The Eye Opener
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023
Every man at some time arrives at a place where the course of his entire future rests upon a decision. Judas was one day a saint and the next the betrayer of the Lord.
We members of AA also had our moment of great decision. Many more days of decision will probably be our lot, but by the Grace of God and our new-found sobriety, we can meet any situation by reliance on God’s Will rather than our own.
Hazelden Foundation
A Day at a Time
Friday, Nov. 10, 2023
Reflection for the Day
When I first came to The Program, I thought that humility was just another word for weakness. But I gradually learned that there’s nothing incompatible between humility and intellect, just as long as I place humility first. As soon as I began to do that, I was told, I would receive the gift of faith — a faith which would work for me as it has worked and continues to work for countless others who have been freed of their addictions and have found a new way of life in The Program.
Have I come to believe, in the words of Heine, that, “The actions of men are like the index of a book; they point out what is more remarkable in them …?”
Today I Pray
May I never let my intelligence be an excuse for lack of humility. It is so easy, if I consider myself reasonably bright and capable of making decisions and handling my own affairs, to look down upon humility as a property of those less intelligent. May I remember that intelligence and humility are both God-given.
Today I Will Remember
If I have no humility, I have no intelligence.
Hazelden Foundation
A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023
Reflection for the Day
Now that we’re sober and living in reality, it’s sometimes difficult to see ourselves as others see us and, in the process, determine how much progress we’ve made in recovery. In the old days, the back-of-the-bar mirror presented us with a distorted and illusory view of ourselves; the way we imagined ourselves to be and the way we imagined ourselves to appear in the eyes of others. A good way for me to measure my progress today is simply to look about me at my friends in The Program. As I witness the miracle of their recoveries, I realize that I’m part of the same miracle — and will remain so as long as I’m willing.
Am I grateful for reality and the Divine miracle of my recovery?
Today I Pray
May God keep my eyes open for miracles — those marvelous changes that have taken place in my own life and in the lives of my friends in the group. May I ask no other measurement of progress than a smile I can honestly mean and a clear eye and a mind that can, at last, touch reality. May my own joy be my answer to my question, “How am I doing?”
Today I Will Remember
Miracles measure our progress: Who needs more?
Hazelden Foundation
A Day at a Time
Monday, Jan. 30, 2023
Reflection for the Day
Have I gained freedom simply because one day I was weak and the next day I became suddenly strong? Have I changed from the helpless and hopeless person I once seemed to be simply by resolving, “from now on, things will be different …?” Is the fact that I am more comfortable today than ever before the result of my own willpower? Can I take credit for pulling myself up by my own bootstraps? I know better, for I sought refuge in a Power greater than myself – a Power which is still beyond my ability to visualize.
Do I consider the change in my life a miracle far beyond the workings of any human power?
Today I Pray
As the days of sobriety lengthen, and the moment of decision becomes farther behind me, may I never lose sight of the Power that changed my life. May I remember that my sobriety is an ongoing miracle, not just a once-in-a-lifetime transformation.
Today I Will Remember
Life is an ongoing miracle.
Hazelden Foundation
Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
A liar needs a good memory. — Quintilian
Many of us wasted a lot of energy trying to keep track of whom we had told what. For example, we’d tell our boss one story and our family another. Then we’d work hard to make sure they never met.
How wonderful to be done with that way of life! We now have a life based on honesty. We can now be ourselves wherever we go.
Our program tells us that to get sober, we must live a life of strict honesty. Honesty is our first rule to get and stay sober. Life is much more simple this way. We can relax and think of the happy details of life.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, help me to live honestly. Being honest brings me closer to You. Help me become closer to You.
Action for the Day
Today I’ll read the first three pages of chapter 5 in Alcoholics Anonymous. Here I’ll learn why honesty is so important to my recovery.
Hazelden Foundation
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
AA Thought for the Day
Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with drinking. In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences, the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release and strength.
Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing?
Meditation for the Day
We cannot fully understand the universe. The simple fact is that we cannot even define space or time. They are both boundless, in spite of all we can do to limit them. We live in a box of space and time, which we have manufactured by our own minds, and on that depends all our so-called knowledge of the universe. The simple fact is that we can never know all things, nor are we made to know them. Much of our lives must be taken on faith.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that my faith may be based on my own experience of the power of God in my life. I pray that I may know this one thing above all else in the universe.
Hazelden Foundation
