Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Fulfillment

“Everything I need shall be provided today. Everything.” Say it, until you believe it. Say it at the beginning of the day. Say it throughout the day.

Sometimes, it helps to know what we want and need. But if we don’t, we can trust that God does.

Twelve Step groups for codependents are not about how we can help the other person; they’re about how we can help ourselves grow and change. They can help us accept and deal with the ways codependency has affected us. They can help us get on track and stay there.

When we ask, trust, and believe that our needs will be met, our needs will be met. Sometimes God cares about the silliest little things, if we do.

Today, I will affirm that my needs will be met. I will affirm that God cares and is the Source of my supply. Then I will let go and see that what I have risked to believe is the truth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

Today, live just for today. I cannot nor do I want to forget yesterday for it has lessons to carry into tomorrow. Nor do I want to be so preoccupied with tomorrow that I neglect today for I may miss some good that someone or something has to offer. I can plan for tomorrow, but I cannot fret over it and dread what demons or challenges my yesterdays have programmed me to expect. But that programming from my yesterdays was dictated by a whiskey bottle and, God granting, there is no whiskey bottle in my today. I therefore cannot fear that what I do today will poison my tomorrow. My life, my sobriety, my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my recovery - all are today. Today is all I have, and I must not be lax in strengthening it to make tomorrow's today the promise of something good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

Drinking cuts you off from God. No matter how you were brought up, no matter what your religion is, no matter if you say you believe in God, nevertheless you build up a wall between you and God by your drinking. You know you're not living the way God wants you to live. As a result, you have that terrible remorse. When you come into AA, you begin to get right with other people and with God. A sober life is a happy life because, by giving up drinking, we've got rid of our loneliness and remorse.

Do I have real fellowship with other people and with God?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that all sacrifice and all suffering is of value to me. When I am in pain, I am being tested. Can I trust God, no matter how low I feel? Can I say, "Thy will be done," no matter how much I am defeated? If I can, my faith is real and practical. It works in bad times as well as in good times. The Divine Will is working in a way that is beyond my finite mind to understand, but I can still trust in it.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may take my suffering in my stride. I pray that I may accept pain and defeat as part of God's plan for my spiritual growth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

Reflection for the Day

One of the most constructive things I can do is to learn to listen to myself and get in touch with my true feelings. For years, I tuned myself out, going along, instead, with what others felt and said. Even today, it sometimes seems that they have it all together, while I'm still stumbling about. Thankfully, I'm beginning to understand that people-pleasing takes many forms. Slowly but steadily, I've also begun to realize that it's possible for me to change my old patterns.

Will I encourage myself to tune in to the real me? Will I listen carefully to my own inner voice with the expectation that I'll hear some wonderful things?

Today I Pray

I pray that I may respect myself enough to listen to my real feelings, those emotions which for so long I refused to hear or name or own, which festered in me like a poison. May I know that I need to stop often, look at my feelings, listen to the inner me.

Today I Will Remember

I will own my feelings.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

Nothing great was ever achieved without overcoming great obstacles, and no hero of history deserves more acclaim than those who were triumphant over self. But do not let us swell up too much with pride. If we are honest, we know that with our character-weakened souls, with our "fogbound" brains, we could accomplish nothing of ourselves. It was only when we, in our desperate surrender, threw our lives and our wills into His keeping that He, in His mercy, removed the obstacle. Unknown, even to ourselves, there must have slept in us that Faith of a mustard seed, that can remove mountains.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2020 - Good morning to the far out and funky Happy Dance Friday -- finally!

Jan. 30, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

This Mouse must give up one of the Mouse ways of seeing things in order that he may grow.  — Hyemeyohsts Storm

There is an American Indian tale of a mouse who heard a roaring in his ears and set out to discover what it was. He encountered many animals who helped him on his way. Finally, the mouse had a chance to offer help to another. He gave away his eyes to help two other animals.

Without his sight, defenseless, he waited for the end. Soon he heard the sound eagles make when they dive for their prey. The next thing the mouse knew, he was flying. He could see all the splendor around him. Then he heard a voice say, “You have a new name. You are Eagle.”

Like the mouse, we also feel something inside us we’d like to explore. That secret, like all others, has its answer hidden deep within us, yet right under our very nose. Often, we merely have to give up our eyes and see in a different way. When we do this, we are rewarded with a new kind of vision, one that lets us discover our true potential.

How can I look at things differently today?

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

Today, progress, not perfection. In recognizing the difference, I might learn patience over impatience not only with others but with myself. Progress requires that I focus on just this day while perfection forces me to look to the unrealistic and unattainable goals beyond today. And by preoccupying myself with tomorrow, I am likely to neglect something today - and that failure will likely sabotage any tomorrow I might have. Tomorrow will hold nothing good if I neglect today. Today, then, will be focused on one thing at a time and first things first. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Jan. 30, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
A drinking life isn't a happy life. Drinking cuts you off from other people and from God. One of the worst things about drinking is the loneliness. And one of the best things about AA is the fellowship. Drinking cuts you off from other people, at least from the people who really matter to you, your family, your co-workers and your real friends. No matter how much you love them, you build up a wall between you and them by your drinking. You're cut off from any real companionship with them. As a result, you're terribly lonely.

Have I got rid of my loneliness?

Meditation for the Day
I will sometimes go aside into a quiet place of retreat with God. In that place, I will find restoration and healing and power. I will plan quiet times now and then, times when I will commune with God and arise rested and refreshed to carry on the work which God has given me to do. I know that God will never give me a load greater than I can bear. It is in serenity and peace that all true success lies.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strengthen my inner life, so that I may find serenity. I pray that my soul may be restored in quietness and peace.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

Reflection for the Day
Have I gained freedom simply because one day I was weak and the next day I became suddenly strong? Have I changed from the helpless and hopeless person I once seemed to be simply by resolving, "from now on, things will be different ...?" Is the fact that I am more comfortable today than ever before the result of my own willpower? Can I take credit for pulling myself up by my own bootstraps? I know better, for I sought refuge in a Power greater than myself - a Power which is still beyond my ability to visualize.

Do I consider the change in my life a miracle far beyond the workings of any human power?

Today I Pray
As the days of sobriety lengthen, and the moment of decision becomes farther behind me, may I never lose sight of the Power that changed my life. May I remember that my sobriety is an ongoing miracle, not just a once-in-a-lifetime transformation.

Today I Will Remember
Life is an ongoing miracle.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020

After several years on the Program, we still have to guard against rationalizing. When it comes to selling ourselves a bill of goods, we are tops. Our drinking was most always occasioned by a "good reason," or so we thought; the real reason - the fact that we were alcoholics and therefore compulsive drinkers - never occurred to us. A good reason can always be found for our actions, but the real reason is frequently obscure. Lord, teach us to know the difference.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 30, 2020 - Good morning and let's set out with determination to make it a big-whoop Thursday

Jan. 29, 2020 - Readings in Recovery; Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Before the rain stops we hear a bird. Even under the heavy snow we see snowdrops and some new growth. — Shunryu Suzuki

The signals that new growth is underway are often very small at first. It’s sometimes discouraging when we are trying to remake our lives and all we can see for our efforts is minor growth. That is how the natural world works, and we are part of this world. When the little sprouts of growth first develop under the snow in spring we don’t even see them unless we search. Yet, they signal the beginnings of a total transformation. Time will bring vast changes, but only little signs are showing first.

Today, we may search for signs of progress in our lives. The little things we see may signal bigger transformations yet to come. To be true to them in the long run we must accept them—even welcome them—as they are today.

I will notice the subtle movements toward health and renewal in my life. Welcoming them will encourage them.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020

Today, if I am holding onto a resentment that I have turned over to my Higher Power but taken back, I will do what the Program suggests: pray daily for two weeks for the target of my resentment. We are encouraged that the Program's suggestions that we use in recovery give us serenity and freedom from the character defects that weigh us down. No defect that weighs us down is stronger than resentment. Today, I'll give the Program's suggestion to pray for the person I resent a try, however grudgingly, and admit my prayers aren't totally altruistic. They are actually for me ...because the person I resent nor anyone else is worth the mental and physical cost of holding and feeding my resentment and anger. Enough is enough: no more empowering someone else to mess with my recovery and serenity and live in my brain rent-free. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Jan. 29, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
What a load wasting money puts on your shoulders! They say that members of AA have paid the highest initiation fee of any club members in the world, because we've wasted so much money on liquor. We'll never be able to figure out how much it was. We not only wasted our own money, but also the money we should have spent on our families. When you come into AA, that terrible load of wasted money falls off your shoulders. We alcoholics were getting round-shouldered from carrying all those loads that drinking put on our shoulders. But when we come into AA, we get a wonderful feeling of release and freedom.

Can I throw back my shoulders and look the whole world in the face again?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that the future is in the hands of God. He knows better than I what the future holds for me. I am not at the mercy of fate or buffeted about by life. I am being led in a very definite way, as I try to rebuild my life. I am the builder, but God is the architect. It is mine to build as best I can, under His guidance.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may depend on God, since He has planned my life. I pray that I may live my life as I believe God wants me to live it.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020

Reflection for the Day
I used to imagine my life as a grotesque abstract painting; a montage of crises framed by end-upon-end catastrophies. My days all were grey and my thoughts grayer still. I was haunted by dread and nameless fears. I was filled with self-loathing. I had no idea who I was, what I was or why I was. I miss none of those feelings. Today, step by step, I am discovering myself and learning that I can be free to be me.

Am I grateful for my new life? Have I taken the time to thank God today for the fact that I am clean and sober - and alive?

Today I Pray
May calm come to me after the turmoil and nightmares of the past. As my fears and self-hatred dissipate, may the things of the spirit replace them. For in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. May I be filled with the spirit of my Higher Power.

Today I Will Remember
Morning scatters nightmares.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020

On that awful day when the world had toppled about us, when all hope had departed and only wild desperation remained, then was the night darkest and nearest was the dawn. At this darkest hour, we "hit our bottom." There was no way to go but UP.

As dawn follows darkness in Nature's scheme, so darkness follows again in its turn. All things, save God, are transitory and what one day can bring, another day can take away. Let us not feel too secure in our sobriety, for darkness will come in the regular course of events, and we must be sure we have provided ourselves with the Light which will enable us to keep our footing on the slippery paths ahead.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2020 - Good morning and let's shoot for a spectacular and knockout Wednesday

Jan. 28, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His hands doesn’t mean that we’ll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As the days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and quiet happiness.

Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live?

Meditation for the Day

The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God’s help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us, or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure, and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020

Today, at day's end, I will look back and know by the grace of God that I did the best I could in all my affairs. If in prayer and meditation I find that I have not fully surrendered to my Higher Power some problem or character defect, I will know I have asked for the wisdom and humility to surrender it once and for all and that, if there is a tomorrow for me, I may be one day closer to that total surrender. I will not have reason to regret some communication with someone else because I was either cruel or indifferent to their needs or feelings. I will be grateful that I was not tempted to take the first drink that always leads to disaster, and I will go to sleep tonight with the comfort that my Higher Power blessed me with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Jan. 28, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
What a load hangovers put on your shoulders! What terrible physical punishment we've all been through. The pounding headaches and jumpy nerves, the shakes and the jitters, the hot and cold sweats! When you come into AA and stop drinking, that terrible load of hangovers falls off your shoulders. What a load remorse puts on your shoulders! That terrible mental punishment we've all been through. Ashamed of the things you've said and done. Afraid to face people because of what they might think of you. Afraid of the consequences of what you did when you were drunk. What an awful beating the mind takes! When you come into AA, that terrible load of remorse falls off your shoulders.

Have I got rid of these loads of hangovers and remorse?

Meditation for the Day
When you seek to follow the way of the spirit, it frequently means a complete reversal of the way of the world which you had previously followed. But it is a reversal that leads to happiness and peace. Do the aims and ambitions that a person usually strives for bring peace? Do the world's awards bring heart-rest and happiness? Or do they turn to ashes in the mouth?

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not be weary, disillusioned or disappointed. I pray that I may not put my trust in the ways of the world, but in the way of the Spirit.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020

Reflection for the Day
Now that I am in The Program, I am no longer enslaved by alcohol and other drugs. Free, free at last from the morning-after tremors, the dry heaves, the three-day beard, the misplaced eyelashes. Free, free at last from working out the alibis and hoping they won't unravel; free from blackouts; free from watching the clock so that I can somehow get that desperately needed "first one."

Do I treasure my freedom from chemical enslavement?

Today I Pray
Praise God that I am free of chemicals. This is my first freedom, from which other freedoms will develop - freedom to appraise my behavior sanely and constructively, freedom to grow as a person, freedom to maintain relationships with others on a sound basis. I will never cease to thank my Higher Power for leading me away from enslavement.

Today I Will Remember
Praise God for my freedom.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020

Man was created in the image of God. We are told that the heart of man is the Temple of the Holy Ghost. A realization of this fact makes the desecration of the body as sacrilegious as the desecration of any church.

We alcoholics have a lot of mess to clean up in our Temples in order to make them a fit place for communion with the God in us.

If we really want God to work in and through us in the rehabilitation of other alcoholics, we must provide Him at least a clean workshop.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 28, 2020 - Good morning with gratitude for the welcome day after Monday

Jan. 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Monday, Jan. 27, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Most kids hear what you say; some kids do what you say; but all kids do what you do. — Kathleen Casey Theisen

We are role models for many people: our children, our co-workers, other women in the program. Step Twelve encourages us to set good examples for anyone who might be looking on. Living a principled life takes practice, and progress, not perfection, is hoped for.

Abstinence has offered us a new set of tools for shaping our behavior. No longer must we regret what we did yesterday or last week. We are learning to monitor our actions, but even more importantly, we are defining our values. They, in turn, influence what we say and do.

Recovery offers us the tools for loving, but we must dare to pick them up. Listening to others and sharing ourselves begins the process of loving. Risking to offer love before receiving it will free us from the continual search for love in the faces of others.

Thoughtful responses to the situations we encounter require conscious attention to those events. We need reminding, perhaps, that our behavior is continuously telling others who we are, what we value, and how we view the people close to us. All of us, consciously or otherwise, imitate behavior patterns of persons we admire. Unfortunately, we sometimes mimic unfavorable behavior, too.

There are those casting their attention our way. The opportunity to model favorable behavior awaits us.

People will follow my lead. I shall walk softly, humbly and lovingly.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Monday, Jan. 27, 2020

Today, "Let Go and Let God" does not absolve me from responsibility to be an active participant in my redemption from the damage and pain to others of my drinking days. "Let Go and Let God" commands that I turn my will over to my Higher Power for knowledge of HIS will for me and "the power to carry (it) out." It does not give me the easy out by expecting God to do it for me. In accepting a role in my recovery instead of expecting it to come to me by reading the Big Book and going to meetings, I understand that sobriety is a two-level process. On the surface, I cannot drink; on a deeper level, I cannot expect a change in spiritual and emotional conditions that come solely by not drinking. I am responsible for my condition as an alcoholic; likewise, I am responsible for my recovery. "Let Go and Let God" does not excuse me from either responsibility. Today, I "Let Go and Let God" by surrendering MY self-will and listening to my Higher Power for HIS will and the knowledge to carry it out. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Jan. 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Jan. 27, 2020

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

A Day at a Time
Monday, Jan. 27, 2020

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, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Jan. 27, 2020

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, 2020 - Good morning to another gorgeous Monday and brand new week -- o, golly!

Jan. 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Accepting ourselves

While driving one day, a woman’s attention focused on the license plate of the car ahead. The license read: “B WHO UR.” How can I? she thought. I don’t know who I am!

Some of us may have felt confused when people encouraged us to be ourselves. How could we know ourselves, or be who we are, when, for years, many of us submerged ourselves in the needs of others?

We do have a self. We’re discovering more about ourselves daily. We’re learning we’re deserving of love.

We’re learning to accept ourselves, as we are for the present moment—to accept our feelings, thoughts, flaws, wants, needs, and desires. If our thoughts or feelings are confused, we accept that too.

To be who we are means we accept our past—our history—exactly as is.

To be ourselves means we are entitled to our opinions and beliefs—for the present moment and subject to change. We accept our limitations and our strengths.

To be who we are means we accept our physical selves, as well as our mental, emotional, and spiritual selves, for now. Being who we are in recovery means we take that acceptance one step further. We can appreciate our history and ourselves.

Being whom we are, loving and accepting ourselves, is not a limiting attitude. Accepting and loving ourselves is how we enable growth and change.

Today, I will be who I am. If I’m not yet certain who I am, I will affirm that I have a right to that exciting discovery.

Hazelden Foundation