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| Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi: State's political 'loser of the year' |
Monday, December 29, 2014
Florida newspaper tabs state's anti-gay marriage AG a 'modern-day Anita Bryant' and political 'loser of the year'
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Dec. 29, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Has it been a year of growth?
As any year draws to a close, we should reflect on how we have grown in sobriety. We should also identify changes during the year that enabled us to overcome bad habits and to move closer to better patterns of living.
Though we never are guaranteed favorable outcomes, we should always remember that sobriety is its own best reward. We want a full life, of course, but it must begin with a decision to seek and to maintain sobriety at all costs.
We find that with sobriety, lots of other problems seem to solve themselves. Even if they don't, we have the tools to move forward and to achieve goals that always eluded us while we were drinking. Every year in sobriety is a year of growth.
I'll be conscious today of recent improvements I've made in my life and all my affairs. With sobriety, these improvements will go on for a lifetime.
Has it been a year of growth?
As any year draws to a close, we should reflect on how we have grown in sobriety. We should also identify changes during the year that enabled us to overcome bad habits and to move closer to better patterns of living.
Though we never are guaranteed favorable outcomes, we should always remember that sobriety is its own best reward. We want a full life, of course, but it must begin with a decision to seek and to maintain sobriety at all costs.
We find that with sobriety, lots of other problems seem to solve themselves. Even if they don't, we have the tools to move forward and to achieve goals that always eluded us while we were drinking. Every year in sobriety is a year of growth.
I'll be conscious today of recent improvements I've made in my life and all my affairs. With sobriety, these improvements will go on for a lifetime.
From the book:
Walk in Dry Places by Mel B. © 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 29, 2014 - Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Step by Step
Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
Today, when resolutions for the coming new year are in vogue, I will make none because to do so skirts the program's edict to take life one day at a time. Further, I have no guarantee that an entire year is promised me, and I cannot live for a day in the future because, in doing that, I am neglecting today. AA discourages us from living or looking too far ahead if today is sacrificed and encourages us to make our resolutions daily. Today, awakening to a new day, my resolution is to adhere to the steps and principles of the program and not drink and, further, to grow in the sobriety I seek. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014
Dec. 29, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
AA Thought for the Day
Participating in the privileges of the movement, I shall share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully. I am deeply grateful for the privileges I enjoy because of my membership in this great movement. They put an obligation upon me which I will not shirk. I will gladly carry my fair share of the burdens. Because of the joy of doing them, they will no longer be burdens, but opportunities.
Will I accept every opportunity gladly?
Meditation for the Day
Work and prayer are the two forces which are gradually making a better world. We must work for the betterment of ourselves and other people. Faith without works is dead. But all work with people should be based on prayer. If we say a little prayer before we speak or try to help, it will make us more effective. Prayer is the force behind the work. Prayer is based on faith that God is working with us and through us. We can believe that nothing is impossible in human relationships, if we depend on the help of God.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that my life may be balanced between prayer and work. I pray that I may not work without prayer or pray without work.
Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 29, 2014 - A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
Reflection for the Day
The success of The Program, I've been taught, lies in large measure in the readiness and willingness of its members to go to any lengths to help others tyrannized by their addictions. If my readiness and willingness cools, then I stand in danger of losing all that I've gained. I must never become unwilling to give away what I have, for only by so doing will I be privileged to keep it.
Do I take to heart the saying, "Out of self into God into others ...?"
Today I Pray
May I never be too busy to answer a fellow addict's call for help. May I never become so wound up in my pursuits that I forget that my own continuing recovery depends on that helping - a half-hour or so on the telephone, a call in person, a lunch date, whatever the situation calls for. May I know what my priorities must be.
Today I Will Remember
Helping helps me.
Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 29, 2014 - The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
Is someone happier, better or braver because of some act of yours today? If you can answer yes to any or all of them, then you can feel rather confident that you are progressing in the AA way of living.
If you can't - then you are not giving it the old College try and you are cheating yourself out of a lot of happiness that could have been yours.
Hazelden Foundation
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Socially awkward? Well, here's how not to be that anymore!
A distinction to be without: Journalism mag nails CNN's Don Lemon as 'the worst"
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| CNN anchor Don Lemon |
Dec. 28, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have wholehearted enthusiasm.
-- Hannah Senesh
Life offers little if we sit passively in the midst of activity. Involvement is a prerequisite if we are to grow. For our lives' purposes we need enthusiasm; we need enthusiasm in order to greet the day expectantly. When we look toward the day with anticipation, we are open to all the possibilities for action.
We must respond to our possibilities if we are to mature emotionally and recover spiritually. Idly observing life from the sidelines guarantees no development beyond our present level. We begin to change once we start living up to our commitment to the program - its possibilities and our purpose - and it's that change, many days over, that moves us beyond the negative, passive outlook of days gone by.
The program has offered us something to believe in. We are no longer the people we were. So much more have we become! Each day's worth of recovery carries us closer to fulfilling our purpose in life.
I believe in recovery, my own; when I believe in success, I'll find it. There is magic in believing.
One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have wholehearted enthusiasm.
-- Hannah Senesh
Life offers little if we sit passively in the midst of activity. Involvement is a prerequisite if we are to grow. For our lives' purposes we need enthusiasm; we need enthusiasm in order to greet the day expectantly. When we look toward the day with anticipation, we are open to all the possibilities for action.
We must respond to our possibilities if we are to mature emotionally and recover spiritually. Idly observing life from the sidelines guarantees no development beyond our present level. We begin to change once we start living up to our commitment to the program - its possibilities and our purpose - and it's that change, many days over, that moves us beyond the negative, passive outlook of days gone by.
The program has offered us something to believe in. We are no longer the people we were. So much more have we become! Each day's worth of recovery carries us closer to fulfilling our purpose in life.
I believe in recovery, my own; when I believe in success, I'll find it. There is magic in believing.
From the book:
Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey. © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 28, 2014 - Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Step by Step
Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014
Today, let me loosen my grip on my perspective that the Program hammers what I cannot do and, instead, understand that it empowers me with what I can do. While I cannot continue in futile endeavor to regain control over alcohol, I can disempower it by not feeding it. While I cannot continue to engage in conduct that injures myself and others, I can chart a 180-degree course change and start to give something nurturing instead of inflicting harm. And while I cannot always make direct amends for whatever reason, I can make indirect amends by working a program in which my sobriety is its own amend. AA is not a program of cannot; it is, instead, a program of can. Today the first word in can't is can. And I can. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014
Dec. 28, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014
AA Thought for the Day
AA may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me to carry me through everything that may happen.
Am I pointed toward God and the good life?
Meditation for the Day
Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours; we should try to be always conscious of His power and love in the background of our lives.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may feel that God is not too far away to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of His readiness to give me the power that I need.
Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 28, 2014 - A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014
Reflection for the Day
The Program, for me, is not a place nor a philosophy, but a highway to freedom. The highway leads me toward the goal of a "spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps." The highway doesn't get me to the goal as quickly as I sometimes wish, but I try to remember that God and I work from different timetables. But the goal is there, and I know that the Twelve Steps will help me reach it.
Have I come to the realization that I - and anyone - can now do what I had always thought impossible?
Today I Pray
As I live The Program, may I realize more and more that it is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. May I keep in mind that the kind of spirituality it calls for is never complete, but is the essence of change and growth, a drawing nearer to an ideal state. May I be wary of setting time-oriented goals for myself to measure my spiritual progress.
Today I Will Remember
Timetables are human inventions.
Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 28, 2014 - The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014
It is very often easier to identify an alcoholic by his hang-over than by his drinking pattern. Alcoholics, for the most part, resemble the non-alcoholics when they have a load aboard, but in the morning, when the sweats and the shakes set in, then the alcoholic can be identified by the degree of his suffering. The alcoholic's hang-over cannot be gotten rid of by 10:30 simply with aspirin or Bromos.
Hazelden Foundation
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