Monday, February 29, 2016

Feb. 29, 2016 - Commentary: Georgia, discrimination and a high tech employer's exit

Feb. 29, 2016 - Advocate.com - Commentary: Why We're Leaving Georgia | Advocate.com

Feb. 29, 2016 - Indiana city of Evansville votes to bolster LGBT protections

Feb. 29, 2016 - 21 secrets of people living with social anxieties

Feb. 29, 2016 - Gay Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe tabbed to host ABC-TV special on bullying

Feb. 29, 2106 - SameSame.com.au - Ian Thorpe to host new ABC exposé on bullying

Feb. 29, 2016 - One man's story: Being Mormon and gay

Feb. 29, 2016 - GoodMenProject.com - What is Like to be Gay and Mormon? -

Feb. 29, 2016 - Editorial: HIV's toll on black and Latino men

Feb. 29, 2016 - NYTimes.com - Editorial: H.I.V.’s Toll on Black and Latino Men - The New York Times

Feb. 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Monday, Feb. 29, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.
 -- Faith Baldwin


We are learning as we go, and the experiences shed light on our own plans for proceeding. The steps we are taking in unison as well as on separate but parallel paths enhance the particular movements of us all.

We often expect perfection from ourselves, forgetting that we're all beginners in life. The best we can do is willingly acknowledge our errors, grateful that we can always begin again on any task - grateful that we have the experiences of others to help guide us.

Life is process. We learn, we grow, share burdens, reformulate ideas, and restructure our values. Every change we make alters the steps we take, altering in turn someone else's movements, too.
You are reading from the book:
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg. © 1983, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 
Today, understand that even if my last drink was years ago, my next drunk, like the guy whose last drunk was 24 Hours ago, is just one drink away. My quantity of sobriety says little about its quality, and I have to re-examine that quality if my sobriety is riddled with anger, frustration, despair, hopelessness and a brain that processes my world with the same mind soaked by my last drunk. And even if my last drunk was months or even years ago, my next one is just as close as for the man who woke up with a hangover this morning. Quality - not quantity. This is the what recovery is about. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016

Feb. 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 
AA Thought for the Day
"The alcoholic is absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self-knowledge. We must admit we can do nothing about it ourselves. Will power and self-knowledge will never help in the strange mental blank spots when we are tempted to drink. An alcoholic mentally is in a very sick condition. The last flicker of conviction that we can do the job ourselves must be snuffed out. The spiritual answer and the program of action are the only hope. Only spiritual principles will solve our problems. We are completely helpless apart from Divine help. Our defense against drinking must come from a Higher Power."
Have I accepted the spiritual answer and the program of action?
Meditation for the Day
Rest now until life, eternal life, flowing through your veins and heart and mind, bids you to bestir yourself. Then glad work will follow. Tired work is never effective. The strength of God's spirit is always available to the tired mind and body. He is your physician and your healer. Look to these quiet times of communion with God for rest, for peace, for cure. Then rise refreshed in spirit and go out to work, knowing that your strength is able to meet any problems because it is reinforced by God's power.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that the peace I have found will make me effective. I pray that I may be relieved of all strain during this day.
Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer
A Day at a Time
Monday, Feb. 29,  2016 
Reflection for the Day
Inventory-taking isn't always done in red ink. It's a rare day when we haven't done something right. As I uncover and face my shortcomings, my many good qualities will be revealed to me also, reminding me that they have the same reality as my faults. Even when we've tried hard and failed, for instance, we can chalk that up as one of our greatest credits of all. I'll try to appreciate my good qualities because they not only offset the faults, but give me a foundation on which to grow. It's just as self-deceptive to discount what's good in us as to justify what is not.
Can I take comfort in my positive qualities, accepting myself as a friend?
Today I Pray
If I find only defects when I look in that Fourth Step mirror, may I be sure that I am missing something - namely my good points. Although my ultra-modesty may be approved socially, may I learn that it is just as dishonest as rationalizing away my faults. Even an out-and-out failure, if examined from all sides, may turn up a plus along with the obvious minuses.
Today I Will Remember
To give myself, if not an A for effort, at least an average B minus.
Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 29, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 
The older some of us get in AA, the more we notice a tendency on our part to become a little bit less tolerant, a little less understanding of our relationship with the man still having trouble. We have been so long removed from the actual suffering that we are losing some of our understanding. 
This is a good time to pick out the messiest case we can find and get back in the groove again. We can't afford to forget that we, too, are alcoholics and, but for the Grace of God, we would be in just as bad shape.
We may be years away from our last drunk, but we are only one drink away from our next one. Don't lose the common touch.
Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 29, 2016 - Rise 'n shine for a beautiful Monday & new week, folks!


Sunday, February 28, 2016

Feb. 28, 2016 - 18, gay and out to strangers but not to family

Feb. 28, 2016 - HuffingtonPost.com - I'm OK With Strangers Knowing I'm Gay, But Not My Family

Feb. 28, 2016 - On Oscar night, some gay performances it ignored

Anthony Perkins, aka Norman Bates in 'Psycho'
Feb. 28, 2016 - Out.com - Gay Performances the Oscars Forgot | Out Magazine

Feb. 28, 2016 - As marriage equality grows, so does class divide

Feb. 28, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Reflection for the Day
"What if..." How often we hear these words from newcomers to The Program. How often, in fact, we tend to say them ourselves. "What if I lose my job?" "What if my car breaks down?" "What if I get sick and can't work?" "What if my child gets hooked on drugs?" What if -- anything our desperate imaginings can project. Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear and anxiety. The answer to "What if . . ." is, plainly and simply, "Don't project." We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time.
Am I keeping my thoughts positive?

Today I Pray
May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties. May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today. May I turn out fear by faith. If I will only make a place for God within me, God will remove my fears.

Today I Will Remember
can only borrow trouble at high interest rates.
You are reading from the book:
A Day at a Time © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 28, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016
 
Today, take the program from theoretical to practical application to both recovery and life. If I hear "Easy Does It," I cannot use it as "permission" to neglect daily responsibilities and what must be done today. Instead, it means not to expect too much of either myself or another person. And "Let Go and Let God" does not mean I can expect my higher power to tend to what is my responsibility and within my capability. Realize I am letting go of my own will for myself and letting God tell me what His will is for me. "One (drink) is one too many and never enough" tells me, simply, not to try to find out what is "never enough" and not to try the first one at all. "Making amends" isn't simply saying, "I'm sorry," but is acceptance of consequences and working harder if some of those amends are rejected. "One Day at a Time" is simple: today is all I've got and yesterday can't be undone or redone, and tomorrow is not guaranteed. Even it is, I have to give today my best shot because it may well reverberate into tomorrow. Today, move from theory to the practical, and it's time to roll up the sleeves. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016

Feb. 28, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016
 
AA Thought for the Day
We should be free from alcohol for good. It's out of our hands and in the hands of God, so we don't need to worry about it or even think about it any more. But if we haven't done this honestly and fully, the chances are that it will become our problem again. Since we don't trust God to take care of the problem for us, we reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. Then it's our problem again and we're in the same old mess we were in before. We're helpless again and we drink.

Do I trust God to take care of the problem for me?

Meditation for the Day
No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have behind it much spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times of spiritual preparation and many hours of work may be profitless. From the point of view of God, one poor tool working all the time but doing back work because of lack of preparation, is of small value compared with the sharp, keen, perfect instrument working for only a short time but which turns out perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get more strength and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my work.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 28, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016
 
Reflection for the Day
We're taught in The Program and the Twelve Steps that the chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear - mainly fear that we would lose something we already possessed or that we would fail to get something we demanded. Living on the basis of unsatisfied demands, we obviously were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, we are taught, no peace will be ours unless we find a means of reducing these demands.

Have I become entirely ready to have God remove all my defects of character?

Today I Pray
May I make no unrealistic demands on life which, because of their grandiosity, cannot be met. May I place no excessive demands on others which, when they are not fulfilled, leave me disappointed and let down.

Today I Will Remember
The set-up for a let-down.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 28, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016
 
Many of us would have been ready to do something about our drinking problem years before we did, except for the obstinate determination not to allow the wife, mother or boss to tell us what to do.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 28, 2016 - Good morning & welcome to a serene Sunday, folks!


Saturday, February 27, 2016

Feb. 27, 2016 - Archive: One man's uncertain journey through an eating disorder

Matt Shepherd
Feb. 27, 2016 - GoodMenProject.com - Archive: Don't Think Men Get Eating Disorders? Watch My Life-Changing Story -

Feb. 27, 2016 - Yes, 'real' men have eating disorders, too

Feb. 27, 2016 - GoodMenProject.com - Real Men Have Eating Disorders -

Feb. 27, 2016 - Commentary: Blame 'the system' for Hollywood's lack of diversity

Feb. 27, 2016 - Transgender oppression and conservative religion

Feb. 27, 2016 - Two films about Christ, compared - and anti-Semitism

Robert Powell as 'Jesus of Nazareth'
Feb. 27, 2016 - CruxNow.com - Jesus movies and anti-Semitism – CRUX

Feb. 27, 2016 - Hey, guys, it's time for a talk

Feb. 27, 2016 - GoodMenProject.com - Men, We Need To Talk -

Feb. 27, 2016 - Ex-gay porn performer Mike Dozer pleads guilty in rape of 14-year-old boy

Christopher Steele, aka Mike Dozer
Feb. 27, 2016 - Attitude.co.uk - Former gay porn star pleads guilty to raping 14-year-old boy | Attitude Magazine

Feb. 27, 2016 - 35 things people with bipolar disorder want their friends to know

Feb. 27, 2016 - Can the feds end gay conversion therapy as consumer fraud?

Feb. 27, 2016 - Photo gallery: 18 people explain what ADHD feels like

Feb. 27, 2016 - TheMighty.com - Photo gallery: 18 People Explain What ADHD Feels Like | The Mighty

Feb. 27, 2016 - Religious freedom bills surge after last year's same-sex marriage ruling

Feb. 27, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

The Serenity Prayer
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

We don't need crutches

We are unique and wonderful people. We have weaknesses, yes, and we also have strengths beyond our imagining.

Perhaps we needed a crutch at one time. We got used to it, and even though it was in our way and slowed us down, we were afraid to venture forth without it. Gradually, the crutch began to control our movements and take over our life. We became its slave.

Then we were invited to consider the possibility of a Higher Power that would eliminate our need for a crutch. Intrigued, we began to practice relying on this Higher Power in concrete ways on a daily basis.

We are learning how to walk again. Scary sometimes, without the old props, but Step by Step we're on our way to recovery.

Just for today, I will put away the crutches I no longer need and rely on my Higher Power.

You are reading from the book:
This book is now out of print and no longer available to purchase. Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer
Step by Step
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
 
Today, even if we are sober without meetings, consider the possibility that the quality of sobriety might be enhanced if we resume regular meeting attendance - and participation. In neglecting meetings even if I am practicing AA's steps, I could be denying myself fresh perspectives that could lift me over some of the bumps on Sobriety Road. I also may be denying a newcomer or someone in relapse my own experience, strength and hope or anything else that might help them in their own journey. And if my lack of attendance at meetings is because of some rift within my home group, we have the freedom to "shop" for the meeting that we feel is best suited to our needs. But, in the end, neglecting meetings may well risk sobriety if for no other reason than I am not receiving someone else's experience, strength and hope and I am not fully 12th-stepping by not sharing my own. Today, if I am only IN the Program, I will get WITH it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016

Feb. 27, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
 
AA Thought for the Day
When we came into AA, the first thing we did was to admit that we couldn't do anything about our drinking. We admitted that alcohol had us licked and that we were helpless against it. We never could decide whether or not to take a drink. We always took the drink. And since we couldn't do anything about it ourselves, we put our whole drink problem into the hands of God. We turned the whole thing over to that Power greater than ourselves. And we have nothing more to do about it, except to trust God to take care of the problem for us.

Have I done this honestly and fully?

Meditation for the Day
This is the time for my spirit to touch the spirit of God. I know that the feeling of the spirit-touch is more important than all the sensation of material things. I must seek a silence of spirit-touching with God. Just a moment's contact and all the fever of life leaves me. Then I am well, whole, calm and able to rise and minister to others. God's touch is a potent healer. I must feel that touch and sense God's presence.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that the fever of resentment, worry and fear may melt into nothingness. I pray that health, joy, peace and serenity may take its place.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer
A Day at a Time
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
 
Reflection for the Day
If I live just one day at a time, I won't so quickly entertain fears of what might happen tomorrow. As long as I'm concentrating on today's activities, there won't be room in my mind for worrying. I'll try to fill every minute of this day with something good - seen, heard, accomplished. Then, when the day is ended, I'll be able to look back on it with satisfaction, serenity and gratitude.

Do I sometimes cherish bad feelings so that I can feel sorry for myself?

Today I Pray
That I will get out of the self-pity act and live for today. May I notice the good things from dawn to nightfall, learn to talk about them and thank God for them. May I catch myself if I seem to be relishing my moans and complaints more often than appreciating the goodness of my life.

Today I Will Remember
Today is good.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer
The Eye Opener
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
 
We know from past experiences that we actually invited all our troubles to enter our lives. We left the door wide open for them. Getting sober does not necessarily mean we have closed all the doors, for some of us have only closed the front door and left the back door wide open.

The chances are that you are not only vulnerable through the door marked Alcohol. As you advance to the front, watch well both flanks and the rear.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 27, 2016 - Rise 'n shine for a super Saturday, folks!


Friday, February 26, 2016

Feb. 26, 2016 - Gay man adhering to daily Truvada regimen tests HIV-positive

Feb. 26, 2016 - Video: Why this Navy kiss makes history and has gone viral

Feb. 26, 2016 - LGBTQNation.com - Video: Why this gay Navy kiss just made history – LGBTQ Nation

Feb. 26, 2016 - Why being 'spiritual' doesn't sacrifice masculinity

Feb. 26, 2016 - The queer you bully today might come back to haunt you tomorrow

Feb. 26, 2016 - GoodMenProject.com - When the Bullying Comes Back to Haunt You -

Feb. 26, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

The Serenity Prayer
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
There is no shortcut to life. To the end of our days, life is a lesson imperfectly learned.
 -- Harrison E. Salisbury
There are no perfect days. We have struggled hard against this truth. In our demanding ways, we haven't wanted life to be a process; we have wanted to reach a secure point of arrival. We have struggled against the dialogue and learning process of experience. We've looked for a "fix" and for perfection. Even now in recovery we long to "get it right." We continue to learn and to grow, but the lessons we learn are not the things we expected. We grieve the lateness of our learning, and then we go on to learn more.
As we grow in this program, we learn how to learn. We become more accepting of life as a process with no shortcut to the truth. We learn to engage in the process and accept that there usually is no right or wrong answer at the end of our search.
Today, may I accept the truth, which comes from the lessons of my experience -- and be tolerant of its incompleteness.
You are reading from the book:
Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer
Step by Step
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
 
Today, understand we cannot take Step Seven of asking a higher power to "remove our shortcomings" without first surrendering completely to the Sixth Step of being "entirely ready." If we cling onto some character defect such as fear, resentment, anger, self-pity or remorse, we probably have not been thoroughly honest in our Fourth Step of "a searching and fearless moral inventory ..." Some - if not all - of those character defects likely triggered our drinking, at first abusively and eventually compulsively, and holding onto them even with an honest desire to let go of them may threaten the quality of our sobriety - maybe sobriety itself. An "honest desire" to surrender our defects, then, is not sufficient. Because the program is one of action, we must be active in releasing our defects and not taking them back. Our thoughts, feelings and actions of yesterday influence our subsequent tomorrows; thus, what we do today may well impact tomorrow, and a history of carrying from yesterday into tomorrow is one of self-destruction. Today, if we are mired in defects that we know contributed to our drinking, let's review our Fourth to see if it wasn't as "searching and fearless" as it should be. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2016

Feb. 26, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer
Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
 
AA Thought for the Day
When we came into AA, we came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves. We came to believe in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God, and to which we can turn for help. Each morning we have a quiet time. We ask God for the power to stay sober for the next 24 hours. And each night we thank Him for helping us to keep sober that day.

Do I believe that each man or woman I see in AA is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard to a sober person?

Meditation for the Day
I should pray for faith as a thirsty person prays for water in a desert. Do I know what it means to feel sure that God will never fail me? Am I sure of this as I am sure that I still breathe? I should pray daily and most diligently that my faith may increase. There is nothing lacking in my life because, really, all I need is mine, only I lack the faith to know it. I am like a rich man's child who sits in rags when all around me are stores of all I could desire.

Prayer for the Day
I pray for the realization that God has everything I need. I pray that I may know that His power is always available.

Hazelden Foundation

Feb. 26, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer
A Day at a Time
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
 
Reflection for the Day
"What if ..." How often we hear these words from newcomers to The Program. How often, in fact, we tend to say them ourselves. "What if I lose my job ...," "What if my car breaks down ...," "What if I get sick and can't work ...," "What if my child gets hooked on drugs?" What if - anything our desperate imaginings can project. Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear and anxiety. The answer to, "What if ...," is, plainly and simply, "Don't project." We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time.

Am I keeping my thoughts positive?

Today I Pray
May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties. May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today. May I turn out fear by faith. If I will only make a place for God within me, He will remove my fears.

Today I Will Remember
I can only borrow trouble at high interest rates.

Hazelden Foundation