March 3, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, March 3, 2014
 
Today, I understand that taking care of myself does not have to mean that I am selfish and not placing everyone and everything after me. If I am Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired - HALT- my Program requires that I bolster myself so that I have something to share as an effective and meaningful Twelfth-Stepper. We as alcoholics are predictable only in unpredictability and extremities - all or nothing with little or no middle ground. Tending first to our physical, emotional and spiritual health is the middle ground between active alcoholism and being in service to others, and we have little to pass on if we have neglected ourselves. The eventual outcome, if not a relapse, will be an alcoholic who is little more than a dry drunk - or a dead drunk. Today, if I feel the physical, emotional and spiritual need to seek and meditate with my Higher Power, let me not feel guilty or selfish because, in the end, I have nothing to offer to others if I have nothing to offer myself. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

March 3, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, March 3, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
After we've made a surrender, the drink problem is out of our hands and in the hands of God. The thing we have to do is to be sure that we never reach out and take the problem back into our own hands. Leave it in God's hands. Whenever I'm tempted to take a drink, I must say to myself: "I can't do that. I've made a bargain with God not to drink. I know God doesn't want me to drink, and so I won't do it." At the same time, I say a little prayer to God for the strength needed to keep the bargain with Him.

Am I going to keep my bargain with God?

Meditation for the Day
I will try to grow in this new life. I will think of spiritual things often and unconsciously. I will grow. The nearer I get to the new life, the more I will see my unfitness. My sense of failure is a sure sign that I am growing in the new life. It is only struggle that hurts. In sloth - physical, mental or spiritual - there is no sense of failure or discomfort. With struggle and effort, I am conscious not of strength but of weakness until I am really living the new life. But in the struggle, I can always rely on the power of God to help me.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may see signs of my growth in the new life. I pray that I may always keep trying to grow.

Hazelden Foundation

March 3, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, March 3, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
I've begun to better understand myself since I've come to the Program. One of the most important things I've learned is that opinions aren't facts. Just because I feel that a thing is so doesn't necessarily make it so. "Men are not worried by things," wrote the Greek philosopher Epictetus, "but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves. That is: our ideas about things."

Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned during my recovery?

Today I Pray
May I learn to sort out realities from my ideas about those realities. May I understand that situations, things - even people - take on the colors and dimensions of my attitudes about them.

Today I Will Remember
To sort the real from the unreal.

Hazelden Foundation

March 3, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, March 3, 2014
 
In AA, no man is the official mouthpiece of the Movement. No one person represents AA officially. Here you find a God of your own understanding; when you talk, you give only your own opinions, you give your own interpretations of the Twelve Steps and practice them as you think they should be practiced.

If you use your method and stay sober, we will admit your way is good for you. But we admit no authority on your part to tell us how to work them. Because it worked for you is no sign it might not be poison for someone else.

Hazelden Foundation

March 3, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Monday, March 3, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:
In this world everything changes except good deeds and bad deeds; these follow you as the shadows follow the body. -- Ruth Benedict 

Our identity, our being at any moment, is a composite of all we have been in the past. Some of our actions have made us wiser. Others haunt us because we didn't put forth our best effort. All of our deeds contributed in some measure to our growth, however, and they can guide our choice to behave honorably today.

Acceptance, of who we are, our total self, is necessary for our emotional maturity. Shame for past actions will keep us stuck. Our restitution for the past is best made by responsible behavior today. How fortunate that each waking moment offers us opportunities to become our better selves.

Today, just like every day, I'll make choices to behave in ways that will fill me with pride or shame. I pray for thoughtfulness today.

From the book:

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg. © 1983, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

March 2, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step

Sunday, March 2, 2014 

Today, I will remember gratitude if I take undue credit for the sobriety I have found through AA and its people. While it is justified to take pride in being sober the last 24 Hours, that pride must be within the boundaries of the Program; it cannot be stretched to egoism or seeking praise from others. For when pride extends beyond the boundaries of the Program, I may risk taking back the surrender to the Power who carried me when I passed out or stumbled in my drinking days and even in some difficult sober days. Yes, I was the one who grabbed the lifeline of AA, but someone or something else had to toss it to me in the first place. Gratitude. And our common journey continues. Step by Step. - Chris M., 2014

March 2, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, March 2, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
Over a period of drinking years, we've proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can't stop drinking by our own willpower. We have been proved helpless before the power of alcohol. So the only way we could stop drinking was by turning to a Power greater than ourselves. We call that Power God. The time that you really get this program is when you get down on your knees and surrender yourself to God, as you understand Him. Surrender means putting your life into God's hands.

Have I made a promise to God that I will try to live the way He wants me to live?

Meditation for the Day
Spirit-power comes from communication with God in prayer and times of quiet meditation. I must constantly seek spirit-communication with God. This is a matter directly between me and God. Those who seek it through the medium of the church do not always get the joy and the wonder of spirit-communication with God. From this communication comes life, joy, peace and healing. Many people do not realize the power that can come to them from direct spirit-communication.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may feel that God's power is mine. I pray that I may be able to face anything through that power.

Hazelden Foundation

March 2, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, March 2, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
Why don't I spend part of today thinking about my assets, rather than my liabilities? Why not think about victories instead of defeats - about the ways in which I am gentle and kind? It's always been my tendency to fall into a sort of cynical self-hypnosis, putting derogatory labels on practically everything I've done, said or felt. Just for today, I'll spend a quiet half hour trying to gain a more positive perspective on my life.

Do I have the courage to change the things I can?

Today I Pray
Through quietness and a reassessment of myself, may I develop a more positive attitude. If I am a child of God, created in His image, there must be goodness in me. I will think about that goodness and the ways it manifests itself. I will stop putting myself down, even in my secret thoughts. I will respect what is God's. I will respect myself.

Today I Will Remember
Self-respect is respect for God.

Hazelden Foundation

March 2, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, March 2, 2014
 
Life is too short even if we live the whole of it to its fullest, but we alcoholics have wasted so many years of our lives that we must now double our efforts if we hope to do any living at all. Truly, for us, it is later than we think.

There is one consolation, however. and that is that it is possible to use a single moment to produce an eternity of benefits for humanity. Much time has been frittered away, but there is still ample time to do good.

Life is not measured by its length but by its width and its depth.

Hazelden Foundation

March 2, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade.
 -- Arabian proverb

We need to remember what got us well. The Twelve Steps heal us. The meetings we attend heal us. Reading and listening to program tapes heal us. Talking with our sponsor heals us. The time we spend with program friends heals us.

Sometimes we're pressed for time. As a result, we have to make choices about how to use our time. We may think we know enough about the program. We may feel like cutting down on meetings. These are danger signs. We only know how to stay sober One Day at a Time - by working the Steps. Let's not forget them as we grow in this program. It may seem like we've been recovering a long time, but we're all beginners.

Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, I've found You in the program. Help me find ways to stay a "beginner" in the program.

Action for the Day
Today, I'll take time to read the Twelve Steps. I'll meditate on how much these Steps have given me.

From the book:

Keep It Simple by Anonymous

Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation

March 1, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Saturday, March 1, 2014
 
Today, if my review yesterday of Step 10 detects a truth that what was valid once is invalid now, I need not be alarmed: given that the Program is about sobriety and not alcoholism, I hope I can say with honesty and objectivity that I have grown since my last 10th Step and that I might finally be thinking in terms of being sober instead of drunk. But if Step 10 now shows that I have "out-grown" some of the defects that I drank to avoid, I cannot by any measure claim I am "cured," and I must return to the Fourth Step for a new inventory - and grant that I may find that the Program I had a year ago is not applicable now because sobriety, like life itself, is an evolutionary and ever-changing dynamic, and the Program I had a year ago may not work for me now. God granting, what works for me now will not work next year because I will hopefully grow. Sobriety, I am beginning to understand, is ever-changing and, as such, my Program to retain and prosper in it must also be adapted to accommodate its growth. Today, I pray an honest and objective review of my 10th Step will find that I must adapt my Program to my sobriety and not my alcoholism. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

March 1, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, March 1, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
When I find myself thinking about taking a drink, I say to myself: "Don't reach out and take that problem back. You've given it to God and there's nothing you can do about it." So I forget about the drink. One of the most important parts of the AA program is to give our drink problem to God honestly and fully and never to reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. If we let God have it and keep it for good and then cooperate with Him, we'll stay sober.

Have I determined not to take the drink problem back to myself?

Meditation for the Day
Constant effort is necessary if I am to grow spiritually and develop my spiritual life. I must keep the spiritual rules persistently, perseveringly, lovingly, patiently and hopefully. By keeping them, every mountain of difficulty shall be laid low, the rough places of poverty of spirit shall be made smooth, and all who know me shall know that God is the Lord of all my ways. To get close to the spirit of God is to find life and healing and strength.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that God's spirit may be everything to my soul. I pray that God's spirit may grow within.

Hazelden Foundation

March 1, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Saturday, March 1, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
Now that we're free and no longer chemically-dependent, we have so much more control over our thinking. More than anything, we're able to alter our attitudes. Some members of Alcoholics Anonymous, in fact, choose to think of the letters AA as an abbreviation for "Altered Attitudes." In the bad old days, I almost always responded to any optimistic or positive statement with, "Yes, but ..." Today, in contrast, I'm learning to eliminate that negative phrase from my vocabulary.

Am I working to change my attitude? Am I determined to "accentuate the positive ...?"

Today I Pray
May I find that healing and strength which God provides to those who stay near Him. May I keep to the spiritual guidelines of The Program, considering the Steps, taking the steps - one by one - then practicing them again and again. In this is my salvation.

Today I Will Remember
To practice at least one Step.

Hazelden Foundation

March 1, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Saturday, March 1, 2014
 
The door of living that opened upon our advent into AA is also able to close upon those years of daily dying that are behind us. That door opened into a long hall that stretched out to a vanishing point; our eye could not perceive its end. We should not be content to just pass through this portal and close the door upon our past, but we should move on for our happiness is up that hall, and we must constantly advance to attain our happy goal.

Hazelden Foundation

March 1, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Be Patient with Everyone
 -- from writings by St. Francis de Sales

Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself . . . do not be disappointed by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.

How are you to be patient in dealing with your neighbor's faults if you are impatient in dealing with your own?

They who are worried by their own shortcomings will not correct them.

All positive progress comes from a calm and peaceful mind.

From the book:

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D. © 2007 by Hazelden Foundation