April 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

I’ve noticed that the ones who do the most for AA are not in the habit of boasting about it. The danger of building myself up too much is that, if I do, I’m in danger of having a fall. That pattern of thought goes with drinking. If one side of a boat gets too far up out of the water, it’s liable to tip over. Building myself up and drinking go together. One leads to the other. So if I’m going to stay sober, I’ve got to keep small.

Have I got the right perspective on myself?

Meditation for the Day

The way sometimes seems long and weary. So many people today are weary. The weariness of others must often be shared by me. The weary and the heavy-laden, when they come to me, should be helped to find the rest that I have found. There is only one sure cure for world-weariness and that is turning to spiritual things. In order to help bring about the turning of the weary world to God, I must dare to suffer, dare to conquer selfishness in myself, and dare to be filled with spiritual peace in the face of all the weariness of the world.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be a help to discouraged people. I pray that I may have the courage to help bring about what the weary world needs but does not know how to get.

Hazelden Foundation

April 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Sunday, April 30, 2023

Today, instead of an alcoholic, I’m a soberholic. If “alcoholic” calls attention to the fact that I am addicted to alcohol, can’t “soberholic” stake my addiction to sobriety? Despite AA’s progress in striking down the stereotype of the alcoholic as the down-and-out’er sleeping in alleys or drying out in a flophouse, a jail’s drunk tank or mental hospital, a stigma remains. Might I be able to erode that stigma by labeling my addiction to sobriety instead of to alcohol? If so, maybe I can renew my self-confidence and weaken any temptation or lingering doubt about drinking again. As someone addicted to sobriety, why do I need alcohol? Today, at the risk of angering those who warn against trading one addiction for another, I’ll substitute dependence on alcohol for addiction to sobriety. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

April 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, April 30, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
The AA program is one of faith because we find that we must have faith in a Power greater than ourselves if we are going to get sober. We’re helpless before alcohol, but when we turn our drink problem over to God and have faith that He can give us all the strength we need, then we have the drink problem licked. Faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God is the essential part of the AA program.

Is faith still strong in me?

Meditation for the Day
Each one of us is a child of God, and as such, we are full of the promise of spiritual growth. A young person is like the springtime of the year. The full time of the fruit is not yet, but there is promise of the blossom. There is a spark of the Divine in every one of us. Each has some of God’s spirit which can be developed by spiritual exercise. Know that your life is full of glad promise. Such blessings can be yours, such joys, such wonders, as long as you develop in the sunshine of God’s love.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may develop the divine spark within me. I pray that by so doing I may fulfill the promise of a more abundant life.

Hazelden Foundation

April 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Sunday, April 30, 2023

Reflection for the Day
We’re taught in The Program that “faith without works is dead.” How true this is for the addicted person. For if an addicted person fails to perfect or enlarge his or her spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, s/he can’t survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If s/he doesn’t work, s/he’ll surely return to his or her addiction; and if s/he returns to addiction, s/he’ll likely die. Then faith will be dead indeed.

Do I believe, through my faith, that I can be uniquely useful to those who still suffer?

Today I Pray
May my faith in my Higher Power and in the influence of The Program be multiplied within me as I pass it along to others who are overcoming similar addictions. May I be certain that my helping others is not simply repaying my debts, but it is the only way I know to continue my spiritual growth and maintain my own sobriety.

Today I Will Remember
The more faith I can give, the more I will have.

Hazelden Foundation

April 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Sunday, April 30, 2023

It is most discouraging to many of us to find, after many weary months of trying to work on our moral inventory and studied efforts to eliminate some of our worst character defects, that the more we do the more we find to do. It is not that we are not making progress, but as we steady ourselves from a coldly analytical viewpoint, we find more defects than we ever realized we possessed.

Do not become discouraged when this situation exists. It is very evident proof of progress that you have come to a conscious realization that these new defects exist and you are at least bringing them out in the open where you can get a crack at them.

Hazelden Foundation

April 30, 2023 – Good morning to this splendid and peaceful Sunday

 

Good morning with sincere hopes of a rainbow for everyone this grand Sunday …and don’t squander any part of it on people and things that don’t deserve our time

April 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday , April 29, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Thought is action in rehearsal.

— Sigmund Freud

We sometimes indulge ourselves in fantasies and images of things we would like to do, or in euphoric recall of what we did in the past. Thoughts are powerful forces, and the ways we use them will shape our development. An Olympic diver creates vivid images of the perfect dive in his mind as part of his training because his thoughts help him perform at the crucial moment. Even in recovery, we are sometimes tempted to revisit former ecstatic moments from our using days, or to dream about a return to using but with better control the next time. We need to keep in mind that these thoughts serve as rehearsals for later action. They only weaken our recovery.

What kind of thoughts shall we cultivate in our minds? We can picture ourselves feeling relaxed and peaceful, having the craving lifted from us. We can picture ourselves maintaining a serene detachment while confronted with crisis. We can picture a situation with a loved one in which we say what we need to say and feel good about staying true to ourselves. This is the way to use our minds to rehearse for future action.

Today, I will hold an image of myself feeling relaxed and safe, even in the midst of confusion around me.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Saturday, April 29, 2023

Today, service to others as an essential element in my recovery, that expending some of my attention on something other than myself may make my problems not as bad as I think they are. Service can range from giving a talk, talking to a sponsor or sponsee, volunteering to make the coffee for a meeting or simply listening to someone else’s problems or experiences. And possibly, the problems I have — or think I have and maybe exaggerate — may seem somewhat less serious. Adversely, I must respect prudence in not expending myself to the extreme that my own needs are sacrificed and neglected. In the end, my recovery Program requires that I not focus all that I have completely on myself and that sharing or volunteering for service work may make my own problems less heavy. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

April 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, April 29, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
The AA program is one of faith, hope and charity. It’s a program of hope because when new members come into AA, the first thing they get is hope. They hear older members tell how they had been through the same kind of hell that they have and how they found the way out through AA. And this gives them hope that if others can do it, they can do it.

Is hope still strong in me?

Meditation for the Day
The rule of God’s kingdom is perfect order, perfect harmony, perfect supply, perfect love, perfect honesty, perfect obedience. There is no discord in God’s kingdom, only some things still unconquered in God’s children. The difficulties of life are caused by disharmony in the individual man or woman. People lack power because they lack harmony with God and with each other. They think that God fails because power is not manifested in their lives. God does not fail. People fail because they are out of harmony with Him.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be in harmony with God and with other people. I pray that this harmony will result in strength and success.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Saturday, April 29, 2023

Reflection for the Day
As I grow in The Program — sharing, caring and becoming more and more active — I find that it’s becoming easier to live in the Now. Even my vocabulary is changing. No longer is every other sentence salted with such well-used phrases as “could’ve,” “should’ve,” “would’ve,” “might’ve.” What’s done is done and what will be will be. The only time that really matters is Now.

Am I gaining real pleasure and serenity and peace in The Program?

Today I Pray
That I may collect all my scattered memories from the past and high-flown schemes and overblown fears for the future and compact them into the neater confines of Today. Only by living in the Now may I keep my balance, without bending backwards to the past or tipping forward into the future. May I stop trying to get my arms around my whole unwieldy lifetime and carry it around in a gunny sack with me wherever I go.

Today I Will Remember
Make room for today.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Saturday, April 29, 2023

Effort has been made to carry AA into schools and young people’s organizations, but the effective response has been so negligible that it has usually been abandoned after a short trial.

AA is a program for ALCOHOLICS — persons suffering from alcoholism. It was designed to appeal to them and them only. It is probably true that we can tell the kids a lot about drinking, but it will fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, we must be pricked by the sharp thorn of experience in order to learn.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2023 – Good morning and make it a spectacular Saturday

 

Good morning and take a cue from the Peanuts gang to have a fabulous Saturday and allow nothing and no one the control to screw it up

April 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, April 28, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

To stop behaving in a certain way is to risk the unfamiliar.

— Jan Lloyd

Old patterns grip us so tightly! Even when the behavior pinches us painfully, we are loath to give it up. Its familiarity makes it tolerable, knowable, somewhat manageable, and far less scary than trying something new. However, we are truly the luckiest women alive, because now we have a training ground where it is safe to try new behaviors. We can discard old, self-defeating patterns in the safe environment of these Twelve Steps.

We are on this recovery path because each of us wants a new life. We have grown sick and tired of the old ways that no longer work. And we have come to believe that change is possible if we look for it in the right place. This is the right place! At any meeting we can see other women who, like us, are trying on new behaviors and meeting with success. We are role models for one another, and every time one of us tries a new response to an old situation, we are all heartened and stretched a bit. We know that what another can do, we can do too.

I am in the right place today to let go of the old and try the new. My support is all around me. I will not fear.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Friday, April 28, 2023

Today, no running from mistakes with a sense of failure or blaming anything and anyone else. No recovery program works towards perfection because no person will or can achieve it. Likewise, I cannot and must not impose that unreachable goal on myself – and others. AA’s 10th Step says, in part, we “promptly admitted” when we are wrong – not if. Thus, let me not be so vain as to place responsibility for my mistakes, big and small, on someone and something else. Adversely, let me not be discouraged by a sense of failure when I stumble in word, thought and deed. Instead, let me be open to owning my mistakes, identifying the reason for them and correcting the reason so that I do not repeat them. Today, I am not perfect and I cannot expect myself to be – nor can I expect anyone and anything else to be. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

April 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, April 28, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

We’re so glad to be free from liquor that we do something about it. We get into action. We come to meetings regularly. We go out and try to help other alcoholics. We pass on the good news whenever we get a chance. In a spirit of thankfulness to God, we get into action. The AA program is simple. Submit yourself to God, find release from liquor and get into action. Do these things and keep doing them and you’re all set for the rest of your life.

Have I got into action?

Meditation for the Day

God’s eternal quest must be the tracking down of souls. You should join Him in His quest. Through briars, through waste places, through glades, up mountain heights, down into valleys. God leads you. But ever with His leadership goes your helping hand. Glorious to follow where the Leader goes. You are seeking lost sheep. You are bringing the good news into places where it has not been known before. You may not know which soul you will help, but you can leave all results to God. Just go with Him in His eternal quest for souls.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may follow God in His eternal quest for souls. I pray that I may offer God my helping hand.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Friday, April 28, 2023

Reflection for the Day
I will resolve to observe with new interest even the commonplace things that happen today. If I learn to see everything with a fresh eye, perhaps I’ll find I have countless reasons for contentment and gratitude. When I find myself trapped in the quicksand of my negative thoughts, I’ll turn away from them — and grab for the life-saving strength of sharing with others in The Program.

Do I carry my weight as an all-important link in the worldwide chain of The Program?

Today I Pray
I pray that God will open my eyes to the smallest everyday wonders, that I may notice and list among my blessings things like just feeling good, being able to think clearly. Even when I make a simple, unimportant choice like whether to order coffee or tea or a soft drink, may I be reminded that the power of choice is a gift from God.

Today I Will Remember
I am blessed with the freedom of choice.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Friday, April 28, 2023

The span of human life is such a small part of eternity that the length of your life, whether it be 20 years or 100, is of no moment. Yet the lifespan of some men has, and will continue to have, great influence upon many succeeding generations.

If you can by one single act do something that will benefit just one person 50 years from now, you will have done more than millions who have before you. Few leave anything to posterity when they die that will outlive their tombstone.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2023 – Good morning to the far out and toe-tappin’ Happy Dance Friday

 

Good morning and let’s shoot for a totally fabulous Friday and set aside any daily worries and concerns along with anyone and anything who serve no useful purpose

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

When you pray for anyone you tend to modify your personal attitude toward him.

— Norman Vincent Peale

We experience a wonderful transformation in attitude each time we, with God’s help, suppress our ego and ask for God’s blessings on someone we envy, fear, or simply don’t like. Any action we take out of genuine concern for someone else’s well-being will heighten our own — many times over.

Praying may be troublesome for some of us. But as we’ve learned the value of Acting As If in other instances, we can do so with praying, too. There is no formula for praying. Each attempt to speak to God is a prayer, one that God hears. Each loving thought we have toward someone near or far can be considered a prayer. We can pray in the midst of a crowd, at supper with family, lying in bed, or on our knees. With practice, prayer becomes easier. Through prayer, life becomes easier, too.

I will look at my attitude toward someone I’m having trouble with and work on changing it today, through prayer.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Today, character defects of frustration and impatience as they relate to relationships and communications. As a drinking alcoholic, frustration and impatience walked hand-in-hand when it came to dealing with others: frustration with people who did not react how and when I expected. As a recovering alcoholic, frustration and impatience still walk hand-in-hand in dealing with others. Clearly, little change. Also clearly, abstaining from the bottle isn’t all that recovery requires. A fundamental reformation in character and emotions is needed. If I overreact when people do not respond when and how I think they should, maybe I am the problem. Today, I work consciously and conscientiously on my defects of frustration and impatience by considering the possibility that someone other than myself might have a better idea. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, April 27, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

By submitting to God, we’re released from the power of liquor. It has no more hold on us. We’re also released from the things that were holding us down: pride, selfishness, and fear. And we’re free to grow into a new life, which is so much better than the old life that there’s no comparison. This release gives us serenity and peace with the world.

Have I been released from the power of alcohol?

Meditation for the Day

We know God by spiritual vision. We feel that He is beside us. We feel His presence. Contact with God is not made by the senses. Spirit-consciousness replaces sight. Since we cannot see God, we have to perceive Him by spiritual perception. God has to span the physical and the spiritual with the gift to us of spiritual vision. Many persons, though they cannot see God, have had a clear spiritual consciousness of Him. We are inside a box of space and time, but we know there must be something outside of that box – limitless space, eternity of time, and God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have a consciousness of God’s presence. I pray that God will give me spiritual vision.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Reflection for the Day

Am I so sure I’m doing everything possible to make my new life a success? Am I using my capabilities well? Do I recognize and appreciate all I have to be grateful for? The Program and its Twelve Steps teach me that I am the possessor of unlimited resources. The more I do with them, the more they will grow – to overshadow and cancel out the difficult and painful feelings that now get so much of my attention.

Am I less sensitive today than when I first came to The Program?

Today I Pray

May I make the most of myself in all ways. May I begin to look outward to people and opportunities and wonderful resources around me. As I become less ingrown and understand myself better in relation to others, may I be less touchy and thin-skinned. May I shrug off my old “the world-is-out-to-get-me” feeling and see that same world as my treasure-house, God-given and boundless.

Today I Will Remember

My resources are unlimited.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Real reforms are in people, not in movements. All the laws and demands of church, state and family could not make us change our drinking habits. But the day eventually came when we wanted to change and then, and then only, was the change possible. Prohibition legislation was only a challenge to us and we drank the more because they said we could not. We were determined to show those So-and-So’s they couldn’t stop us.

Only when we, ourselves, wanted to do something about it was any real reformation possible.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 – Good morning and let’s go for a really wonderful Thursday

 

A boisterous good morning from Snoopy and Woodstock with a wish of a fantastic Thursday for everyone

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Today, character defects of frustration and impatience as they relate to relationships and communications. As a drinking alcoholic, frustration and impatience walked hand-in-hand when it came to dealing with others: frustration with people who did not react how and when I expected. As a recovering alcoholic, frustration and impatience still walk hand-in-hand in dealing with others. Clearly, little change. Also clearly, abstaining from the bottle isn’t all that recovery requires. A fundamental reformation in character and emotions is needed. If I overreact when people do not respond when and how I think they should, maybe I am the problem. Today, I work consciously and conscientiously on my defects of frustration and impatience by considering the possibility that someone other than myself might have a better idea. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, April 27, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

By submitting to God, we’re released from the power of liquor. It has no more hold on us. We’re also released from the things that were holding us down: pride, selfishness, and fear. And we’re free to grow into a new life, which is so much better than the old life that there’s no comparison. This release gives us serenity and peace with the world.

Have I been released from the power of alcohol?

Meditation for the Day

We know God by spiritual vision. We feel that He is beside us. We feel His presence. Contact with God is not made by the senses. Spirit-consciousness replaces sight. Since we cannot see God, we have to perceive Him by spiritual perception. God has to span the physical and the spiritual with the gift to us of spiritual vision. Many persons, though they cannot see God, have had a clear spiritual consciousness of Him. We are inside a box of space and time, but we know there must be something outside of that box – limitless space, eternity of time, and God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have a consciousness of God’s presence. I pray that God will give me spiritual vision.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Reflection for the Day

Am I so sure I’m doing everything possible to make my new life a success? Am I using my capabilities well? Do I recognize and appreciate all I have to be grateful for? The Program and its Twelve Steps teach me that I am the possessor of unlimited resources. The more I do with them, the more they will grow – to overshadow and cancel out the difficult and painful feelings that now get so much of my attention.

Am I less sensitive today than when I first came to The Program?

Today I Pray

May I make the most of myself in all ways. May I begin to look outward to people and opportunities and wonderful resources around me. As I become less ingrown and understand myself better in relation to others, may I be less touchy and thin-skinned. May I shrug off my old “the world-is-out-to-get-me” feeling and see that same world as my treasure-house, God-given and boundless.

Today I Will Remember

My resources are unlimited.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Real reforms are in people, not in movements. All the laws and demands of church, state and family could not make us change our drinking habits. But the day eventually came when we wanted to change and then, and then only, was the change possible. Prohibition legislation was only a challenge to us and we drank the more because they said we could not. We were determined to show those So-and-So’s they couldn’t stop us.

Only when we, ourselves, wanted to do something about it was any real reformation possible.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2023 – Good morning and let’s go for a really wonderful Thursday

 

A boisterous good morning from Snoopy and Woodstock with a wish of a fantastic Thursday for everyone

April 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's GIft from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Avoiding Gossip

Tale-bearers are as bad as the tale-makers.

— Richard Sheridan

What we talk about, not whom we talk about, is one of the ways we place principle above personalities and practice our Twelfth Tradition. At meetings and over coffee, it’s tempting to pass along things we hear about other people who share our recovery.

Before we gossip or find fault with others, wise members teach us to ask ourselves three questions: “Is it true? Is it kind? Is telling it important to help someone’s recovery?” If we can’t say yes to each question, we mustn’t repeat it. If a single word from us hurts someone else, our guilt could throw us back into addiction. Our gossip could cause someone else to lose faith in the program, and throw them back into addiction.

I will not gossip. Let me talk about principles, not personalities.

Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Today, appreciation of the power of the spoken word, the one spoken in anger, fear, frustration and sarcasm and which can inflict more damage than any destructive act of my drinking days. Let me understand that a single word can do hurt and injury that might not be healed by any amend. And even if my amend or apology is accepted, the injury and hurt may cut so deeply in the person against whom the wrong word is spoken that something can still be forever lost. I pray for guidance in the 12th Step to practice the Program’s principles in all my affairs, including not caving into anger and unleashing a word that is intended to hurt. Today, I think before I speak, especially if I am angry, frustrated or afraid, because I cannot unspeak it – and atonement may not be enough to repair the damage. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

April 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

The AA program is one of submission, release and action. When we’re drinking, we’re submitting to a power greater than ourselves – liquor. Our own wills are no use against the power of liquor. One drink and we’re sunk. In AA, we stop submitting to the power of liquor. Instead, we submit to a Power, also greater than ourselves, which we call God.

Have I submitted myself to that Higher Power?

Meditation for the Day

Ceaseless activity is not God’s plan for your life. Times of withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit-force. St. Paul said: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God to find strength. It means that you are to do the things you believe God wants you to do and only then can you rely on His supply of power.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that God’s spirit may be my master always. I pray that I may learn how to rest and listen, as well as how to work.

Hazelden Foundation