Sunday, May 10, 2015
May 10, 2015 - International study finds widespread anti-gay discrimination in sports
May 10, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
We
-- First word of the Twelve Steps
We. This little word says a lot about the Twelve Steps. Our addiction made us lonely. The "we" of the program makes us whole again. It makes us a member of a loving, growing group of people.
Our addiction isolated us from others. We couldn't be honest. We felt a lot of shame. But all this is in the past. The "we" of the program helps us live outside ourselves. Now we tell each other about our pasts. We comfort each other. We try to help each other.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, help me to join the we of the program. Help me to admit and accept my illness, so the healing can begin.
Action for the Day
Today, I'll work to make the we of the program even stronger. I'll find someone to help.
We
-- First word of the Twelve Steps
We. This little word says a lot about the Twelve Steps. Our addiction made us lonely. The "we" of the program makes us whole again. It makes us a member of a loving, growing group of people.
Our addiction isolated us from others. We couldn't be honest. We felt a lot of shame. But all this is in the past. The "we" of the program helps us live outside ourselves. Now we tell each other about our pasts. We comfort each other. We try to help each other.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, help me to join the we of the program. Help me to admit and accept my illness, so the healing can begin.
Action for the Day
Today, I'll work to make the we of the program even stronger. I'll find someone to help.
You are reading from the book:
Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation
May 10, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, May 10, 2015
"Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs." - Step Five
Today, my obligation to the Fifth Step by admitting the "nature of (my) wrongs" to all three participants - God, myself and another person. As the basic text of AA states, laboring with judicious honesty in the Fourth is not sufficient to reconcile myself with my character defects: " ...If we skip this vital (Fifth) step, we may not overcome drinking." As the text also advises, the function of Step Five is to attain humility:"Trying to avoid this humbling experience, (we) have turned to easier methods." And, as we in recovery have been warned repeatedly, there is no "easier, softer way." Today, I will avoid the falsehood of thinking I have lost egoism and attained humility in my Fourth Step inventory, even if it is as honest as I can be, and submit to the humility of sharing the nature of my wrongs to another person - after admitting them first to my Higher Power and myself. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
May 10, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, May 10, 2015
AA Thought for the Day
One thing that keeps me sober is a feeling of loyalty to the other members of the group. I know I'd be letting them down if I ever took a drink. When I was drinking, I wasn't loyal to anybody. I should have been loyal to my family, but I wasn't. I let them down by my drinking. When I came into AA, I found a group of people who were not only helping each other to stay sober, but who were loyal to each other by staying sober themselves.
Am I loyal to my group?
Meditation for the Day
Calmness is constructive of good. Agitation is destructive of good. I should not rush into action. I should first "be still and know that He is God." Then I should act only as God directs me through my conscience. Only trust, perfect trust in God, can keep me calm when all around me are agitated. Calmness is trust in action. I should seek all things which can help me to cultivate calmness. To attain material things, the world learns to attain speed. To attain spiritual things, I have to learn to attain a state of calm.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may learn how to have inner peace. I pray that I may be calm, so that God can work through me.
Hazelden Foundation
May 10, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Reflection for the Day
As the doubter tries the process of prayer, he would do well to add up the results. If he persists, he'll almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear and less anger. He'll acquire a quiet courage - the kind that isn't tension-ridden. He'll be able to look at "failure" and "success" for what they really are. Problems and calamity will begin to mean his instruction, instead of his destruction. He'll feel freer and saner.
Have wonderful and unaccountable things begun to happen to me in my new life?
Today I Pray
Through prayer, communion with a Higher Power, may I begin to see my life sort itself out. May I become less tense, more sane, more open, more courageous, more loving, less tangled in problems, less afraid of losing, less afraid of living. May I know that God, too, wants these things for me. May His will be done.
Today I Will Remember
Be still and know that He is God.
Hazelden Foundation
May 10, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Sunday, May 10, 2015
The life of any individual is a wonderful book; it is a love story, one of adventure and travel. It is biography, and it is poetry. It is spiritual, and it is tragic. It is everything rolled into one for it is life, and life is every human emotion and experience.
The story does not end until the last line of the last chapter is completed. God is the author, and He records a true portrayal of the character of the actors in the story, and the book will end "happy-ever-after" only if we, the actors, live our roles as He directed.
Hazelden Foundation
Saturday, May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Treat your friends as you would a bank account - refrain from drawing too heavily on either.
-- Samuel Johnson
"You know," somebody admitted, "I've never really allowed myself to have good friends.
"I always put myself in two extreme roles. Either I think it's my duty to 'save' everyone, or I think it's someone else's function to 'save' me. I set myself up for very dissatisfactory relationships that way. I don't grow very much nor do the people I'm involved with grow much. We get locked into Parent-Child, Teacher-Student, and Counselor-Client kinds of roles.
"I'm tired of empty and lopsided friendships. I want good friends, not parasites or Messiahs running my life. I want friends I can just be me with and not worry whether I'm one-up or one-down on them. I want friends who will accept me as I am and not expect me to have all the answers for all the questions all the time."
TODAY I will examine what I expect of myself and my friendships. As a friend, do I expect myself to give all the advice and have all the answers? Do I expect my friends to take care of me, and give me all the answers? If my friendships are not satisfactory, I will work on enlarging my concept of what a friend is. I will also work on improving the quality of my own friendship.
Treat your friends as you would a bank account - refrain from drawing too heavily on either.
-- Samuel Johnson
"You know," somebody admitted, "I've never really allowed myself to have good friends.
"I always put myself in two extreme roles. Either I think it's my duty to 'save' everyone, or I think it's someone else's function to 'save' me. I set myself up for very dissatisfactory relationships that way. I don't grow very much nor do the people I'm involved with grow much. We get locked into Parent-Child, Teacher-Student, and Counselor-Client kinds of roles.
"I'm tired of empty and lopsided friendships. I want good friends, not parasites or Messiahs running my life. I want friends I can just be me with and not worry whether I'm one-up or one-down on them. I want friends who will accept me as I am and not expect me to have all the answers for all the questions all the time."
TODAY I will examine what I expect of myself and my friendships. As a friend, do I expect myself to give all the advice and have all the answers? Do I expect my friends to take care of me, and give me all the answers? If my friendships are not satisfactory, I will work on enlarging my concept of what a friend is. I will also work on improving the quality of my own friendship.
You are reading from the book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes. © 1981 by Hazelden Foundation
May 9, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Saturday, May 9, 2015
"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do ...We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." - Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 6, p 85
Today, a cautionary tale against "rest(ing) on our laurels" and that staying sober is a day-to-day reprieve. Just as clear are the words that my reprieve is based on the "maintenance of (my) spiritual condition." "How can I best serve (my Higher Power) - Thy will (not mine) be done," is the cornerstone of our spiritual recovery. Neglect of that cornerstone will predictably erode the humility obtained when seeking and carrying out the will of our Higher Power and, with a weakened foundation or none at all, relapse is predictable. That we have only a day-to-day reprieve and the warning against "rest(ing) on our laurels" remind us that the number of 24 Hours we accumulate is no guarantee that we will add to it today. But, today, I am concerned not with how many 24 Hours I have been sober but with carrying out His will instead of mine. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
May 9, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Saturday, May 9, 2015
AA Thought for the Day
We alcoholics used so little self-control when we were drinking, we were so absolutely selfish, that it does us good to give up something once in a while. Using self-discipline and denying ourselves a few things is good for us. At first, giving up liquor is a big enough job for all of us, even with God's help. But later on, we can practice self-discipline in other ways to keep a firm grip on our minds so that we don't start any wishful thinking. If we daydream too much, we'll be in danger of slipping.
Am I practicing enough self-discipline?
Meditation for the Day
In material things, you must rely on your own wisdom and that of others. In spiritual things, you cannot rely so much on your own wisdom as on God's guidance. In dealing with personalities, it is a mistake to step out too much on your own. You must try to be guided by God in all human relationships. You cannot accomplish much of value in dealing with people until God knows you are ready. You alone do not have the power or wisdom to put things right between people. You must rely on God to help you in these vital matters.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may rely on God in dealing with people's problems. I pray that I may try to follow His guidance in all personal relationships.
Hazelden Foundation
May 9, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Reflection for the Day
"Perfect courage," wrote LaRochefoucauld, "means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on." As we grow in The Program, we recognize persistent fear for what it is, and we become able to handle it. We begin to see each adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage which is born of humility, rather than of bravado.
Do I realize that whistling to keep up my courage is merely good practice for whistling?
Today I Pray
May I find courage in my Higher Power. Since all things are possible through Him, I must be able to overcome the insidious fears that haunt me - so often fears of losing someone or some thing that has become important in my life. I pray for my own willingness to let go of those fears.
Today I Will Remember
Praying is more than whistling in the dark.
Hazelden Foundation
May 9, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Saturday, May 9, 2015
God has done some mighty fine work with what the world thought was very indifferent material. St. Paul and St. Augustine were two examples of men that God chose that no personnel officer in the world today would have given the OK. AA is full of similar examples where God has chosen the godless and made him His instrument for the performance of good work.
The tremendous energy, zeal, initiative, enthusiasm and ambition that were factors in our becoming alcoholics, now diverted to better use, make us well qualified to serve in God's cause.
Hazelden Foundation
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