June 19, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, June 19, 2024

If you were asked to give a definition of the AA Program, you could probably come no closer than to say it is a Thinking Program.

Underlying the whole philosophy is a studied effort to change the mental fumbling of the alcoholic to real, profound, constructive thinking.

It was this type of thinking that inspired our movement and because of the profound thought behind it, it developed the simplicity that makes it understandable to the befogged alcoholic and yet so profound as to confound the wise.

Hazelden Foundation

May 23, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Thursday, May 23, 2024

“It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. …But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 5, p 66

Today, understand and accept that resentments are both futile and unhappy and, by holding onto them, these words are gospel: ” …(H)arboring such (resentment), we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.” Because I cannot afford to empower anything so strongly that my sobriety and, maybe, my life, are imperiled, I will listen to my Higher Power for the way to release to Him my resentments without taking them back. By holding onto resentment, I must see that I am still spiritually sick and that the sickness can trigger a slip or relapse. Today, I seek with sincerity and humility the courage, strength and willingness to release that which I cannot control – and not take it back. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024

May 19, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The hard rain and wind are ways the cloud has to take care of us..

--- Rumi

It's the nature of human life to keep changing. Sometimes, instead of joy, life seems to bring only problems. At times we may feel overwhelmed with frustration and disappointment. As a problem is resolved, it explodes with myriad seeds of new ones. The more we embrace life, the more we risk.

We can no longer withdraw into isolation or retreat from involvement with other people and life for more than a brief time. That option is no longer open to us. Whether through coming out or entering recovery -- both, for many of us -- we’ve taken an irrevocable step into a life touched by the lives of others. We are blessed to experience both joy and sadness as part of this life. Our griefs, instead of diminishing us, can expand our hearts with compassion for others.

Today, grief teaches me to be more compassionate and loving.

Hazwelden Foundation

April 21, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, April 21, 2024

AA Thought for the Day

After we’ve been in AA for a while, we find out that if we’re going to stay sober, we have to be humble people. The men and women in AA who have achieved sobriety are all humble people. When I stop to think that but for the grace of God I might be drunk right now, I can’t help feeling humble. Gratitude to God for His grace makes me humble. When I think of the kind of person I was not so long ago, when I think of the person I left behind me, I have nothing to be proud of.

Am I grateful and humble?

Meditation for the Day

I must arise from the death of sin and selfishness and put on a new life of integrity. All the old sins and temptations must be laid in the grave and a new existence rise from the ashes. Yesterday is gone. All my sins are forgiven if I am honestly trying to do God’s will today. Today is here, the time of resurrection and renewal. I must start now, today, to build a new life of complete faith and trust in God and a determination to do His will in all things.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may share in making the world a better place to live in. I pray that I may do what I can to bring goodness a little nearer to the earth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 20, 2024 - Readings in Recovery; Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Learn by practice.

— Martha Graham

We were practicing addicts. We were working to perfect our craft; we were good at being addicts. Let us practice recovery with the same intensity. We need to practice the Steps. We need to work to deepen our relationship with them. We must practice patience and tolerance with ourselves and others.

Remember we’re working to be in this for the long haul. We seek humility not perfection, progress not perfection. We seek to learn and better ourselves at being ordinary people. We seek to enjoy the journey, knowing it will never be over. And as we practice and learn, we step deeper into life and sobriety.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, each day help me show up for practice and enjoy the process of learning.

Today’s Action

At the end of today, I will take some time and ask, “What did I learn today that will help me live a good, sober life? What will I practice at tomorrow?”

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 28, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
The AA way is the way of sobriety. AA is known everywhere as a method that has been successful with alcoholics. Doctors, psychiatrists and clergymen have had some success. Some men and women have got sober all by themselves. We believe that AA is the most successful and happiest way to sobriety. And yet AA is, of course, not wholly successful. Some are unable to achieve sobriety and some slip back into alcoholism after they have had some measure of sobriety.

Am I deeply grateful to have found AA?

Meditation for the Day
Gratitude to God is the theme of Thanksgiving Day. The pilgrims gathered to give thanks to God for their harvest which was pitifully small. When we look around at all the things we have today, how can we help being grateful to God? Our families, our homes, our friends, our AA fellowship: all these things are free gifts of God to us. “But for the grace of God,” we would not have them.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be very grateful today, I pray that I may not forget where I might be but for the grace of God.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023

Famous Last Words: “If I had one more drink, I could cut off.” “Lord, get me off this one and I’ll never touch another drop.” “A glass of beer won’t hurt me.” “I’m sober, ain’t I? I don’t need the meetings.” The list is too long to go on.

We constantly sell ourselves a phony bill of goods and then cry our eyes out when we find we have gypped ourselves, but — it wasn’t our fault, understand? If the wife hadn’t –, if the boss hadn’t –, if, if …

Hazelden Foundation

June 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, June 29, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
The program of Alcoholics Anonymous involves a continuous striving for improvement. There can be no long resting period. We must try to work at it all the time. We must continually keep in mind that it is a program not to be measured in years because we never fully reach our goals nor are we ever cured. Our alcoholism is only kept in abeyance by daily living of the program. It is a timeless program in every sense. We live it day by day or, more precisely, moment by moment — now.

Am I always striving for improvement?

Meditation for the Day
Life is all a preparation for something better to come. God has a plan for your life, and it will work out if you try to do His will. God has things planned for you far beyond what you can imagine now. But you must prepare yourself so that you will be ready for the better things to come. Now is the time for discipline and prayer. The time of expression will come later. Life can be flooded through and through with joy and gladness. So prepare yourself for those better things to come.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may prepare myself for better things which God has in store for me. I pray that I may trust God for the future.

Hazelden Foundation

May 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, May 31, 2023

For a person to attempt to live apart from this world is as useless as for a drop of water to live apart from the ocean. God put everything in this world, and He takes nothing out. To endeavor to withdraw from the world’s activities is another way of fooling yourself. We are an influence for good or evil regardless of our attempts to hide from society at large.

When a rock falls from a cliff into the sea, it is not merely that the land is one rock less, it means the contour of the whole continent has changed. However, it is still a part of God’s Universe whether it can be seen by man or not.

Hazelden Foundation

April 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day

I’ve noticed that the ones who do the most for AA are not in the habit of boasting about it. The danger of building myself up too much is that, if I do, I’m in danger of having a fall. That pattern of thought goes with drinking. If one side of a boat gets too far up out of the water, it’s liable to tip over. Building myself up and drinking go together. One leads to the other. So if I’m going to stay sober, I’ve got to keep small.

Have I got the right perspective on myself?

Meditation for the Day

The way sometimes seems long and weary. So many people today are weary. The weariness of others must often be shared by me. The weary and the heavy-laden, when they come to me, should be helped to find the rest that I have found. There is only one sure cure for world-weariness and that is turning to spiritual things. In order to help bring about the turning of the weary world to God, I must dare to suffer, dare to conquer selfishness in myself, and dare to be filled with spiritual peace in the face of all the weariness of the world.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be a help to discouraged people. I pray that I may have the courage to help bring about what the weary world needs but does not know how to get.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 29, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023

Reflection for the Day
I used to imagine my life as a grotesque abstract painting; a montage of crises framed by end-upon-end catastrophies. My days all were grey and my thoughts grayer still. I was haunted by dread and nameless fears. I was filled with self-loathing. I had no idea who I was, what I was or why I was. I miss none of those feelings. Today, step by step, I am discovering myself and learning that I can be free to be me.

Am I grateful for my new life? Have I taken the time to thank God today for the fact that I am clean and sober – and alive?

Today I Pray
May calm come to me after the turmoil and nightmares of the past. As my fears and self-hatred dissipate, may the things of the spirit replace them. For in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. May I be filled with the spirit of my Higher Power.

Today I Will Remember
Morning scatters nightmares.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 5, 2022 – Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Friday, Aug. 5, 2022

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” – Step 11

Today, Step 11 with the understanding that this is the extension of the Third – “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him” – and it, like all the Steps, are daily maintenance tasks and never a one-time shot. We live in the Program with a day-by-day reprieve from the gutter and are not guaranteed anything more regardless of the number of sober 24 Hours we have. While one person’s recovery program differs from that of another person, all have at least one common thread: the surrender of self-will to a Higher Power of our individual understanding, and Step 11 is the one that suggests we surrender our self-will and ask for the will of our Higher Power over our own. By seeking a Power greater than ourselves each day, we are improving our conscious contact with that Power. Today, I hand over my self-will because to take it back and run life my way is the formula for a slip or relapse. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2022

Aug. 1, 2022 – Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Monday, Aug. 1, 2022

Today, caution against carrying “Take It Easy” to procrastination or neglect of the new responsibilities that sobriety requires. “Take It Easy” means we tend to our spiritual and emotional care lest we be unqualified to help someone else with their own. Adversely, “Take It Easy” does not bestow “permission” to put off or ignore responsibilities to ourselves, others and the 12th Step marching order to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. The Program shows us how to balance the scale between taking it easy and procrastination, and if it’s weighted down by taking it easy at the expense of responsibility to ourselves and others, we become irresponsible dry drunks. Today, seek the balance between taking it easy all the time and giving all our time to everything and everyone else. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2022

June 17, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Friday, June 17, 2022

Reflection for the Day
Readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine. A casual apology, on the other hand, will rarely suffice in making amends to one we have harmed; a true change of attitude, in contrast, can do wonders to make up for past unkindnesses. If I've deprived anyone of any material thing, I'll acknowledge the debt and pay it as soon as I'm able.

Will I swallow my pride and make the first overtures toward reconciliation?

Today I Pray
God, show me the best ways to make "direct amends." Sometimes simply admitting my mistakes may make it up to someone and unload my own simmering guilt. Other times restitution may take some creative thought. May I be wholly aware that I cannot take this Ninth Step unless I develop some caring, some real concern about how others feel, along with changes in my behavior.

Today I Will Remember
First I care, then I apologize.

Hazelden Foundation

June 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The prayer of the chicken hawk does not get him the chicken. — Swahili proverb

Imagine flying high over the grassy plains searching with piercing eyes for dinner down below. The sun is warm on our backs as we catch the heated updrafts and rest, always watching, always praying, that dinner will be provided for the little ones back in the nest.

Dinner will be provided, of that the hawk is sure. It has faith. But the faith and the prayer will not put the chicken in its talons. It is going to have to keep looking, and, when it spots the prey, its wings will fold back, and its sleek body will plummet out of the sky. It will brake quickly with broad wings and clasp the unsuspecting supper on the fly.

Like the hawk, once we have prayed, we must get to work. Our goal isn’t going to be done for us. We can pray for the strength and wisdom we will need to get it done, and that prayer will be answered. But, as the hawk knows, it’s up to us to do the work.

What is my goal today, and my first step toward it?

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 23, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Nov. 23, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Forgiving

Joy to forgive and joy to be forgiven hang level in the balances of love. — Richard Garnett

If we are unable or unwilling to forgive others for whatever they do, we won’t be able to forgive ourselves for our actions. The agony of resentment, guilt, remorse, and shame will overpower us. These emotions will halt our progress toward the comfortable and rewarding living we are promised in recovery.

Early in recovery, we often were told to pray for those whom we thought had wronged us. This philosophy is as old as civilization. Forgiveness will always triumph over guilt and shame. Recovery is one-third love and two-thirds forgiveness.

We’ve been our own worst enemies during most of our lives. We’ve often hurt ourselves over what we thought was justifiable anger and resentment.

Self-forgiveness is strength not weakness. Gaining the strength is simple. I need only remind myself that “God has forgiven me. Why not forgive myself?”

Hazelden Foundation