Dec. 3, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

"The explanation that alcoholism was a disease of a two-fold nature, an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind, cleared up a number of puzzling questions for me. ...
"The obsession of the mind was a little harder to understand, and yet everyone has obsessions of various kinds. The alcoholic has them to an exaggerated degree. Over a period of time, he has built up self-pity, resentments toward anyone and everyone who dares to cross him, vanity and a critical attitude are character defects that gradually creep in and become a part of his life. Living with fear and tension inevitably results in wanting to ease that tension, which alcohol seems to do temporarily."- Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Stopped in Time," Ch 10 ("It Might Have Been Worse"), p 380.

Today: "The alcoholic has (obsessions) to an exaggerated degree." If today I catch myself critical or resentful of something or someone, myself included, let me remember that I might be feeling an exaggerated emotion that is possibly one of my spiritual defects that began long before my drinking and was worsened by alcohol. If resentment comes easily to me even in sobriety or if I suspect my own expectations of myself are unrealistic, let me see that I may also expect too much of others and that I may resent them if they do not meet my standards. Likewise, let me see that I risk all sorts of self-destructive feelings if I fail to meet my own standards. Today, grant me honesty and knowledge to determine if the disproportionate feelings I harbored in my drinking days have carried into my sobriety and, if so, to find my answers in the 12 Steps. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
There is some alcoholic thought, conscious or unconscious, that comes before every slip. As long as we live, we must be on the lookout for such thoughts and guard against them. In fact, our AA training is mostly to prepare us, to make us ready to recognize such thoughts at once and to reject them at once. The slip comes when we allow such thoughts to remain in our minds, even before we actually go through the motions of lifting the glass to our lips. The AA program is largely one of mental training.

How well is my mind prepared?

Meditation for the Day
Fret not your mind with puzzles that you cannot solve. The solutions may never be shown to you until you have left this life. The loss of dear ones, the inequality of life, the deformed and the maimed, and many other puzzling things may not be known to you until you reach the life beyond. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Only step by step, stage by stage, can you proceed in your journey into greater knowledge and understanding.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be content that things which I now see darkly will some day be made clear. I pray that I may have faith that someday I will see face to face.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 3, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

Reflection for the Day
Our ancient enemy, self-will, wears a mask, confronting me with this sort of rationalization: "Why do I have to lean on God? Hasn't He already given me the intelligence to think for myself?" I have to pause when such thoughts creep into my mind, remembering that I've never really been able to bring about the results I wanted simply by relying on my own devices. I'm not self-sufficient, nor do I know all the answers; bitter experience alone teaches me that.

Do I know that I need God's guidance? Am I willing to accept it?

Today I Pray
I pray that, as I become stronger in my conviction and in my sobriety, I will not begin to shrug off my dependence on a Higher Power. May I continue to pray for guidance, even when things seem to be going along smoothly. May I know that I need my Higher Power as much in times of triumph as in times of trauma.

Today I Will Remember
Self-sufficiency is a godless myth.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 3, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

I feel good today and I ought to. I slept like a baby last night, had a fine breakfast that I relished, the wife and kids kissed me as I left the house, I arrived at the office whistling and didn't give a damn whether the boss was in a good humor or not. The work, too, seemed so much easier to do and the gang in the office seemed so much friendlier. It's payday, too, and I drew a whole week's pay and I haven't borrowed a cent from a soul in the office. The whole envelope can go home unopened.

AA gave me all this. To me, an alcoholic, this is heaven.

Hazelden Foundation

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

Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.
 -- Virginia Woolf
Freedom is a funny thing. In a way, it makes life harder. We are free to do what we want, but every choice makes a difference in our lives. Some choices make us happy, and some bring trouble.

We can make good choices. We can control our actions. We can start by having control in little ways - follow the law, pay the rent, make the bed every day. These choices put order in our lives. Eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. These choices make us strong enough to live each day to the fullest. These kinds of choices set us free.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, when I was drinking and drugging, I couldn't enjoy my freedom. I had no control over the little things in my life. Help me stay sober today.
Action for the Day
Today, I'll be grateful for having some control. I will list five ways I am more free because I can control my actions.

From the book:

Keep It Simple by Anonymous

Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 2, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

" ...Step Ten ...suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear ...We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 6 ("Into Action"), p 84.

Today, if it is true that a slip or relapse are preceded by thoughts that are mostly subconscious, a more diligent practice of Step 10 might be a refuge from a return to drinking. The 10th Step, the logical "maintenance" of the Fourth, could alert us to problems in our physical, emotional and spiritual conditions, and those conditions may well have led us to drinking in the first place. The importance of the 10th cannot be under-estimated; it compels us to continue the Fourth Step on a daily basis, and do it honestly and diligently. With that honesty and diligence, we may find in the 10th some of the defects we acknowledged in our Fourth Step. By recognizing them before they reach the surface, we might be able to fight off the potential slip or relapse. At the same time, if we make conscious those thoughts that are otherwise subconscious but cave in to temptation or craving anyway, we most likely have not fully embraced the very First Step - "Admitted we were powerless ..." Today, I choose not to neglect my 10th Step. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
The thoughts that come before having a slip seem to be partly subconscious. And yet it is likely that at least part of these thoughts get into our consciousness. An idle thought connected with drinking casually pops into our mind. That is the crucial moment. Will I harbor that thought even for one minute or will I banish it from my mind at once? If I let it stay, it may develop into a daydream. I may begin to see a cool glass of beer or a Manhattan cocktail in my mind's eye. If I allow the daydream to stay in my mind, it may lead to a decision, however unconscious, to take a drink. Then I am headed for a slip.

Do I let myself daydream?

Meditation for the Day
Many of us have a sort of vision of the kind of person God wants us to be. We must be true to that vision, whatever it is, and we must try to live up to it, by living the way we believe we should live. We can all believe that God has a vision of what he wants us to be like. In all people there is the good person which God sees in us, the person we could be and that God would like us to be. But many a person fails to fulfill that promise and God's disappointments must be many.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strive to be the kind of a person that God would have me be. I pray that I may try to fulfill God's vision of what I could be.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 2, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

Reflection for the Day
Once at a meeting held in a church, I saw a stained glass window on which was written, "God Is Love." For some reason, my mind transposed the words into, "Love Is God." Either way is correct and true, I realized, looking about me and becoming even more conscious of the spirit of love and Power in the small meeting room. I'll continue to seek out that love and Power, following The Program as if my life depended upon it - as indeed it does.

Does life to me today mean living - in the active sense - joyously and comfortably?

Today I Pray
May I feel the spirit of love that gives our prayers their energy. May I feel the oneness in this room, the concentration of love that gives the group its power. May I feel the exemplary love of a Higher Power, which our love echoes.

Today I Will Remember
Love is God.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 2, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

Fires, floods and epidemics are nobody's business - they are everybody's business. Alcoholism is equally devastating and just as much a community catastrophe.

We in AA are unique in that we are trained veterans in the art of combating this disease. Its prevalence demands the complete cooperation of every qualified man or woman, and we are guilty of dereliction of duty and lacking in gratitude to the Grace of God that saved us, if we do anything less than our utmost.

Hazelden Foundation

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

Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Developing ourselves

We must realize in our hearts that we are becoming better people. We do this by using our highest standards and making our best efforts. We do this, in part, by turning our lives over to God, who will guide us if we sincerely ask.

As we develop, we find we're offering much more to life than just avoiding mood-altering drugs. We are coming to love others and to help them by thinking, feeling, and behaving maturely in all situations.

Am I developing into a better person?

Higher Power, help me realize that my new life is not just about changing my past but about developing my future as well.

From the book:

Day by Day - Second Edition by Anonymous

Day by Day © 1974, 1998 by Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 1, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013

"Pity me the heart that is slow to learn
What the quick mind sees at every turn." - Edna St. Vincent Millay

"For a while ...we can endure the intellect's being ahead of the emotions, which is the import of Millay's couplet. But as the years go by, the stretch becomes unbearable; and the man with the grown-up brain and the childish emotions - vanity, self-interest, false pride, jealousy, longing for social approval - becomes a prime candidate for alcohol. ...(T)hat is a definition of alcoholism: a state of being in which the emotions have failed to grow to the stature of the intellect." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Lost Nearly All," Ch 11 ("He Who Loses His Life"), pp 534-35.

Today, let me consider that my alcoholism should not and cannot be sent into remission by intellectual strategies and that I must measure - honestly measure - my emotional condition. Without a reservoir of healthy emotions, the quality of my sobriety will likely be little more than my being a dry drunk. Accepting that alcohol is "but a symptom" of our underlying condition, as founders of the Program write, we are compelled to seek sobriety by doing more than abstaining. If today the number of 24 Hours since my last drink totals months or even years, a measure of the quality of my sobriety may be in asking if I still harbor the emotions that I felt when I was drinking. If so, I probably need to review and refine my Program. Sobriety is more than not drinking. It promises physical, spiritual and emotional renewal, and the 12 Steps give us a road map to recovery. Today, I need to look honestly at my emotional affairs. I've already tried the intellectual route. It got me nowhere. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
The thoughts that come before having a slip are often largely subconscious. It is a question whether or not our subconscious minds ever become entirely free from alcoholic thoughts as long as we live. For instance, some of us dream about being drunk when we are asleep, even after several years of sobriety in AA. During the period of our drinking days, our subconscious minds have been thoroughly conditioned by our alcoholic way of thinking and it is doubtful if they ever become entirely free of such thoughts during our lifetime. But when our conscious minds are fully conditioned against drinking, we can stay sober and our subconscious minds do not often bother us.

Am I still conditioning my conscious mind?

Meditation for the Day
Having sympathy and compassion for all who are in temptation, a condition which we are sometimes in, we have a responsibility towards them. Sympathy always includes responsibility. Pity is useless because it does not have a remedy for the need. But wherever our sympathy goes, our responsibility goes, too. When we are moved with compassion, we should go to the one in need and bind up his wounds as best we can.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have sympathy for those in temptation. I pray that I may have compassion for others' trials.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 1, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013

Reflection for the Day
It has truly been said that, "We become what we do." It's emphasized to us over and over in The Program that our thoughts and actions toward others color and shape our spiritual lives. Words and acts of kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness and forgiveness serve to strengthen those qualities within us that heighten our consciousness of God's love.

In asking God to direct and guide my life, am I also asking love to take over and lead me where it will?

Today I Pray
May I make a resolute attempt at acting out the way I want to be - loving, forgiving, kind, thoughtful. May I be aware that each small, attentive act carries with it an echo of God's all-caring. For God so loved the world; may we make His love our example.

Today I Will Remember
We become what we do.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 1, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013

There will always be a difference of opinion as long as people have different interests, different prejudices and different mental capacities.

To expect people to disagree with you is only sensible and reasonable. If everybody agreed with you, everybody would be as smart as you and you wouldn't like that for a minute. The chances are you are both wrong anyhow, or you would not be required to defend your opinions. The right can defend itself without your help.

Hazelden Foundation

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

Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

There is an end to grief if we have the courage to accept our personal goodness and our ongoing right to happiness.
 -- Justin Langley

Making peace with our losses takes time and trust. In the past, we may have acted in ways that were heartbreaking to ourselves and others. But now we have a new choice; we can walk the road of self-forgiveness and stop punishing ourselves for past deeds, or we can decide that we don't deserve to feel good, that clinging to our pain, guilt, and self-loathing will somehow make up for some of the damage.

Believing our wrongs are too great to be righted leaves us in a perpetual state of mourning. It's a risk, but we can choose to believe that change is possible, not all at once but slowly, one day at a time.

Believing that God loves us and wants us to be happy gives us the courage to make amends and face our past head on. When we take the leap of faith necessary to grieve and let go of the past, we take back our best selves, and the lives we were meant to live.

Today give me the strength and the courage to grieve my losses.

From the book:

Body, Mind, and Spirit by Anonymous

Body, Mind, and Spirit © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation