Jan. 3, 2013 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013

"We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals - usually brief - were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period, we get worse, never better." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 3 ("More About Alcoholism"), p 30.

Just for today, conceding to "our innermost selves" that we are alcoholic is the first step in recovery. Without that admission, every subsequent attempt to curtail drinking much less stop is doomed to failure: our private drinking histories are mute testament to that. But if we can finally admit to ourselves that we are alcoholic, the answer to the next logical question - Why do I have to quit altogether instead of cutting back? - is obvious: alcoholism is a progressive condition that is never cured and, when fed, gets worse. But the illness can be arrested, and the only guaranteed method to date is total abstinence. Today, if I still struggle that the drinking problem I clearly have has progressed into alcoholism, I have to retreat within my innermost self in absolute honesty and, if I acknowledge the obvious answer, AA and its Program of Steps and Principles awaits me, just for the asking. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2013

Jan. 3, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
When I came into AA, I learned what an alcoholic was and then I applied this knowledge to myself to see if I was an alcoholic. When I was convinced that I was an alcoholic, I admitted it openly. Since then, have I been learning to live accordingly? Have I read the book "Alcoholics Anonymous?" Have I applied the knowledge gained to myself? Have I admitted openly that I am an alcoholic?

Am I ready to admit it at any time when I can be of help?

Meditation for the Day
I will be renewed. I will be remade. In this, I need God's help. His spirit shall flow through me and, in flowing through me, it shall sweep away all the bitter past. I will take heart. The way will open for me. Each day will unfold something good, as long as I am trying to live the way I believe God wants me to live.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be taught, just as a child would be taught. I pray that I may never question God's plans, but accept them gladly.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 3, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013

Reflection for the Day
My addiction is three-fold in that it affects me physically, mentally and spiritually. As a chemically-dependent person, I was totally out of touch not only with myself, but with reality. Day after miserable day, like a caged animal on a treadmill, I repeated my self-destructive pattern of living.

Have I begun to break away from my old ideas? Just for today, can I adjust myself to what is, rather than try to adjust everything to my own desires?

Today I Pray
I pray that I may not be caught up again in the downward, destructive spiral which removed me from myself and from the realities of the world around me. I pray that I may adjust to people and situations as they are instead of always trying, unsuccessfully and with endless frustration, to bend them to my own desires.

Today I Will Remember
I can only change myself.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 3, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013

You can't tell a drunk anything, but you can show him. All too frequently, we dry out on Monday, attend our first meeting on Tuesday and try our hand at Twelve Stepping on Wednesday.

With a sketchy conception of what it is all about, with little or no knowledge of the Program, sometimes with the smell of paraldehyde still on our breath, we venture forth to dry up the world and, when we fail, we wonder why.

Remember the 12th Step says, "Having had a Spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics." You can't carry the message before you receive it nor can you give it if you don't possess it.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 3, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Moral Inventory

It is fortunate that we can think in secret, because our thoughts would quickly get us in trouble if others could read them. In our thoughts, we can choose what we wish to reveal to others before we speak or act.

In the long run, however, we do not really conceal our true thoughts and feelings. The nature of our thoughts shapes our character and becomes part of us. It even affects our appearance. It is not difficult at all to identify people who are fearful, angry, or jealous.

This process has its good side, because kind thoughts and feelings also affect our appearance, and in positive ways. Norman Vincent Peale wrote, "God runs a beauty parlor," meaning that plain people with gracious thoughts tend to become more attractive as years wear on.

As AA members, we need not fear our own thoughts and feelings if we are continuing to work the program. As the sober years stretch out, we will be improving our thoughts and feelings, and this will tell others what the program is doing for us and through us.

I'll remember today that I don't really keep my thoughts and feelings secret. I will think well of myself and all others. I know that there are no hidden thoughts in the long run.

From the book:

Walk in Dry Places by Mel B.

Walk in Dry Places by Mel B. © 1996 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Jan. 2, 2013 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013

"I looked around me at people who seemed happy and tried to analyze their happiness, and it seemed to me that without exception these people had something or somebody they loved very much. I didn't have the courage to love; I was not even sure I had the capacity. Fear of rejection and its ensuing pain were not to be risked, and I turned away from myself once more for the answer, this time to the drinks I had always refused before, and in alcohol I found a false courage." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Lost Nearly All," Ch 12 ("Freedom From Bondage"), pp 546-47.

Just for today, ..."in alcohol I found a false courage." Whether I am far into recovery or just beginning, the time has come to be done with all that is not true. If I am hinging my sobriety on my spouse or partner not leaving me, to keep my job or to convince a judge I deserve a break from my latest DUI, my motivation to get sober is linked to something that may never happen and, if it doesn't, my sobriety likely will not last. Whatever the untruths in my life and even in sobriety, the Fourth Step is my road map to the truth - the truth of my own life, my drinking, my recovery. May I not rely on some dry false courage as I set out to find my own truth. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2013

Jan. 2, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
What makes AA work? The first thing is to have a revulsion against myself and my way of living. Then I must admit I was helpless, that alcohol had me licked and I couldn't do anything about it. The next thing is to honestly want to quit the old life. Then I must surrender my life to a Higher Power, put my drinking problem in His hands and leave it there. After these things are done, I should attend meetings regularly for fellowship and sharing. I should also try to help other alcoholics.

Am I doing these things?

Meditation for the Day
You are so made that you can only carry the weight of 24 hours, no more. If you weigh yourself down with the years behind and the days ahead, your back breaks. God has promised to help you with the burdens of the day only. If you are foolish enough to gather again that burden of the past and carry it, then indeed you cannot expect God to help you bear it. So forget that which lies behind you and breathe in the blessing of each new day.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may realize that, for good or bad, past days have ended. I pray that I may face each new day, the coming 24 hours, with hope and courage.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 2, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013

Reflection for the Day
Before I came to The Program, I hadn't the faintest idea of what it was to "Live In The Now." I often became obsessed with the things that happened yesterday, last week or even five years ago. Worse yet, many of my waking hours were spent clearing away the "wreckage of the future." "To me," Walt Whitman once wrote, "every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle."

Can I truly believe that in my heart?

Today I Pray
Let me carry only the weight of 24 hours at one time, without the extra bulk of yesterday's regrets or tomorrow's anxieties. Let me breathe the blessings of each new day for itself, by itself and keep my human burdens contained in daily perspective. May I learn the balance of soul that comes through keeping close to God.

Today I Will Remember
Don't borrow from tomorrow.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 2, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013

Probably in the history of the world no tyrant can be found who welded chains so strong upon his victims as did that "Ol' Debil Rum."

Even our most secret desires were controlled by his influence, and our families, our health and our very lives themselves were disregarded when opposed to the demands for a drink.

Fortunately for us in AA, we still had a freedom of choice of master and when we decided to "turn our will and our lives over to the care of God," we accepted a new Master, one even more demanding than the first, but with this one vast difference - our chains were now bonds of love.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 2, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Learning new ways

Once we make a connection with our Higher Power, the ongoing problem is to hold on to it. Repeatedly we slip into our old ways of thinking and behaving. If not curtailed, eventually these will lead us back to that first fix, pill, or drink. We need only a word, thought, or familiar situation to get caught up again in an old habit.

We have to discover (and rediscover) that the old way of life has become impossible and the new one essential. We do this - and do it again - by praying, meditating, and working the Twelve Steps of recovery.

Ask yourself - Am I living the program?

Higher Power, help me avoid being smug and complacent in my new life. Remind me that old ways of living have become impossible for me.

From the book:

Day by Day - Second Edition by Anonymous

Day by Day © 1974, 1998 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Jan. 1, 2013 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013

"FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION
Figures given in this foreword describe the Fellowship as it was in 1955"
"Since the original Foreword to this book was written in 1939, a wholesale miracle has taken place. Our earliest printing voiced the hope 'that every alcoholic who journeys will find the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous at his destination. Already,' continues the early text 'twos and threes and fives of us have sprung up in other communities.'
"Sixteen years have elapsed between our first printing of this book and the presentation in 1955 of our second edition. In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Foreword to the Second Edition," p xv. 

Just for today, when tradition prods us to think in terms of new beginnings and make resolutions to work toward, the history of our Program as measured in the 16 years between 1939 and 1955 assures us of a new start - if we work toward and apply the Steps and Principles detailed in later pages. In the years since this foreword to the 1955 Second Edition of the Big Book, the number of recovered alcoholics has multiplied by more than 10 times. If the Program has worked for that vast a number of people, why, then, can it not work for me? It can, and if I have failed in the Program in the past, it is because I failed the Program and not that the Program failed me. On this day when we are encouraged to let go of the old and ring in the new, my recovery somehow appropriately begins with the hope that I, too, can be in that number of recovered alcoholics. So let the new begin. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2013

Jan. 1, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
When I came into AA, was I a desperate person? Did I have a soul-sickness? Was I so sick of myself and my way of living that I couldn't stand looking at myself in a mirror? Was I ready for AA? Was I ready to try anything that would help me to get sober and to get over my soul-sickness?

Should I ever forget the condition I was in?

Meditation for the Day
In the new year, I will live one day at a time. I will make each day one of preparation for better things ahead. I will not dwell on the past or the future, only on the present. I will bury every fear of the future, all thoughts of unkindness and bitterness, all my dislikes, my resentments, my sense of failure, my disappointments in others and in myself, my gloom and my despondency. I will leave all these things buried and go forward, in this new year, into a new life.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that God will guide me one day at a time in the new year. I pray that for each day, God will supply the wisdom and the strength that I need.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 1, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013

Reflection for the Day
In the old days, I saw everything in terms of forever. Endless hours were spent rehashing old mistakes. I tried to take comfort in the forlorn hope that tomorrow "would be different." As a result, I lived a fantasy life in which happiness was all but nonexistent. No wonder I rarely smiled and hardly ever laughed aloud.

Do I still think in terms of "forever?"

Today I Pray
May I set my goals for the New Year not at the year-long mark, but one day at a time. My traditional New Year's resolutions have been so grandly stated and so soon broken. Let me not weaken my resolve by stretching it to cover "forever" - or even one long year. May I reapply it firmly each new day. May I learn not to stamp my past mistakes with that indelible word "forever." Instead, may each single day in each New Year be freshened by my new-found hope.

Today I Will Remember
Happy New Day.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 1, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013

Without the introduction of a purpose into our lives, we would be but dried-up drunks, wallowing in self-pity for the loss of that which we were forced to deny ourselves in order to bring about some semblance of order in our lives. We would be "off the bottle" but not for a moment happy about it - never with any sense of security.

We who have found AA have introduced that something into our lives that enabled us, with the Grace of God, to "fix" ourselves.

We have not given up anything - we have acquired something; we are no longer frustrated people, because we have introduced into our lives a reliance in a Power greater than ourselves, that we did not have before. That Power has opened up a new way of life, free of worry, fear and frustration.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 1, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. -- Albert Einstein

It's easy to live as though our problems will just go away. We say tomorrow, next month, or next year will be better. We keep some kernel of hope that things will change, even though we haven't done anything to change things. Herein lies a paradox. We need to be positive, to let go, and to live one day at a time, but we also need to be sensitive to points in our lives that require us to take action.

Before we can begin to get out of a rut, to make positive change, we need to acknowledge that a problem exists in the first place and that we are responsible for doing something about it. When we can pinpoint the problem, we create a new awareness. We're suddenly open to receiving information we previously blocked out. We reach a higher level of thinking regarding our situation.

Today on this New Year's Day I will actively seek information about how to help myself or others and will be open to different philosophies.

From the book:

Letting Go of Debt by Karen Casanova

Letting Go of Debt © 2000 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.