March 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Friday, March 27, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Working Today

As we approach a new year, many of us feel fear. We look back on the past and worry about the future. But if we remember we only have today, we can work to make that future better. We have found true friends in our fellowship, and this is a time to be with them.

Am I ensuring a fruitful future by working with all I’ve got today?

Higher Power, I pray for guidance for today and for freedom from worry about tomorrow.

Today I will work for the fellowship by…

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Friday, March 27, 2020

Today, if I am afraid, anxious, worried or uncertain about anything, I can draw strength from the mercy and blessing of my Higher Power that guided me through the darkness and active alcoholism to face the challenges before me now. If I believe that drinking was the darkest chapter of my life but that I survived with the strength of a Higher Power, I can also believe that the same strength can lead me through a lesser turmoil. Step 2 of coming to believe in a Higher Power is refuge from any storm I am weathering now, and the Third Step of yielding to a greater Power calms any fears or doubts with faith. Today, I can draw strength and hope from the yesterday when I had my last drink to believe that, with faith and strength in the Power that got me through those days, I can get through anything less - with unconditional faith and by seeking His will over mine. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

March 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, March 27, 2020

AA Thought for the Day

You get the power to overcome drinking through the fellowship of other alcoholics who have found the way out. You get power by honestly sharing your past experience by a personal witness. You get power by coming to believe in a Higher Power, the Divine Principle in the universe which can help you. You get power by working with other alcoholics. In these four ways, thousands of alcoholics have found all the power they needed to overcome drinking.

Am I ready and willing to accept this power and work for it?

Meditation for the Day

The power of God's spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Our conquest of each other, the great kings and conquerors, the conquest of wealth, the leaders of the money society, all amount to very little in the end. But he that conquers himself is greater than he who conquers a city. Material things have no permanence. But God's spirit is eternal. Everything really worthwhile in the world is the result of the power of God's spirit.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may open myself to the power of God's spirit. I pray that my relationships with others may be improved by this spirit.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, March 27, 2020

Reflection for the Day
Storing up grievances is not only a waste of time, but a waste of life that could be lived to greater satisfaction. If I keep a ledger of "oppressions and indignities," I'm only restoring them to painful reality.

"The horror of that moment," the King said, "I shall never, never forget."
"You will, though," said the Queen,
"if you don't make a memorandum of it." - Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"

Am I keeping a secret storehouse for the wreckage of my past?

Today I Pray
God keep me from harboring the sludge from the past - grievances, annoyances, grudges, oppressions, wrongs, injustices, put-downs, slights, hurts. They will nag at me and consume my time in rehashing what I "might have said" or done until I face each one, name the emotion it produced in me, settle it as best I can - and forget it. May I empty my storehouse of old grievances.

Today I Will Remember
Don't rattle old bones.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, March 27, 2020

Many of us can recall being fired from jobs for drinking and at the same time being given a letter of recommendation that spoke in glowing terms about our ability, Of course, the former boss was trying to be kind in avoiding any mention of the drinking problem, but such letters are actually dishonest, and it was equally dishonest when we used them to procure new jobs.

How much better it would have been if they had tried to do something constructive about the problem rather than lowering us in our own esteem by making us a party to the deceit.

Hazelden Foundation

March 27, 2020 - Good morning and let's make the most of this beautiful and far out TGIF Friday

March 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

One should learn to enjoy the neighbor’s garden, however small; the roses straggling over the fence, the scent of lilacs drifting across the road. — Henry Van Dyke

There are many gifts around us that we overlook when we’re busy dealing with our anxieties and obligations. We talk about burning out from our high-intensity lifestyles. We act as though nothing would get done if we didn’t do it ourselves. We get so engrossed in fighting with the frustrations of life that we fail to see the good things coming our way that took no effort on our part.

As we look around us this very moment, what good things do we find? Has a friend given a warm hello? Is the sun shining? The rain falling? Has the traffic flowed smoothly? We have no claim on these generous events, and we can’t say God smiles on us when we have them or frowns when we don’t. We can say there are always generous forces coming our way that comfort and heal us. We only need to take time to enjoy them.

Today, I will take some quiet moments to notice the good things coming my way. I will be grateful for them.

Hazelden Foundation

March 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Thursday, March 26, 2020

Today, recognize that much of my life has been expecting other people to meet my demands and expectations and fill my needs and wants. In selfishness and vanity, I often rejected those who failed or would not give me what I wanted or needed when I wanted and needed it. In those times of looking to the outside for fulfillment, I had not a clue how to look inside myself and beyond something stronger than other people to attain what since have become different needs and expectations. In recovery, I understand that sobriety is first and foremost and above everyone and everything. Once, my expectations of others were so unrealistic and selfish that I became needy to the point of being pathetic. Now I see the consequences, sometimes disastrous, of putting all my expectations on others. Now I am able to look inside myself and to a stronger Power to earn what I need. Today, I will take from what my Program has given me to meet my needs and not weigh anyone with expectations so selfish and heavy that I ignore that they, too, have their own needs. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

March 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, March 26, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
Strength comes also from working with other alcoholics. When you are trying to help a new prospect with the program, you are building up your own strength at the same time. You see the other person in the condition you might be in yourself and it makes your resolve to stay sober stronger than ever. Often, you help yourself more than the other person, but if you do succeed in helping the prospect to get sober, you are stronger from the experience of having helped another person.

Am I receiving strength from working with others?

Meditation for the Day
Faith is the bridge between you and God. It is the bridge which God has ordained. If all were seen and known, there would be no merit in doing right. Therefore, God has ordained that we do not see or know directly. But we can experience the power of His spirit through our faith. It is the bridge between us and Him, which we can take or not, as we will. There could be no morality without free will. We must make the choice ourselves. We must make the venture of belief.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may choose and decide to cross the bridge of faith. I pray that by crossing this bridge I may receive the spiritual power I need.

Hazelden Foundation

March 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, March 26, 2020

Reflection for the Day
I know today that getting active means trying to live the suggested Steps of The Program to the best of my ability. It means striving for some degree of honesty, first with myself, then with others. It means activity directed inward, to enable me to see myself and my relationship with my Higher Power more clearly. As I get active, outside and inside myself, so shall I grow in The Program.

Do I let others do all the work at meetings? Do I carry my share?

Today I Pray
May I realize that "letting go and letting God" does not mean that I do not have to put any effort into The Program. It is up to me to work the Twelve Steps, to learn what may be an entirely new thing with me - honesty. May I differentiate between activity for activity's sake - busy-work to keep me from thinking - and the thoughtful activity which helps me to grow.

Today I Will Remember
"Letting God" means letting Him show us how.

Hazelden Foundation

March 26, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, March 26, 2020

We in AA have many religious affiliations, and there are some of us who contend that AA is all the religion they need. Yet this fact remains: the spiritual facts on which AA is based would not have survived the ages but for the tenacity of formal religions.

Without religions, our moral, political and social structure would collapse. There is a lot in all denominations that can be criticized but, without them, life would be chaos.

Hazelden Foundation

March 26, 2020 - Good morning with the goal of making this wonderful Thursday as groovy as possible

March 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Clean sweep

Clean it up, clear it out. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to sweep up all the old resentments and all the things that have made me feel wronged. I’m going to brush them aside without looking and toss them anywhere that falls outside of the inside of my head. I’m going to make a clean sweep with the broom of forgiveness so I am freshened and freed, not stuck in the same old mud.

The slaps-in-the-face and stabs-in-the-back came at the hand of someone who most likely did the deed and never looked back. So, by hanging on to anger and grudges, I’m poisoning only myself with a poison of my own making. How stupid.

While I’m at it, while I’m tidying things up, I’m going to forgive new wrongs as they come. Forgiveness doesn’t mean I will accept new wrongs as they come; it means I will turn and walk away from kicks-in-the-teeth instead of carrying a vendetta in my soul. In embracing forgiveness, I’m no longer going to store toxins in my head and heart…or life. I’m booting them out.

Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behavior. Forgiveness pre­vents their behavior from destroying your heart. — Hemant Smarty

Hazelden Foundation

March 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Today, focus on compulsiveness so as not to react to anyone or anything with the heightened emotions that nurtured the defects of my character. From a behavioral standpoint, we alcoholics drank with compulsion. As such, my alcoholism is both physical and behavioral in nature. To get the discipline to prevent compulsion from gaining an upper hand in all my affairs, I can work Step Three as I begin this day by handing over to my Higher Power my will and ask instead for His will. Today, as I set out, I surrender my will - or self-will run riot - to my Higher Power with faith that He will strengthen me to act accordingly and responsibly instead out of the compulsiveness that contributed to my spiritual and mental defects. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2020

March 25, 2020 - Readings in Recovery; Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, March 25, 2020

AA Thought for the Day
Strength comes from coming to believe in a Higher Power that can help you. You can't define this Higher Power, but you can see how it helps other alcoholics. You hear them talk about it and you begin to get the idea yourself. You try praying in a quiet time each morning and you begin to feel stronger, as though your prayers were heard. So you gradually come to believe there must be a Power in the world outside yourself, which is stronger than you and to which you can turn for help.

Am I receiving strength from my faith in a Higher Power?

Meditation for the Day
Spiritual development is achieved by daily persistence in living the way you believe God wants you to live. Like the wearing away of a stone by steady drops of water, so will your daily persistence wear away all the difficulties and gain spiritual success for you. Never falter in this daily, steady persistence. Go forward boldly and unafraid. God will help and strengthen you, as long as you are trying to do His will.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may persist day by day in gaining spiritual experience. I pray that I may make this a lifetime work.

Hazelden Foundation