Sunday, July 31, 2016
July 31, 2016 - At what point does bi-curiosity become bisexuality?
July 31, 2016 - Why always coming out as bisexual is perpetually exhausting
July 31, 2016 - More single men becoming fathers through adoption and surrogacy
July 31, 2016 - Just for fun: Vote for Clinton if for no other reason than her nephew
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| Tyler Clinton |
July 31, 2016 - First major post-Democratic convention poll has Clinton surging past Trump
July 31, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
-- Winston Churchill
As we grow spiritually, we naturally become more generous. It's a quality of a well-developed person. Rather than being anxious over whether we will have enough - and rather than hungrily seeking more and more - we become more openhearted. We feel more abundant within ourselves and find that our spirit of generosity even adds to our own abundant feelings. Where we see a need, we help out.
A generous person doesn't need to shower others with material gifts. The most precious gifts are things such as paying attention to others, respecting them for who they are, and giving our time. Often a material gift is a symbol of the good feelings in a relationship. In our generosity, we also learn to receive others' gifts to us with humility and respect.
Today I take pleasure in my spirit of generosity.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
-- Winston Churchill
As we grow spiritually, we naturally become more generous. It's a quality of a well-developed person. Rather than being anxious over whether we will have enough - and rather than hungrily seeking more and more - we become more openhearted. We feel more abundant within ourselves and find that our spirit of generosity even adds to our own abundant feelings. Where we see a need, we help out.
A generous person doesn't need to shower others with material gifts. The most precious gifts are things such as paying attention to others, respecting them for who they are, and giving our time. Often a material gift is a symbol of the good feelings in a relationship. In our generosity, we also learn to receive others' gifts to us with humility and respect.
Today I take pleasure in my spirit of generosity.
You are reading from the book:
Wisdom to Know © 2005 by Hazelden Foundation
July 31, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
Sunday, July 31, 2016
"The old (drinking) pattern reasserted itself, but it was no longer once every six months. The intervals grew shorter. The binges were longer. They were harder to get off. ...
"That type of drinking is not pleasant. It is no longer enjoyable. You no longer get the kicks. It is desperation drinking. I was drinking to keep away the shakes ...I was drinking to try to hold on to a job, to try and hold on to my home, to try to hold on to my wife, to try to hold on to my sanity." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Part III ("They Lost Nearly All"), Ch 8 ("Desperation Drinking"), p 514.
Today, honesty to accept I have a problem if drinking is my answer to any desperation I feel - be it for a situation I desperately want not to face, or the talk with my spouse, partner or employer, the constantly ringing telephone that I will not answer because someone might be calling about my drinking or some problem it has caused. If drinking is my solution to any problem in my life, let me hear the voices of experience that my solution has become a crisis bigger than the problem I'm avoiding. And if I have not drank for any significant number of 24 Hours, chances are I now cannot remember the problem I drank to avoid. But, in so doing, I and I alone created one of the most critical crises that was far worse than any problem I faced sober. Today, alcohol will not be my solution to any problem that I may encounter. My answer is the Twelve Steps. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016
July 31, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, July 31, 2016
AA Thought for the Day
This leaves only one day - today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time.
Am I living one day at a time?
Meditation for the Day
Give God the gift of a thankful heart. Try to see causes of thankfulness in your everyday life. When life seems hard and troubles crowd, then look for some reasons for thankfulness. There is nearly always something you can be thankful for. The offering of thanksgiving is indeed a sweet incense going up to God throughout a busy day. Seek diligently for something to be glad and thankful about. You will acquire in time the habit of blessings. Each new day some new cause for joy and gratitude will spring to your mind and you will thank God sincerely.
Prayer for the Day
I pray for a truly thankful heart. I pray that I may be constantly reminded of causes for sincere gratitude.
Hazelden Foundation
July 31, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Reflection for the Day
One of the most serious consequences of the me-me-me syndrome is that we lose touch with practically everyone around us - not to mention reality itself. The essence of self-pity is total self-absorption, and it feeds on itself. Rather than ignore such an emotional state - or deny that we're in it - we need to pull out of our self-absorption, stand back, and take a good honest look at ourselves. Once we recognize self-pity for what it is, we can begin to do something about it.
Am I living in the problem rather than the answer?
Today I Pray
I pray that my preoccupation with self, which is wound up tight as a Maypole, may unwind itself and let its streamers fly again for others to catch and hold. May the thin, familiar wail of me-me-me become a chorus of us-us-us, as we in the fellowship pick apart our self-fullness and look at it together.
Today I Will Remember
Change me-me-me to us-us-us.
Hazelden Foundation
July 31, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
Sunday, July 31, 2016
In our drinking days, we were ready to take a poke at anyone who suggested we couldn't handle our "likker." It was a very sore spot with us, as we all kidded ourselves into believing that our over-indulgence was a well-guarded secret when, actually, we knew it was not.
Upon our entrance in AA, we soon made a public confession of our alcoholism and, to our surprise, we lost some of the sense of stigma and we could learn to laugh at our affliction and at ourselves. Our sense of guilt was lessened by our acknowledgment of its existence.
Hazelden Foundation
Saturday, July 30, 2016
July 30, 2016 - Mental health and stigma: Why are men reluctant to ask for help?
July 30, 2016 - Editorial: Could Donald Trump actually be clinically deranged?
July 30, 2016 - GOP national security leaders issue open letter against Trump
July 30, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
-- Martha Washington
We all have friends who seem happy even though they run into lots of bad luck. And we all know other people who seem grumpy all the time. Nothing makes them very happy. It's puzzling, but some people have decided, maybe without even knowing it, that life is fun and should be enjoyed. No bit of bad luck has to make us miserable unless we let it.
A broken bike, a lost math assignment, a rained-out picnic are things that might make us miserable. But, we can decide they won't. Feeling happy can be a habit - just like brushing teeth before bedtime.
Will I stop and think today before I let things make me unhappy?
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
-- Martha Washington
We all have friends who seem happy even though they run into lots of bad luck. And we all know other people who seem grumpy all the time. Nothing makes them very happy. It's puzzling, but some people have decided, maybe without even knowing it, that life is fun and should be enjoyed. No bit of bad luck has to make us miserable unless we let it.
A broken bike, a lost math assignment, a rained-out picnic are things that might make us miserable. But, we can decide they won't. Feeling happy can be a habit - just like brushing teeth before bedtime.
Will I stop and think today before I let things make me unhappy?
You are reading from the book:
Today's Gift © 1985, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
July 30, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Today, I realize the character defects identified in my Fourth Step probably existed before my drinking days and that alcohol simply developed them to their destructive zenith. My Sixth and Seventh steps of first admitting to God and then asking that He remove my defects assume paramount honesty in my recovery because I am likely to be challenged to release defects that have had a lifetime to take root - more so than those that those that were born of my drinking days. And if my defects are lifelong, simply not drinking will not give me the recovery and quality of sobriety for which I strive. Today, I am an alcoholic, and abstaining from drinking is not enough. I consider myself a part of AA and, today, as I talk the talk, I will walk the walk. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016
July 30, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
AA Thought for the Day
The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and perhaps its poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn.
Do I still worry too much about tomorrow?
Meditation for the Day
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is not seeing, but believing. Down through the ages, there have always been those who obeyed the heavenly vision, not seeing but believing in God. And their faith was rewarded. So shall it be to you. Good things will happen to you. You cannot see God, but you can see the results of faith in human lives, changing them from defeat to victory. God's grace is available to all who have faith - not seeing, but believing. With faith, life can be victorious and happy.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have faith enough to believe without seeing. I pray that I may be content with the results of my faith.
Hazelden Foundation
The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and perhaps its poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn.
Do I still worry too much about tomorrow?
Meditation for the Day
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is not seeing, but believing. Down through the ages, there have always been those who obeyed the heavenly vision, not seeing but believing in God. And their faith was rewarded. So shall it be to you. Good things will happen to you. You cannot see God, but you can see the results of faith in human lives, changing them from defeat to victory. God's grace is available to all who have faith - not seeing, but believing. With faith, life can be victorious and happy.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have faith enough to believe without seeing. I pray that I may be content with the results of my faith.
Hazelden Foundation
July 30, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Reflection for the Day
When we first come to The Program, the most common variety of self-pity begins:"Poor me! Why can't I (fill in your own addiction) like everybody else? Why me?" Such bemoaning, if allowed to persist, is a surefire invitation for a long walk off a short pier - right back to the mess we were in before we came to The Program. When we stick around The Program for a while, we discover that it's not just "me" at all; we become involved with people, from all walks of life, who are in exactly the same boat.
Am I losing interest in my comfortably familiar "pity pot?"
Today I Pray
When self-pity has me droopy and inert, may I look up, look around and perk up. Self-pity, God wills, vanishes in the light of other people's shared troubles. May I always wish for friends honest enough to confront me if they see me digging my way back down into my old pity pit.
Today I Will Remember
Turn self-involvement into involvement.
Hazelden Foundation
July 30, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
Saturday, July 30, 2016
No pleasures of our drinking days even compensated for those horrible nights of wakeful tossing. The interminable pacing the floor; those night sweats; the endless hours when we couldn't sleep and at the same time dreaded falling asleep. The hours that seemed to stretch into eternity as we lay in bed with remorse as a bedfellow. Then the Hell of the goof-balls that made our nights better and our days worse.
The physical pain we might have endured for many more years, but the anguish of the heart and soul was unendurable.
Hazelden Foundation
Friday, July 29, 2016
July 29, 2016 - If you think you might have a problem with alcohol, you probably do
July 29, 2016 - Seattle predicted to be next to outlaw gay conversion therapy
July 29, 2016 - Editorial: Democrats find their voice on gun control
July 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
Friday, July 29, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
It is clear the future holds opportunities - it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the opportunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00.
-- Woody Allen
Sometimes we take ourselves far too seriously. We draw our lives in the absolutes of black and white, with no shadings of gray. We believe our whole lives depend on every decision we make. When a problem comes along, we see it as a crisis rather than another of the ongoing issues that confront all people. If we are displeased with someone, or if a person is upset with us, we amplify the feelings until we rupture the whole relationship.
It would be helpful to look at today's tasks and problems as a game. Yes, we would like to play the game well, but we could have a good time while doing it. If we don't take ourselves or our problems too seriously, maybe we'll have some fun.
Help me learn that daily living needs the light of humor.
It is clear the future holds opportunities - it also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to seize the opportunities, avoid the pitfalls, and get back home by 6:00.
-- Woody Allen
Sometimes we take ourselves far too seriously. We draw our lives in the absolutes of black and white, with no shadings of gray. We believe our whole lives depend on every decision we make. When a problem comes along, we see it as a crisis rather than another of the ongoing issues that confront all people. If we are displeased with someone, or if a person is upset with us, we amplify the feelings until we rupture the whole relationship.
It would be helpful to look at today's tasks and problems as a game. Yes, we would like to play the game well, but we could have a good time while doing it. If we don't take ourselves or our problems too seriously, maybe we'll have some fun.
Help me learn that daily living needs the light of humor.
You are reading from the book:
Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
July 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
Friday, July 29, 2016
"I never knew which came first, the thinking or the drinking. If I could only stop thinking, I wouldn't drink. If I could only stop drinking, maybe I wouldn't think. But they were all mixed up together, and I was all mixed up inside. And yet I had to have that drink. You know the deteriorating effects, the disintegrating effects of chronic wine-drinking. I cared nothing about my personal appearance. I didn't care what I looked like. I didn't care what I did. To me, taking a bath was just being in a place with a bottle where I could drink in privacy. I had to have it with me at night, in case I woke up and needed that drink." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Part II ("They Stopped in Time"), Ch 4 ("The Housewife Who Drank at Home"), p 337.
Today, I don't care which came first, the delusional and irrational thinking or the drinking, because it doesn't matter. Whether some deluded thinking led me to alcohol or if excess drinking fueled a thinking problem is moot because, now, the two are intertwined. My thinking now cannot be that I can start drinking responsibly if I get my thinking in a logical sync. Nor can I believe that I can drink responsibly. Neither is possible. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Does it matter? The chicken's polluted. Today, I don't care where my drinking thinking or thinking drinking came from. I need both corrected, and I'm where I need to be to get both. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016
July 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, July 29, 2016
AA Thought for the Day
There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension. One of these days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone beyond recall.
Do I still worry about what happened yesterday?
Meditation for the Day
"God will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able, but with the temptation He will also find a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." If you have enough faith and trust in God, He will give you all the strength you need to face every temptation and to overcome it. Nothing will prove too hard for you to bear. You can face any situation. "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." You can overcome any temptation with God's help. So fear nothing.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may face every situation without fear. I pray that nothing will prove too hard for me to bear.
Hazelden Foundation
July 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery:A Day at a Time
Friday, July 29, 2016
Reflection for the Day
The feeling of self-pity, which we've all suffered at one time or another, is one of the ugliest emotions we can experience. We don't even relish the thought of admitting to others that we're awash in self-pity. We hate being told that it shows; we quickly argue that we're feeling another emotion instead; we go so far as to "cleverly" hide from ourselves the fact that we're going through a siege of "poor-me-ism." By the same token, in a split-second, we can easily find several dozen "valid" reasons for feeling sorry for ourselves.
Do I sometimes enjoy rubbing salt into my own wounds?
Today I Pray
May I recognize the emotions I am feeling for what they are. If I am unable to point them out to myself, may I count on others who know what it's like to be a feelings-sufferer. May I stay in touch with my feelings by staying in touch with my Higher Power and with the others in my group.
Today I Will Remember
Stay in touch.
Hazelden Foundation
July 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
Friday, July 29, 2016
Humility has been the hardest of all the virtues to acquire for many of us. Few of us know what it actually is. Many have it and think they don't; many don't have it and think they do. Many admit they don't understand the word and forget it, leaving to the world to judge whether they have it or not.
The best way to acquire Humility is to constantly remind yourself how much lower than a snake's belly you would be but for the Grace of God. You made a horrible mess of running your life and failed completely, but that Grace could and did make you what you are today.
Hazelden Foundation
Thursday, July 28, 2016
July 28, 2016 - Pastor, husband, father, addict, man
July 28, 2016 - Editorial: What the hell was Trump thinking this time?
July 28, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
Thursday, July 26, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Opportunity may knock only once,
But temptation leans on the doorbell.
-- Anonymous
We have an opportunity. We've made getting out of debt a priority in our lives. Just having this desire gives us the opportunity. For this, we are grateful.
It's all too easy, however, to slip into our old ways of thinking and behaving. Our old spending patterns are all too fresh in our mind. We remember to take this opportunity – this juncture in our lives – to learn and to grow. If we're tempted to return to our old ways, we're going backward.
Today I will remember that my old thinking and behaviors are a part of my history, not my future.
Opportunity may knock only once,
But temptation leans on the doorbell.
-- Anonymous
We have an opportunity. We've made getting out of debt a priority in our lives. Just having this desire gives us the opportunity. For this, we are grateful.
It's all too easy, however, to slip into our old ways of thinking and behaving. Our old spending patterns are all too fresh in our mind. We remember to take this opportunity – this juncture in our lives – to learn and to grow. If we're tempted to return to our old ways, we're going backward.
Today I will remember that my old thinking and behaviors are a part of my history, not my future.
You are reading from the book:
Letting Go of Debt © 2000 by Hazelden Foundation