July 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday July 27, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

What, then, is your duty? What the day demands.

-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We live our new lives in recovery "One day at a time." What a relief. Sometimes the changes we are making seem so big we get a little afraid that we can’t do it all. We forget that we don’t have to do it all at once. "Easy does it."

Recovery is not just about what we do every day (or how much we do). It is much more about how we do every day. Am I living today as a person in recovery? Am I being honest, kind, sober, and living by my values? Am I willing to help someone else if they need help?

Of course we need to think about the future, too. We need to have dreams about what our life can be. But these will come. They are not supposed to take our energy today. Today's energy is for living today well.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me live today in your grace. Help me live a strong, healthy recovery as I learn that life happens "One day at a time.

Today's Action

I will list three things that I handled today like a person in recovery would handle them. I will think about how I would have handled these things when I was using alcohol or drugs. I will call my sponsor and talk about the way I lived today.

Hazelden Foundation

July 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Saturday, July 27, 2024

“What is this power that AA possesses? This curative power? I don’t know what it is. I suppose the doctor might say, ‘This is psychosomatic medicine.’ I suppose the psychiatrist might say, ‘This is benevolent interpersonal relations.’ I suppose others would say, ‘This is group psychotherapy.’

To me, it is God.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Part II (“They Stopped in Time”), Ch 6 (“Physician, Heal Thyself!”), p 352.

Today, how many more voices of experience must I hear until I simply consider the possibility of a Higher Power if I am still struggling with the concept? If I continue to listen skeptically to the many voices of those who have recovered by giving their will to a Higher Power, maybe I can simply trust the AA command to “Keep It Simple” — simply take a leap of nothing but blind faith that something as good can exist if something as evil as alcohol can bring me to my knees. But if I still resist those voices of experience, hopefully I can muster the honesty to see that doing things my way hasn’t worked and that maybe something outside myself can do a better job. Today, I seek if nothing else the blind faith to trust the voices of experience or, at least, my own history of not doing such a great job on my own. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024

July 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, July 27, 2024

AA Thought for the Day
To paraphrase the psalm: “We alcoholics declare the power of liquor and drunkenness showeth its handiwork. Day unto day uttereth hangovers and night unto night showeth suffering. The law of AA is perfect, converting the drunk. The testimony of AA is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of AA are right, rejoicing the heart. The program of AA is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the first drink is clean, enduring forever.”

Have I any doubt about the power of liquor?

Meditation for the Day
“Walk humbly with thy Lord.” Walking with God means practicing the presence of God in your daily affairs. It means asking God for strength to face each new day. It means turning to Him often during the day in prayer for yourself and for other people. It means thanking Him at night for the blessings you have received during the day. Nothing can seriously upset you if you are “walking with God.” You can believe that He is beside you in spirit, to help you and to guide you on your way.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to walk humbly with God. I pray that I may turn to Him often as to a close friend.

Hazelden Foundation

July 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Saturday, July 27, 2024

Reflection for the Day
Over and over, I see that those who make the best and steadiest progress in The Program are those who readily accept the help of a Higher Power. Once they can do that, it’s easier for them to get out of their own way. Their problems then seem to resolve themselves in a way that is beyond human understanding.

Do I realize that the effectiveness with which I use the consciousness of God in my daily life depends not on Him, but on me?

Today I Pray
May I know that my recovery and growth depend on my being in touch with my Higher Power, not just once in a while, but always. It means turning to that Power several times a day to ask for strength and knowledge of His will. When I understand that my own life is part of a Higher Plan, I will be less apt to trip and fall, head off in the wrong direction, or just to sit tight and let life pass me by.

Today I Will Remember
To be God-conscious.

Hazelden Foundation

July 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Saturday, July 27, 2024

Everything you can buy with money will either die, rot, wither, evaporate or decay. There is nothing you can purchase that will surely last as long as you will, unless it be bad health.

Friends can be bought, not with money, but by a liberal expenditure of yourself. A dollar is a poor weapon to fight off real troubles.

God is Good and the truly Good things of this life were put here on earth for our use by Him and not one of them carries a price tag.

Hazelden Foundation

July 27, 2024 - Good morning to a super Saturday and gratifyingly serene weekend

 

Good morning and let's take it easy this gorgeous Saturday 

and beautiful weekend, put our everyday worries on the shelf and give no mind to people and things that don't deserve us

July 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, July 26, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

We may be the only Easter lily some people ever see.

-- Rev. R. Oelerich

Regardless of how strange it may sound, we are powerful people! We make a difference in others' lives, for good or ill. We enhance people's lives when we encourage, support, and congratulate. It is easy to downplay the importance of our lifting up our fellow pilgrims even though it is no small thing when we are the beneficiaries of such life-giving gifts.

The newspaper ran a story of a teenaged girl who had been a prostitute. The account was mostly an interview in which she repeatedly told of how she had been put down at home, was made to feel she didn't count, was denied affection, and came to believe that what she did mattered little because no one cared.

The story of her lifestyle change came as a result of a hard-won battle by a social worker who unfailingly mirrored back to the girl that she did count, and that she was a person filled with love and beauty. Perhaps neither the parents nor the social worker would think of themselves as powerful, but in this case they made all the difference.

Today, I will be aware that I make a difference. I will make the world a little better for my being in it.

Hazelden Foundation

July 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Friday, July 26, 2024

” …(T)his program is not for sissies for …it takes a man to make the grade. It is not too difficult nor easy to grasp. I have had many more reasons to drink since I have been in AA than I had in all the years of my drinking. I’ve had more problems but, thank God, I have had the teachings of AA with which to face them. …When I hear the more rugged stories of alcoholics who became sicker than I did with this affliction, I humbly thank God for showing me ‘the handwriting on the wall.’” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Part II (“They Stopped in Time”), Ch 8 (“Rum, Radio and Television”), p 367.

Today, a Program that is not without work, that working it takes more courage than to keep drinking and that being sober will not shield us from the problems that non-alcoholics face but will arm us with stronger combat ammunition. I heed the word of the experienced and not set myself up for a slip or relapse if the promises of the Program don’t come quickly enough to me — because I haven’t worked for those promises. Nor will I dismiss the Program that it doesn’t work when I face the problems that everyone else has. Problems will continue to arise; how I handle them will depend on how I work the Program. For as courageous and bold my decision to stop drinking, I need even more to graduate from being dry to being sober. Today, I’m ready to give it my all, to “go to any lengths.” And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024

July 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, July 26, 2024

AA Thought for the Day
When we come to the end of our lives on earth, we will take no material thing with us. We will not take one cent in our cold, dead hands. The only things that we may take are the things we have given away. If we have helped others, we may take that with us; if we have given of our time and money for the good of AA, we may take that with us. Looking back over our lives, what are we proud of? Not what we have gained for ourselves, but what few good deeds we have done. Those are the things that really matter in the long run.

What will I take with me when I go?

Meditation for the Day
“Hallowed be Thy Name.” What does that mean to us? Here “name” is used in the sense of “spirit.” The words mean praise to God for His spirit in the world, making us better. We should be especially grateful for God’s spirit, which gives us the strength to overcome all that is base in our lives. His spirit is powerful. It can help us to live a conquering, abundant life. So we praise and thank Him for His spirit in our lives and in the lives of others.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be grateful for God’s spirit in me. I pray that I may try to live in accordance with it.

Hazelden Foundation

July 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Friday, July 26, 2024

Reflection for the Day
Now that I avail myself of the letters H-O-W suggested by friends in The Program – Honesty, Open-Mindedness, Willingness — I see things differently. In ways that I couldn’t have predicted and surely never expected, I’ve come to see things quite differently from the person I was before coming to The Program. I feel good most days. I seldom feel bad, and never for long. Certainly never as bad as I used to feel all of the time.

Is my worst day now infinitely better than my best day previously?

Today I Pray
May I remember today to say “thank you” to my Higher Power, to my friends in the group and to the whole, vast fellowship of recovering chemically dependent persons for making me know that things do get better. I give thanks, too, for those verbal boosters, the tags and slogans which have so often burst into my brain at exactly the moments when they were needed, redefining my purpose, restoring my patience, reminding me of my God.

Today I Will Remember
How it was.

Hazelden Foundation

July 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Friday, July 26, 2024

Patience is a virtue that few alcoholics have. We want to do everything yesterday. Even after we sober up, we seldom acquire any substantial amount of this virtue. We feel a real need to make up for all our lost years; we fret and fume over delays; we feel the world should synchronize their watches with ours.

Like Phillips Brooks, we are in a hurry, but God isn’t.

Hazelden Foundation

July 26, 2024 - Good morning and say hello to a valued friend ...FRIDAY!

 

Good morning and greet another beautiful Friday that is always welcome ...enjoy this wonderful day, and don't be bothered by people and things that don't deserve our attention

July 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Guilt keeps us stuck.

Who doesn’t have some guilt? Surely no one we know has been "good" all the time. It's human to make mistakes and hurt others in the process. On occasion, we have even intentionally harmed someone. We can't undo the past. What's done is done. However, we can get free of the inhibiting shadow it casts over our lives today if we use the tools of this program of recovery.

The first step in shedding our guilt is to admit to ourselves that some of the things we have done are wrong. The next step is harder. We need to admit our wrongdoing to the one we have harmed and ask for his or her forgiveness. This can be made easier if we remember to bring along our Higher Power.

Why is all this necessary? As long as we have wounds in our relationships, we won't be able to see all the possibilities for growth and change that beckon us today. Our guilt keeps us stuck in the past, and it’s the present that promises us the happiness we desire.

How are my relationships today? Do any feel tense because of my past behavior? If I really want to get the most from what today offers, I need to mend the past. With God's help I can.

Hazelden Foundation

July 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Thursday, July 25, 2024

Today, self-pity comes off my dance card. Just as alcohol drove me to being sick and tired of being sick and tired, so it goes with self-pity. The reason for self-pity can never be justified. For me, self-pity ranks behind resentment as the quickest and surest way to a slip or relapse. I have to ask why I harbor pity for myself. Is it because I endured so many travails during and after my drinking days? Or maybe I lost a job or two, got a lifetime driver’s license suspension, drank my way into a sea of debt, got a divorce or two, have family who still wants nothing to do with me. Or maybe there’s death taking too much and too many from me. So what is the function of self-pity? Maybe my ego still requires me to be the center of attention, or maybe I have a victim complex, or maybe I’m looking for justification to start drinking again — or to keep drinking. Or maybe I simply don’t know how to deal with whatever psychic pain exists. Whatever its reason or purpose, self-pity serves only to impose isolation and keeps me from feeling and living something better. Today, just as it did with drinking, the same goes for self-pity: enough is enough! And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024

July 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, July 25, 2024

AA Thought for the Day
We are living on borrowed time. We are living today because of AA and the grace of God. And what there is left of our lives we owe to AA and to God. We should make the best use we can of our borrowed time and in some small measure pay back for that part of our lives which we wasted before we came into AA. Our lives from now on are not our own. We hold them in trust for God and AA. And we must do all we can to forward the great movement that has given us a new lease on life.

Am I holding my life in trust for AA?

Meditation for the Day
You should hold your life in trust for God. Think deeply on what that means. Is anything too much to expect from such a life? Do you begin to see how dedicated a life on trust for God can be? In such a life, miracles can happen. If you are faithful, you can believe that God has many good things in store for you. God can be Lord of your life, controller of your days, of your present and your future. Try to act as God guides and leave all results to Him. Do not hold back, but go all out for God and the better life. Make good your trust.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may hold my life in trust for God. I pray that I may no longer consider my life as all my own.

Hazelden Foundation