July 3, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, July 3, 2013

"We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. ...All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals - usually brief - were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced ...that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 3 ("More About Alcoholism"), p 30.

Today, I do not have time to waste mulling the myth that I can become a responsible drinker by "controlling" my intake. My own history is etched in the words of the Big Book, and probably the histories of countless others: I lost control at some point, conned myself into thinking I could regain it only to plunge deeper into "incomprehensible demoralization." Only when I understood and believed that my alcoholism is progressive, that it always gets worse and never better without total abstinence, did I come to take Step One: "Admitted (I am) powerless ..." I am still powerless over alcohol and always will be, but I have power in sobriety and, today, I can flex that power to kill the myth that I can ever drink again. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

July 3, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, July 3, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
In the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous, there were only two persons. Now there are many groups and thousands of members. True, the surface has only been scratched. There are probably 10 million or more persons in America alone who need our help. More and more people are making a start in AA each day. In the case of individual members, the beginning has been accomplished when they admit they are powerless and turn to a Power greater than themselves, admitting that their lives have become unmanageable. That Higher Power works for good in all things and helps us to accomplish much in individual growth and in the growth of AA groups.

Am I doing my part in helping AA to grow?

Meditation for the Day
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Only in the fullness of faith can the heart-sick and faint and weary be satisfied, healed and rested. Think of the wonderful spiritual revelations still to be found by those who are trying to live the spiritual life. Much of life is spiritually unexplored country. Only to the consecrated and loving people who walk with God in spirit can these great spiritual discoveries be revealed. Keep going forward and keep growing in righteousness.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not be held back by the material things of the world. I pray that I may let God lead me forward.

Hazelden Foundation

July 3, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Reflection for the Day

Change is a part of the flow of life. Sometimes we're frustrated because change seems slow in coming. Sometimes, too, we're resistant to a change that seems to have been thrust upon us. We must remember that change, in and of itself, neither binds us nor frees us. Only our attitude toward change binds or frees. As we learn to flow with the stream of life, praying for guidance as to any change that presents itself - praying, also, for guidance if we want to make a change and none seems in view - we becoming willing.

Am I willing to let God take charge, directing me in the changes I should make and the actions I should take?

Today I Pray

When change comes too fast - or not fast enough - for me, I pray I can adjust accordingly to make use of the freedom the program offers to me. I pray for the guidance of my Higher Power when change presents itself - or when it doesn't and I wish it would. May I listen for direction from that Power.

Today I Will Remember

God is in charge.

Hazelden Foundation

July 3, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

In our drinking days, there was no humor in the world except that doubtful brand we heard around the bars. It is certainly true that we took our insignificant affairs and our ridiculous selves mostly seriously.

In AA, when we became mentally sober, we not only acquired a sense of humor, but we were even able to laugh at ourselves. We can now accept the criticism of others with a greater degree of patient good humor, we have learned that the best way to confound our critic is to laugh off his attack with good-humored tolerance.

Hazelden Foundation

July 3, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

There are really only two ways to approach life - as victim or as gallant fighter - and you must decide if you want to act or react, deal your own cards or play with a stacked deck. And if you don't decide which way to play with life, it always plays with you.
 -- Merle Shain
Being the victim is, or was, uncomfortably familiar to many of us. Perhaps some of us are only now realizing we have choices, that we need not let life happen to us. Becoming responsible to ourselves, choosing behavior, beliefs, friends, activities, that please us, though unfamiliar at first, soon exhilarates us. The more choices we make, the more alive we feel. The more alive we feel, the healthier our choices.

Our aim is recovery. Recovering means participating fully in our lives. It means self-assessment and self-direction. It means trusting to move forward, step-by-step, choice-by-choice, knowing all the while that no thoughtful action can trouble us.

Many opportunities to make choices will present themselves today. The choices I make will satisfy me; they will move me toward my goal of recovery.

From the book:

Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey

Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey. © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Today, if it should be the anniversary of the passing of someone dear to me or any other observance that rekindles a sense of loss and bittersweetness, let me look to my Program not to mourn what is gone but to be grateful that I experienced the good in the first place. And let me look to the lessons and examples of who or what I was once lucky enough to have to pay respect to their memories. As a drinking alcoholic, loss was a cornerstone of my existence; today, in recovery, gratitude and honoring the memories of people or things now gone are my hope. The Program of AA has given me the tools to come to terms with loss but, more importantly, how to handle the sometimes unkind changes of life without alcohol, self-pity, anger, anguish and a subtle longing for days and times long gone. Today, if the date resurrects the bittersweet, the gift of sobriety can overcome the bitter. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

In memory of:
Vicki Stewart
July 2, 1953-Jan. 12, 2008

July 2, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
In the association with members of the AA group to which we belong, we have the advantage of sincere friendship and understanding of the other members who, through social and personal contact, take us away from our old haunts and environments and help to remove in large measure the occasions of alcoholic suggestion. We find in this association a sympathy and a willingness on the part of most members to do everything in their power to help us.

Do I appreciate the wonderful fellowship of AA?

Meditation for the Day
"Except ye become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." In this saying, it is urged that all who seek heaven on earth or in the hereafter should become like little children. In seeking things of the spirit and in our faith, we should try to become childlike. Even as we grow older, the years of seeking can give us the attitude of the trusting child. Not only for its simple trust should we have the childlike spirit, but also for its joy in life, its ready laughter, its lack of criticism and its desire to share. In Charles Dickens' story "A Christmas Carol," even old Scrooge changed when he got the child-spirit.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may become like a child in faith and hope. I pray that I may, like a child, be friendly and trusting.

Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Reflection for the Day

During our days of active addiction, many of us displayed almost dazzlingly fertile powers of imagination. In no time at all, we could dream up more reasons - or, excuses - for pursuing our addictions than most people use for all other purposes in their entire lives. When we first come to The Program, our once-imaginative minds seem to become lethargic and even numb. "Now what do I do?" many of us wonder. Gradually, however, the lethargy disappears. We begin learning to live and become turned on to life in ways that we never dreamed possible.

Am I finding that I can now enjoy activities that I wouldn't even consider in the old days?

Today I Pray

May God give me a new surge of energy directed toward "turning on to life" rather than making excuses for not handling my responsibilities. May He allow my out-of-order imagination to be restored - not to the buzzing over-activity of my compulsive days, but to a healthy openness to life's boundless possibilities.

Today I Will Remember

Turn on to life.

Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

We not only are judged by our words and actions, but also we are frequently misjudged by them. If you do or say anything at all, you will be either judged or misjudged and the purity of your motives will not affect the verdict.

Therefore, take but little thought of the judgment of men but in all things strive to earn the commendation of that still, small voice within you.

Hazelden Foundation

July 2, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Procrastination

Higher Power, it was so easy to put things off during my addiction.

I pray to remember that postponing facing up to reality is really self-pity in action. When I procrastinate about solving problems, I am only making the problems worse. Let me remember that solutions come from taking action.

I pray to stop wasting precious time.

From the book:

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D. © 2007 by Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, July 1, 2013

"God will constantly disclose more to you ...Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. ...(O)bviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 11 ("A Vision for You"), p 164.

Today: "This is the Great Fact for us." And the Great Fact, according to the Big Book, is "great events" for me and "countless others" and answers that I may not have yet but will receive. This Great Fact is not free, however, also according to the Big Book. We are required to have a relationship that is right with our Higher Power, and our own house has to be in order before we can carry out the command of the 12th Step of helping someone else. But if our relationship with our God as we understand him is "right" and our own house is in order, this - the promise of the Program - comes to us. Today, I focus my vision on the promise of what will be instead of returning to drinking does to me. And my beginning echoes back to Step One: "(I am) powerless ..."). Second, I seek the willingness to come to believe in that Power greater than myself. I want the promise of the Program, and I am willing and ready to work for it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

July 1, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, July 1, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
In following the AA program with its twelve steps, we have the advantage of a better understanding of our problems. Day after day, our sobriety results in the formation of new habits, normal habits. As each 24-hour period ends, we find that the business of staying sober is a much less trying and fearsome ordeal than it seemed in the beginning.

Do I find it easier as I go along?

Meditation for the Day
Learn daily the lesson of trust and calm in the midst of the storms of life. Whatever of sorrow or difficulty the day may bring, God's command to you is the same. Be grateful, humble, calm and loving to all people. Leave each soul the better for having met you or heard you. For all kinds of people, this should be your attitude: a loving desire to help and an infectious spirit of calmness and trust in God. You have the answer to loneliness and fear, which is calm faith in the goodness and purpose in the universe.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be calm in the midst of storms. I pray that I may pass on this calmness to others who are lonely and full of fear.

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Monday, July 1, 2013

Reflection for the Day

Fear may have originally brought some of us to The Program. In the beginning, fear alone may help some of us stay away from the first drink, pill, joint or whatever. But a fearful state is hardly conducive to comfort and happiness - not for long. We have to find alternatives to fear to get us through those first empty hours, days or even weeks. For most of us, the answer has been to become active in and around The Program. In no time, we feel that we truly belong; for the first time in a long time, we begin to feel a "part of" rather than "apart from."

Am I willing to take the initiative?

Today I Pray

May God please help me find alternatives to fear - that watchdog of my earliest abstinence. I thank Him for directing me to a place where I can meet others who have experienced the same compulsions and fears. I am grateful for my feeling of belonging.

Today I Will Remember

I am "a part of," not "apart from."

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, July 1, 2013

A sinner is usually a sinner because he is thinking wrong, whereas a mean person has a warped and deformed personality.

A sinner's faults usually lie in his thoughtlessness, but the mean person is nearly always a person of strong will and determination.

Sinning stems from weakness, meanness from strength.

A dog will love a sinner but seldom a mean person.

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Monday, July 1, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.
 -- Abraham Lincoln

Our negative judgments of others very frequently inform us of our own shortcomings. In other words, what we dislike in others are often those things we hate about ourselves. Much better than criticizing another's abhorrent behavior is a decision to look inwardly at our own collection of traits and attitudes. Our desire to criticize, to pass judgment, offers an excellent mirror of who we truly are. And the image we see reflected can guide our movements toward becoming healthier, happy individuals.

We can feel a bit of gladness for what our negative reactions are able to teach us - but we must be willing to learn from them. How exciting to contemplate that every hateful moment actually is offering us a positive opportunity for change.

It's human to find fault, and we shouldn't be overcome with shame. However, we hinder our own personal growth every time we quickly criticize another rather than rejoicing that we've been given an additional opportunity to move closer to the person we're being called to become.

Today I'll look beyond others' faults and recognize my own.

From the book:

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg. © 1983, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation