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

 

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Because thoughts come from the inside, and not from the outside, what we think determines what we see.

— Jane Nelsen

It’s difficult to remember that we are in charge of our thoughts and thus what we experience. But it’s also exciting to contemplate all the changes we can make by focusing on positive thoughts.

Perhaps we can try this together. Put this book aside for a moment and look closely at your surroundings. Think about how lucky you are to have a place to sit, a peaceful moment to contemplate your life. Think grateful thoughts about your friends and family. Notice how you feel when you have pleasant thoughts running through your mind.

Our lives are as fruitful, hopeful, and peaceful as we choose. The show that goes on in our minds and is acted out in our experiences has been produced and directed by us.

I am eager to experience my life today. Knowing that it will match my thoughts is exhilarating.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

Step by Step

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

Today, focus on making the faith I have been given as a gift of intelligence rather than an emotional one. As an alcoholic, my emotions are usually in excess — and anything in excess is risky, including faith if I ground it in emotion. By striving for an intelligent faith, I hope to remove the influence of my unsteady emotions — a faith in which I have unconditional trust in my Higher Power as opposed to one in which I let my feelings challenge His will. And with an intelligent faith rather than an emotional one, hopefully those things I cannot control can be more faithfully surrendered to my Higher Power and without me taking them back. Hopefully, then, I can take a step toward the goal of total faith, hope and charity — and a quality recovery. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
I can do things that I never did before. Liquor took away my initiative and my ambition. I couldn’t get up the steam to start anything. I let things slide. When I was drunk, I was too inert to even comb my hair. Now I can sit down and do something. I can write letters that need to be written. I can make telephone calls that should be made. I can work in my garden. I can pursue my hobbies. I have the urge to create something, that creative urge that was completely stifled by alcohol. I am free to achieve again.

Have I recovered my initiative?

Meditation for the Day
“In Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand are pleasures forever.” We cannot find true happiness by looking for it. Seeking pleasure does not bring happiness in the long run, only disillusionment. Do not seek to have this fullness of joy by seeking pleasure. It cannot be done that way. Happiness is a by-product of living the right kind of a life. True happiness comes as a result of living in all respects the way you believe God wants you to live, with regard to yourself and to other people.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not always seek pleasure as a goal. I pray that I may be content with the happiness that comes when I do the right thing.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

A Day at a Time

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

Reflection for the Day
We’re taught in The Program that debate has no place in meditation. In a quiet place and time of our own choosing, we simply dwell on spiritual matters to the best of our capability, seeking only to experience and learn. We strive for a state of being which, hopefully, deepens our conscious contact with God. We pray not for things, but essentially for knowledge and power.

If you knew what God wanted you to do, you would be happy. You are doing what God wants you to do, so be happy.

Today I Pray
May I find my own best way to God, my own best technique of meditation — whether I use the oriental mantra, substitute the name of Jesus Christ, or just allow the spirit of God, as I understand Him, to settle into me and give me peace. By whatever means I discover my God, may I learn to know Him well and feel His presence – not only at these quiet times, but in everything I do.

Today I Will Remember
Meditation is opening myself to the spirit of God.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

The Eye Opener

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

A large number of people come into AA antagonistic to Churches, yet most everyone recognizes the fact that Churches have a vital role to play in the development of civilization generally.

If religions are not what they ought to be, it is because we are not what we ought to be. The Church’s failure is man’s failure. Man is the culprit that relegated spirituality to second place behind creeds and dogmas.

Instead of Churches leading men, men are leading Churches.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 4, 2023 – Good morning to this splendid Saturday and weekend

 

Rise ‘n shine for a fantastic and paced but productive and worthwhile Saturday without the drama and trauma that we all deal with every day

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

 

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Know all and you will pardon all.

— Thomas à Kempis

We are quick to forgive our own transgressions because we know ourselves. We know our weaknesses, motivations, and the combination of influences that go into the decisions we make.

But we don’t know everything that prompts others’ attitudes and behaviors. We have no way of knowing if they are in physical pain, or if they have just suffered some emotional blow. We criticize many people without knowing anything about their experiences. If we were to know more about them, we might be more tolerant. God does know – and forgives everything. We can be forgiving also.

I will remember today that everyone is deserving of my forgiveness.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

Step by Step

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

“There is no more ‘aloneness,’ with that awful ache, so deep in the heart of every alcoholic that nothing, before, could ever reach it. That ache is gone and never need return again.
‘Now there is a sense of belonging, of being wanted and needed and loved. In return for a bottle and a hangover, we have been given the Keys of the Kingdom.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “Personal Stories, Pioneers of AA,” Ch 12 (“The Keys of the Kingdom”), p 312.

Today, no minimizing or taking for granted that we have been given “the keys of the kingdom” when we surrender in Step One and then proceed to the nuts and bolts of the Program. We also cannot take for granted that the keys given us can be taken away in a disastrous split second in which we cave into self-pity, anger, remorse or hopelessness and pick up the bottle again. If we do, perhaps the single most anguishing emotion of alcoholism — desperate loneliness — once again will engulf us and all that we have worked for will lay in ruins. But, today, we need not give into those temptations or our self-defeating character defects if we internalize the Steps and their Principles, and they can and will get us through any despair and over any mountain of any height. Today, I will not trade my “keys to the kingdom” for “just one more.” And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

I have charity, another word for love. That right kind of love which is not selfish passion but an unselfish, out-going desire to help other people. To do what is best for the other person, to put what is best for him or her above my own desires. To put God first, the other person second and myself last. Charity is gentle, kind, understanding, long-suffering and full of desire to serve. AA has given me this. What I do for myself is lost; what I do for others may be written somewhere in eternity.

Have I charity?

Meditation for the Day

“Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.” God has unlimited power. There is no limit to what His power can do in human hearts. But we must will to have God’s power and we must ask God for it. God’s power is blocked off from us by our indifference to it. We can go along our own selfish way without calling on God’s help and we get no power. But when we trust in God, we can will to have the power we need. When we sincerely ask God for it, we get it abundantly.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may will to have God’s power. I pray that I may keep praying for the strength I need.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

A Day at a Time

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

Reflection for the Day

The Program’s Twelve Steps comprise a body of living spiritual wisdom. To the degree that we continue to study The Steps and apply them to our daily lives, our knowledge and understanding expand without limitation. As we say in The Program,” It gets better …and better …and better.” The Eleventh Step speaks of prayer and meditation, urging us to apply our minds quietly to the contemplation of spiritual truth. By its nature, the Eleventh Step illuminates for us the purpose and value of the other Steps. As we seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, the remaining Steps become ever more useful in our new way of life.

Do I take the time each day to pray and meditate?

Today I Pray

May I seek — as the Eleventh Step says — to know God better through prayer and meditation, talking to and listening for God. As my life becomes more full of the realities of earth — and the goodness thereof – may I always keep aside a time for communion with God. May this communion define my life and give it purpose.

Today I Will Remember

Take time out for God.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

Our philosophy of living does not reach as far as immortality — it concerns itself with living this life one day at a time.

We do feel, however, that if we live this day to the best of our ability, endeavoring each day to improve over the preceding day, then when the time comes for us to consider immortality, we will be in a very favorable position, to say the least.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 3, 2023 – Good morning with hopes of a fabulous Friday for everyone

 

Good morning and let’s get out there and make it a productive and worthwhile Friday ….and do it without the garbage that’s strewn by people and things that don’t deserve our time

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

 

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Quiet Time

Each morning sees some task begun. Each evening sees it done. Something attempted, something done.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Every day for us is a period of spiritual growth. Restful sleep prepares us for fruitful days. As each day begins, a new adventure in growth lies ahead. We seek strength and an attitude of making our lives more meaningful and positive through prayer and meditation at the start of each new day during our quiet time. We prepare ourselves emotionally for the busy hours ahead.

With positive action planned ahead, we arise to a day dedicated to accomplishment. We know we have little time for standing and idly staring. We accept new challenges as we carry out each day’s plans. We encourage those around us to join us in seeking to see the best in everything that makes up our daily lives.

Restful sleep, meditation, planning, and turning it over starts my day with a quiet time and keeps it manageable.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

Step by Step

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023

” …(Y)ou are ready to take certain steps.
“At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 5 (“How It Works”), p 58.

Today, I stand on a precipice that appears uncertain and terrifying. Though I am uncertain where sobriety will take me, I know where I’m headed if I keep drinking. And, now, I must begin recovery. If I don’t, the certain terror of an alcoholic disintegration or death are all that await me. And as I set out on this journey of recovery, grant me the wisdom to yield to the experience of those who have already been where I am headed, and the humility to seek and do only the will of whatever Higher Power I find. Let me also understand completely and be willing and ready to accept whatever change comes about as I hopefully leave behind those days of drinking and take on whatever changes sobriety brings. Today, if I am setting out on the path toward recovery, let me know and appreciate how demanding it will be and that I must be “fearless and thorough from the very start.” Anything less is a prescription for certain relapse. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
I have faith. That thing that makes the world seem right. That thing that makes sense at last. That awareness of the Divine Principle in the universe which holds it all together and gives it unity and purpose and goodness and meaning. Life is no longer ashes in my mouth or bitter to the taste. It is all one glorious whole, because God is holding it together. Faith — that leap into the unknown, the venture into what lies beyond our ken, that which brings untold rewards of peace and serenity.

Have I faith?

Meditation for the Day
Keep yourself like an empty vessel for God to fill. Keep pouring out yourself to help others so that God can keep filling you up with His spirit. The more you give, the more you will have for yourself. God will see that you are kept filled as long as you are giving to others. But if you selfishly try to keep all for yourself, you are soon blocked off from God, your source of supply, and you will become stagnant. To be clear, a lake must have an inflow and an outflow.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may keep pouring out what I receive. I pray that I may keep the stream clear and flowing.

Hazelden Foundation