Jan. 6. 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Reflection for the Day

I’m beginning to see just how unnatural my old life actually was, and that it became increasingly unnatural as my disease progressed. The longer I’m in recovery, the more natural this new way of life seems. At first, it was impossible for me to extend my hand to a fellow person in recovery; such an act was wholly unnatural for me. But it is becoming increasingly easier for me to reach out to other people in recovery. Sharing my experience, strength, and hope is becoming a natural part of daily living.

Have I learned that I can’t keep what I’ve gotten unless I “give it away”? Will I take the time to share today?

Today I Pray

May I share my love, my joy, my happiness, my time, my hospitality, my knowledge of things on earth, and my faith in a Higher Power. Even though I may not see the results of my acts of sharing, may I take joy in the acts themselves. May sharing and connecting with others become as natural to me as speaking or breathing.

Today I Will Remember

Be never sparing in caring and sharing.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 6, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

Today, grant I not take for granted the vital lifeline of a recovery home group. As such, I need to determine that I am attending enough meetings to fortify my recovery or, if I am limited by whatever restraints to make the meetings, that I have a strong enough support network to carry me through. Working toward any goal, especially the goal of recovery, can be more difficult if I am working alone. That difficulty is dissolved when I have the support of others working toward the same goal but, in the process, I need to be willing to be honest in sharing my own history, what I have gained in the Program and on which Steps I need more work. Today, I need not be in self-imposed isolation, even in recovery, and I have to recognize the importance of peer and group support and acceptance. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 6, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

Keeping sober is the most important thing in my life. The most important decision I ever made was my decision to give up drinking. I am convinced that my whole life depends on not taking that first drink. Nothing in the world is as important to me as my own sobriety. Everything I have, my whole life, depends on that one thing.

Can I afford ever to forget this, even for one minute?

Meditation for the Day

I will discipline myself. I will do this disciplining now. I will turn out all useless thoughts. I know that the goodness of my life is a necessary foundation for its usefulness. I will welcome this training, for without it God cannot give me this power. I believe that this power is a mighty power when it is used in the right way.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may face and accept whatever discipline is necessary. I pray that I may be fit to receive God’s power in my life.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 6, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

Reflection for the Day

“As individuals and as a fellowship,” Bill W. continued, “we shall surely suffer if we cast the whole idea of planning for tomorrow into a fatuous idea of providence. God’s real providence has endowed us human beings with a considerable capability for foresight, and He evidently expects us to use it. Of course, we shall often miscalculate the future in whole or in part, but that is better than to refuse to think at all.”

Have I begun to believe that I am only an actor in a play which the Manager directs?

Today I Pray

May I make prudent use of the foresight and power of choice which God has given me, to plan wisely, one Step at a time, without becoming a slave to apprehension, regret or anxiety. I pray that God’s will be done through the exercising of my own will, which He, in His goodness, has given me.

Today I Will Remember

God wills my will to be.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 6, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

Let us stop and think about our room here on earth. We have occupied it all our lives; we have free heat and light. From the windows of this room, we can look upon the grandest of nature’s landscapes if we so desire, but it also looks upon poverty, slums and filth, if that is what we have eyes for.

How can we pay for our Room on Earth? Only by serving our fellow men, the children of the Landlord,“and inasmuch as ye did it unto these, ye did it unto Me.”

If you do less, you are not worthy of your Room on Earth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 6, 2023 – At risk of being so 90s, let’s cut into the Happy Dance Friday

 

Good morning with hopes for a fantastic Friday to all …without the drama, trauma and negativity of people who don’t have anything good to offer

Jan. 5, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Don’t Let the Past Ruin Today

When I was sobering up, I needed to be employed through a “work therapy” program. I was in a meeting with my counselor looking for jobs when I told her that I liked working at the VA hospital, so I wanted to get a job here. She looked at me like I had lost my mind. I am a convicted felon and would have to pass a background check. But I had accepted that my life was more valuable than what was on paper. I graduated drug court, and I showed up to work every day. I walked miles and rode buses to get there. I was on a mission to get hired at the VA medical center.

I realized the mountain I needed to climb to be considered for federal employment. I applied for the job, and my background was flagged. I called the background investigator and was honest about everything. He said that a housekeeping or kitchen position might be a better fit. I could have accepted that as a small victory, but it wasn’t the position that I was training for. By the end of the call, he gave me a job in what I was trained to do, sterile processing. I just celebrated my second year of federal employment. Life changed when I started believing in myself again.

Today I will live in the moment and not let my past ruin today.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 5, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

“There is a solution. Almost none of us like the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had to come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.”– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 2 (“There Is a Solution”), p 25.

Today, if I cannot or am not ready to surrender to a spiritual power and experience, let me begin or renew my sobriety and recovery by looking to my peers who have not only recovered but have undergone a spiritual and emotional overhaul. If I cannot understand that something good can be stronger than me, let me recognize that the process of recovery is an evolutionary one and that the spiritual concept of the Program is not a prerequisite to begin the process. Let me believe today that the spiritual awakening or experience promised me by the Program may yet to be, if it hasn’t already and I do not recognize it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 5, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

Have I turned to a Higher Power for help? Do I believe that each man or woman I see in AA is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard into a sober, useful citizen? Do I believe that this Higher Power can keep me from drinking? Am I living one day at a time? Do I ask God to give me the power to stay sober for each twenty-four hours?

Do I attend AA meetings regularly?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that God’s presence brings peace and that peace, like a quiet-flowing river, will cleanse all irritants away. In these quiet times, God will teach me how to rest my nerves. I will not be afraid. I will learn how to relax. When I am relaxed, God’s strength will flow into me. I will be at peace.

Prayer for the Day

I pray for that peace which passes all understanding. I pray for that peace which the world can neither give nor take away.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan . 5, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

Reflection for the Day

“Vision is, I think, the ability to make good estimates,” wrote Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. “Some might feel this sort of striving to be heresy against ‘One Day at a Time.’ But that valuable principle really refers to our mental and emotional lives, and means chiefly that we are not foolishly to repine over the past nor wishfully daydream about the future.”

Can I believe that “A day has a hundred pockets when one has much to put in them …?”

Today I Pray

I pray that the bright colors of this day may not be blurred by muted vagaries of the future or dulled by storm-gray remnants from the past. I pray that my Higher Power will help me to choose my actions and concerns out of the wealth of busyness that each day offers.

Today I Will Remember

I will not lose for today,

If I choose for today.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 5, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

Living all the days of our lives, living them to their utmost; putting all our life into them; getting all the life that each day has to offer; this truly is living at its best, at its fullest.

Every day, then, will be fully lived – a grand succession of experiences both pleasant and unpleasant (for life is made up of both), and without the one the other would not be recognized or appreciated.

Live each day as though it were your last day on earth.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 5, 2023 – Rise ‘n shine for a terrific Thursday

 

Good morning and let’s make a serious effort to make today a productive and worthwhile Thursday without allowing people and things who offer nothing but bad from taking us down

Jan. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery; Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Seeking growth

We are where we are for a reason. As long as that reason remains, we remain where we are. If we aren’t where we think we should be, working the program will help us get to where our deepest self longs to be. This is growth.

And growth is work. We must be willing to do the simple things that our new understanding asks of us. We are never given more than we can handle, and the loving help we need along the way is always available. But we never get this help in advance, only as we need it.

Am I seeking growth?

Higher Power, help me want to grow and be willing to do the simple things, day by day, that add up to big changes.

I will seek growth today by…

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

” …(O)ur problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 7 (“Working With Others”), p 103.

Today, the fights have been many, the injuries deep and some scars permanent. Lies have been bountiful, hurt to myself and others indelible, and the fun ceased long ago if it ever was fun at all. Enough is enough. To continue as is, is a spiral downward into a pit from which there may be no escape; to change course now, hope prevails. Today is the day I begin to answer what exists in my emotional and spiritual psyche that is fueled by alcoholic drinking and thinking, and I have grown tired of “fighting anybody or anything.” My hope cannot be in my own will power; it is as mythical as the magical unicorn. Hope now falls on AA and my commitment to honestly and diligently working its Steps and Principles. There, I have no reason to fight anyone and anything – other than my own resistance to surrender completely. Today, enough is enough; I surrender. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Jan. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
Have I admitted I am an alcoholic? Have I swallowed my pride and admitted I was different from ordinary drinkers? Have I accepted the fact that I must spend the rest of my life without liquor? Have I any more reservations, any idea in the back of my mind that some day I’ll be able to drink safely? Am I absolutely honest with myself and with other people? Have I taken an inventory of myself and admitted the wrong I have done? Have I come clean with my friends?

Have I tried to make it up to them for the way I have treated them?

Meditation for the Day
I will believe that fundamentally all is well. Good things will happen to me. I believe that God cares for me and will provide for me. I will not try to plan ahead. I know that the way will unfold, step by step. I will leave tomorrow’s burden to God, because He is the great burden-bearer. He only expects me to carry my one-day’s share.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not try to carry the burden of the universe on my shoulders. I pray that I may be satisfied to do my share each day.

Hazelden Foundation