Nov. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

He that to what he sees, adds observation, and to what he reads, reflection, is in the right road to knowledge.

— Charles Caleb Colton

We are not just feathers blown on the winds of a powerless life. We bring ourselves to our experiences. The dynamics of learning include, first, what happens – what we see or read or hear – and, second, what we make of it. So in our observations and reflections we consider what an event means to us.

As men in a spiritual program, we need some time to think and reflect. That is, we need time away from the phone, away from interruptions and work, where we can let ourselves learn and grow from our experiences. Some men get that by leaving the radio off while driving alone, others get it on the bus, others light a candle in a quiet room at home and meditate. In this way, we are conscious and aware of what is happening in our lives, and we bring our wisdom to it. Through time we deepen and grow stronger as we grow older rather than only accumulating more experiences.

Today, I will reflect on the meaning of my experiences and bring my wisdom to them.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

“There may be some wrongs we can never fully right. We don’t worry about them if we can honestly say to ourselves that we would right them if we could. Some people cannot be seen — we send them an honest letter. And there may be a valid reason for postponement in some cases. But we don’t delay if it can be avoided. We should be sensible, tactful, considerate and humble without being servile or scraping.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 6 (“Into Action”), p 83.

Today, I can’t take on guilt — or be guilted — if I, in absolute honesty, cannot make an amend to someone I have hurt if that amend further injures them or someone else. This is a vital qualifier of the Ninth Step — that we make amends directly “except when to do so would injure them or others.” But this isn’t an out from making amends or accepting responsibility for the hurt we inflicted. It is possible to postpone making an amend if an immediate one inflicts hurt. It is just as possible that I can never make amends to someone if that person cannot be found or is no longer available. In any case, if for no one other than myself, I can make “indirect” amends by admitting my wrong in writing, in a private journal even if no one else will read it. In doing that, I am at least giving voice to a silent wrong. The benefit could be that the guilt or fear of me being “caught” is powerless because I have admitted my wrong and taken responsibility. If today I take the Ninth Step, I must temper my “confession” with the qualification that an act of atonement now could do what the Ninth warns against — inflicting further hurt. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2023

Nov. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
The way of AA is the way of sobriety, fellowship, service and faith. Let us take up each one of these things and see if our feet are truly on the way. The first and greatest to us is sobriety. The others are built on sobriety as a foundation. We could not have the others if we did not have sobriety. We all come to AA to get sober, and we stay to help others get sober. We are looking for sobriety first, last and all the time. We cannot build any decent kind of a life unless we stay sober.

Am I on the AA way?

Meditation for the Day
To truly desire to do God’s will, therein lies happiness for a human being. We start out wanting our own way. We want our wills to be satisfied. We take and we do not give. Gradually we find that we are not happy when we are selfish, so we begin to make allowances for other peoples’ wills. But this again does not give us full happiness, and we begin to see that the only way to be truly happy is to try to do God’s will. In these times of meditation, we seek to get guidance so that we can find God’s will for us.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may subordinate my will to the will of God. I pray that I may be guided today to find His will for me.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery; A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

Reflection for the Day

The Program shows us how to transform the pipe-dream of our pasts into reality and a true sense of purpose, together with a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. It’s alright to keep our head in the clouds with Him, we’re taught, but our feet should remain firmly planted here on earth. Here’s where other people are; here’s where our work must be accomplished.

Do I see anything incompatible between spirituality and a useful life in the here and now?

Today I Pray

May my new “reality” include not only the nuts and bolts and pots and pans of daily living, but also my spiritual reality, my growing knowledge of the presence of God. May this new reality have room, too, for my dreams — not the drug-induced, mind-drifting fantasies of the past or the remnants of my delusions – but the products of a healthy imagination. May I respect these dreams, anchor them in earth’s possibilities and turn them into useful creativity.

Today I Will Remember

Heaven has a place in the here-and-now.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 27, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

Sorrow and happiness are mental states, but the effect they have upon our nervous system and our blood pressure is a recognized fact.

The “Atmosphere” of a hospital and its staff can lengthen or shorten the duration of an illness.

We alcoholics spent years driving nails into our coffins; let us spend today drawing those nails out.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 27, 2023 – Good morning to Monday and a brand new week

 

Good morning with confidence that we can handle whatever this Monday and new week have in store …have a truly great and worthwhile day, and don’t waste any of it on people and things that don’t deserve our time

Nov. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

I’m as pure as the driven slush.

— Tallulah Bankhead

The Steps are filled with words and phrases that help us be real with ourselves: shortcomings, exact nature of our wrongs, persons we had harmed, and when we were wrong. The Steps help us accept all parts of who we are.

Our program asks us to share these parts of ourselves with others. We heal by doing this. It’s hard to talk about how wrong we can be, but we must. It’s part of how we recover. Remember, all of us have bad points. At times, we all act like jerks. When we can talk about our mistakes, we end up having less shame inside of us.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me to love and accept myself as You love and accept me. Give me the courage to share all my secret wrongs.

Action for the Day

Today I’ll review my Fourth Step. If I haven’t done this Step, I’ll start today.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Ste

 

Step by Step

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023

“Helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn’t enough. You have to act the Good Samaritan every day, if need be. It may mean the loss of many nights’ sleep, great interference with your pleasures, interruptions to your business. It may mean sharing your money and your home, counseling frantic (spouses) and relatives, innumerable trips to police courts, sanitariums, hospitals, jails and asylums. Your telephone may jangle at any time of the day or night. …A drunk may smash the furniture in your home, or burn a mattress. You may have to fight with him if he is violent. Sometimes you will have to call a doctor and administer sedatives under his direction.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 7 (“Working With Others”), p 97.

Today, just as I was responsible for the consequences of my drinking, so I am responsible to sobriety and recovery. Both are a gift, and they require nurturing and work to grow. “(T)he foundation stone of …recovery” is helping others, that is, carrying the message to others who need and want it. But in our work, we must understand that we are also required to stress individual obligation to sobriety, that it is neither a right nor given without responsibility. The work of the truly effective and committed 12th-Stepper is seldom limited to just talking to someone who cries for help. But the work to carry the message and in the process holding onto it is nowhere near the work needed to get and stay drunk. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Nov. 26, 2023 = Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
Continuing our thoughts about the rewards that have come to us as a result of our new way of living, we have found we have got rid of many of our fears, resentments, inferiority complexes, negative points of view, self-centeredness, criticism of others, over-sensitiveness, inner conflicts, the habits of procrastination, undisciplined sex, wasting money, boredom, false perfectionism, jealousy and envy of others. We are glad to be rid of our drinking, and we are also very glad to be rid of these other things. We can now go forward in the new way of life, as shown us by AA.

Am I ready to go forward in the new life?

Meditation for the Day
“He that has eyes to see, let him see.” To the seeing eye, the world is good. Pray for a seeing eye, to see the purpose of God in everything good. Pray for enough faith to see God’s care in His dealings with you. Try to see how He has brought you safely through your past life so that now you can be of use in the world. With the eyes of faith, you can see God’s care and purpose everywhere.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have a seeing eye. I pray that with the eye of faith I may see God’s purpose everywhere.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023

Reflection for the Day
During our first days in The Program, we got rid of alcohol and pills. We had to get rid of our chemicals, for we knew they surely would have killed us. We got rid of the addictive substances, but we couldn’t get rid of our addictions until we took further actions. So we also had to learn to toss self-pity, self-justifications, self-righteousness and self-will straight out the window. We had to get off the rickety ladder that supposedly led to money, property and prestige. And we had to take personal responsibility. To gain enough humility and self-respect to stay alive at all, we had to give up our most valued possessions — our ambition and our pride.

Am I well rid of the weights and chains that once bound me?

Today I Pray
May I give credit to my Higher Power not only for removing my addiction, but for teaching me to remove my old demanding, pushy “self” from all my spiritual and earthly relationships. For all the things I have learned and unlearned, for my own faith and for the grace of God, I am fully and heartily thankful.

Today I Will Remember
Gratitude for the grace of God.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023

In our drinking days, fear of everything and everybody was our constant companion. These fears continued until we finally, in desperate necessity, found the courage to surrender — to quit unconditionally. Then we found AA and a ray of Hope. Hope became desire, desire became determination. With necessity as our charger and with determination as our lance, we were adequately armed to overcome our despair.

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 26, 2023 – Good morning and have a relaxing but productive Sunday

 

Good morning with determination to have a terrific and relaxing but productive Sunday and not be distracted by people and things that don’t deserve our attention and efforts

Nov. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The things we hate about ourselves aren’t more real than things we like about ourselves.

— Ellen Goodman

It is so easy, and tempting, to get down on ourselves, to focus on an imperfect face, a dismal batting average, our fear of math, or our big feet. The trouble is, the more we feel sorry for ourselves, the more we have to feel sorry about. And though it probably doesn’t hurt to indulge in a little self-pity once in a while, how unfortunate — and limiting — it can be to let those attitudes define us.

The things we hate about ourselves are no more real than the things we like about ourselves. The trick is to dwell on the things we like instead of those we don’t. Even on days when we are sure we are the least loveable creatures in the world, we can “act as if” we like ourselves. What a surprise at the end of the day, to find out that we actually do!

What can I like about myself today?

Hazelden Foundation

Nov. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023

Today, taught by tradition to be thankful, let me know that simply voicing gratitude is not sufficient and the measure and extent of gratitude are reflected in my actions. Today, then, let me not be content with merely saying I am grateful and show me how to express it in action and behavior, that is, to walk the walk while I talk the talk. If today someone for whom I say I am grateful is in need of my time or if I am called upon to make some sacrifice such as missing part of a football game or giving up the holiday dinner dessert, let me be willing to do so without reservation. We are called in the 12th Step to put our Program into action with service to others even if it might inconvenience us. If today I am called upon to do something that slows or impedes my schedule and I refuse the call, I will fail as an effective 12th-Stepper and, later, I will probably regret not answering the call. Today, let me express my gratitude in action. And, today, that I am clean and sober is literally everything. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Nov. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
I am not so envious of other people, nor am I so jealous of other people’s possessions and talents. When I was drinking, I was secretly full of jealousy and envy of those people who could drink normally, who had the love and respect of their families, who lived a normal life and were accepted as equals by their friends. I pretended to myself that I was as good as they were, but I knew it wasn’t so. Now I don’t have to be envious any more. I try not to want what I don’t deserve. I’m content with what I have earned by my efforts to live the right way. More power to those who have what I have not. At least, I’m trying.

Have I got rid of the poison of envy?

Meditation for the Day
“My soul is restless till it finds its rest in Thee.” A river flows on, until it loses itself in the sea. Our spirits long for rest in the Spirit of God. We yearn to realize a peace, a rest, a satisfaction that we have never found in the world or its pursuits. Some are not conscious of their need and shut the doors of their spirits against the spirit of God. They are unable to have true peace.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may feel the divine unrest. I pray that my soul may find its rest in God.

Hazelden Foundation