Feb. 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The great end of life is not knowledge but action. — Thomas Huxley

It is important to gain knowledge as we seek to understand ourselves and others. But we can also get caught up in insisting too much on knowing rather than doing. Maybe we are sometimes too introspective, too hooked on trying to figure everything out.

Often it helps to just get out there and do things. We may feel paralyzed and believe that we can only be “cured” when the moment of illumination arrives. But just undertaking little acts of kindness or daily tasks can set in motion a chain reaction that builds energy and self-confidence. Finish that chore, help a neighbor, send a card, go for a walk with a friend. Yes, we can do it, and it feels good.

Love, too, is action. Love is not just a feeling but a connection, a reaching out, and a communion. Love is doing things for others. At the end of the day, we may wish to write down not only what we have thought and felt, but what we have done—for ourselves and for others.

Let this be a day in which I set in motion loving actions that will help me and others.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021

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., 2021

Feb. 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021

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, 2021 - Good morning and let's shoot for a relaxing but productive and safe Sunday

 

Good morning to what we plan to make a restful yet productive and safe Sunday ...let nothing and no one exert the control to decide what kind of day you have, and stay clear of those useless and negative people and things

Feb. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. — Henry Ford

To be a friend involves risk. Friends confront each other when it’s needed, but they do it out of love and with compassion. All of us need a friend who will tell us when we are acting out of line, when we are “not able to see the forest for the trees.” Friends are there for us in the struggles—rooting us on, maybe teasing us a bit, helping us get past the difficulties and eventually helping us find the gift embedded in them. Friends risk upsetting us, if it means we may become better people.

We need to be grateful for these people. Theirs is not always an easy job. Many of us have big egos; we don’t want to be told that we are wrong. However, friends keep seeing the best in us, even when we aren’t acting our best. Theirs will be the faces we see when we look back at our lives, especially at the times of crisis and challenge.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me be a friend, and help me be grateful for my friends.

Today’s Action

Today I will work to bring out the best in those around me, even if that means saying the hard things. If I must confront someone, I will only do it if I can do it with love and compassion.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

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., 2021

Feb. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

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, 2021 - Good morning to Saturday and the weekend, and let's make both worthwhile but productive and safe

 

Good morning and let's commit to a relaxing but productive and safe Saturday and weekend ...have a truly worthwhile day, and anything and anyone out to wreck it have no place in what we choose to do with the day

Feb. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, Feb. 26, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

There is no such thing as “best” in the world of individuals. — Hosea Ballou

We live in a society driven by the concept of competition. “We are Number One” is drummed in our ears daily via advertising and sporting events. The message is that we must be or must have something “better than” if we have any sense of pride at all. Failure is the only other option.

But human behavior can’t be judged according to this kind of rating system. How could we ever determine who is the best listener, or the most insightful or compassionate? At any given moment, the best for us may not be the best for someone else. If it goes right to the heart, a simple word spoken at a meeting is the best word. If someone we hardly know nods and smiles from across the room, that smile is the best smile for us, here and now. The extended hand, the brief word of encouragement, will never be proclaimed “Number One” on television, never be memorialized in record books as better than the support someone else got, but for us, it’s the best.

I am surrounded by a multitude of blessings. I need look no further for what I need.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Friday, Feb. 26, 2021

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, we probably have not been 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. 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 those deadly characters defects from yesterday into tomorrow is 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., 2021

Feb. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Feb. 26, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Friday, Feb. 26, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, Feb. 26, 2021

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, 2021 - It's always a good morning when we wake up to the Happy Dance Friday

 

Good morning and let's do something productive with this beautiful Happ[y Dance Friday ...have a truly wonderful and fruitful but safe day -- and don't make time for anything and anyone wanting to screw up the day

Feb. 25, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Take risks

Take a risk. Take a chance.

We do not have to indulge in obviously foolhardy or self-defeating risks, but we can allow ourselves to take positive risks in recovery. We cannot afford to keep ourselves paralyzed.

We do not have to keep ourselves stymied and trapped out of fear of making a mistake or failing. Naturally, we will make mistakes and fail from time to time. That’s part of being fully alive. There are no guarantees. If we are waiting for guaranteed courses of action, we may spend much of our life waiting.

We do not have to shame ourselves or accept shame from anyone else, even those in recovery, for making mistakes. The goal of recovery is not to live life perfectly. The goal of recovery is to live, learn our lessons, and make overall progress.

Take a risk. Do not always wait for a guarantee. We don’t have to listen to “I told you so.” Dust yourself off after a mistake, and then move on to the success.

God, help me begin to take healthy risks. Help me let go of my fear of failure, and help me let go of my fear of success. Help me let go of my fear of fully living my life, and help me start experiencing all parts of this journey.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 25, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021

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 what I have lost and not demand nor expect them to be handed to me. 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., 2021

Feb. 25, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021

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, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021

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, 2021 - Let's kick it in gear for what's bound to be a terrific Thursday and make the day count for something good

 

Good morning with gratitude for a terrific Thursday and with determination to make it count for something positive ...have a genuinely great but productive and safe day -- and give no time to anything and anyone intent on screwing it up

Feb. 24, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

When an insight, or series of them, is especially clear and powerful, we may experience a complete paradigm shift. When this happens, the universe offers us a veritable internal earthquake rather than just a gentle nudge in the right direction. A paradigm shift is defined as an important change that occurs when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a completely new and different way. The initial use of the term in science and business environments has now expanded into the realm of personal growth.

Maybe we get in touch with a talent we never appreciated before, and that new reality alters virtually everything—from how we make a living to the quality of our relationships. Rather than an incremental advance or slow, steady progress, we leap!

Sometimes, such dramatic changes are preceded by a significant wake-up call. This could be someone close to us dying or getting severely injured, resulting in a significant change in our worldview and behaviors. Or we might develop a serious illness and suddenly realize how important spending time with family and loved ones really is. While sometimes such jolts are painful, the changes they engender often produce some of the best moments and outcomes in our lives.

I pay special attention to the insights offered by wake-up calls and paradigm shifts.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 24, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021

Today, apply the Program more widely and remember it is developed not solely to guide us to sobriety but to detect and correct the character flaws that enabled our drinking. Being dry is all we can expect if the only action we take is to quit drinking. Abstinence by itself won't earn us the sobriety and peace if we do not uncover, admit and either give up or correct the dysfunctional dynamics of our spiritual and emotional characters. Being dry is a major step forward from our drinking days, but dry without serenity puts us at significant risk of relapse if we turn a blind eye to the defective parts of our character. And because simply being dry puts us on the edge of a relapse waiting to happen, a recovery program helps us to deal with the defects in mental, spiritual and emotional characters. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

Feb. 24, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021

AA Thought for the Day

When we came to our first AA meeting, we looked up at the wall at the end of the room and saw the sign: "But for the Grace of God." We knew right then and there that we would have to call on the Grace of God in order to get sober and get over our soul-sickness. We heard speakers tell how they had come to depend on a Power greater than themselves. That made sense to us and we made up our minds to try it.

Am I depending on the Grace of God to help me stay sober?

Meditation for the Day

Share your love, your joy, your happiness, your time, your food, your money gladly with all. Give out all the love you can with a glad, free heart and hand. Do all you can for others and back will come countless stores of blessings. Sharing draws others to you. Take all who come as sent by God and give them a royal welcome. You may never see the results of your sharing. Today they may not need you, but tomorrow may bring results from the sharing you did today.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may make each visitor desire to return. I pray that I may never make anyone feel repulsed or unwanted.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 24, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021

Reflection for the Day

I can banish fear by realizing the truth. Am I afraid to be alone? This fear can be banished by the realization that I am never alone, that God is always with me wherever I am and whatever I do. Am I afraid that I won't have enough money to meet my needs? This fear can be banished by the realization that God is my inexhaustible, unfailing resource, now and always. Today I have the power to change fear into faith.

Can I say with confidence, "I will trust, and will not be afraid ...?"

Today I Pray

That I may fear no evil, for God is with me. That I may learn to turn to my Higher Power when I am afraid. I pray diligently that my faith in God and trust in what He has in store for me is strong enough to banish the fears that undermine my courage.

Today I Will Remember

Turn fear into faith.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 24, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021

We alcoholics know that one drink is too much and a barrel isn't enough. That first drink starts the compulsion to drink.

Suppressing desires can become a habit just as their satisfaction does. Each time we Say "NO," we weaken the old habit and strengthen the new.

The efforts to satisfy our desires led us to the excesses that brought about our alcoholism. So let us follow the advise of John Stuart Mill and "learn to seek our happiness by limiting our desires, rather than attempting to satisfy them."

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 24, 2021 - Let's kick it in gear for this beautiful Wednesday and have faith that we can take on whatever challenges the day poses

 

Good morning to this magnificent Wednesday with gratitude to make the day count for something good ...have a truly great but productive and safe day -- and ignore whatever and whoever is out to sabotage it

Feb. 23, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Accepting our powerlessness over other people relieves us of a heavy burden.

When we first hear the term powerlessness, we’re baffled. What does it mean that we are powerless to control another person’s behavior? With little or no success, we argued, manipulated, and cajoled. Our hours were filled with attempts to control.

Giving up this behavior is frightening at first. We might ask ourselves, what do we do now? At length, we learn through the example of others to live for ourselves. Though it may have seemed selfish at first, we are realizing a new freedom that energizes us. We are beginning to glimpse the richness of our own lives now that we have time to focus on us.

I will relish my freedom from the lives of loved ones today. I’ll focus on my behavior only.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 23, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021

Today, if life sneaks in unexpected tasks or frustration that delay my plans, I will not cave to anger or a sense of failure at not carrying out my plans to completion. Even if my patience or expectations of myself or others are stretched to the max, I will not whine with self-pity or anything negative because, if I have gotten through the last 24 Hours sober, I have literally nothing to complain about and absolutely everything for which to be grateful and humble. I have no excuse to morph frustration or anger into self-imposed isolation because isolation is the breeding ground for loneliness - and loneliness can be lethal in recovery. But should I feel lonely, I will reach out to someone who can lend an empathetic - not sympathetic - ear or, in the spirit the 12th Step, jump into some form of service to someone in need and want. An old saying is that the non-addict who has a flat tire calls Triple A, but the recovering alcoholic with a flat calls Suicide Prevention. Today, I will use the Steps to keep events and things in their proper perspective and, if I find I have a flat tire, I'll call roadside assistance. Suicide Prevention has other people in greater need. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021