Nov. 1, 2023- Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

There’s always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong.

— H.L. Mencken

How can I recover from my addiction? What must I do to get well? These are the basic questions we ask ourselves as we struggle with our addiction.

The questions are obvious, once we have taken the time to really think about what is going on in our lives. And the answers are just as simple — stop acting out, keep working the program.

But it’s not enough just to come to meetings and put in time. Easy solutions may seem plausible, but just mouthing the words isn’t going to do the job. We have been sick people, very sick at times, and we are going to need to struggle sometimes to see things straight again, to get back on course. The route is charted by our program and we have good counselors and friends as guides. But when all is said and done, we have to make the choice to accept the answers and help that will bring us renewal and health.

I know the way forward to health isn’t easy, but I have confidence in myself and in the program. I will come through.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 1, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

Today, remembering that I worked the Steps as thoroughly as I could when I surrendered in Step One, I know I will have to rework them again if I choose to slip or relapse. Some of the Steps suggested to gain and maintain sobriety also require brute honesty — and seeing myself as I truly was is an experience I don’t want to repeat. Thus, the solution to avoid having to see myself again as I was is simple: don’t slip, don’t relapse. Sometimes easier said than done, but the 12 Steps give us the control not to bow to what we cannot control — alcohol. It is a fact that the sober alcoholic has another drunk inside but may not another recovery. Even if I have another recovery, I don’t want to go through the grueling experience of seeing myself as I might again become during a slip or relapse. And my insurance against having to go through that is the Program. Today, I’ll use it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Nov. 1, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
I have hope. That magic thing that I had lost or misplaced. The future looks dark no more. I do not even look at it, except when necessary to make plans. I try to let the future take care of itself. The future will be made up of todays and todays, stretching out as short as now and as long as eternity. Hope is justified by many right nows, by the rightness of the present. Nothing can happen to me that God does not will for me. I can hope for the best, as long as I have what I have and it is good.

Have I hope?

Meditation for the Day
Faith is the messenger that bears your prayers to God. Prayer can be like incense, rising ever higher and higher. The prayer of faith is the prayer of trust that feels the presence of God which it rises to meet. It can be sure of some response from God. We can say a prayer of thanks to God every day for His grace, which has kept us on the right way and allowed us to start living the good life. So we should pray to God with faith and trust and gratitude.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may feel sure of some response to my prayers. I pray that I may be content with whatever form that response takes.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 1, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

Reflection for the Day
Those whom I most respect in The Program – and, in turn, those from whom I’ve learned the most — seem convinced that pride is, as one person put it, the “root-sin.” In moral theology, pride is the first of the seven deadly sins. It is also considered the most serious, standing apart from the rest by virtue of its unique quality. Pride gets right into our spiritual victories. It insinuates itself into all our successes and accomplishments, even when we attribute them to God.

Do I struggle against pride by working the Tenth Step regularly, facing myself freshly and making things right where they’ve gone wrong?

Today I Pray
May I be on guard constantly against the sneakiness of pride, which can creep into every achievement, every triumph, every reciprocated affection. May I know that whenever things are going well for me, my pride will be on the spot, ready to take credit. May I watch for it.

Today I Will Remember
Put pride in its place.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 1, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

If life is only a preparation for something yet to come, as many believe, then the manner of our living will determine the success or failure in this preparation. It would naturally follow, therefore, that a man could not live a devil and die a saint.

We do not feel that we are qualified to evaluate the worth of deathbed repentance, but this we do feel — if you live right, deathbed repentance would hardly seem necessary.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 1, 2023 – Good morning and let’s kick it in gear for a fabulous Wednesday and new month

 

Good morning with hopes of a great Wednesday and brand new month for everyone …and without the negativity of people and things that don’t warrant our time

Oct. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Reflection for the Day

An entire philosophy of life is condensed in the slogan “Live and let live.” First, we’re urged to live fully, richly, and happily — to fulfill our destiny with the joy that comes from doing well whatever we do. Then comes a more difficult challenge: let live. This means accepting the right of every other person to live as they wish, without criticism or judgment from us. The slogan rules out contempt for those who don’t think as we do. It also warns against resentments, reminding us not to interpret other people’s actions as intentional injuries to us.

Am I becoming less tempted to involve my mind with thoughts of how others act or live?

Today I Pray

May I live my life to the fullest, understanding that pure pleasure seeking is not pleasure finding, but that my Higher Power’s goodness is here to be shared. May I partake of it. May I learn not to take over the responsibility for another’s adult decisions; that is my old controlling self trying, just one more time, to be the executive director of other people’s lives.

Today I Will Remember

Live and let live.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

“I spend a great deal of time passing on what I learned to others who want and need it badly. I do it for four reasons:
1. Sense of duty.
2. It is a pleasure.
3. Because in so doing I am paying my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me.
4. Because every time I do it I take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip.” -- Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “Personal Stories, Pioneers of AA”, Ch 1 (“Doctor Bob’s Nightmare”), pp 180-81.

Today, admitting that my motive to quit drinking was self-serving and hardly altruistic, I require myself now to be responsible to my sobriety. That responsibility is no clearer in any other than the 12th Step, the one that gives us our marching orders to carry the message to people who need and want it. The gift of sobriety that we have earned through blood, sweat and tears brings with it a responsibility, and we appreciate and treasure that gift when we share it with someone else, and when it works as well for them. As a drinking alcoholic, I blamed my problems on anyone and anything but myself, and it overwhelmed me. Sober now, I share it and, hopefully, sobriety will become even stronger. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Oct. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
I have more peace and contentment. Life has fallen into place. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have found their correct position. Life is whole, all of one piece. I am not cast hither and yon on every wind of circumstance or fancy. I am no longer a dry leaf cast up and away by the breeze. I have found my place of rest, my place where I belong. I am content. I do not vainly wish for things I cannot have. I have “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.”

Have I found contentment in AA?

Meditation for the Day
In all of us there is an inner consciousness that tells of God, an inner voice that speaks to our hearts. It is a voice that speaks to us intimately, personally, in a time of quiet meditation. It is like a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We can reach out into the darkness and figuratively touch the hand of God. As the Big Book puts it: “Deep down in every man, woman and child is the fundamental idea of God. We can find the Great Reality deep down within us. And when we find it, it changes our whole attitude toward life.”

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may follow the leading of the inner voice. I pray that I may not turn a deaf ear to the urging of my conscience.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

Reflection for the Day
If I’m to continue growing in The Program, I must literally “get wise to myself.” I must remember that for most of my life I’ve been terribly self-deceived. The sin of pride has been at the root of most of my self-deception, usually masquerading under the guise of some virtue. I must work continually to uncover pride in all its subtle forms, lest it stop me in my tracks and push me backward once again to the brink of disaster.

When it comes to pride, do I believe, in Emerson’s words, that “it is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself …?”

Today I Pray
May I know that button-popping pride is inappropriate for me as a recovering addict. It hides my faults from me. It turns people off and gets in the way of my helping others. It halts my progress because it makes me think I’ve done enough self-searching and I’m “cured.” I pray to my Higher Power that I may be realistic enough to accept my success in The Program without giving in to pride.

Today I Will Remember
Pride halts progress.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 31, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

The Founders of AA acted wisely when they fixed it so there would be no Big Shots in our fellowship. We are not the best people in the world when it comes to bearing heavy responsibilities. It has proven to be poison to many a good man.

After all, it is not necessary for your fame to spread around the world — there are more drunks on your own street than you can help.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 31, 2023 – Good morning and usher the month out by having a grand Tuesday

 

Rise ‘n shine for a terrific Tuesday and last day of October, and allow nothing and no one to stand in the way of a productive and worthwhile day

Oct. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Oct. 30, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

There Is More

My recovery was not a linear journey. I was first introduced to recovery in the late nineties, when I was active duty in the military. Almost two years ago, just before the pandemic, I got sick of waking up and not feeling happy. All I could think was, There has to be more to life than this. And drinking just wasn’t it. It wasn’t fun anymore.

To paraphrase a term I’ve heard in the rooms of AA, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. There was an overwhelming feeling. There has to be more to life than this.

In time, I took the leap. I became willing to seek recovery for myself. Thankfully, this time around, I stuck with it.

There is more to life when we choose recovery.

— Jen O., U.S. Army, 1995–2019

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Monday, Oct. 30, 2023

“Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks — drinking which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change, there is very little hope of his recovery.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “The Doctor’s Opinion,” pp xxvi-vii.

Today, so much for “the effect” of alcohol as I grew progressively drunker. Instead, let me never forget the morning after with its consequences, none of which I care to be responsible for anymore. If I can remember the morning-after costs and that they were my “bottom,” may they be potent enough to remove any desire to drink again because, should I drink again, there likely will be a deeper bottom — if I survive. I abused that “firm resolution” not to drink again and again when I was hung over, or standing in front of a judge with my latest DUI or after I broke every promise I’d made to family and friends. A “firm resolution” was so easy then. It can be easier now but only if I apply it to being sober — if I remember the consequence instead of “the effect.” Today, I don’t need or want to remember the effect: the consequences are enough. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Oct. 30, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Oct. 30, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

I have real friends, where I had none before. My drinking companions could hardly be called my real friends though, when drunk, we seemed to have the closest kind of friendship. My idea of friendship has changed. Friends are no longer people whom I can use for my own pleasure or profit. Friends are now people who understand me and I them, whom I can help and who can help me to live a better life. I have learned not to hold back and wait for friends to come to me, but to go halfway and to be met halfway, openly and freely.

Does friendship have a new meaning for me now?

Meditation for the Day

There is a time for everything. We should learn to wait patiently until the right time comes. Easy does it. We waste our energies in trying to get things before we are ready to have them, before we have earned the right to receive them. A great lesson we have to learn is how to wait with patience. We can believe that all our life is a preparation for something better to come when we have earned the right to it. We can believe that God has a plan for our lives and that this plan will work out in the fullness of time.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may learn the lesson of waiting patiently. I pray that I may not expect things until I have earned the right to have them.

Hazelden Foundation