May 3, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Friday, May 3, 2013
 
Today, let me be realistic and secure in my sobriety to sustain any disappointments - minor and major - that I encounter in recovery. The best laid plans of mice and men do not always take form even in sobriety, and I must not deceive myself by expecting life to go as I think or expect it should only because I have stopped drinking. But part of the nature of alcoholism and addiction is the ultra-sensitivity to disappointment, sometimes to a disproportionate degree, and the result could be the false belief that I have failed somewhere along the line. Life for the non-addict is not always a bed of roses, but the thorns can cut the recovering person's psyche deeper. Today, mindful that even the rosebed of sobriety can have hidden thorns, I will not be disenchanted if I am stung. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

May 3, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, May 3, 2013
 
AA Thought for the Day
AA teaches us to take it easy. We learn how to relax and to stop worrying about the past or the future, to give up our resentments and hates and tempers, to stop being critical of people and to try to help them instead. That's what "Easy Does It" means. So in the time that's left to me to live, I'm going to try to take it easy, to relax and not to worry, to try to be helpful to others and to trust God.

For what's left of my life, is my motto going to be "Easy Does It?"

Meditation for the Day
I must overcome myself before I can truly forgive other people for injuries done to me. The self in me cannot forgive injuries. The very thought of wrongs means that my self is in the foreground. Since the self cannot forgive, I must overcome my selfishness. I must cease trying to forgive those who fretted and wronged me. It is a mistake for me even to think about these injuries. I must aim at overcoming myself in my daily life and then I will find there is nothing in me that remembers injury because the only thing injured - my selfishness - is gone.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may hold no resentments. I pray that my mind may be washed clean of all past hates and fears.

Hazelden Foundation

May 3, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, May 3, 2013
 
Reflection for the Day
"To stand on one leg and prove God's existence is a very different thing," wrote Soren Kierkegaard, "from going down on one's knees and thanking Him." It is my confidence in a Higher Power, working in me, which today releases and activates my ability to make my life a more joyous, satisfying experience. I can't bring this about by relying on myself and my own limited ideas.

Have I begun to thank God every night?

Today I Pray
May I remember constantly that it is my belief in my Higher Power that flips the switch to release the power in me. Whenever I falter in my faith, that power is shut off. I pray for undiminished faith, so that this power - given by God and regenerated by my own belief in it - may always be available to me as the source of my strength.

Today I Will Remember
Faith regenerates God-given power.

Hazelden Foundation

May 3, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, May 3, 2013
 
George Washington is often credited with being America's first millionaire, yet few people are aware of this fact. He left a heritage so much richer politically, economically and historically that his own personal wealth is forgotten.

His personal wealth has long since been dissipated, but the opportunities in this country he helped establish will continue as long as men's lives are motivated by the same unselfish devotion to mankind that he exemplified, both in public and private life.

Hazelden Foundation

May 3, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Friday, May 3, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Recovery can belong to every one of us. Without exception our lives can get better.
 -- Sam Friend

Amy lived for cocaine and partying. The party ended one morning when she woke up and couldn't feel the left side of her body. She was hospitalized and sent to a rehab program.

Amy got sober, but didn't get happy. She felt empty and lost. But, she kept doing the footwork and going to meetings even though she didn't like her new life. In desperation, she decided to attend a 12 Step weekend retreat.

Amy says her life changed that weekend. She isn't sure what happened, but she left the retreat feeling happier than she ever had before. She had a small taste of the joy of recovery that she vowed never to forget. Doing the footwork always pays off.

Today let me keep going until the going gets good.

From the book:

Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast

Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

May 2, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Thursday, May 2, 2013
 
Today, if I have made sincere and absolute amends to those I wronged "except when to do so would hurt" anyone, I must progress beyond regret, shame and anger to what may be my single strongest and most meaningful gesture of amend: committing myself to sobriety and recovery. For all I might have said or done as an alcoholic, now, as a soberholic, I cannot become the proverbial doormat and empower anyone or anything to continue hammering me for the mistakes I have tried to correct, especially by those who cannot or will not accept my apologies. I can allow a slim margin of regret that I may not be forgiven by all I have injured, but I cannot afford to be kicked down repeatedly. Today, if I have been rebuffed or cannot make amends because doing so might lead to more injury, I take the salvation of embracing my "new" addiction: sober-holism. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

May 2, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, May 2, 2013
 
AA Thought for the Day 
In AA, we often hear the slogan, "Easy Does It." Alcoholics also do everything to excess. They drink too much. They worry too much. They have too many resentments. They hurt themselves physically and mentally by too much of everything. So when they come into AA, they have to learn to take it easy. None of us knows how much longer we have to live. It's probable that we wouldn't have lived very long if we had continued to drink the way we used to. By stopping drinking, we have increased our chances of living for a while longer.

Have I learned to take it easy? 
 
Meditation for the Day 
You must be, before you can do. To accomplish much, be much. In all cases, the doing must be the expression of the being. It is foolish to think that we can accomplish much in personal relationships without first preparing ourselves by being honest, pure, unselfish and loving. We must choose the good and keep choosing it before we are ready to be used by God to accomplish anything worthwhile. We will not be given the opportunities until we are ready for them. Quiet times of communion with the Higher Power are good preparation for creative action.

Prayer for the Day 
I pray that I may constantly prepare myself for better things to come. I pray that I may only have opportunities when I am ready for them. 
 
Hazelden Foundation

May 2, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, May 2, 2013
 
Reflection for the Day
When I was drinking, I was certain that my intelligence, backed by willpower, could properly control my inner life and guarantee me success in the world around me. This brave and grandiose philosophy, by which I played God, sounded good in the saying, but it still had to meet the acid test: how well did it actually work? One good look in the mirror was answer enough.

Have I begun to ask God each day for strength?

Today I Pray
May I stop counting on my old standbys, my "superior intelligence" and my "willpower," to control my life. I used to think, with those two fabulous attributes, that I was all-powerful. May I not forget, as my self-image is restored, that only through surrender to a Higher Power will I be given the power that can make me whole.

Today I Will Remember
Check for "head-tripping."

Hazelden Foundation

May 2, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, May 2, 2013
 
The United Nations and the old League of Nations both recognized the fact that man's conquest of time and space has brought the nations of the earth into such close and intimate relationship that national problems are now world problems and must be dealt with accordingly.

Their lack of success, up to the present time, stems from their inability to recognize the common Fatherhood of God and the inherent brotherhood of man. They attempt to settle world affairs without consulting the Power that made both the world and the men in it.

God put no problems in the world; they are all man-made and far too often, we fear, they bear the stamp "Made in the USA."

Hazelden Foundation

May 2, 2013 - Today's GIft from Hazelden

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Ousting the Green Demon
Victory over Jealousy. We hear of successful people who drop their old friends after moving up the ladder. Maybe, however, it wasn't their choice. Maybe they were driven to do so because their friends' jealousy made the friendship unworkable. We have little trouble accepting a stranger's good fortune; it's a different feeling, however, when friends and co-workers move ahead of us.

If the green demon of jealousy strikes during the day, we can come to terms with it in several ways. First, accept no guilt that it happens, because jealousy is part of the human condition. Next, depersonalize it by remembering that good fortune comes to all people in various ways. Then check your own gratitude level to make sure that it hasn't been sinking. This serves as a reminder that there's no shortage of the things that really make for happiness and personal well being in life.

We can easily tell when we've been able to oust the green demon. We'll be able to be relaxed and gracious while extending congratulations for another person's good fortune. And months down the road, we'll be genuinely sympathetic - not vindictive - If the other person's luck turns sour.

While I don't expect to feel jealousy today, I accept the fact that it can happen. Should it appear, I'll work calmly to deal with it.

From the book:

Walk in Dry Places by Mel B.

Walk in Dry Places by Mel B. © 1996 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

May 1, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
 
Today, not as an alcoholic working to avoid a fall but as a soberholic embracing the addictive habit of recovering, I will laugh. I can now find the tragic irony of all I have wasted and lost only to be led to this point in time when I no longer have to drink - because sobriety has replaced my addiction to alcohol. I can laugh for the relief that I now think in terms of wanting sobriety more than fighting an urge or temptation for a drink because, now, I don't need the drink or high. I can laugh at myself for realizing I have made my journey away from chronic intoxication so needlessly complicated because I overlooked a simple and basic truth: I want sobriety more than drinking or its high. With that, I can work the Steps with less fear, less hesitation, a higher self-esteem - and the hope and faith that my sobriety has progressed to where I need to be: in recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

May 1, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
 
AA Thought for the Day
The AA program is one of charity because the real meaning of the word "charity" is to care enough about other people to really want to help them. To get the full benefit of the Program, we must try to help other alcoholics. We may try to help somebody and think we have failed, but the seed we have planted may bear fruit some time. We never know the results even a word of ours might have. But the main thing is to have charity for others, a real desire to help them, whether we succeed or not.

Do I have real charity?

Meditation for the Day
All material things, the universe, the world, even our bodies, may be Eternal Thought expressed in time and space. The more the physicists and astronomers reduce matter, the more it becomes a mathematical formula, which is thought. In the final analysis, matter is thought. When Eternal thought expresses itself within the framework of space and time, it becomes matter. Our thoughts, within the box of space and time, cannot know anything first hand except material things. But we can deduce that outside the box of space and time is Eternal Thought, which we can call God.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be a true expression of Eternal Thought. I pray that God's thoughts may work through my thoughts.

Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time 
Wednesday, May 1, 2013 
 
Reflection for the Day 
For those of us who have lost our faith, or who have always had to struggle along without it, it's often helpful just to accept - blindly and with no reservations. It's not necessary for us to believe at first; we need not be convinced. If we can only accept, we find ourselves becoming gradually aware of a force for good that's always there to help us. 
 
Have I taken the way of faith? 
 
Today I Pray 
May I abandon my need to know the why's and wherefore's of my trust in a Higher Power. May I not intellectualize about faith, since by its nature it precludes analysis. May I know that "head-tripping" was a symptom of my disease, as I strung together - cleverly, I thought - alibi upon excuse upon rationale. May I learn acceptance - and faith will follow. 
 
Today I Will Remember 
Faith follows acceptance. 
 
Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
 
The aim of AA is not Sobriety but Happy Sobriety. The most effective and, incidentally, the soberest group, is the happiest group. It is possible that you can't speak at meetings, maybe you are not in a position to "carry the message," but you can and should show your happy sobriety in the radiance of your smile. It is our only advertisement and it should outshine in brilliance the gaudiest of neon sign.

The poor guy still in the gutter isn't interested in your sobriety; he's interested in the price of another drink. He is, however, very much interested in happiness. It's what he has been looking for all his life and thought he could buy by the "fifth."

Hazelden Foundation

May 1, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
I walked across an open field at winter's break as the sun danced on the last few drifts. I imagined my fears would melt one by one as I learned to love myself.
 -- Laurel Lewis

Fear is as familiar as our image in a mirror. Although we have resolved many of the fears that bound us to old behavior, our original fears may have been replaced by new ones. Why are there so many things to be afraid of? New friends, old relationships, careers, family history, tomorrow...

Acknowledging our fear is the first step to getting free of its control. Naming the fear puts us in charge. Remembering that we have a loving Higher Power who won't abandon us, even in the midst of our deepest fear, can help us get through too.

But loving our small, scared selves will be the most nurturing of all. Mothering ourselves, in the way we may have longed for mothering in our youth, will carry us through the most difficult times.

Fears are part of living. They are neither bad nor good; instead, they can teach us. They can help us learn to love more of ourselves.

I will welcome my fears today. They are my blueprint for who I am. God and I will comfort me with love.

From the book:

A Woman's Spirit by Karen Casey

A Woman's Spirit by Karen Casey. © 1994 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.