March 6, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Thursday, March 6, 2014
 
Today, should I hear myself or an AA member say that the Program of recovery isn't working for me, grant me the humility to be open to the possibility that the Program DOES work and maybe it is I who isn't working the Program. And I need only to believe that countless alcoholic men, women and young people have recovered without ever drinking again through the years of AA's existence to clue me that a problem may be with ME and not the Program. Let me not find excuses in the indefensible to rationalize or justify a pending wet or dry drunk, like I am lonely, I have lost too much, no one likes me, I don't feel anything when I drink or I'm still traumatized by the mustache my mother grew when she went through menopause - all excuses. If the Program isn't working for me, I need only to fall back on the very first four words of the Program to tell me that I'm not working the Program: "Admitted (I was) powerless ..." Today, admitting that I am powerless is the sole reason that I'm not working the Program. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

March 6, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, March 6, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
In AA, we must surrender, give up, admit that we're helpless. We surrender our lives to God and ask Him for help. When He knows that we're ready, He gives us by His grace the free gift of sobriety. And we can't take any credit for having stopped drinking because we didn't do it by our own willpower. There's no place for pride or boasting. We can only be grateful to God for doing for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Do I believe that God has made me a free gift of the strength to stay sober?

Meditation for the Day
I must work for God, with God and through God's help. By helping to bring about a true fellowship of human beings, I am working for God. I am also working with God because this is the way God works, and He is with me when I am doing such work. I cannot do good work, however, without God's help. In the final analysis, it is through the grace of God that any real change in human personality takes place. I have to rely on God's power, and anything I accomplish is through His help.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may work for God and with God. I pray that I may be used to change human personalities through God's help.

Hazelden Foundation

March 6, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, March 6, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
There is no advantage, no profit and certainly no growth when I deceive myself merely to escape the consequences of my own mistakes. When I realize this, I know I'll be making progress. "We must be true inside, true to ourselves, before we can know a truth that is outside us," wrote Thomas Merton in "No Man is an Island." "But we make ourselves true inside by manifesting the truth as we see it."

Am I true to myself?

Today I Pray
May I count on my Higher Power to help me carry out the truth as I see it. May I never duck a consequence again. Consequence-ducking became a parlor game for chemically addictive persons like me, until we lost all sense of relationship between action and outcome. Now that I am healing, please God, restore my balance.

Today I Will Remember
Match the act with the consequence.

Hazelden Foundation

March 6, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, March 6, 2014
 
Few of us have any real direction to our conduct. We live from day to day, taking care of our problems as they arise, and this is sound AA advice as regards our long-range thinking and planning. This does not mean that we should take this too literally and give absolutely no thought to tomorrow's needs.

It is absolutely true that tomorrow may never be born but, on the other hand, it might and, in that event, a well-filled refrigerator will come in mighty handy.

Hazelden Foundation

Marcy 6, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Recovering takes practice
No one learns how to play golf in a day, or masters a musical instrument in a week, or builds a relationship in a month. Neither does recovery happen overnight.

If we're ready and lucky, we may immediately take the direct path of abstinence and stay on it without making any detours. When that occurs, it's wonderful, but it's just a beginning. Recovering is more than abstaining. . . Recovering is a new way of life that involves our entire being.

It involves how we think, feel, act, and believe. Before we're very far along the path, we realize we're learning a whole new way of orienting ourselves to the events of every day. It feels good, and the more we practice, the more complete our recovery.

I give thanks for another day to practice recovering.

From the book:

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L.

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation

March 5, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
 
Today, if at a meeting or in a conversation with an AA member I hear his experiences on Skid Row, let me not make the smug and sanctimonious comparison that, "I was NEVER that bad." If the other guy's bed where he passed out or detoxed was a plastic bag on the ground under the bridge where the homeless and down-and-outers congregate but my bed was in my house; if his basin to vomit was the river running along side the bank of the ground under the bridge of the homeless and down-and-outers but my basin was the pristine sink in my bathroom; if he landed in the county jail's drunk tank but I never did; if he was in the hospital psyche room for the uninsured next to my room that was a little nicer because I had insurance; if his drinking cost him his family and home but I have a house even though it, too, is empty of anyone except for me; if his last drink was two days ago and mine two years ago but both of us have not drank in this, the current 24 Hours; how, then, do I con myself into thinking, "I was NEVER that bad?" The other guy may have been on Skid Row, but I built my Skid Row in my own house. Today, I will not climb a moral pedestal with the lie that I NEVER got as bad as someone else - because I did. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

March 5, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
Sometimes we try too hard to get this program. It is better to relax and accept it. It will be given to us, with no effort on our part, if we stop trying too hard to get it. Sobriety can be a free gift of God, which he gives us by His grace when He knows we are ready for it. But we have to be ready. Then we must relax, take it easy and accept the gift with gratitude and humility. We must put ourselves in God's hands. We must say to God: "Here am I and here are all my troubles. I've made a mess of things and can't do anything about it. You take me and all my troubles and do anything you want with me."

Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself?

Meditation for the Day
Fear is the curse of the world. Many are our fears. Fear is everywhere. I must fight fear as I would a plague. I must turn it out of my life. There is no room for fear in the heart in which God dwells. Fear cannot exist where true love is or where faith abides. So I must have no fear. Fear is evil, but "perhaps love casteth out all fear." Fear destroys hope, and hope is necessary for all of humanity.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have no fear. I pray that I may cast all fear out of my life.

Hazelden Foundation

March 5, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
Before I became sober in The Program, I blamed all my problems on other people, or on places and things. Now I'm learning to look squarely at each difficulty, not seeking whom to "blame" but to discover how my attitude helped create my problem or aggravate it. I must also learn to face the consequences of my own actions and words, and to correct myself when I'm wrong.

Do I practice the Tenth Step by continuing to take personal inventory? When I am wrong, do I promptly admit it?

Today I Pray
May I know the blessed relief and unburdening that comes when I admit I have done something wrong. May I learn - perhaps for the first time in my entire life - to take responsibility for my own actions and to face the consequences. May I learn again how to match actions with consequences.

Today I Will Remember
To take responsibility for my own actions.

Hazelden Foundation

March 5, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
 
One day we were practicing alcoholics, then in 24 hours we were on the Program - arrested cases.

Was it because one day we were weak and spineless and the next day we had completely reversed our character?

No, the Power had been there all the time, but we had never before tapped it. Our best-intentioned friends had advised us to use our Willpower, not realizing that it was the stubbornness of our Willpower that made us persist in our drinking.

It takes a person of great will to continuously defy the pleas and threats of our combined worlds. No, it wasn't Willpower we lacked; it was Won't Power. We Won't take that first drink.

Hazelden Foundation

March 5, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. -- Flora Whittemore

We often hear the phrase, "When one door shuts, another opens." It means everything has a beginning and an end. When our travels on one path are completed, another path lies ahead.

It's not easy to feel a door close. Relationships, friendships, careers, and lives end. Although we may not understand why a door closes, it's important to remember our Higher Power has everything to do with it. By the same token, we may not understand why certain doors open, revealing opportunities we may have longed for. Again, our Higher Power feels we are ready to pursue that new experience.

The doors that open and close today help prepare us for our experiences tonight. The doors that open and close tonight will help us grow toward tomorrow. We are not mice in a maze, randomly pursuing paths for a reward of cheese. We are children of our Higher Power, guided towards our chosen goal through the many doors we open and close along the way.

Have I learned there is a reason for everything in my life? Can I trust that my path has been prepared for me by my Higher Power?

From the book:

Night Light by Amy E. Dean

Night Light by Amy E. Dean. © 1986, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation

March 4, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
 
Today, if I extend a kindness or common courtesy to anyone but catch myself expecting something in return, even a simple "thank you," I have to ask how I am selfless if I expect anything in return. At a meeting, am I overtly or unconsciously seeking approval or congratulations if I say how many 24 Hours of sobriety I have if it has no relevance to the discussion? Might I have a "motive?" If I volunteer to drive someone unemployed and whose jobless benefits have run out to a meeting, how service-oriented - what kind of Twelfth-Stepper - am I if I "suggest" a couple of bucks for gas money? And if the occasion comes up that I receive a token for however many 24 Hours I have acquired, do I want it "presented" to me standing behind the speaker's podium, or do I prefer a private exchange of support from my Sponsor? If I am honest enough to identify anything but a fully altruistic reason for my "service," something is clearly wrong, maybe not enough to endanger my sobriety but certainly wrong enough to crimp the quality of it. Today, if I get the opportunity to be of service to someone or if someone needs a simple kindness but if I feel a slight twinge of indignation or anger if I get nothing in return, may I be indignant at myself for my hypocrisy - and get to work on it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

March 4, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His hands doesn't mean that we'll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and quiet happiness.

Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live?

Meditation for the Day
The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God's help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us, or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day.

Hazelden Foundation

March 4, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
We may not know any specifics about the activities of today; we may not know whether we'll be alone or with others. We may feel the day contains too much time - or not enough. We may be facing tasks we're eager to complete, or tasks we've been resisting. Though the details of each person's day differ, each person's day does hold one similarity: we each have the opportunity to choose to think positive thoughts. The choice depends less on our outside activities than on our inner commitment.

Can I accept that I alone have the power to control my attitude?

Today I Pray
May I keep the fire of inner commitment alive through this whole, glorious day, whether my activities are a succession of workaday tasks or free-form and creative. May I choose to make this a good day for me, and for those around me.

Today I Will Remember
Keep the commitment.

Hazelden Foundation

March 4, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
 
We have finally found a way to foil alcohol simply by refusing to look upon it as a beverage and rather as something to which we are allergic. We have found that we don't have to drink; we have demonstrated that we can be happier without it.

Now that we are sober, how are we going to use our sobriety?

Can we sit back and bask in this newfound sunshine? Forget it, kid! Better men than you have tried it. If still you don't believe it, go back to the gutter or the jail or the jitter-joint and ask those who tried that method.

Hazelden Foundation

March 4, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

You had better live your best and act your best and think your best today, for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow.
 -- Harriet Martineau

The word "sanity" is derived from the Latin word sanitas, which means "health." In our group, we think of health as wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.

One way to achieve health and wholeness is by living one day at a time. To do this successfully, we need to realize we cannot undo a single act we performed or unsay any harsh words spoken in the past. No matter how much we may regret or re-feel yesterday's painful experiences, there is nothing we can do to change what happened. The past is forever beyond our control.

The same thing is true of the future. No matter how much we may worry and fret over it, very few of us can predict what tomorrow will bring. We can only prepare for a hope-filled future by living fully and confidently today.

TODAY is all I have. Let me make the most of it.

From the book:

The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes

The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes. © 1981 by Hazelden Foundation