Feb. 2, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Believing in a Higher Power changes our perspective.

Gone are the long days of feeling adrift, days we had no hope or direction. For too long we agonized over the circumstances of our lives, tormented by the drinking and lying of our loved ones. Our attempts to control didn’t work. They still won’t. Yet some days we try anyway.

Most days, though, we use the principles of the program, relying on the wisdom of the first three Steps to take our focus off the person we’re trying to control. Accepting that we are powerless, coming to believe in a Power that is greater than we are, letting it guide the behavior of the other person and ourselves—these things give us clarity and peace about the actions we need to take. We aren’t adrift today.

I am so lucky that I have a greater Power that I can call on today. I can be certain that I’ll be taken care of.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020

Today, dependency is not confined to alcohol addiction and always impacts my relationships with other people. For years, I depended on alcohol to drown feelings I did not want or to "create" feelings I wanted and to shape my attitude and perspective. Is it no wonder that I depended on alcohol to define - in part - my relationships with other people? Honesty says yes! And my expectations in those relationships were either to dominate THEM, or to be so emotionally clinging and dependent on them that MY unrealistic expectations drove them away. Now, in sobriety, I have to admit that quitting drinking is not enough, that I must also be sober in my relationships and find the compromise between being the dominant one - and the needy one. Today, I begin the search for the way to be a contributor to healthy relationships. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Feb. 2, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

We got a kick out of the first few drinks, before we got stupefied by alcohol. For a while, the world seemed to look brighter. But how about the letdown, the terrible depression that comes the morning after? In AA, we get a real kick: not a false feeling of exhilaration, but a real feeling of satisfaction with ourselves, self-respect, and a feeling of friendliness toward the world. We got a sort of pleasure from drinking. For a while, we thought we were happy. But it's only an illusion. The hangover the next day is the opposite of pleasure.

In AA, am I getting real pleasure and serenity and peace?

Meditation for the Day

I will practice love, because lack of love will block the way. I will try to see good in all people, those I like and also those who fret me and go against the grain. They are all children of God. I will try to give love; otherwise, how can I dwell in God's spirit whence nothing unloving can come? I will try to get along with all people, because the more love I give away, the more I will have.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may do all I can to love others, in spite of their many faults. I pray that as I love, so will I be loved.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020

Reflection for the Day

Looking back, I realize just how much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of others. It provided much self-satisfaction, to be sure, but I see now just how subtle and actually perverse the process became. After all was said and done, the net effect of dwelling on the so-called faults of others was self-granted permission to remain comfortably unaware of my own defects.

Do I still point my finger at others and thus self-deceptively overlook my own shortcomings?

Today I Pray

May I see that my preoccupation with the faults of others is really a smokescreen to keep me from taking a hard look at my own, as well as a way to bolster my own failing ego. May I check out the "why's" of my blaming.

Today I Will Remember

Blame-saying is game-playing.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020

Probably no class of people has been brought into deep and turbulent waters of life to the extent of us alcoholics. Thousands of us were saved by a merciful God and emerged from our ordeal cleaner and stronger. That we were spared can be attributed only to the Grace of God. There is nothing haphazard about God's actions. He led us into deep water for a purpose; He extracted us for a purpose. Be sure you fulfill that purpose.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2020 - Good morning and let's make it a relaxing and worry- and stress-free Sunday

Feb. 1, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Reflection for the Day

For a good part of my life, I saw things mostly in negative terms. Everything was serious, heavy, or just plain awful. Perhaps now I can truly change my attitude, searching out people in recovery who have learned how to live comfortably in the real world—without numbing their brains with mood-altering substances.

If things get rough today, can I take a quiet moment and say to myself, as the philosopher Homer once said, “Bear patiently, my heart—for you have suffered heavier things”?

Today I Pray

May peace fill the place within me that once harbored my despair. May an appreciation for living—even for life’s trials—cancel out my former negative attitudes. During heart-heavy moments, help me remember that my heart was once much heavier still.

Today I Will Remember

I, too, am healing and living comfortably.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020

Today, tear down the wall that bitterness has built between me and recovery, serenity with the world and myself, inclusion instead of exclusion from others in recovery who have found what I have not, a positive instead of a negative influence on everyone around me. Unlike anger, which in some cases is justified, bitterness has no justification. Like alcohol, the power of bitterness is in its destruction not only of everything and everyone around me, but of myself as well. And, like alcohol, bitterness is the epitome of selfishness, of rejection of all that is good and constructive - and a validated ticket to loneliness and isolation. With as much work as I expended on drinking, it takes as much if not more to keep bitterness going. Today, I'm too tired and disgusted with bitterness to give it the time and effort needed to fuel it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Feb. 1, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

When we think about having a drink, we're thinking of the kick we get out of drinking, the pleasure, the escape from boredom, the feeling of self-importance and the companionship of other drinkers. What we don't think of is the letdown, the hangover, the remorse, the waste of money and the facing of another day. In other words, when we think about that first drink, we're thinking of all the assets of drinking and none of the liabilities.

What has drinking really got that we haven't got in AA? Do I believe that the liabilities of drinking outweigh the assets?

Meditation for the Day

I will start a new life each day. I will put the old mistakes away and start anew each day. God always offers me a fresh start. I will not be burdened or anxious. If God's forgiveness were only for the righteous and those who had not sinned, where would be its need? I believe that God forgives us all of our sins, if we are honestly trying to live today the way He wants us to live. God forgives us much and we should be very grateful.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and fear and selfishness. I pray that I may have a glad, thankful and humble heart.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time

Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020

Reflection for the Day

The longer I'm in The Program, the more clearly I see why it's important for me to understand why I do what I do and say what I say. In the process, I'm coming to realize what kind of person I really am. I see now, for example, that it's far easier to be honest with other people than with myself. I'm learning, also, that we're all hampered by our need to justify our actions and words.

Have I taken an inventory of myself as suggested in the Twelve Steps? Have I admitted my faults to myself, to God and to another human being?

Today I Pray

May I not be stalled in my recovery process by the enormity of The Program's Fourth Step, taking a moral inventory of myself or by admitting these shortcomings to myself, to God and to another human being. May I know that honesty to myself about myself is all-important.

Today I Will Remember

I cannot mend if I bend the truth.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener

Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020

To us alcoholics, our Twelve Steps of Recovery are the stars on which we set our course of sobriety. Like the seafaring man, we will not get them completely in our grasp, nor do we need to do so. If we but follow the course they indicate, we, too, will reach our haven.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 1, 2020 - Good morning and let's get in the groove for a hippie Saturday and serene weekend

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Fulfillment

“Everything I need shall be provided today. Everything.” Say it, until you believe it. Say it at the beginning of the day. Say it throughout the day.

Sometimes, it helps to know what we want and need. But if we don’t, we can trust that God does.

Twelve Step groups for codependents are not about how we can help the other person; they’re about how we can help ourselves grow and change. They can help us accept and deal with the ways codependency has affected us. They can help us get on track and stay there.

When we ask, trust, and believe that our needs will be met, our needs will be met. Sometimes God cares about the silliest little things, if we do.

Today, I will affirm that my needs will be met. I will affirm that God cares and is the Source of my supply. Then I will let go and see that what I have risked to believe is the truth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

Today, live just for today. I cannot nor do I want to forget yesterday for it has lessons to carry into tomorrow. Nor do I want to be so preoccupied with tomorrow that I neglect today for I may miss some good that someone or something has to offer. I can plan for tomorrow, but I cannot fret over it and dread what demons or challenges my yesterdays have programmed me to expect. But that programming from my yesterdays was dictated by a whiskey bottle and, God granting, there is no whiskey bottle in my today. I therefore cannot fear that what I do today will poison my tomorrow. My life, my sobriety, my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my recovery - all are today. Today is all I have, and I must not be lax in strengthening it to make tomorrow's today the promise of something good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

Jan. 31, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

Drinking cuts you off from God. No matter how you were brought up, no matter what your religion is, no matter if you say you believe in God, nevertheless you build up a wall between you and God by your drinking. You know you're not living the way God wants you to live. As a result, you have that terrible remorse. When you come into AA, you begin to get right with other people and with God. A sober life is a happy life because, by giving up drinking, we've got rid of our loneliness and remorse.

Do I have real fellowship with other people and with God?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that all sacrifice and all suffering is of value to me. When I am in pain, I am being tested. Can I trust God, no matter how low I feel? Can I say, "Thy will be done," no matter how much I am defeated? If I can, my faith is real and practical. It works in bad times as well as in good times. The Divine Will is working in a way that is beyond my finite mind to understand, but I can still trust in it.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may take my suffering in my stride. I pray that I may accept pain and defeat as part of God's plan for my spiritual growth.

Hazelden Foundation