Oct. 26, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, Oct. 26, 2012

All men eventually die; it might be said that we live to die. The way we die is usually the way we live. Dying is the last thing we do on this earth, but certainly we do not live just to die. Living would not be worthwhile if that were so.

The only worthwhile purpose of living is that those whose lives we come in contact with will be enriched thereby. If you live so that others will live more abundantly, then you are performing the purpose of your little life.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 26, 2012 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Friday, Oct. 26, 2012

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

The crow that mimics a cormorant gets drowned. -- Japanese proverb

When we are young we are vulnerable to the images of success that surround us - in sports, in politics, and in our social life. We watch our heroines and heroes perform, and we strive to emulate them. When the cormorant dives from a hundred feet, we'd love to follow.

As we get older, many of us don't manage to find out who we really are because we've been too busy trying to imitate others - in our dress, our way of talking, our business deals, our preferences, and our tastes. We often aped those who were considered "with it" at the time.

It's healthy to have role models, but they should reflect our true, emerging selves, and not be at the other end of the spectrum. As crows, we'd look silly diving from a hundred feet. Our challenge in recovery is to find out who we are and who we can be and go after that with all our energy. There's nothing wrong with being a crow.

I want to strive with all my heart to be myself.

From the book:

Answers in the Heart by Anonymous

Answers in the Heart © 1989 by P. Williamson and S. Kiser. All rights reserved.

Oct. 25, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012

"God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 9 ("The Family Afterward"), p 133.

Just for today, let me not be discouraged even in sobriety if the Program of AA is not complete enough to treat my physical, emotional or spiritual maladies. The Program was never intended to replace treatments that might be needed for those medical or psychological conditions that preceded alcoholism or developed in sobriety. If clinical depression or bipolar disorder have been ever-present shadows in my life, for example, I may need medication to treat those conditions, and I should not and cannot feel let down if AA does not treat such maladies. The Program was never intended to and, instead, is another facet of the multiple therapies that I might require. As the Program's Big Book points out, alcohol is but a symptom of our underlying problems. And if those problems should be a medical or psychological condition that warrants medical treatment, sobriety will be an elusive payoff if we treat only the symptoms and leave the conditions unattended. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

Oct. 25, 2012 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012

AA Thought for the Day
Fifth, I have learned to live one day at a time. I have finally realized the great fact that all I have is now. This sweeps away all vain regret and it makes my thoughts of the future free of fear. Now is mine. I can do what I want with it. I own it, for better or worse. What I do now, in this present moment, is what makes up my life. My whole life is only a succession of nows. I will take this moment, which has been given to me by the grace of God, and I will do something with it. What I do with each now, will make me or break me.

Am I living in the now?

Meditation for the Day
We should work at overcoming ourselves, our selfish desires and our self-centeredness. This can never be fully accomplished. We can never become entirely unselfish. But we can come to realize that we are not at the center of the universe and that everything does not revolve around us at the center. I am only one cell in a vast network of human cells. I can at least make the effort to conquer the self-life and seek daily to obtain more and more of this self-conquest. "He that overcomes himself is greater than he who conquers a city."

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strive to overcome my selfishness. I pray that I may achieve the right perspective of my position in the world.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2012 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012

Reflection for the Day
My addictions were like thieves in more ways than I can count. They robbed me not only of money, property and other material things, but of dignity and self-respect, while my family and friends suffered right along with me. My addictions also robbed me of the ability to treat myself properly, as God would treat me. Today, in total contrast, I'm capable of true love of self- to the extent that I'm able to provide myself with more love than even I need. So I give that love away to other people in The Program, just as they have given their love to me.

Do I thank God for bringing me to a Program in which sick people are loved back to health?

Today I Pray
Thanks be to God for a way of life which generates such love and caring that we in The Program can't help but learn to love ourselves. When I see that someone cares about me, I am more apt to be convinced that perhaps I am, after all, worth caring about. May I be conscious always of the love I am now able to give - and give it.

Today I Will Remember
Someone caring about me makes me feel worth caring about.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012

The greatest piece of self-deception on the part of the drinker is the actual belief that a drink will make him feel better. We got this illusion because alcohol in the blood stream and in the brain deadens the misery momentarily, but it also served to make us thirsty and so we continued the drinking and inevitably felt worse. Whiskey will pick you up a foot or so, but it drops you a hundred. What made you sick will never make you well.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2012 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012

Today's thought is:

The Junkie can never start to cure himself until he recognizes his true condition. -- Malcolm X

Now we know what the problem is. Now we can do something about it. The truth of our problem is, we can't handle alcohol or other drugs. They handle us. They control us. The Steps ask us to face the truth. And the truth sets us free. What a wonderful gift! We feared the truth, but now it's our friend. It's a relief. Facing the truth means we're honest. And honesty is our best friend in recovery. It's like a cozy fire on a winter's night. Honesty is how we get well. It's also what will keep us well. Do I truly believe I can't use alcohol or other drugs?

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me see my illness for what it is. It's my enemy. Help me see that honesty is my best friend.

Action for the Day

Today, I'll take fifteen minutes to think about what my true condition was when I was drinking and drugging. And I'll think about what my true condition is now.

From the book:

Keep It Simple by Anonymous

Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Oct. 24, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

"The alcoholic may say to himself in the most casual way, 'It won't burn me this time, so here's how!' Or perhaps he doesn't think at all. How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, 'For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?' Only to have that thought supplanted by, 'Well, I'll stop with the sixth drink.' Or, 'What's the use anyhow?'" - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 2 ("There Is a Solution"), p 24.

Just for today: what's the use anyhow? Most likely, there isn't any use if I cave into the myth that "just one" won't hurt. "Just one" triggers the craving that lead to "just two," then "just six" and, in the end, "What's the use anyhow?" So much for "just one." It's the one that sets off the craving, temptation or thirst for the "just two" or "just six." How, then, not to feed a craving, temptation or thirst? Simple! Don't drink the first one, and the Program has endowed us with the tools to steer clear of the mythical "just one." All we need to do is to pick up the tools and put them into action. Today, we have the power and choice to prevent that horrible conclusion of our drinking days: what's the use anyhow. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

Oct. 24, 2012 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

AA Thought for the Day
Fourth, I have turned to a Power greater than myself. Thank God, I am no longer at the center of the universe. All the world does not revolve around me any longer. I am only one among many. I have a Father in heaven and I am only one of His children and a small one at that. But I can depend on Him to show me what to do and to give me the strength to do it. I am on the Way and the whole power of the universe is behind me when I do the right thing. I do not have to depend entirely on myself any longer. With God, I can face anything.

Is my life in the hands of God?

Meditation for the Day
The grace of God is an assurance against all evil. It holds out security to the believing soul. The grace of God means safety in the midst of evil. You can be kept unspotted by the world through the power of His grace. You can have a new life of power. But only in close contact with the grace of God is its power realized. In order to realize it and benefit from it, you must have daily quiet communion with God, so that the power of His grace will come unhindered into your soul.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be kept from evil by the grace of God. I pray that henceforth I will try to keep myself more unspotted by the world.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2012 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

Reflection for the Day
So many of us in the Program went through childhood - as well as part of our adult lives - emotionally shackled with the terrible burden called shyness. We found it difficult to walk into crowded rooms, to converse with even our friends, to make eye contact with anyone. The agonies we suffered! We learned in The Program that shyness is just another manifestation of self-centered fear, which is the root of all our character defects. Shyness, specificially, is fear of what others think or might think about us. To our enormous relief, our shyness gradually leaves us as we work The Program and interact with others.

Am I aware that I'm okay as long as I don't concentrate on me?

Today I Pray
God, may I be grateful that I am getting over my shyness, after years of pulling back from people, squirming, blushing, blurting out all the "wrong things" or saying nothing at all - then reliving the agonies and imagining what I should have said and done. May I know that it has taken a full-blown addiction and a lot of caring people to convince me that I'm okay - and you're okay, he's okay and so is she.

Today I Will Remember
A cure for shyness is caring about somebody else.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

Resolutions, like clay pigeons, are made to be broken. They are nearly always made in sincerity, but the very act of making a resolution is a confession on the part of the maker of his inability to keep it otherwise. As resolutions are contrary to the subconscious wishes of the maker, they are almost surely doomed from the start.

If a person really wanted what he resolved, he would do it without the resolution, for we are prone to do those things that we really want to do.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2012 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

I wish I hadn't lost track of the guys I was stationed with. I kick myself for that. --Tom Harding

We all have regrets, don't we? Some of us left jobs or spouses or neighborhoods only to wish we hadn't. Perhaps we closed the door on our family of origin and then felt grief when parents or siblings died. More commonly we regret the instances when our mean spirited behavior or attitude hurt someone else. We weren't always honest and forthright; we didn't always try to help a friend or co-worker who needed our advice. We simply didn't put our best self forward when the opportunities for doing so presented themselves.

Dwelling on the "shoulds" of past years is fruitless. We did the best we knew how to do at the time. The past is gone. Let's quit digging up the bones of old regrettable experiences. All they do is cloud our minds when we're trying to respond to today's opportunities.

I won't have anything to regret tomorrow if I respond to today with my best self.

From the book:

Keepers of the Wisdom by Karen Casey

Keepers of the Wisdom © 1996 by Karen Casey. All rights reserved.

Oct. 23, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012

Just for today, if the stranglehold of some habit seems too strong for me to overcome at this point in my recovery, I won't expend any more physical and emotional energy to fight what I should not do: I'll simply change the game rules. If being drunk was habitual, I'll make being sober a habit; if I have a temptation, craving or compulsion, I'll make a 10th or 12th Step the focus of my compulsion. If lying was or still is a habit, telling the truth will be the new habit (and in the process, I might learn how much easier honesty is compared to the work it takes to keep my lies going). If interacting with anyone was from an antagonistic or condescending perspective, I'll make a habit of asking my Higher Power to remind me if I'd tolerate anyone treating me as I treat them. If dodging responsibility or accountability was or remains a habit, I'll face the music if for no other reason than to be done with it. If I think my perspective of any issue is the only logical one and that everyone needs to hear it, I'll ask my Higher Power that I consider the possibility that mine might not be the only opinion, and certainly not the best. Habits die hard, and humans - addicts and non-addicts alike - are notoriously resistant to breaking free. Instead of breaking free, today I'll simply change the game rules and, in the end, make sobriety instead of drunkeness my habit. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

Oct. 23, 2012 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012

AA Thought for the Day
Third, I have learned how to be honest. What a relief! No more ducking or dodging. No more tall tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table, for all the world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an unsavory past. I am sorry, yes. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are and not run away.

Am I really honest?

Meditation for the Day
Though it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces which we cannot see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it does of matter as we understand it. Between one human being and another, only spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know, because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life - a new personality - results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through us.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of the Unseen which I do see.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 23, 2012 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012

Reflection for the Day
"One's own self is well hidden from one's own self," a renowned philosopher once wrote. "Of all mines of treasure, one's own is the last to be dug up." The Twelve Steps have enabled me to unearth my "own self," the one that for so long was buried beneath my desperate need for approval from others. Thanks to The Program and my Higher Power, I've begun acquiring a true sense of self and a comfortable sense of confidence. No longer do I have to react chameleon-like, changing my coloration from one moment to the next, fruitlessly trying to be all things to all people.

Do I strive, at all times, to be true to myself?

Today I Pray
I pray that I may be honest with myself, and that I will continue - with the help of God and my friends - to try to get to know the real me. May I know that I cannot suddenly be a pulled-together, totally defined, completely consistent personality; it may take a while to develop into that personality, to work out my values and my priorities. May I know now that I have a good start on being who I want to be.

Today I Will Remember
I'm getting to be who I want to be.

Hazelden Foundation