyond your power. God will help you in all good work. Only give it up if you feel that it's not God's will for you. In helping others, think of the tiny seed under the dark, hard ground. There is no certainty that, when it has forced its way up to the surface, sunlight and warmth will greet it. Often a task seems beyond your power, but there is no limit to what you can accomplish with God's help.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may never become discouraged in helping others. I pray that I may always rely on the power of God to help me.

Hazelden Foundation

May 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, May 25, 2020

Reflection for the Day
When we're new in The Program, we're novices at reaching out for friendship - or even accepting it when it's offered. Sometimes we're not quite sure how to do it or, indeed, whether it will actually work. Gradually, however, we become restored; we become teachable. We learn, for example, as Moliere wrote, "The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them."

Just for today, will I not show anyone that my feelings are hurt?

Today I Pray
May God help me to discover what true friendship is. In my new relationships, I pray that I may not be so eager for approval that I will let myself be dishonest - through flattery, half-truths, false cheeriness, protective white lies.

Today I Will Remember
A friend is honest.

Hazelden Foundation

May 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, May 25, 2020

Our cute little darling and that spoiled brat across the street do exactly the same tricks.

Man is so constructed that he cannot be absolutely impartial. It is contrary to human nature.

We can, however, pause and reflect before we pass judgment, and we can try to put ourselves in the other fellow's position. We are prone to judge him solely on his acts while we judge our acts by our motives and thus excuse ourselves.

Hazelden Foundation

May 25, 2020 - Good morning to a magnificent Monday and sacred Memorial Day with peace, quiet and hope

Good morning with faith and hope to this peaceful Monday and sacred Memorial Day observance ...in making it a positive and uplifting day, avoid all influences negative and hopeless

May 24, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Where there is great love, there are always wishes. — Willa Cather

We can always think of ways to improve our intimate partnership, but usually our best ideas are for changes in our partner. We wish we had a more generous attitude from our partner; we wish we had a more agreeable partner—someone who was more fun or who would take better care of his or her health—and we want more sexual pleasure. But these ideas are the easy ones to think of. The harder and more effective ideas are those that call for changes in ourselves.

We enter into a life partnership to enjoy the relationship. We take pleasure in each other’s lives, and we are on the same team. But we don’t walk in the same footsteps because we all need to stand on our own as adults. Intimacy is not the merging of personalities but the bridge between separate people. Once we have our adult separateness, we can be more intimate, more loving, and more generous with each other.

Today, I will pay more attention to the ways I can be a better partner.

Hazelden Foundation

May 24, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Sunday, May 24, 2020

"Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. This just isn't so. In some cases, the (spouse) will never come back ...(R)ecovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God." - Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 7, pp 99-100.

Today, understanding why my alcoholism and recovery are dependent only on me and that I cannot make them a condition on what someone else does or how some situation plays out. Just as none of those can be "blamed" for my drinking, neither can they be the reason for my recovery. To place my sobriety on someone or something else does little more than reinforce my refusal to take responsibility and consequences, and exert emotional blackmail on an external source that I cannot or will not stop drinking if I don't get from them what I want. Today, my alcoholism and my character and spiritual defects are my responsibility and no one else's. Likewise, no one and nothing outside of me are responsible for my recovery. And if addiction is as selfish as the Program says, then so it is for my recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

May 24, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, May 24, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
In Twelfth-Step work, the second thing is confession. By frankly sharing with prospects, we get them talking about their own experiences. They will open up and confess things to us that they haven't been able to tell other people. And they feel better when this confession has been made. It's a great load off their minds to get these things out and into the open. It's the things that are kept hidden that weigh on the mind. They feel a sense of release and freedom when they have opened up their hearts to us.

Do I care enough about other alcoholics to help them to make a confession?

Meditation for the Day
I should help others all I can. Every troubled soul that God puts in my path is the one for me to help. As I sincerely try to help, a supply of strength will flow into me from God. My circle of helpfulness will widen more and more. God hands out the spiritual food to me and I pass it on to others. I must never say that I have only enough strength for my own need. The more I give away, the more I will keep. That which I keep to myself, I will lose in the end.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have a sincere willingness to give. I pray that I may not hold back the strength I have received for myself alone.

Hazelden Foundation

May 24, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, May 24, 2020

Reflection for the Day
Getting over years of suspicion and other self-protective mechanisms can hardly be an overnight process. We've become thoroughly conditioned to feeling and acting misunderstood and unloved - whether we really were or not. Some of us may need time and practice to break out of our shell and the seemingly comfortable familiarity of solitude. Even though we begin to believe and know we're no longer alone, we tend to sometimes feel and act in the old ways.

Am I taking it easy? Am I learning to wear The Program and life like a loose garment?

Today I Pray
May I expect no sudden, total reversal of all my old traits. My sobriety is just a beginning. May I realize that the symptoms of my disease will wear off gradually. If I slip back, now and then, into my old self-pity bag or my grandiosity, may I not be discouraged but grateful. At last, I can face myself honestly and not let my delusions get the best of me.

Today I Will Remember
Easy does it.

Hazelden Foundation

May 24, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, May 24, 2020

The only impossible thing in the world is a full conception of the things that are possible.

Within the limits of our lifetime, we have seen many marvels: the transmission of sound and pictures across the continent without visible means; we cook and freeze with the same unit of energy; man can now exert a force of 20,000 tons simply by pushing a button. Nothing seems beyond the vision of the scientist in his study and use of the unlimited forces of Nature.

The power of God, however, is still virgin territory. Man hasn't scratched the surface in his efforts to put this force to work for man. When this is accomplished, the word "impossible" will not be in anybody's dictionary.

Hazelden Foundation