Feb. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole …nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it …it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort.

— J. R. R. Tolkien

Home is a place of comfort. When we go away and have to adjust to a different bed and someone else’s cooking, we quickly discover how comfortable our own home is. Comfort in a home is more than just a familiar bed and favorite food, it is something we can give to each other. We can make home a place where we can relax and be ourselves without fear of rejection.

Each of us needs a special little place where we can come and seek refuge from the world, our own little “fort.” Children are often busy making “forts,” but all of us in the family need to work at making the place where we live together a fort where we can all gather for rest.

What can I add to our comfort today?

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

 Step by Step

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

Today, motivated by Einstein’s wisdom that individual happiness should be pinned on goals rather than a person or thing, I will build my sobriety and recovery on the goal of attaining grace and redemption. In doing so, I will not gamble by basing my recovery on what another person does or does not do or on a situation that may or may not play out the way I want or fear. I am playing with fire, not to mention using manipulation and abusing AA if I decide I will not continue in recovery if the spouse who left me because of my drinking doesn’t return or if the employer who fired me because of my drinking doesn’t rehire me or if the judge hearing my DUI case doesn’t dismiss charges because “I’m in recovery.” In keeping my recovery goal-oriented, I am not only paying respect to the integrity of AA’s Steps and Traditions, I am also reinforcing the truth that I and I alone am responsible for both my alcoholism and recovery. Neither is because I might have been dealt a bad hand in life. Today, I focus on my sobriety instead of people or events to maintain my sobriety and recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Feb. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

Treating others to drinks gave us a kind of satisfaction. We liked to say, “Have a drink on me.” But we were not really doing the other people a favor. We were only helping them to get drunk, especially if they happened to be alcoholic. In AA, we really try to help other alcoholics. We build them up instead of tearing them down. Drinking created a sort of fellowship. But it really was a false fellowship, because it was based on selfishness. We used our drinking companions for our own pleasure. In AA, we have real fellowship, based on unselfishness and a desire to help each other. And we make real friends, not fair weather friends.

With sobriety, have I got everything that drinking’s got, without the headaches?

Meditation for the Day

I know that God cannot teach anyone who is trusting in a crutch. I will throw away the crutch of alcohol and walk in God’s power and spirit. God’s power will so invigorate me that I shall indeed walk on to victory. There is never any limit to God’s power. I will go step by step, one day at a time. God’s will shall be revealed to me as I go forward.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have more and more dependence on God. I pray that I may throw away my alcoholic crutch and let God’s power take its place.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

Reflection for the Day

Rare is the recovering alcoholic who will now dispute the fact that denial is a primary symptom of the illness. The Program teaches us that alcoholism is the only illness which actually tells the afflicted person that he or she really isn’t sick at all. Not surprisingly, then, our lives as practicing alcoholics were characterized by endless rationalization, countless alibis and, in short, a steadfast unwillingness to accept the fact that we were, without question, bodily and mentally different from our fellows.

Have I conceded to my innermost self that I am truly powerless over alcohol?

Today I Pray

May The Program’s First Step be not half-hearted for me, but a total admission of powerlessness over my addiction. May I rid myself of that first symptom – denial – which refuses to recognize any other symptom of my disease.

Today I Will Remember

Deny denial.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

In the hurry and press of our everyday living, too many of us fail to stop occasionally to allow our souls to catch up with us. We have no time to think upon those things which are of lasting value. We reserve our spiritual thinking for Sunday mornings and meeting nights, oblivious of the fact we must live every day. Find or make time this very day for just a minute with the Man Upstairs. Remember you need Him and He needs you.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 4, 2023 – Good morning and let’s shoot for a fantastic Saturday and weekend

 

Good morning and let’s earmark this beautiful Saturday and weekend to be content and grateful for the good in our lives and for the choice to ignore the bad that some people and things bring

Feb. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 Friday, Feb. 3, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

After we’ve made a surrender, the drinking problem is out of our hands and in the hands of God. The thing we have to do is to be sure that we never reach out and take the problem back into our own hands. Leave it in God’s hands. Whenever I’m tempted to take a drink, I must say to myself: “I can’t do that. I’ve made a bargain with God not to drink. I know God doesn’t want me to drink and so I won’t do it.” At the same time, I say a little prayer to God for the strength needed to keep the bargain with Him. 

Am I going to keep my bargain with God?

Meditation for the Day

I will try to grow in this new life. I will think of spiritual things often, and unconsciously, I will grow. The nearer I get to the new life, the more I will see my unfitness. My sense of failure is a sure sign that I am growing in the new life. It is only struggle that hurts. In sloth — physical, mental, or spiritual — there is no sense of failure or discomfort. With struggle and effort, I am conscious not of strength but of weakness until I am really living the new life. But in the struggle, I can always rely on the power of God to help me.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may see signs of my growth in the new life. I pray that I may always keep trying to grow.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Friday, Feb. 3, 2023

Today, no self-destruction by believing I do not deserve recovery. If I am carrying into today the guilt, remorse and regret of yesterday, their strength lies in sabotaging my progress in sobriety and setting me up for failure, i.e., relapse. But my Program of admission, surrender and service has empowered me with confidence, courage and strength, each endowed by a Higher Power of my understanding, and they are strong enough to assure me that I am worth the gift of recovery. Today, by virtue of returning from the abyss, I am earning worthiness. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Feb. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Feb. 3, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

By drinking, we escaped from boredom for a while. We almost forgot our troubles. But when we sobered up, our troubles were twice as bad. Drinking had only made them worse. In AA, we really escape boredom. Nobody’s bored at an AA meeting. We stick around after it’s over and we hate to leave. Drinking gave us a temporary feeling of importance. When we’re drinking, we kid ourselves into thinking we are somebody. We tell tall stories to build ourselves up. In AA, we don’t want that kind of self-importance. We have real self-respect and honesty and humility.

Have I found something much better and more satisfactory than drinking?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that my faith and God’s power can accomplish anything in human relationships. There is no limit to what these two things can do in this field. Only I believe, and anything can happen. St. Paul said, “I can do all things through Him who strengtheneth me.” All walls that divide you from other human beings can fall by your faith and God’s power. These are the two essentials. Everyone can be moved by these.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to strengthen my faith day by day. I pray that I may rely more and more on God’s power.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Friday, Feb. 3, 2023

Reflection for the Day
The Program enables us to discover two roadblocks that keep us from seeing the value and comfort of the spiritual approach: self-justification and self-righteousness. The first grimly assures me that I’m always right. The second mistakenly comforts me with the delusion that I’m better than other people – “holier than thou.”

Just for today, will I pause abruptly while rationalizing and ask myself, “Why am I doing this? Is this self-justification really honest?”

Today I Pray
May I overcome the need to be “always right” and know the cleansing feeling of release that comes with admitting, openly, a mistake. May I be wary of setting myself up as an example of self-control and fortitude, and give credit where it is due – to a Higher Power.

Today I Will Remember
To err is human, but I need to admit it.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, Feb. 3, 2023

To shut off from our minds the recollections of unpleasant yesterdays is, of course, impossible. But we can refuse to dwell on them unnecessarily or to lash the present with the cruel whip of the past. It was in the past that remorse, resentments and self-pity were found, but now we are doing our level best to lose them in order to insure a happy and sober present. Close the gate – we have passed through it.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 3, 2023 – Rise ‘n shine for an overdue and fantastic Friday

 

Good morning with determination to make today a productive and worthwhile Friday without the drama, trauma and garbage of things and people who offer nothing good

Feb. 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

In marriage, being the right person is as important as finding the right person.

— Wilbert Donald Gough

No matter how much two people love each other, no matter how compatible they are, no matter how great they are as lovers, they will confront matters and situations where their habits and differences will clash. When we face a frustrating obstacle, our first impulse is to blame the other person who doesn’t fit what we want. But our most effective way of improving our relationship is to look beyond that first impulse and focus on what we can change: ourselves.

We need to persistently be the best partner we know how to be. Our partner is not a model of our own creation and was not put on this earth just to fulfill our own image. As good partners, we try to be good listeners and open ourselves to our beloved. We cut our partner some slack when it’s needed; we offer forgiveness. We don’t use our partner’s immature response as an excuse for us to be immature. We practice the kind of detachment that allows our partner self-determination. We don’t try to fix or mold our beloved to our wishes.

Today, I will focus on being the best partner I know how to be, regardless of what my partner says or does.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023

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 recovery, I have to admit that quitting drinking is not enough, that I must also be clean 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., 2023

Feb. 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023

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