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

Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Reflection for the Day

When I first read the Serenity Prayer, the word serenity itself seemed like an impossibility. At the time, the word conjured up images of lethargy, apathy, resignation, or grim-faced endurance; it hardly seemed a desirable goal. But I’ve since found that serenity means none of those things. Serenity for me today is simply a clear-eyed and realistic way of seeing the world, accompanied by inner peace and strength. My favorite definition is “Serenity is like a gyroscope that lets us keep our balance no matter what turbulence swirls around us.”

Is that a state of mind worth aiming for?

Today I Pray

May I notice that serenity comes first, ahead of courage and wisdom, in the sequence of the Serenity Prayer. May I believe that serenity must also come first in my life. I must have the balance, realistic outlook, and acceptance that is part of this blessing of serenity before I can go on to the kind of action and decision-making that will bring order to my existence.

Today I Will Remember

Serenity comes first.

Hazelden Foundation

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

Step by Step

Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020

Today, understand that even if my last drink was years ago, my next drunk, like the guy whose last drunk was 24 Hours ago, is just one drink away. My quantity of sobriety says little about its quality, and I have to re-examine that quality if my sobriety is riddled with anger, frustration, despair, hopelessness and a brain that processes my world with the same mind soaked by my last drunk. And even if my last drunk was months or even years ago, my next one is just as close as for the man who woke up with a hangover this morning. Quality - not quantity. This is the what recovery is about. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

"The alcoholic is absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self-knowledge. We must admit we can do nothing about it ourselves. Will power and self-knowledge will never help in the strange mental blank spots when we are tempted to drink. An alcoholic mentally is in a very sick condition. The last flicker of conviction that we can do the job ourselves must be snuffed out. The spiritual answer and the program of action are the only hope. Only spiritual principles will solve our problems. We are completely helpless apart from Divine help. Our defense against drinking must come from a Higher Power."

Have I accepted the spiritual answer and the program of action?

Meditation for the Day

Rest now until life, eternal life, flowing through your veins and heart and mind, bids you to bestir yourself. Then glad work will follow. Tired work is never effective. The strength of God's spirit is always available to the tired mind and body. He is your physician and your healer. Look to these quiet times of communion with God for rest, for peace, for cure. Then rise refreshed in spirit and go out to work, knowing that your strength is able to meet any problems because it is reinforced by God's power.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that the peace I have found will make me effective. I pray that I may be relieved of all train during this day.

Hazelden Foundation

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

A Day at a Time

Saturday, Feb. 29,  2020

Reflection for the Day

Inventory-taking isn't always done in red ink. It's a rare day when we haven't done something right. As I uncover and face my shortcomings, my many good qualities will be revealed to me also, reminding me that they have the same reality as my faults. Even when we've tried hard and failed, for instance, we can chalk that up as one of our greatest credits of all. I'll try to appreciate my good qualities because they not only offset the faults, but give me a foundation on which to grow. It's just as self-deceptive to discount what's good in us as to justify what is not.

Can I take comfort in my positive qualities, accepting myself as a friend?

Today I Pray

If I find only defects when I look in that Fourth Step mirror, may I be sure that I am missing something - namely my good points. Although my ultra-modesty may be approved socially, may I learn that it is just as dishonest as rationalizing away my faults. Even an out-and-out failure, if examined from all sides, may turn up a plus along with the obvious minuses.

Today I Will Remember

To give myself, if not an A for effort, at least an average B minus.

Hazelden Foundation

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

The Eye Opener

Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020

The older some of us get in AA, the more we notice a tendency on our part to become a little bit less tolerant, a little less understanding of our relationship with the man still having trouble. We have been so long removed from the actual suffering that we are losing some of our understanding.

This is a good time to pick out the messiest case we can find and get back in the groove again. We can't afford to forget that we, too, are alcoholics and, but for the Grace of God, we would be in just as bad shape.

We may be years away from our last drunk, but we are only one drink away from our next one. Don't lose the common touch.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 29, 2020 - Good morning and let's shoot for a groovy Saturday and far out weekend

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

Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Awakening spiritually

Many of us have had spiritual experiences and spiritual awakenings as a result of this program. Some people had them before they arrived, some when they first arrived, some years after. But before we come to realize a power greater than ourselves or our addiction, we don’t need to hear voices or see visions.

The spiritual experience most of us have is a quiet realization that we are alive, here on Earth. What greater experience can we ask for?

Have I had a spiritual awakening?

Higher Power, help me remain grateful for the gift of my life.

I will practice my spiritual aliveness today by…

Hazelden Foundation

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

Step by Step
Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

Today, take the Program from theoretical to practical application to both recovery and life. If I hear "Easy Does It," I cannot use it as "permission" to neglect daily responsibilities and what must be done today. Instead, it means not to expect too much of either myself or another person. And "Let Go and Let God" does not mean I can expect my Higher Power to tend to what is my responsibility and within my capability. Realize I am letting go of my own will for myself and letting God tell me what His will is for me. "One (drink) is one too many and never enough"  tells me, simply, not to try to find out what "never enough" is and not to try the first one at all. "Making amends"  isn't simply saying, "I'm sorry," but is acceptance of consequences and working harder if some of those amends are rejected. "One Day at a Time" is simple: today is all I've got and yesterday can't be undone or redone, and tomorrow is not guaranteed. Even it is, I have to give today my best shot because it may well reverberate into tomorrow. Today, move from theory to the practical, and it's time to roll up the sleeves. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

We should be free from alcohol for good. It's out of our hands and in the hands of God, so we don't need to worry about it or even think about it any more. But if we haven't done this honestly and fully, the chances are that it will become our problem again. Since we don't trust God to take care of the problem for us, we reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. Then it's our problem again and we're in the same old mess we were in before. We're helpless again and we drink.

Do I trust God to take care of the problem for me?

Meditation for the Day

No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have behind it much spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times of spiritual preparation and many hours of work may be profitless. From the point of view of God, one poor tool working all the time but doing back work because of lack of preparation, is of small value compared with the sharp, keen, perfect instrument working for only a short time but which turns out perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get more strength and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my work.

Hazelden Foundation

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

A Day at a Time

Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

Reflection for the Day

We're taught in The Program and the Twelve Steps that the chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear - mainly fear that we would lose something we already possessed or that we would fail to get something we demanded. Living on the basis of unsatisfied demands, we obviously were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, we are taught, no peace will be ours unless we find a means of reducing these demands.

Have I become entirely ready to have God remove all my defects of character?

Today I Pray

May I make no unrealistic demands on life which, because of their grandiosity, cannot be met. May I place no excessive demands on others which, when they are not fulfilled, leave me disappointed and let down.

Today I Will Remember

The set-up for a let-down.

Hazelden Foundation

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

The Eye Opener

Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

Many of us would have been ready to do something about our drinking problem years before we did, except for the obstinate determination not to allow the wife, mother or boss to tell us what to do.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 28, 2020 - Good morning and let's make it a fantastic and Funday Happy Dance Friday

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

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it. — Malcolm X

It does little good to complain about our spouse, lover, or parents. We only accentuate our role as victims when we say, “I would be happier if she were different,” or “If he would just get off my back, I would act better.” At times, we may have a knee-jerk loyalty to the victim within. Some of us take comfort in acting helpless and being taken care of; some of us relish the power of being catered to; some of us wallow in self-pity. These patterns of thought hinder our recovery and put a drag on our relationships. When we decide that we aren’t willing to live this way any longer, we are ready to assert our independence.

Real emancipation can’t come at someone else’s initiative or as a gift. It can only begin from within, by saying, “I will take my independence.” Then we begin to be responsible men because we own it on the inside.

Today, I will not wait for others to set me free. I will do what is within my own power to be a free man.

Hazelden Foundation

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

Step by Step

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

Today, gratitude to our Higher Power that we are the ones blessed with the grace to recover and a commitment to live only the current 24 Hours, not looking back to drag the emotional and physical damage of yesterday into today and not looking to tomorrow because it may never come. We embrace with gratitude, humility and a pledge to be of good to others and that we are not among the casualties of alcoholics who did not survive their last drunk, who were not granted the choice that we as survivors have been given — recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2020

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

When we came into AA, the first thing we did was to admit that we couldn't do anything about our drinking. We admitted that alcohol had us licked and that we were helpless against it. We never could decide whether or not to take a drink. We always took the drink. And since we couldn't do anything about it ourselves, we put our whole drink problem into the hands of God. We turned the whole thing over to that Power greater than ourselves. And we have nothing more to do about it, except to trust God to take care of the problem for us.

Have I done this honestly and fully?

Meditation for the Day

This is the time for my spirit to touch the spirit of God. I know that the feeling of the spirit-touch is more important than all the sensation of material things. I must seek a silence of spirit-touching with God. Just a moment's contact and all the fever of life leaves me. Then I am well, whole, calm and able to rise and minister to others. God's touch is a potent healer. I must feel that touch and sense God's presence.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that the fever of resentment, worry and fear may melt into nothingness. I pray that health, joy, peace and serenity may take its place.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

Reflection for the Day

If I live just one day at a time, I won't so quickly entertain fears of what might happen tomorrow. As long as I'm concentrating on today's activities, there won't be room in my mind for worrying. I'll try to fill every minute of this day with something good - seen, heard, accomplished. Then, when the day is ended, I'll be able to look back on it with satisfaction, serenity and gratitude.

Do I sometimes cherish bad feelings so that I can feel sorry for myself?

Today I Pray

That I will get out of the self-pity act and live for today. May I notice the good things from dawn to nightfall, learn to talk about them and thank God for them. May I catch myself if I seem to be relishing my moans and complaints more often than appreciating the goodness of my life.

Today I Will Remember

Today is good.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

We know from past experiences that we actually invited all our troubles to enter our lives. We left the door wide open for them. Getting sober does not necessarily mean we have closed all the doors, for some of us have only closed the front door and left the back door wide open.

The chances are that you are not only vulnerable through the door marked Alcohol. As you advance to the front, watch well both flanks and the rear.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2020 - Good morning to what's going to be a terrific Thursday with Friday a day away

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

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Giving and receiving

They say it’s better to give than to receive. And that’s true, to a point. But I think what they really mean is that it’s better to give than to take, which is a more grabby sort of action. A completely different sort.

It feels wonderful to be the one who does the giving, the one to hand out gifts of help. But receiving is a gift too. For everyone involved. When I gracefully accept what someone else has to offer—be it help or a gift of any kind—they get to feel the wonderfulness of giving. The goal is for all the giving and receiving to flow freely and to naturally balance out.

Asking for—or accepting—help is not a sign of weakness—just as not asking for help isn’t a badge-worthy sign of pride. Asking for—or accepting—help is a sign of empathy and trust, which is what a loving community is all about.

“I need your help.”

Most people will leap into action upon hearing those words—moved from the bottom of their hearts.

She was always available to help others. Now it was time for her to discover how to let others help her. It was a gift that went both ways. — Queenisms

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020

Today, understand we cannot take Step Seven of asking a Higher Power to "remove our shortcomings"  without first surrendering completely to the Sixth Step of being "entirely ready."  If we cling onto some character defect like fear, resentment, anger, self-pity or remorse, we probably have not been thoroughly honest in our Fourth Step of "a searching and fearless moral inventory ..."  Some - if not all - of those character defects likely triggered our drinking, at first abusively and eventually compulsively, and holding onto them even with an honest desire to let go of them may threaten the quality of our sobriety - maybe sobriety itself. An "honest desire"  to surrender our defects, then, is not sufficient. Because the Program is one of action, we must be active in releasing our defects and not taking them back. Our thoughts, feelings and actions of yesterday influence our tomorrows; thus, what we do today may well impact tomorrow, and a history of carrying from yesterday into tomorrow is one of self-destruction. Today, if we are mired in defects that we know contributed to our drinking, let's review our Fourth to see if it wasn't as "searching and fearless"  as it should be. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Feb. 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

When we came into AA, we came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves. We came to believe in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God, and to which we can turn for help. Each morning we have a quiet time. We ask God for the power to stay sober for the next 24 hours. And each night we thank Him for helping us to keep sober that day.

Do I believe that each man or woman I see in AA is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard to a sober person?

Meditation for the Day

I should pray for faith as a thirsty person prays for water in a desert. Do I know what it means to feel sure that God will never fail me? Am I sure of this as I am sure that I still breathe? I should pray daily and most diligently that my faith may increase. There is nothing lacking in my life because, really, all I need is mine, only I lack the faith to know it. I am like a rich man's child who sits in rags when all around me are stores of all I could desire.

Prayer for the Day

I pray for the realization that God has everything I need. I pray that I may know that His power is always available.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020

Reflection for the Day

"What if ..."  How often we hear these words from newcomers to The Program. How often, in fact, we tend to say them ourselves. "What if I lose my job ...,"  "What if my car breaks down ...,"  "What if I get sick and can't work ...,"  "What if my child gets hooked on drugs?"  What if - anything our desperate imaginings can project. Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear and anxiety. The answer to, "What if ...,"  is, plainly and simply, "Don't project."  We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time.

Am I keeping my thoughts positive?

Today I Pray

May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties. May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today. May I turn out fear by faith. If I will only make a place for God within me, He will remove my fears.

Today I Will Remember

I can only borrow trouble at high interest rates.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020

Frequently we are asked, "Why waste your money on that guy? He's a phony if ever I saw one."  We have all heard this and often it was true but, after all, the monetary loss each month was way below our old whiskey bills. Every once in a while, the long shot does come in and the payoff is tremendous.

It is simply a case of betting on people instead of horses. These bets on people can't lose, for if the phony abuses your generosity, the fault is his, not yours, and he is debited and you are credited by the Great Bookkeeper who has charge of the Treasury where "neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal."

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2020 - Good morning and let's commit to a totally awesome and serene Wednesday

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

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves. — Virginia Woolf

Freedom is a funny thing. In a way, it makes life harder. We are free to do what we want, but every choice makes a difference in our lives. Some choices make us happy, and some bring trouble.

We can make good choices. We can control our actions. We can start by having control in little ways: follow the law, pay the rent, make the bed every day. These choices put order in our lives. Eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. These choices make us strong enough to live each day to the fullest. These kinds of choices set us free.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, when I was drinking and drugging, I couldn’t enjoy my freedom. I had no control over the little things in my life. Help me stay sober today.

Action for the Day

Today I’ll be grateful for having some control. I will list five ways I am more free because I can control my actions.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

Today, admit that I abused, misused, took for granted and literally threw away through my drinking and actions all that I had been GIVEN unconditionally - love, respect, self-respect, integrity, friends, family, innocence - and traded it for selfishness, insecurity, fear, regret, pain, agony, anguish, loss and time that will never be recovered. Now, I am forced to admit I cannot expect to be given what I drank away - nor should I be enabled in regaining what I lost - without earning it. And I have the tools to begin the rebuilding process, courtesy of AA. So simple! But the work to apply those tools forces me to ask my Higher Power, on bended knee, for the strength, courage, honesty, discipline, integrity and selflessness to earn back - not demand nor expect them to be handed to me - what I have lost. And, if I do the job right, I may get back more than I lost. Today, I accept I must remake myself and, with the Program, I've got the tools to do it. All that remains is my choice to pick them up and put them to use. Today, I pick them up and begin the rebuilding process. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

Some people find it hard to believe in a Power greater than themselves. But not to believe in such a Power forces us to atheism. It has been said that atheism is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That's practically impossible to believe. I think we all can agree that alcohol is a power greater than ourselves. It certainly was in my case. I was helpless before the power of alcohol.

Do I remember the things that happened to me because of the power of alcohol?

Meditation for the Day

The spiritual and moral will eventually overcome the material and unmoral. That is the purpose and destiny of the human race. Gradually the spiritual is overcoming the material in our minds. Gradually the moral is overcoming the unmoral. Faith, fellowship and service are cures for most of the ills of the world. There is nothing in the field of personal relationships that they cannot do.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may do my share in making a better world. I pray that I may be part of the cure for the ills of the world.

Hazelden Foundation

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

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

Reflection for the Day

Before we came to The Program, fear ruled our lives. Tyrannized by our addictions and obsessions, we feared everything and everybody. We feared ourselves and, perhaps most of all, feared fear itself. These days, when I am able to accept the help of my Higher Power, it makes me feel capable of doing anything I am called upon to do. I am overcoming my fears and acquiring a comfortable new confidence.

Can I believe that "courage is fear that has said its prayers ...?"

Today I Pray

God grant that through faith in Him I may overcome my obsessive fears. I have been running scared for so long it has become a habit. God help me to see that I may be purposely clinging to my fears to avoid making decisions, perhaps even to shirk the responsibility of success.

Today I Will Remember

Fear keeps me safe from risk-taking.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

Few of us who are successfully working the AA Program have failed to notice the almost immediate influence our sobriety has brought about, not only in our homes and jobs but in the community as well.

Some of us who a short time ago stood before the judge and got the usual "$10 or 10 days" are now frequently closeted in the Judge's Chambers at his invitation to assist him in his handling of the alcoholic problem.

We know what we were, we know what we are, now let us be what we can be.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 25, 2020 - Good morning with the assurance that all is good on this beautiful Tuesday

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

Monday, Feb. 24, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

I have more peace and contentment. Life has fallen into place. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have found their correct position. Life is whole, all of one piece. I am not cast hither and yon on every wind of circumstance or fancy. I am no longer a dry leaf cast up and away by the breeze. I have found my place of rest, my place where I belong. I am content. I do not vainly wish for things I cannot have. I have “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

Have I found contentment in AA?

Meditation for the Day

In all of us there is an inner consciousness that tells of God, an inner voice that speaks to our hearts. It is a voice that speaks to us intimately, personally, in a time of quiet meditation. It is like a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We can reach out into the darkness and figuratively touch the hand of God. As the Big Book puts it: “Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God. We can find the Great Reality deep down within us. And when we find it, it changes our whole attitude toward life.”

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may follow the leading of the inner voice. I pray that I may not turn a deaf ear to the urging of my conscience.

Hazelden Foundation