Aug. 12, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, Aug. 12, 2013

Today, in my work toward sobriety and the benefits of the Program, I cannot neglect those people who stuck it out through my drinking days, going on blind faith or hope that I might still get myself together. But in the process of my active disease, the people around me may well have gone through their own private hell and, in the more tragic consequences, may have become sicker than I. While they are no more responsible for either my alcoholism or addiction, they also are not responsible for my recovery. But my recovery must acknowledge that my alcoholism was not a “one-victim” consequence, and for those people who were victims of my drinking I owe my gratitude and respect – and deepest regrets. And my single strongest amend to them may well be my continued sobriety. Today, I will acknowledge and be grateful for my Al-Anon, or the many of them, and I will be there for them in their private journeys as they have been there for me. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Aug. 12, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Aug. 12, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
“There was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet byAlcoholics Anonymous. By doing so, we have a spiritual experience which revolutionizes our whole attitude toward life, toward others and toward God‘s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives there in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do for ourselves.”

Have I let God come into my life?

Meditation for the Day
The moment a thing seems wrong to you or a person’s actions to be not what you think they should be, at that moment begins your obligation and responsibility to pray for those wrongs to be righted or that person to be changed. What is wrong in your surroundings or in the people you know? Think about these things and make these matters your responsibility. Not to interfere or be a busybody, but to pray that a change may come through your influence. You may see lives altered and evils banished in time. You can become a force for good wherever you are.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be a co-worker with God. I pray that I may help people by my example.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 12, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, Aug. 12, 2013

Reflection for the Day
“Quiet minds can not be perplexed or frightened,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “but go on in fortunate or misfortunate at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.”

In The Program, we hear many warnings against harboring resentments, and rare is the person who doesn’t occasionally yield to resentment when he feels wronged. We must remember that we have no room for resentment in our new way of life. Rather than exhausting myself by fighting resentment with grim determination, I can reason it out of existence by uncovering its cause with a quiet mind.

Will I try to believe that the best antidote for resentment is the continual expression of gratitude?

Today I Pray
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise God for our human sensitivity which, although it can feel the smallest, pin-prick hurts, can also feel the warmth of a smile. Praise God for our human insight which can peel the wraps from our resentments and expose them for what they are.

Today I Will Remember
I am grateful for feelings.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 12, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Aug. 12, 2013

Many of the uninformed non-alcoholics looked upon us of the Drinking Fraternity as lazy bums. They do not know the planning and scheming required to raise the price of a bottle when you are broke. They fail to realize that a twelve-hour shift of panhandling frequently didn’t produce enough to keep us in booze, a little food and a flop for the night.

We resent the charge that we were lazy – we worked much harder and received much less appreciation for our efforts than those who were on somebody’s payroll. No, it is hard work, small pay and lousy living conditions.
Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 12, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Monday, Aug. 12, 2013

Today’s thought from Hazelden is:

The degree to which I can create relationships, which facilitate the growth of others as separate persons, is a measure of the growth I have achieved in myself.
– Carl R. Rogers

As children we clung to and modeled ourselves after friends and siblings and sometimes parents. We imitated with ease how a friend walked and gestured. At times we identified too closely, and lost the self that ached to be known. And just as often, we encouraged someone else to follow our lead. The struggle to be whole and separate and happy was consuming. It consumes us even now.

We often neglect individual development, opting instead for a closeness with others that defies real love and stifles our growth. Unless we explore our individuality, we’ll neither discover nor be able to nurture the talents that are our gifts. And the truest demonstration of our love is to nurture that exploration in another.

The paradox is that finally we can only sustain meaning in our moments and hours of togetherness if we’ve tapped the source of our creative strength in our times apart.

We must cherish both the coming together and the going apart to know love.

From the book:

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey. © 1985 by Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 11, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013

Today, while I did not choose to be alcoholic, I have a choice to be a non-drinking one. Admitting in Step One that I am powerless over alcohol does not mean I am doomed to an alcoholic death from accident, illness or a lengthy prison sentence for a drunk-related felony. In my gift fromGod of choice, I have the power to overcome alcohol by disempowering it and choosing abstinence and 12-Step recovery. And while the 12 Steps impress that I and I alone am responsible for my alcoholism, I and I alone also am responsible for my own recovery; its success or failure rests with no one and nothing but me. Ironically, while the Program also impresses the powerlessness I have over an array of things from alcohol to character defects, I am in control of not fueling that powerlessness by choosing not to be defeated by it – through the 12 Steps. Today, I can assert my power over powerlessness, and my power is in the 12 Steps. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Aug. 11, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
“While alcoholics keep strictly away from drink, they react to life much like other people. But the first drink sets the terrible cycle in motion. Alcoholics usually have no idea why they take the first drink. Some drinkers have excuses with which they are satisfied, but in their hearts they really do not know why they do it. The truth is that at some point in their drinking they have passed into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of no avail.”

Am I satisfied that I have passed my tolerance point for alcohol?

Meditation for the Day
He who made the ordered world out of chaos and set the stars in their courses and made each plant to know its season, He can bring peace and order out of your private chaos if you will let Him. God is watching over you, too, to bless you and care for you. Out of the darkness He is leading you to light, out of unrest to rest, out of disorder to order, out of faults and failure to success. You belong to God and your affairs are His affairs and can be ordered by Him if you are willing.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be led out of disorder into order. I pray that I may be led out of failure into success.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 11, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013

Reflection for the Day
When I dwell on piddling things that annoy me – and they sprout resentments that grow bigger and bigger like weeds – I forget how I could be stretching my world and broadening my outlook. For me, that’s an ideal way to shrink troubles down to their real size. When somebody or something is causing me trouble, I should try to see the incident in relation to the rest of my life – especially the part that’s good and for which I should be grateful.

Am I willing to waste my life worrying about trifles which drain my spiritual energy?

Today I Pray
May God keep me from worrying unduly about small things. May He, instead, open my eyes to the grandeur of His universe and the ceaseless wonders of His earth. May He grant me the breadth of vision which can reduce any small fretful concern of mine to the size of a fly on a cathedral window.

Today I Will Remember
Microscopic irritations can ruin my vision.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 11, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013

None of us has ever personally known a person who died and surely went to Heaven. As all men are sinners, we are told, then it is assumed that even the saintliest of men have some hidden sins in their past, either of omission or commission.

We do know of many cases, however, of people who have died the living death of Alcoholismand who have come back to make a little Heaven here on earth for themselves and all those around them.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 11, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013

Today’s thought from Hazelden is:

Saying No
For many of us, the most difficult word to say is one of the shortest and easiest in the vocabulary: No. Go ahead, say it aloud: No.

No – simple to pronounce, hard to say. We’re afraid people won’t like us, or we feel guilty. We may believe that a “good” employee, child, parent, spouse, or Christian never says no.

The problem is, if we don’t learn to say no, we stop liking ourselves and the people we always try to please. We may even punish others out of resentment.

When do we say no? When no is what we really mean.

When we learn to say no, we stop lying. People can trust us, and we can trust ourselves. All sorts of good things happen when we start saying what we mean.

If we’re scared to say no, we can buy some time. We can take a break, rehearse the word, and go back and say no. We don’t have to offer long explanations for our decisions.

When we can say no, we can say yes to the good. Our no’s and our yes’s begin to be taken seriously. We gain control of ourselves. And we learn a secret: “No” isn’t really that hard to say.

Today, I will say no if that is what I mean.

From the book:

The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

The Language of Letting Go © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 10, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013

“I did not know that I had no power over alcohol, that I, alone and unaided, could not stop; that I was on a downgrade, tearing along at full speed with all my brakes gone, and that the end would be a total smash-up, death or insanity. I had already feared insanity for a long time …I was not just drunk, I was crazy.” -Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Stopped in Time,” Ch. 13 (“Stars Don’t Fall”), p 408.

Today, let me not forget that my drinking propelled me not into mere drunkenness but into a blackened fog that defies any definition of responsible conduct. As such, my recovery hinges not only on total abstinence but also on spiritual and emotional repair of the dysfunctional thought and behavioral patterns that were either acquired by my drinking or worsened by it. And, as stated in the above passage from the Big Book, even if I tell myself I am still unconvinced of a Higher Power, let me thank whatever force pulled me back from the “crazy” to find this Program and let me not claim “credit” for finding it alone. Likewise, just as I did not come into the Program on my own strength, let me accept that not drinking also cannot depend on my own strength. May I cling to whatever it was that rescued me so that I can progress in the Program and in sobriety. Today, let me remember that I am doomed to repeat my past if I don’t learn from it, and the most important lesson is that I have to continue trusting whatever force salvaged me from the “crazy.” And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Aug. 10, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
“The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We who have found the solution to our alcoholic problem, who are properly armed with the facts about ourselves, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic. We who are making the approach to new prospects have had the same difficulty they have had. We obviously know what we are talking about. Our whole deportment shouts at new prospects that we are people with a real answer.”

Am I a person with the real answer to the alcoholic problems of others?

Meditation for the Day
For straying from the right way there is no cure except to keep so close to the thought of Godthat nothing, no other interest, can seriously come between you and God. Sure of that, you can stay on God’s side. Knowing the way, nothing can prevent your staying in the way and nothing can cause you to seriously stray from it. God has promised peace if you stay close to Him, but not leisure. You still have to carry on in the world. He has promised heart-rest and comfort, but not pleasure in the ordinary sense. Peace and comfort bring real inward happiness.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may keep my feet on the way. I pray that I may stay on God’s side.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 10, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013

Reflection for the Day
We’ve been our own worst enemies most of our lives, and we’ve often injured ourselves seriously as a result of a “justified” resentment over a slight wrong. Doubtless there are many causes for resentment in the world, all of them providing “justification.” But we can never begin to settle all the world’s grievances or even arrange things so as to please everybody. If we’ve been treated unjustly by others or simply by life itself, we can avoid compounding the difficulty by completely forgiving the persons involved and abandoning the destructive habit of reviewing our hurts and humiliations.

Can I believe that yesterday’s hurt is today’s understanding, rewoven into tomorrow’s love?

Today I Pray
Whether I am unjustly treated or just think I am, may I try not to be a resentful person, stewing over past injuries. Once I have identified the root emotion behind my resentment, may I be big enough to forgive the person involved and wise enough to forget the whole thing.

Today I Will Remember
Not all injustice can be fixed.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 10, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013

As it is almost impossible to remain entirely anonymous, our membership carries with it grave responsibility.

Once we were drunks, and we “ain’t any more.” All your friends and neighbors know it. Sooner or later they will ask you about it and, if you answer them at all, it is probable that you will have to admit your membership in our Fellowship.

We will be watched constantly thereafter, for AA is on trial with a hopeful yet skeptical world and, as we succeed or fail, so will AA succeed or fail.

Guard your anonymity well if you can but, if you can’t – then guard AA well.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 10, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013

Today’s thought from Hazelden is:
People have a need to feel their pain.
Very often pain is the beginning of a great deal of awareness.
As an energy, it awakens consciousness.
 – Arnold Mindell

The Barbara I met at my high school reunion was not the same person I had known a decade earlier. A sensitive and caring person stood in the place of the driven and manipulative individual I remembered. Her soft gaze spoke of a new compassion and understanding. I asked a friend of Barbara’s how this transformation occurred. “It’s very simple,” the friend replied. “She’s been to hell and back.”

Barbara’s story is universal. It is the experience of pain – physical, emotional, or spiritual – that inspires us to start the search for something more. Many great teachers and healers began their spiritual quest as a way to cope with the pain of an illness, divorce, or similar loss. This discomfort forced them to abandon the status quo and take a new and uncharted course, a course that led to a major transformation.

Is pain the only way we can grow and transform? Not necessarily. As we work on ourselves and learn from our mistakes, the ups and downs of life become less intense. Lessons come in a more gentle manner. Once the heart is opened, it takes less effort to keep it that way.

You are moving to that point where joy and bliss are all-encompassing. Until then, your pain can be your greatest teacher.

From the book:

Listening to Your Inner Voice by Douglas Bloch

Listening to Your Inner Voice © 1991, by Douglas Bloch