Aug. 9, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Friday, Aug. 9, 2013

“Have I ever wanted a drink during these years? Only once did I suffer from a nearly overpowering compulsion to take a drink. Oddly enough, the circumstances and surroundings were pleasant. I was at a beautifully set dinner table. I was in a perfectly happy frame of mind. I had been in AA a year, and the last thing in my mind was a drink. There was a glass of sherry at my place. I was seized with an almost uncontrollable desire to reach out for it. I shut my eyes and asked for help. In 15 seconds or less, the feeling passed.” - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three,” Ch 9 (“The Man Who Mastered Fear”), p 285.

Today, this excerpt from the Big Book is a reminder that, ironically, my life has been relatively good if and when I have been tempted to drink and, second, what the sight of a drink does to me. That the temptation sneaks on me when my life is relatively good begs the question if I still harbor self-destructive traits or if my ego is such that I think I “deserve” a “reward” of a drink. And when I see a CC and Coke or whiskey sour or a drink that has a soft inviting golden glow, do I think about the “good” times I had with drinking? Or do I remember that a drink has always led me to waking the next morning and seeing that same golden color – in my vomit – or the headache so overpowering that it is beyond the aspirin cure and a stomach churning so violently that the smell of coffee is enough to trigger the dry heaves? Do I remember that the sight of a drink represents another DUI arrest and maybe another night in the county jail’s drunk tank? Whatever, if and when I am tempted, I can and must do what I have to do if I don’t want to take that first drink: “shut my eyes and ask for help.” Today, I will be strong enough to ask for help, and I will not forget where the first drink will take me. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Aug. 9, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Aug. 9, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
“We have an allergy to alcohol. The action of alcohol on chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy. We allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all. We cannot be reconciled to a life without alcohol, unless we can experience an entire psychic change. Once this psychic change has occurred, we who have seemed doomed, we who had so many problems that we despaired of ever solving them, find ourselves able to control our desire for alcohol.”

Have I had a psychic change?

Meditation for the Day
Ask God in daily prayer to give you the strength to change. When you ask God to change you, you must at the same time fully trust Him. If you do not fully trust Him, God may answer your prayer as a rescuer does that of a drowning person who is putting up too much of a struggle. The rescuer must first render the person still more helpless, until he or she is wholly at the rescuer’s mercy. Just so must we be wholly at God’s mercy before we can be rescued.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be daily willing to be changed. I pray that I may put myself wholly at the mercy of God.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 9, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, Aug. 9, 2013

Reflection for the Day
On numerous occasions, I’ve found that there’s a strong connection between my fears and myresentments. If I secretly fear that I’m inadequate, for example, I’ll tend to resent deeply anybody whose actions or words expose my imagined inadequacy. But it’s usually too painful to admit that my own fears and doubts about myself are the cause of my resentments. It’s a lot easier to pin the blame on someone else’s “bad behavior” or “selfish motives” – and use that as the justification for my resentment.

Do I realize that by resenting someone, I allow that person to live rent-free in my head?

Today I Pray
May God help me overcome my feelings of inadequacy. May I know that when I consistently regard myself as a notch or two lower than the next person, I am not giving due credit to myCreator, who has given each of us a special and worthwhile blend of talents. I am, in fact, grumbling about God’s Divine Plan. May I look behind my trash-pile of resentments for my own self-doubt.

Today I Will Remember
As I build myself up, I tear down my resentments.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 9, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, Aug. 9, 2013

In their first efforts to grasp the Program, the new men are very frequently at a loss as to how to begin. They feel they have been so wrong in their attitude toward God and man that it appears that they have a multitude of things to do when actually it can to a large degree be combined into one short sentence – act toward your fellow man as though God were watching and toward God as though man were watching.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 9, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Friday, Aug. 9, 2013

Today’s thought from Hazelden is:
Do not reveal your thoughts to everyone, lest you drive away your good luck.
 – Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus 8:19

We’ve had problems in our lives with limits. We have done some things to excess and others we have endlessly postponed. Sometimes we haven’t had good judgment about what we ought to tell someone or whom we ought to tell. We may have kept secrets that made us lonely and sick. Other times we exposed too much in inappropriate situations and hurt someone else or ourselves. Developing these internal limits is a quiet change that comes with recovery. Gradually, we gain a stronger feeling of self-respect and become more intuitive about when to express something and when not to.

Secrets are links in our chains of bondage to isolation, addiction, and codependency. Yet, when we are compelled to tell everything, we lack the feeling of self-containment that comes from maturity. We need a sense of privacy which is the freedom to choose what and when to confide in a friend. What does our intuition tell us today about our privacy and our openness?

Today, I will listen to my inner messages about what I need to discuss with others and when I need to withhold.

From the book:

Touchstones by Anonymous

Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 8, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013

Today, I will like myself and, in the process, maybe allow someone else to like me. I will not let the shame, regret, selfishness and self-pity of my drinking days weigh me down in guilt and self-loathing that erect walls to keep the good out. I will realize that being sober in this 24 Hours can be the starting point of self-acceptance and amends which, in turn, might let others see I have begun the journey of recovery and all it entails. And in liking myself, I hope to gain the self-respect not to drink use because, today, I have no reason to fear or be ashamed of the man in the mirror. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Aug. 8, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
For awhile, we are going back to the big book, “Alcoholics Anonymous,” and pick out passages here and there, so that they may become fixed in our minds, a little at a time, day by day, as we go along. There is no substitute for reading the Big Book. It is our “bible.” We should study it thoroughly and make it a part of ourselves. We should not try to change any of it. Within its covers is the full exposition of the AA program. There is no substitute for it. We should study it often.

Have I studied the Big Book faithfully?

Meditation for the Day
All of life is a fluctuation between effort and rest. You need both every day. But effort is not truly effective until first you have had the proper preparation for it, by resting in a time of quiet meditation. This daily time of rest and meditation gives you the power necessary to make your best effort. There are days when you are called on for much effort and then comes a time when you need much rest. It is not good to rest too long and it is not good to carry on great effort too long without rest. The successful life is a proper balance between the two.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be ready to make the proper effort. I pray that I may also recognize the need for relaxation.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 8, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013

Reflection for the Day
As a recovering alcoholic, I have to remind myself that no amount of social acceptance of resentments will take the poison out of them. In a way, the problem of resentments is very much like the drinking problem. Alcohol is never safe for me, no matter who is offering it. I’ve attended cocktail receptions for worthy causes, often in a convivial atmosphere that makes drinking seem almost harmless.

Just as I politely but adamantly decline alcohol under any conditions, will I also refuse to accept resentments – no matter who is serving them?

Today I Pray
When anger, hurt, fear or guilt – to be socially acceptable – put on their polite, party manners, dress up as resentment and come in the side door, may I not hobnob with them. These emotions, disguised as they are, can be as full of trickery as the chemicals themselves.

Today I Will Remember
Keep an eye on the side door.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 8, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013

Some of us wear our AA like we wear our clothes, entirely as external adornment and protection – and to hide what is underneath.

There are many, however, who wear their AA in such a way that the AA way of living is so predominant in their appearances that all other apparel is unnoticed. To see such a person, the reaction is not to observe a gray suit or a blue dress, but a personality that radiates a character made beautiful by the simple code of living as found in our Twelve Steps.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 8, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013

Today’s thought from Hazelden is:

Lost warriors have only to open their eyes to find the right and good path.
 – Chief Red Mountain

We all carry a fountain of joy inside. This joy is not something special given to only a few of us. An abundance of joy, happiness, and peace is our right. Our hearts were meant to be full of love and laughter.

We have been promised that our lives will get better. Even the worst situations will be made right. As we walk the path of recovery, our lives do get better. When we think we have reached our limit of joy and happiness, something else happens. We get happier! Life will not be without troubles, but joy and gratitude will heal all wounds and shine through all problems.

Today let me accept, without fear, the new joy I feel.

From the book:

Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast

Our Best Days by Nancy Hull-Mast. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 7, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013

Today, I look to the 12th Step to ask if I am an effective carrier of the message. Before I can pass the message, Step 12 requires that I first have a spiritual awakening and, second, that I practice the principles of all 12 Steps and Traditions in “all our affairs.” If, on honest evaluation, I can truthfully attest to a spiritual awakening and to practicing the principles of all 12 Steps in my affairs, I might be an effective carrier of the message to someone who is both struggling to get and stay sober. But if I scoff at the idea of a spiritual awareness or I apply some of the Program’s principles selectively, how can I be an effective 12th-Stepper, how can I carry a message I have not embraced? Because a way of keeping what I have been given in the program is to give it away, I seek wisdom from my Higher Power to be humbled to carry the Program’s message. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Aug. 7, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
We in AA are offering an intangible thing, a psychological and spiritual program. It’s a wonderful program. When we learn to turn to a Higher Power, with faith that that Power can give us the strength we need, we find peace of mind. When we re-educate our minds by learning to think differently, we find new interests that make life worthwhile. We who have achieved sobriety through faith in God and mental re-education are modern miracles. It is the function of our AA program to produce modern miracles.

Do I consider the change in my life a modern miracle?

Meditation for the Day
You should never doubt that God’s spirit is always with you, wherever you are, to keep you on the right path. God’s keeping power is never at fault, only your realization of it. You must try to believe in God’s nearness and the availability of His grace. It is not a question of whether God can provide a shelter from the storm, but of whether or not you seek the security of that shelter. Every fear, worry or doubt is disloyalty to God. You must endeavor to trust God wholly. Practice saying: “All is going to be well.” Say it to yourself until you feel it deeply.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may feel deeply that all is well. I pray that nothing will be able to move me from that deep conviction.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 7, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013

Reflection for the Day
What can we do about our resentments? Fruitful experience has shown that the best thing to do is to write them down, listing people, institutions or principles with which we’re angry or resentful. When I write down my resentments and then ask myself why I’m resentful, I’ve discovered that in most cases my self-esteem, my finances, my ambitions or my personal relationships have been hurt or threatened.

Will I ever learn that the worst thing about my resentments is my endless rehearsal of the acts of retribution?

Today I Pray
May God help me find a way to get rid of my resentments. May I give up the hours spent making up little playlets in which I star as the angry man or woman cleverly shouting down the person who has threatened me. Since these dramas are never produced, may I instead list my resentful feelings and look at the why’s behind each one. May this be a way of shelving them.

Today I Will Remember
Resentments cause violence: resentments cause illness in non-violent people.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 7, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013

Service ends one of his verses in this fashion: “It’s the keeping on living that’s hard.” Living has always been hard, not only for the alcoholic but for humanity in general since the beginning of recorded history – and was probably even worse before that.

We are surrounded on all sides by people who find living all too rugged for their puny strength. This is our opportunity. We find we can lighten their load of living and, curiously enough, we find that we lighten our own loads in so doing. Living then becomes less hard for us and assumes a sweetness that appears divine in its richness.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 7, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013

Today’s thought from Hazelden is:

When I take another’s needs into consideration and bend, I spiritually stretch.
– Helene Lerner-Robbins

We have been told that this is a selfish program. Perhaps that has given us license to be inconsiderate. However, that isn’t what the founders meant by a selfish program. While it’s true that we must protect our sobriety always, it is never wrong to be kind and considerate toward others. Our kindness to someone else won’t ever make us drink! That’s what we must keep uppermost in our mind.

Along with helping us maintain abstinence, the program helps us develop a spiritual relationship that can change every aspect of our lives. Coming to believe in a Higher Power and turning to that Power for guidance and comfort allow us to experience hope in every situation. We can enhance our spiritual growth by treating others as we want God to treat us.

My spiritual growth can get a boost today if I get my ego out of the way and help someone else feel better.

From the book:

A Woman’s Spirit by Karen Casey

A Woman’s Spirit by Karen Casey. © 1994 by Hazelden Foundation