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

 

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

He has served who now and then
Has helped along his fellow men.

— Edgar A. Guest

It’s hard to be interested in something that seems too remote. Sure, we’re sorry for starving people in faraway places. And the TV news story about whole villages disappearing in an earthquake makes us feel terrible — until the next news story comes on. It doesn’t mean we’re bad people when we don’t respond much to such tragedies. It only means they’re not personal — and only the personal is real.

We care most about what we’re involved in directly. If we’re not personally involved, we’re not very enthusiastic either. If we are the ones starting a new Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) meeting, setting up the chairs, and making the coffee, the success of that meeting means a lot to us. If our children are on drugs, we’re not bored by city council meetings where new drug programs are discussed. It’s our stake in something that makes it important.

The world doesn’t need any more spectators. To feel more alive, we must be more alive. Caring is life, and involvement is growth.

Today, I will not sit on the sidelines. I will act on behalf of a good cause that deserves my support.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

Today, “Let Go and Let God” does not absolve me from responsibility to be an active participant in my redemption from the damage and pain to others of my drinking days. “Let Go and Let God” commands that I turn my will over to my Higher Power for knowledge of HIS will for me and “the power to carry (it) out.” It does not give me the easy out by expecting God to do it for me. In accepting an active role in my recovery instead of expecting it to come to me by reading the Big Book and going to meetings, I understand that sobriety is a two-level process. On the surface, I cannot drink; on a deeper level, I cannot expect a change in spiritual and emotional conditions that come solely by not drinking. I am responsible for my condition as an alcoholic; likewise, I am responsible for my recovery. “Let Go and Let God” does not excuse me from either responsibility. Today, I “Let Go and Let God” by surrendering MY self-will and listening to my Higher Power for HIS will and the knowledge to carry it out. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
Alcoholics carry an awful load around with them. What a load lying puts on your shoulders! Drinking makes liars out of all of us alcoholics. In order to get the liquor we want, we have to lie all the time. We have to lie about where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing. When you are lying, you are only half alive because of the fear of being found out. When you come into AA and get honest with yourself and with other people, that terrible load of lying falls off your shoulders.

Have I got rid of that load of lying?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. As fears and worries and resentments depart out of my life, the things of the spirit come in to take their places. Calm comes after a storm. As soon as I am rid of fears and hates and selfishness, God’s love and peace and calm can come in.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may rid myself of all fears and resentments, so that peace and serenity may take their place. I pray that I may sweep my life clean of evil, so that good may come in.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

A Day at a Time

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

Reflection for the Day
I can attain real dignity, importance and individuality only by a dependence on a Power which is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to use this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good.

Just for today, will I try to live this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once?

Today I Pray
May I make no decision, engineer no change in the course of my lifestream, without calling upon my Higher Power. May I have faith that God’s plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself.

Today I Will Remember
God is the architect. I am the builder.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, Jan. 27, 2023

We alcoholics are the world’s greatest squanderers. During our drinking days we squandered our money, our health, our time, our intellect, our reputations, in fact everything – not for a purpose, but to make ourselves oblivious to the fact that we were doing so.

We who have accepted the AA way of living must never give up our old habit, but we should learn to spend ourselves for a constructive purpose.

That purpose is to help the other alcoholic. We are the best qualified people in the world for the job. Years of conditioning and thousands of dollars went into the process of making us experts. We have no other means of atoning for the past, no other way of showing our appreciation for the Grace of God which saved us, but to squander ourselves for this world-needed purpose.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2023 – Good morning, and just breathe and have a good Friday

 

Good morning and let’s set out on this magnificent Friday with optimism that we can handle whatever the day and anyone else have in store

Jan. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Letting Go of Confusion

Sometimes, the way is not clear.

Our minds get clouded, confused. We aren’t certain what our next step should be, what it will look like, what direction we are headed.

That is the time to stop, ask for guidance, and rest. That is the time to let go of fear. Wait. Feel the confusion and chaos, then let it go. The path will show itself. The next step shall be revealed. We don’t have to know now. We will know in time. Trust that. Let go and trust.

Today, I will wait if the way is not clear. I will trust that out of the chaos will come clarity.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

Today, my Program, cemented in three concepts: choice, consequences, and responsibility. I understand now that drinking is a choice and the reasons I concoct to justify it are nothing more than rationalizations – excuses – or contributing factors to which I am surrendering my control. If I choose to drink, there are inevitable consequences as all actions have, and my long history with drinking proves that the consequences are usually the same, are never less and usually worsen. And with those consequences comes responsibility to them, and the consequences are predictable – a hangover, regret for what I did or said when I was drunk, maybe another DUI, possibly waking up in the county jail’s drunk tank – again. Today, the consequences are too high for me, and I don’t want to be responsible to them. And if I don’t want to be responsible to the consequences of drinking, the choice is clear and logical – don’t drink. I choose not to. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

As we became alcoholics, the bad effects of drinking came more and more to outweigh the good effects. But the strange part of it is that, no matter what drinking did to us, loss of our health, our jobs, our money and our homes, we still stuck to it and depended on it. Our dependence on drinking became an obsession. In AA, we find a new outlook on life. We learn how to change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. And we find out that we can no longer depend on drinking for anything. We depend on a Higher Power instead.

Have I entirely given up that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day

I will try to keep my life calm and unruffled. This is my great task, to find peace and acquire serenity. I must not harbor disturbing thoughts. No matter what fears, worries and resentments I may have, I must try to think of constructive things, until calmness comes. Only when I am calm can I act as a channel for God’s spirit.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may build up instead of tearing down. I pray that I may be constructive and not destructive.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

Reflection for the Day
Personal freedom is mine for the taking. No matter how close are the ties of love and concern that bind me to my family and friends, I must always remember that I am an individual, free to be myself and live my own life in serenity and joy. The key word in this realization is personal. For I can free myself from many involvements that seem necessary. Through The Program, I am learning to develop my own personality.

Am I reinforcing my personal freedom by leaving others free to control their actions and destinies?

Today I Pray
May I find personal freedom, by re-evaluating associations, establishing new priorities, gaining respect for my own personhood. May I give others equal room to find their own kinds of personal freedoms.

Today I Will Remember
Take the liberty; it’s yours.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023

We alcoholics were up to our necks in the quicksand of yesterdays with a lifetime of tomorrows on our shoulders. Of course we sought escape in the bottle, for no man has courage and strength enough to survive this ordeal.

AA has taught us that TODAY is the only day we have. Those horrible TOMORROWS which we hold in such dread have no substance except such as we give them in our living of successive TODAYS.

Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t been, and may never be born.

It is on the foundation of today that we build tomorrow.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2023 – Good morning and let’s do our best to make it a terrific Thursday

 

Good morning and try to see this good in this wonderful Thursday and hit the pause button on any fears, worries and uncertainties that we have — and we have a better chance of doing that by ignoring people and things who bring nothing good to us

Jan. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Is it necessary to have read Spinoza in order to make out a laundry list? — Jeanne Detourbey

Each day presents us with decisions. Most are relatively small-what to eat or wear or read, how to organize our tasks, with whom to spend time. But at times we face life-changing decisions: where to live or work, whether to undertake more education, whether to commit ourselves to a relationship.

We can view each choice as an opportunity to express our freedom, our unique character, and our ease with ourselves. We needn’t fear that we’ll make a “wrong” decision. Our mistakes are our teachers; they are essential to our process of growth and understanding. Whether our decisions come from common sense, intuition, the voice of inner guidance, or our Higher Power, our answers are already inside us. We can be confident in our innate ability to make the right choices.

Today, I make both large and small decisions with confidence.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023

Today: “Courage to change the things I can,” the petition of the Serenity Prayer that WE – not our Higher Power – take on those things that we CAN change. Though our options might be limited, the one thing we CAN change is our attitude and how we integrate into this day, how we react and respond. Thus, today I will not take the easier, softer way and complain about ANYTHING the day serves up and, instead, I will start with the POSITIVE by willing myself to make this day good and that nothing — myself included — will poison it. If there is something I do not want to do, I will do it, if for no other reason than to be done with it and earn the luxury to say one more bad chore is resolved. For some, negativity and complaining are an excuse in disguise to get out of the obligation to sobriety. Today, I am positive, not negative, and this day WILL be good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
We used to depend on drinking for a lot of things. We depended on drinking to help us enjoy things. It gave us a “kick.” It broke down our shyness and helped us to have a “good time.” We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low physically. If we had a toothache or just a hangover, we felt better after a few drinks. We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low mentally. If we’d had a tough day at work or if we’d had a fight with our husband or wife, or if things just seemed against us, we felt better under the influence of alcohol. For us alcoholics, it got so that we depended on drinking for almost everything.

Have I got over that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that complete surrender of my life to God is the foundation of serenity. God has prepared for us many mansions. I do not look upon that promise as referring only to the after-life. I do not look upon this life as something to be struggled through, in order to get the rewards of the next life. I believe that the Kingdom of God is within us and we can enjoy “eternal life” here and now.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to do God’s will. I pray that such understanding, insight and vision shall be mine, as shall make my life eternal, here and now.

Hazelden Foundation