Jan. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglect. — William Shakespeare

We will never achieve a feeling of true safety by seeing our self-image in terms of our character defects. To give our shortcomings such power is to ensure that we will never have enough faith or strength to go forward; we are either condemned to trying to change the past or trying to control the future.

The only safety is in the present, affirming the positive qualities we possess. Even if we’re in deep sorrow this moment, we can feel safe by appreciating that we have the ability to grieve, which takes courage and passion for life. Appreciating our many good points is a way to counteract the fear that eats away at our security.

There are a number of ways we can affirm our worth. We can write affirmations, ask others for positive support, list our good qualities, and include our progress in recovery in our daily inventory. We deserve to have the freedom that comes from feeling safe within ourselves.

What am I saying to myself right now—“I’m a failure” or “I’m wonderful, and I love you?”

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021

Today, "Let Go and Let God" does not absolve me from responsibility to be an active participant in my redemption from the damage and pain to others of my drinking days. "Let Go and Let God" commands that I turn my will over to my Higher Power for knowledge of HIS will for me and "the power to carry (it) out." It does not give me the easy out by expecting God to do it for me. In accepting an active role in my recovery instead of expecting it to come to me by reading the Big Book and going to meetings, I understand that sobriety is a two-level process. On the surface, I cannot drink; on a deeper level, I cannot expect a change in spiritual and emotional conditions that come solely by not drinking. I am responsible for my condition as an alcoholic; likewise, I am responsible for my recovery. "Let Go and Let God" does not excuse me from either responsibility. Today, I "Let Go and Let God" by surrendering MY self-will and listening to my Higher Power for HIS will and the knowledge to carry it out. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

Jan. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
Alcoholics carry an awful load around with them. What a load lying puts on your shoulders! Drinking makes liars out of all of us alcoholics. In order to get the liquor we want, we have to lie all the time. We have to lie about where we've been and what we've been doing. When you are lying, you are only half alive because of the fear of being found out. When you come into AA and get honest with yourself and with other people, that terrible load of lying falls off your shoulders.

Have I got rid of that load of lying?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that in the spiritual world, as in the material world, there is no empty space. As fears and worries and resentments depart out of my life, the things of the spirit come in to take their places. Calm comes after a storm. As soon as I am rid of fears and hates and selfishness, God's love and peace and calm can come in.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may rid myself of all fears and resentments, so that peace and serenity may take their place. I pray that I may sweep my life clean of evil, so that good may come in.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021

Reflection for the Day
I can attain real dignity, importance and individuality only by a dependence on a Power which is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to use this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good.

Just for today, will I try to live this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once?

Today I Pray
May I make no decision, engineer no change in the course of my lifestream, without calling upon my Higher Power. May I have faith that God's plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself.

Today I Will Remember
God is the architect. I am the builder.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021

We alcoholics are the world's greatest squanderers. During our drinking days we squandered our money, our health, our time, our intellect, our reputations, in fact everything - not for a purpose, but to make ourselves oblivious to the fact that we were doing so.

We who have accepted the AA way of living must never give up our old habit, but we should learn to spend ourselves for a constructive purpose.

That purpose is to help the other alcoholic. We are the best qualified people in the world for the job. Years of conditioning and thousands of dollars went into the process of making us experts. We have no other means of atoning for the past, no other way of showing our appreciation for the Grace of God which saved us, but to squander ourselves for this world-needed purpose.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 27, 2021 - Rise 'n shine for what's guaranteed to be a great Wednesday because we're halfway to the weekend

 

Good morning and let's get hoppin' on a wonderful Wednesday with determination to make it productive, safe and serene ...that means flipping off anything and anyone thinking they can screw it up

Jan. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver and the other gold. — Joseph Parry

Friendship is wonderful. But what is true friendship? This is a question we encounter in early recovery, and it will be important for the rest of our lives.

A friend is someone we know, like, and trust. When we first get sober, we should look at the people we call friends. Are the things we like about them important to our healthy self or things our Inner Addict likes?

We become like our friends. That is why it is important to choose friends we want to be like. It takes work to sort this out when we first get sober because we have collected “friends” who are bad for us.

Where do we find good friends? First we can look to the people we knew, liked, and trusted before our addiction. Next we can look in our recovery groups. When we are a friend to the right person, then we will have a friend.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me to choose friends, old and new, who help me be the person I really want to be. Help me be that kind of a friend to them, too.

Today’s Action

I will list the five people who have been my closest friends in my life. What do I like about each of them? Would I trust them to help me be my best?

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Today, my Program that is based on three concepts: choice, consequences, and responsibility. I understand now that drinking is a choice and the reasons I concoct to justify it are nothing more than rationalizations - excuses - or contributing factors to which I am surrendering my control. If I choose to drink, there are inevitable consequences as all actions have, and my long history with drinking proves that the consequences are usually the same, are never less and usually worsen. And with those consequences comes responsibility to them, and the consequences are predictable - a hangover, regret for what I did or said when I was drunk, maybe another DUI, possibly waking up in the county jail's drunk tank - again. Today, the consequences are too high for me, and I don't want to be responsible to them. And if I don't want to be responsible to the consequences of drinking, the choice is clear and logical - don't drink. I choose not to. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

Jan. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

AA Thought for the Day

As we became alcoholics, the bad effects of drinking came more and more to outweigh the good effects. But the strange part of it is that, no matter what drinking did to us, loss of our health, our jobs, our money and our homes, we still stuck to it and depended on it. Our dependence on drinking became an obsession. In AA, we find a new outlook on life. We learn how to change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. And we find out that we can no longer depend on drinking for anything. We depend on a Higher Power instead.

Have I entirely given up that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day

I will try to keep my life calm and unruffled. This is my great task, to find peace and acquire serenity. I must not harbor disturbing thoughts. No matter what fears, worries and resentments I may have, I must try to think of constructive things, until calmness comes. Only when I am calm can I act as a channel for God's spirit.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may build up instead of tearing down. I pray that I may be constructive and not destructive.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

Reflection for the Day
Personal freedom is mine for the taking. No matter how close are the ties of love and concern that bind me to my family and friends, I must always remember that I am an individual, free to be myself and live my own life in serenity and joy. The key word in this realization is personal. For I can free myself from many involvements that seem necessary. Through The Program, I am learning to develop my own personality.

Am I reinforcing my personal freedom by leaving others free to control their actions and destinies?

Today I Pray
May I find personal freedom, by re-evaluating associations, establishing new priorities, gaining respect for my own personhood. May I give others equal room to find their own kinds of personal freedoms.

Today I Will Remember
Take the liberty; it's yours.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021

We alcoholics were up to our necks in the quicksand of yesterdays with a lifetime of tomorrows on our shoulders. Of course we sought escape in the bottle, for no man has courage and strength enough to survive this ordeal.

AA has taught us that TODAY is the only day we have. Those horrible TOMORROWS which we hold in such dread have no substance except such as we give them in our living of successive TODAYS.

Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't been, and may never be born.

It is on the foundation of today that we build tomorrow.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 26, 2021 - Good morning and let's commit to making today a productive but safe and serene Tuesday

 

Good morning and let's get going with determination to make this Tuesday as productive and worthwhile as we can while staying safe and flipping off whatever and whoever is out to mess it up    

Jan. 25, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Jan. 25, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

They may not deserve forgiveness, but I do. — Anne P.

Forgiveness is an act, not a feeling. Though it may generate feelings, forgiveness is an exercise of the will. When we forgive, we refuse to be further damaged by the wrongdoing of others.

A refusal to forgive is called a resentment. And the victim of resentment is always the one who carries it. The people we refuse to forgive may neither know nor care about our resentment.

To hang on to a resentment is to harbor a thief in the heart. By the minute and the hour, resentment steals the joy we could treasure now and remember forever. It pilfers our energy to celebrate life—to face others as messengers of grace rather than ambassadors of doom. We victimize ourselves when we withhold forgiveness.

Today, I will remember that forgiveness is a giver and resentment is a taker. Because I deserve it, I will forgive old hurts. I will see forgiveness as a gift to myself.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 25, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Monday, Jan. 25, 2021

Today: "Courage to change the things I can," the petition of the Serenity Prayer that WE - not our Higher Power - take on those things that we CAN change. Though our options might be limited, the one thing we CAN change is our attitude and how we integrate into this day, how we react and respond. Thus, today I will not take the easier, softer way and complain about ANYTHING the day serves up and, instead, I will start with the POSITIVE by willing myself to make this day good and that nothing will poison the rest of the day. If there is something I do not want to do, I will do it, if for no other reason than to be done with it and earn the luxury to say one more bad chore is done. For some, negativity and complaining are an excuse in disguise to get out of the obligation to sobriety. Today, I am positive, not negative, and this day WILL be good. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

Jan. 25, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Jan. 25, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
We used to depend on drinking for a lot of things. We depended on drinking to help us enjoy things. It gave us a "kick." It broke down our shyness and helped us to have a "good time." We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low physically. If we had a toothache or just a hangover, we felt better after a few drinks. We depended on drinking to help us when we felt low mentally. If we'd had a tough day at work or if we'd had a fight with our husband or wife, or if things just seemed against us, we felt better under the influence of alcohol. For us alcoholics, it got so that we depended on drinking for almost everything.

Have I got over that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for the Day
I believe that complete surrender of my life to God is the foundation of serenity. God has prepared for us many mansions. I do not look upon that promise as referring only to the after-life. I do not look upon this life as something to be struggled through, in order to get the rewards of the next life. I believe that the Kingdom of God is within us and we can enjoy "eternal life" here and now.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to do God's will. I pray that such understanding, insight and vision shall be mine, as shall make my life eternal, here and now.

Hazelden Foundation