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

 

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

I have discovered that while God would do for me what I could not do for myself, God would not do for me what I could do for myself.

— Mary Norton Gordon

There are some things God is always in charge of. One is outcomes. Another is the big picture encompassing our lives. Each experience is part of God’s design for us. On occasion, we may feel there is little for us to do, since God will handle it all. However, the truth is, our participation is necessary. Every day we have many opportunities to thoughtfully put one foot in front of the other. How lovingly, how gently, how honestly and openly we move through our lives — all these things color the experiences God has planned for us.

We may sometimes find ourselves sitting back, waiting for God to take charge, or aggressively trying to force an outcome that belongs only to God. But we are learning. With time in the program, we begin to realize what is God’s work and what is ours. Our sponsors, the women who share their experiences in meetings, prayer, and meditation enlighten us about how it works.

I am surrounded by women who can help me distinguish between my job and God’s job today. My confusion won’t trouble me for long.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

Step by Step

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023

“For me, AA is a synthesis of all the philosophy I’ve ever read, all of the positive, good philosophy, all of it based on love. I have seen that there is only one law, the law of love, and there are only two sins; the first is to interfere with the growth of another human being, and the second is to interfere with one’s own growth.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Lost Nearly All,” Ch 11 (“He Who Loses His Life”), p 542.

Today, how not to impede anyone’s growth — emotional and spiritual — including my own. If the traditional definition of philosophy as an ideal state of life is applied to recovery, then, no, the Program is not a philosophy. Rather, it is a discipline because recovery does not promise a rose garden but gives us the tools to effectively deal with the thorns in the rose bed of life. And discipline is required to stick to the Steps that help us to deal effectively with the thorns of life. How do I not impede anyone’s personal growth, including my own? Simple: look to Step 11 and seek my Higher Power’s will and the ability to carry it out. His will, not mine, be done. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
Am I critical of other members of AA or of new prospects? Do I ever say about other members: “I don’t think they’re sincere, I think they’re bluffing, or I think they’re taking a few drinks on the quiet?” Do I realize that my doubtful and skeptical attitude is hurting those members, if only in my attitude toward them, which they cannot help sensing? Do I say about new prospects: “They’ll never make the program,” or do I say: “They’ll only last a few months?”  If I take this attitude, I am unconsciously hurting those prospects’ chances.

Is my attitude always constructive and never destructive?

Meditation for the Day
To be attracted toward God and a better life, you must be spirit-guided. There is wonderful illumination of thought given to those who are spirit-guided. To those who are material-guided, there is nothing in God or a finer life to appeal to them or to attract them. But to those who are spirit-guided, there is strength and peace and calm to be found in communion with an Unseen Lord. To those who believe in this God, they cannot see but whose power they can feel, life has a meaning and purpose. They are children of the Unseen Lord, and all human beings are their brothers and sisters.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be spirit-guided. I pray that I may feel God’s presence and power in my life.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023

Reflection for the Day
We are powerless over our addictions; that admission brought us to The Program, where we learn through unconditional surrender that there is victory in defeat. After a time, we learn in Twelfth Step work that we’re not only powerless over our own addiction, but over the addictions of others. We cannot will another person to sobriety, for example, any more than we can hold back the sunset. We may minister to another person’s physical needs; we may share with him, pray with him and take him to meetings. But we cannot get inside his head and push some sort of magic button that will make him — or her — take the all-important First Step.

Do I still sometimes try to play God?

Today I Pray
May I understand my all-too-human need to be the boss, have the upper hand, be the final authority – even in the humbling business of my own addiction. May I see how easy it would be to become a big-shot Twelfth Stepper. May I also see that, no matter how much I care and want to help, I have no control over another’s addiction — any more than someone else has control over mine.

Today I Will Remember
I cannot engineer another’s sobriety.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 4, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023

You cannot sell a man a bill of goods without selling yourself. This is the experience of all those who speak at meetings or attempt to carry the message to other alcoholics.

Whether your talks help the other guy or not, you may never know. But your efforts have not been in vain for you will have undoubtedly helped yourself in the attempt.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 4, 2023 – Good morning and let’s make it a paced and productive Wednesday

 

Good morning and who better than Snoopy and Woodstock to set the tone for what’s going to be a marvelous Wednesday …have a worthwhile, paced and productive day, and don’t empower anything and anyone to screw it up

Oct. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The only sense that is common in the long run, is the sense of change — and we all instinctively avoid it.

— E. B. White

The mysteries of life unravel like threads, moment by moment, every day of our life. Each thread offers us knowledge and opportunity that our Higher Power knows we’re ready to handle. During our life we’ll experience at least a few dramatic changes at specific and meaningful junctures. These changes can deepen our understanding of our purpose.

It’s pretty difficult to continue clinging to old ideas in the face of contrary new information. We may fight a change, even a small one, because our ego is invested in how it was. But within our Twelve Step fellowship, we’re surrounded by people who exemplify the rewards of change. These men and women are grabbing the threads of new knowledge and special opportunities and weaving coats of many colors that will comfort them in the days ahead.

I will seize the threads of life today and trust in my Higher Power.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

” …I went to my first meeting. I was a very fortunate drunk. God has been good to me both in my drinking and in my sobriety. Because, thank God, since I came into this program, I haven’t had any trouble. Oh yes, I get the dry jitters once in a while, but that isn’t anything to worry about. It passes away. But I’ve never come close to that first drink. I took the advice of people I had heard at meetings, the people in the group. And I jumped in with both feet. Someone told me, ‘When you drank, you didn’t get half-drunk. You went all the way. In this program, there aren’t any halfway measures. In here, you must go all the way, too.’ So I attended as many meetings as possible.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Lost Nearly All,” Ch 8 (“Desperation Drinking”), p 516.

Today, “half measures availed us nothing.” Today, I will apply the full measures I exerted on drinking to get sober, and I will listen to the voices of experience and set aside the egoism that I think I know better than anyone else. And if a shot of the “dry jitters” creeps in, I have the Twelve Steps to fall back on and the promise that, “This, too, shall pass.” But I must first get to the point that enough is enough and, today, I give it up, facing that enough is enough. With that desire for something better, I have taken my first baby step. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Oct. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
How do I talk with new prospects? Am I always trying to dominate the conversation? Do I lay down the law and tell prospects what they will have to do? Do I judge them privately and feel that they have small chance of making the program? Do I belittle them to myself? Or am I willing to bare my soul so as to get them talking about themselves? And, then, am I willing to be a good listener, not interrupting, but feel deeply that they are my brothers or my sisters?

Will I do all I can to help them along the path to sobriety?

Meditation for the Day
“The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness shall be quietness and assurance forever.” Only when the soul attains this calm, can there be true spiritual work done, and mind and soul and body be strong to conquer and bear all things. Peace is the result of righteousness. There is no peace in wrong doing, but if we live the way God wants us to live, quietness and assurance follow. Assurance is that calmness born of a deep certainty of God’s strength available to us and in His power to love and guard us from all harm and wrong doing.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may attain a state of true calmness. I pray that I may live in quietness and peace.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

Reflection for the Day

I’ve learned in The Program that I’m wholly powerless over my addiction. At long last, I’ve conceded my powerlessness; as a result, my life has taken a 180-degree turn for the better. However, I do have a power, derived from God, to change my own life. I’ve learned that acceptance does not mean submission to an unpleasant or degrading situation. It means accepting the reality of the situation and then deciding what, if anything, I can and will do about it.

Have I stopped trying to control the uncontrollable? Am I gaining the courage to change the things I can?

Today I Pray

I ask my Higher Power for direction as I learn to sort out the things I can change from the things I can’t, for that sorting process does, indeed, require God-given wisdom. May “the things I cannot change” not give me an excuse for inaction. May “the things I can” not include managing other people’s lives. May I start to understand my own reality.

Today I Will Remember

Acceptance is not inaction. Change is not domination.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 3, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

Promises, vows, pledges, resolutions, doctors, preachers, priests, psychologists, psychiatrists, hospitals, judges, jails, jitter-joints, in fact everything, but nothing worked.

One day, by the Grace of God, we found ourselves sober, and there can be no denying that it was the Grace of God alone that caused it. That same Grace will remain with you as long as you honestly seek it, and you will find that it will prove more than sufficient.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 3, 2023 – Good morning and let’s make it a worthwhile Tuesday

 

Good morning with confidence that it’s going to be a fantastic Tuesday and that we don’t have to be bothered by people and things that aren’t worth our attention

Oct. 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Oct. 2, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Slogans

Live easy but think first.

—Anonymous

“Live and let live,” “Easy does it,” “But for the grace of God,” “Think, think, think,” and “First things first” are the five slogans we most often hear and see on the walls of our meeting rooms. The first word of each of these five slogans also creates a popular slogan: “Live easy but think first.”

Many newcomers hear that we begin recovery on the slogans and stay in recovery on the Twelve Steps. The slogans were developed for use in recovery from the experience of many others. They at first appear to us as too simple (and sometimes too corny) for our use. The slogans are anything but corny. We need to check if we are using them in our daily lives.

The slogans helped me when I first came in. I continue to use them to keep me on the program, but I also remember not to be a “slogan slinger” and ram them down everyone’s throat.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Monday, Oct. 2, 2023

“It would be wonderful were I able to tell you that my confidence in God and my application of the Twelve Steps to my daily living have utterly banished fear. This would not be the truth. The most accurate answer I can give you is this: Fear has never again ruled my life since that day …when I found that a Power greater than myself could not only restore me to sanity but could keep me both sober and sane. Never in 16 years have I dodged anything because I was afraid of it. I have faced life instead of running away from it.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three, Ch 9 (“The Man Who Mastered Fear”), pp 284-85.

Today: fear of what? Of the uncertain but predictable consequences of drinking? Of the untested and unfamiliar path of recovery? Of taking responsibility for the consequences of my actions when drunk, when sober? Of telling someone I’m sorry? Of admitting that I can’t do it alone anymore, that I need something higher and stronger than myself? Of the risk of opening myself knowing that once the heart is open nothing will ever be the same? Of facing fear? Of what fear will do to me? Today, if on nothing more than blind faith in something stronger and greater than myself, I confront my fears because I’ve empowered them for far too long. In facing them, God granting, may I have control of my fears — not the other way around. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Oct. 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Oct. 2, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

What makes an effective talk at an AA meeting? It is not a fine speech with fine choice of words and an impressive delivery. Often a few simple words direct from the heart are more effective than the most polished speech. There is always a temptation to speak beyond your own experience, in order to make a good impression. This is never effective. What does not come from the heart does not reach the heart. What comes from personal experience and a sincere desire to help the other person reaches the heart.

Do I speak for effect or with a deep desire to help?

Meditation for the Day

“Thy will be done” must be your oft-repeated prayer. And in the willing of God’s will there should be gladness. You should delight to do that will because when you do, all your life goes right and everything tends to work well for you in the long run. When you are honestly trying to do God’s will and humbly accepting the results, nothing can seriously hurt you. Those who accept the will of God in their life may not inherit the earth, but they will inherit real peace of mind.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have a yielded will. I pray that my will may be attuned to the will of God.

Hazelden Foundation