May 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, May 28, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Being sick and tired

We get sick and tired of blaming others for our faults. We get sick and tired of running the show. We get sick and tired of trying to impress people. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

We need only remember that when anything gets to be too much, when we get sick and tired of anything, our Higher Power is always ready to help to take it from us.

Am I feeling sick and tired about anything now?

Higher Power, help me turn things over to you before I get that sick and tired feeling.

Today I will ask my Higher Power to take over two problems. They are…

Hazelden Foundation

May 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Friday, May 28, 2021

Today, my character defects in my Fourth and the amends in my Eighth steps are not confined to wrongs of commission but also to my wrongs of omission. With that, my Fourth and Eighth steps, hopefully, will be more honest. My moral inventory and amends I have tried before have focused on things I have done or said, but they have not included my wrongs done by not saying or doing what I should have. Maybe I neglected or refused to return love or support that someone who stood beside me in my darkest days, or maybe I didn't answer someone's call for help. Today, I return to my Fourth and Eighth steps to decide if I owe restitution not for what I did and said, but for what I didn't do and say. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

May 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, May 28, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
In AA, we learn that since we are alcoholics we can be uniquely useful people. That is, we can help other alcoholics when perhaps somebody who has not had our experience with drinking could not help them. That makes us uniquely useful. The AA's are a unique group of people because they have taken their own greatest defeat and failure and sickness and used it as a means of helping others. We who have been through the same thing are the ones who can best help other alcoholics.

Do I believe that I can be uniquely useful?

Meditation for the Day
I should try to practice the presence of God. I can feel that He is with me and near me, protecting and strengthening me always. In spite of every difficulty, every trial, every failure, the presence of God suffices. Just to believe that He is near me brings strength and peace. I should try to live as though God were beside me. I cannot see Him because I was not made with the ability to see Him else there were no room for faith. But I can feel His spirit with me.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to practice the presence of God. I pray that by doing so I may never feel alone or helpless again.

Hazelden Foundation

May 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Friday, May 28, 2021

Reflection for the Day
We've all had times when we felt alienated, when it seemed we had nowhere to turn and no one to turn to. When we don't know which way to turn, when there seems to be no one to help us, even then we're not alone or without help - the presence of God is always with us. When we need strength or courage or comfort, God is there with us as the help we need. Even before we turn to God, His love reaches out to us; His loving Spirit in us hears our cry and answers us.

Do I truly believe that I no longer need be alone?

Today I Pray
May I never be alone, even in a place by myself, if I take time to talk to my Higher Power. May He be my companion, my joy, my ever-present help in trouble. May the knowledge of His constant presence fill me with calm, so that I will not fear either the solitude of my own room or alienation in a roomful of people.

Today I Will Remember
Listen for the presence of God.

Hazelden Foundation

May 28, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Friday, May 28, 2021

Love is as necessary to a human being as sunshine is to a plant. Without it, the soul of man withers, shrivels and dies. Fortunate is the man who has love given to him, but even more fortunate is he who earns it. The only way to earn love is to love. Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself.

He who hoards love shall lose it, but he who scatters love about him as he moves through life finds that it takes root and surrounds him on every side.

Hazelden Foundation

May 28, 2021 - Good morning and let's just keep calm ...it's time for the Happy Dance Friday!

 

Good morning and let's rev it up for a Fantastic  Friday and holiday weekend ...make it a truly terrific but productive and safe day -- and no need to acknowledge anything and anyone wanting to mess it up

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

 

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

No sooner do we think we have assembled a comfortable life than we find a piece of ourselves that has no place to fit in. — Gail Sheehy

We usually think of children going through stages. If we talk about a man going through a stage, there is usually a tone of a put-down in it. But adults go through stages in their lives too. We have different drives and needs at 22 than we had at 16. Age 40 brings a different experience than 30. It would be sad to reach age 60 or 70 and have no more wisdom than we had twenty years earlier. An adult life crisis can come anytime. We may have grown out of a formerly comfortable job. Perhaps we feel new urgings for a more satisfactory relationship than we have settled for. From our recovery experience, we know that crisis can bring growth.

Courage is required of us from the cradle to the grave. Change continues throughout life. With courage, we can face our crises and the changes that come, and eventually we find the gift of new growth.

Help me find courage enough to live this day and meet the challenges it brings.

Hazelden Foundation

May 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Today, appreciation of the spouse, companion, brothers and sisters, parents, children and friends who wanted to help me as I spiraled out of control but who I shut out, who were and are still there in my recovery. In being focused on my recovery and working the Steps, I have probably been negligent to admit that the hell I put someone else through might have been worse than my own. And I have to acknowledge that they, too, have their own recoveries to work. Today, I will be grateful and offer to anyone who stayed with me a simple thank you and, to them, my superior amend is that, today, I can and will stay sober. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, May 27, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
In Twelfth-Step work, the fifth thing is continuance. Continuance means our staying with prospects after they have started on the new way of living. We must stick with them and not let them down. We must encourage them to go to meetings regularly for fellowship and help. They will learn that keeping sober is a lot easier in the fellowship of others who are trying to do the same thing. We must continue to help prospects by going to see them regularly or telephoning them or writing them so that they don't get out of touch with AA. Continuance means good sponsorship.

Do I care enough about other alcoholics to continue with them as long as necessary?

Meditation for the Day
Every strong and beautiful flower must have a strong root in the ground. It must send a root down so that it may be rooted and grounded while at the same time it sends a shoot up to be the flower that shall gladden the world. Both growths are necessary. Without a strong root, it would soon wither. The higher the growth upward, the deeper must be the rooting. My life cannot flower into success and helpfulness until it is rooted in a strong faith, or unless it feels deeply secure in the goodness and purpose of the universe.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that my life may be deeply rooted in faith. I pray that I may feel deeply secure.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

A Day at a Time
Thursday, May 27, 2021

Reflection for the Day
When I have only myself to talk to, the conversation gets sort of one-sided. Trying to talk myself out of a drink or a pill or a "small wager" or just one chocolate eclair is sort of like trying self-hypnosis. It simply doesn't work; most of the time, it's about as effective as trying to talk myself out of a case of diarrhea. When my heart is heavy and my resistance low, I can always find some comfort in sharing with a true and understanding friend in The Program.

Do I know who my friends are?

Today I Pray
May I be convinced that, as part of God's master plan, we were put here to help each other. May I be as open about asking for help as I am ready to give it, no matter how long I have been in The Program. May the experiences of countless others be enough to prove to me that "talking myself out of it" seldom works, that the mutual bolstering that comes from sharing with a friend usually does.

Today I Will Remember
When I ask for help, I am helping.

Hazelden Foundation

May 27, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Thursday, May 27, 2021

To follow the letter of the law is not enough. You can be moral without difficulty in "solitary."

Do not let your morality be simply restraining and abstaining. Be constructive in your goodness. Be good for something.

Hazelden Foundation

May 27, 2021 - Good morning and let's make it a really terrific Thursday and make it count for something good

 

Good morning and let's cruise into Thursday with the goal to make it worthwhile and productive ...have a really great day, and don't empower anyone and anything to mess it up

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

 

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. — Oscar Wilde

We all change. We learn, and change, and grow. We once made alcohol or other drugs our Higher Power. Perhaps we had other Higher Powers too—like money, gambling, food, or sex. But it’s never too late to be in touch with a true Higher Power. Each day we do this, we deepen our recovery. Each day we follow a false higher power, we feed our disease.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me put my life and will in Your hands today. Help me be a saint, just for today.

Action for the Day

How have my ideas about saints and sinners changed since I got into a Twelve Step program? I’ll talk with my sponsor about it today.

Hazelden Foundation

May 26, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Wednesday, May 26, 2021

" ...We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 5, pp 66-7.

Today, let go of resentments and other toxic feelings I might harbor for someone else. I cannot justify anger and anything else bad against anyone if I hope or expect no one to have such feelings towards me. If I claim spiritual disease as the root of my own misconduct, I have to allow the same to those who have affronted me. While I might never grow to like the person I believe has offended me, rightfully or not, I cannot work toward revenge or hopes that something bad befalls that other person. Today, as I hope no one wishes me ill, I cannot justify hoping the worst for someone else. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2021

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, May 26, 2021

AA Thought for the Day
In Twelfth-Step work, the fourth thing is conversion. Conversion means change. Prospects must learn to change their way of thinking. Until now, everything they've done has been connected with drinking. Now they must face a new kind of life, without liquor. They must see and admit that they cannot overcome drinking by their own willpower, so they must turn to a Higher Power for help. They must start each day by asking this Higher Power for the strength to stay sober. This conversion to belief in a Higher Power comes gradually, as they try it and find that it works.

Do I care enough about other alcoholics to help them to make this conversion?

Meditation for the Day
Discipline of yourself is absolutely necessary before the power of God is given to you. When you see others manifesting the power of God, you probably have not seen the discipline that went before. They made themselves ready. All your life is a preparation for more good to be accomplished when God knows that you are ready for it. So keep disciplining yourself in the spiritual life every day. Learn so much of the spiritual laws that your life cannot again be a failure. Others will see the outward manifestation of the inward discipline in your daily living.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may manifest God's power in my daily living. I pray that I may discipline myself so as to be ready to meet every opportunity.

Hazelden Foundation