Friday, May 8, 2015
May 8, 2015 - Why LGBT kids are at substantial risk of bullying, social isolation and physical injury
May 8, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Friday, May 8, 2015
Today's thought for Hazelden is:
"Depressions are transition times for me," an older fellow stated. "I look at my lows as a preparation period, an inner time to grow and change even though I'm not consciously aware of what's going on inside me. But I didn't always think this way.
"I used to get terrified when I got into one of those low periods. Every time I did, I questioned everything I ever believed in. I doubted myself and my abilities, my opinions and values, my friends and my boss. Nothing escaped my painful questioning. I thought for sure I was going insane. The pain was so unbearable I wanted to drink, work harder, anything, to distract me from my anguish.
"Now when I get low, I take it more in stride. I think of my depression as part of a natural cycle. Just as nature has its fall, winter, and spring, I, too, have a period of shedding old growth for new growth. I just endure my grey days knowing the sun will shine again just as the trees will bloom after winter. As part of the natural world around me, I, too, have my seasons of joy and sorrow."
Today I will remember that my lows are as natural as my highs. I will not become overwhelmed and exaggerate the significance of my depressions. I will endure patiently, knowing that whatever faces me will pass in time.
"Depressions are transition times for me," an older fellow stated. "I look at my lows as a preparation period, an inner time to grow and change even though I'm not consciously aware of what's going on inside me. But I didn't always think this way.
"I used to get terrified when I got into one of those low periods. Every time I did, I questioned everything I ever believed in. I doubted myself and my abilities, my opinions and values, my friends and my boss. Nothing escaped my painful questioning. I thought for sure I was going insane. The pain was so unbearable I wanted to drink, work harder, anything, to distract me from my anguish.
"Now when I get low, I take it more in stride. I think of my depression as part of a natural cycle. Just as nature has its fall, winter, and spring, I, too, have a period of shedding old growth for new growth. I just endure my grey days knowing the sun will shine again just as the trees will bloom after winter. As part of the natural world around me, I, too, have my seasons of joy and sorrow."
Today I will remember that my lows are as natural as my highs. I will not become overwhelmed and exaggerate the significance of my depressions. I will endure patiently, knowing that whatever faces me will pass in time.
You are reading from the book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes. © 1981 by Hazelden Foundation
May 8, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Friday, May 8, 2015
"Resentment is the 'number one' offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else." - Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 5, p 64
Today, admitting that I may have little success in letting go of all my resentments, I re-examine that character defect to identify what or who I resent - and why. If I resent or envy others who can drink or I cannot accept the rest of my life without drinking, my resentment is likely against alcoholism itself - in which case I have fallen short in admitting I am powerless. I may resent that something stronger than me - alcohol - is what I cannot control. Or I may resent the ex-boss or estranged spouse or partner who will not rehire or come back to me even if I have stopped drinking. But whatever or whoever I resent, I cannot control what controls me, and I will never again drink to "handle it." In the end, if the root of my resentments is grounded in the disease of alcoholism, I need again to fully accept that I have no control over it and, instead of battling addiction, I will embrace being clean and sober. Today, instead of a recovering drunk, I am sober alcoholic. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
May 8, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Friday, May 8, 2015
AA Thought for the Day
I'm grateful that I found a program in AA that could keep me sober. I'm grateful that AA has shown me the way to faith in a Higher Power because the renewing of that faith has changed my way of life. And I've found a happiness and contentment that I had forgotten existed by simply believing in God and trying to live the kind of a life that I know He wants me to live. As long as I stay grateful, I'll stay sober.
Am I in a grateful frame of mind?
Meditation for the Day
God can work through you better when you are not hurrying. Go very slowly, very quietly, from one duty to the next, taking time to rest and pray between. Do not be too busy. Take everything in order. Venture often into the rest of God and you will find peace. All work that results from resting with God is good work. Claim the power to work miracles in human lives. Know that you can do many things through the Higher Power. Know that you can do good things through God who rests you and gives you strength. Partake regularly of rest and prayer.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not be in too much of a hurry. I pray that I may take time out often to rest with God.
Hazelden Foundation
May 8, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
A Day at a Time
Friday, May 8, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
Reflection for the Day
I've learned in The Program that I need not apologize to anyone for depending upon God as I understand Him. I now have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. For me, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that men and women of faith seldom lack courage. They trust their God. So I never apologize for my belief in Him but, instead, I try to let Him demonstrate, through me and those around me, what He can do.
Do I walk as I talk?
Today I Pray
May my faith be confirmed as I see how God has worked through others since the beginning of time. May I see that the brave ones, the miracle-workers, the happy people are those who have professed their spirituality. May I see, even now as I look around, how God works through those who believe in Him.
Today I Will Remember
To watch God at work.
Hazelden Foundation
I've learned in The Program that I need not apologize to anyone for depending upon God as I understand Him. I now have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. For me, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that men and women of faith seldom lack courage. They trust their God. So I never apologize for my belief in Him but, instead, I try to let Him demonstrate, through me and those around me, what He can do.
Do I walk as I talk?
Today I Pray
May my faith be confirmed as I see how God has worked through others since the beginning of time. May I see that the brave ones, the miracle-workers, the happy people are those who have professed their spirituality. May I see, even now as I look around, how God works through those who believe in Him.
Today I Will Remember
To watch God at work.
Hazelden Foundation
May 8, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Friday, May 8, 2015
We have to think our way out of the quagmire we drank ourselves into. No one led us there and no one can lead us out. The older members can give you a few clues or hints but, in the final analysis, you have to figure it out for yourself in order to get permanent results.
You will find as you travel up that long road alone, however, that you have a host of real friends on the sidelines to cheer you on your way.
Hazelden Foundation
Thursday, May 7, 2015
May 7, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
A man takes a drink, the drink takes another, and the drink takes the man.
-- Proverb
Newcomer
I've heard Alcoholics Anonymous members say, "It's the first drink that gets you drunk," and Overeaters Anonymous members say, "Don't take that first compulsive bite." It seems a little extreme. Don't Twelve Step programs allow for the possibility of doing things in moderation?
Sponsor
There are numerous stories of addicted people who started with the idea that they'd have "just one" of whatever it was. Hours, days, or weeks later, they were still in the middle of a binge. Most of us, when we were active in our addictions, promised ourselves repeatedly that we'd be moderate, though we'd already accumulated plenty of evidence that we lacked the desire and the capacity for moderation. Once we started using, no matter how seemingly insignificant the beginning, we were under the control of our addiction. We experienced a craving that no quantity of a drug or repetition of an addictive behavior could satisfy.
There are people who can do in moderation what people filling the seats at meetings couldn't stop doing, once they started. But we are not those people.
Today, I'm strengthened by accepting my need to take special measures to protect my health and recovery.
A man takes a drink, the drink takes another, and the drink takes the man.
-- Proverb
Newcomer
I've heard Alcoholics Anonymous members say, "It's the first drink that gets you drunk," and Overeaters Anonymous members say, "Don't take that first compulsive bite." It seems a little extreme. Don't Twelve Step programs allow for the possibility of doing things in moderation?
Sponsor
There are numerous stories of addicted people who started with the idea that they'd have "just one" of whatever it was. Hours, days, or weeks later, they were still in the middle of a binge. Most of us, when we were active in our addictions, promised ourselves repeatedly that we'd be moderate, though we'd already accumulated plenty of evidence that we lacked the desire and the capacity for moderation. Once we started using, no matter how seemingly insignificant the beginning, we were under the control of our addiction. We experienced a craving that no quantity of a drug or repetition of an addictive behavior could satisfy.
There are people who can do in moderation what people filling the seats at meetings couldn't stop doing, once they started. But we are not those people.
Today, I'm strengthened by accepting my need to take special measures to protect my health and recovery.
You are reading from the book:
If You Want What We Have © 1998 by Joan Larkin
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