Thursday, June 4, 2015
June 4, 2015 - Indiana governor issues Indy Pride ‘welcome letter’ without mentioning festival or LGBT community
June 4, 2015 - Editorial: Let transgender troops serve openly
June 4, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Today's thought from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
-- Step Nine
When we make amends we need to be clear about what we're apologizing for and the best way to say we're sorry. What we are really doing with our amends is taking responsibility for our behavior. We need to be sure that the process itself will not be self-defeating or hurtful.
Sometimes, we need to directly apologize for a particular thing we have done or our part in a problem. Other times, instead of saying I'm sorry, what we need to do is work on changing our behavior with a person.
There are times when bringing up what we have done and apologizing for it will make matters worse.
We need to trust timing, intuition, and guidance in this process of making amends. Once we become willing, we can let go and tackle our amends in a peaceful, consistent, harmonious way. If nothing feels right or appropriate, if it feels as if what we are about to do will cause a crisis or havoc, we need to trust that feeling.
We deserve to be at peace with ourselves and others.
Today, I will be open to making any amends I need to make with people. I will wait for Divine Guidance in the process of making any amends that are not clear to me. God, help me let go of my fear about facing people and taking responsibility for my behaviors. Help me know I am not diminishing my self-esteem by doing this; I am improving it.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
-- Step Nine
When we make amends we need to be clear about what we're apologizing for and the best way to say we're sorry. What we are really doing with our amends is taking responsibility for our behavior. We need to be sure that the process itself will not be self-defeating or hurtful.
Sometimes, we need to directly apologize for a particular thing we have done or our part in a problem. Other times, instead of saying I'm sorry, what we need to do is work on changing our behavior with a person.
There are times when bringing up what we have done and apologizing for it will make matters worse.
We need to trust timing, intuition, and guidance in this process of making amends. Once we become willing, we can let go and tackle our amends in a peaceful, consistent, harmonious way. If nothing feels right or appropriate, if it feels as if what we are about to do will cause a crisis or havoc, we need to trust that feeling.
We deserve to be at peace with ourselves and others.
Today, I will be open to making any amends I need to make with people. I will wait for Divine Guidance in the process of making any amends that are not clear to me. God, help me let go of my fear about facing people and taking responsibility for my behaviors. Help me know I am not diminishing my self-esteem by doing this; I am improving it.
You are reading from the book:
The Language of Letting Go © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation
June 4, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Thursday, June 4, 2015
"We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world's troubles on our shoulders ...(T)hose of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 9, p 132.
Today, if in service work I take on the weight of others' addictions and recovery, let me remember that the lifeline of AA is tossed to us by another person but it is we as individuals who must choose to grab it and hang on. And if I should be the 12th-Stepper who throws out the lifeline, let me accept that it is within my control to make the other person grab it. Likewise, let me not be tinged with cynicism or hopelessness of the state of the world because it, like the power of alcohol, is something I cannot control. Today, if the message I carry falls on deaf ears, I will not feel like a failure and, likewise, I will not bolster my ego by claiming "success" if the message is heard. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
June 4, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Thursday, June 4, 2015
AA Thought for the Day
Some things I like since becoming dry: feeling good in the morning; full use of my intelligence; joy in my work; the love and trust of my children; lack of remorse; the confidence of my friends; the prospect of a happy future; the appreciation of the beauties of nature; knowing what it is all about.
I'm sure that I like these things, am I not?
Meditation for the Day
Molding your life means cutting and shaping your material into something good, something which can express the spiritual. All material things are the clay out of which we mold something spiritual. You must first recognize the selfishness in your desires and motives, actions and words, and then mold that selfishness until it is sublimated into a spiritual weapon for good. As the work of molding proceeds, you see more and more clearly what must be done to mold your life into something better.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may mold my life into something useful and good. I pray that I may not be discouraged by the slow progress that I make.
Hazelden Foundation
June 4, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Reflection for the Day
"It seems to me," wrote AA co-founder Bill W., "that the primary object of any human being is to grow, as God intended, that being the nature of all growing things. Our search must be for what reality we can find, which includes the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire. If the capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his Creator."
Will I pray today not so much to be loved, as to love?
Today I Pray
God grant me the patience of a lifetime in my search for the best answer to the question, "What is love?" May I know that the definition will come to me in snatches as I live life's several roles - as child, lover, parent, teacher, friend, spiritual being. May I be grateful for my experience as a chemically dependent person, which adds a special dimension to the meaning of love.
Today I Will Remember
All love reflects God's love.
Hazelden Foundation
June 4, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
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| The Serenity Prayer |
Thursday, June 4, 2015
A split second separates the past, the present and the future. The course of history has been altered in a moment of decision on the part of one man. Inventions that have revolutionized our mode of living may have taken years to perfect, but the idea behind them was born in a flash of thought between the ticks of a clock.
In that great day when you determined that you had had enough, that you were whipped, the resolve took but a fraction of a second. But in that instant, you closed your past and opened your future.
A moment of thoughtlessness can put you back in the past again.
Hazelden Foundation
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
June 3, 2015 - Opinion: Caitlyn Jenner’s 'coming out'
June 3, 2015 - Obituary: Jim Bailey, celebrated character actor in drag, dies at 77
June 3, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Today's thought from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
For all the sadness of closure, there is a new and joyful unfolding in the process of becoming.
-- Mary Casey
We must let go of people, places, memories, and move on to new experiences. The doors of the past must be closed before we can enter those that are opening to us today. However, no experience is gone forever. All of our experiences are threaded together, each one contributing to the events that claim our attention now.
Recovery has offered us a chance to be aware of our process of becoming. With each day, each experience, each new understanding, we are advancing along the path of personal growth. Let us remember that each of us has a particular path, like no other. Thus, our experiences are ours alone. We need not envy what comes to someone else.
Life is unfolding for us. The pain of the present may be necessary for the pleasure of tomorrow. We can accept the unfolding. Our inner selves have a goal; experiences of the past must be left in the past; experiences at hand will lead us to our destination today.
I am moving and changing and growing, at the right pace. The process can be trusted. What is right for me will come to me. I will let the joy of becoming warm me.
For all the sadness of closure, there is a new and joyful unfolding in the process of becoming.
-- Mary Casey
We must let go of people, places, memories, and move on to new experiences. The doors of the past must be closed before we can enter those that are opening to us today. However, no experience is gone forever. All of our experiences are threaded together, each one contributing to the events that claim our attention now.
Recovery has offered us a chance to be aware of our process of becoming. With each day, each experience, each new understanding, we are advancing along the path of personal growth. Let us remember that each of us has a particular path, like no other. Thus, our experiences are ours alone. We need not envy what comes to someone else.
Life is unfolding for us. The pain of the present may be necessary for the pleasure of tomorrow. We can accept the unfolding. Our inner selves have a goal; experiences of the past must be left in the past; experiences at hand will lead us to our destination today.
I am moving and changing and growing, at the right pace. The process can be trusted. What is right for me will come to me. I will let the joy of becoming warm me.
You are reading from the book:
Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey. © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
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