Sept. 25, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Just for today, I accept MYSELF first in starting to change the things I know I can - and must. And to change myself so I can progress in recovery, I need the courage and brute honesty to see myself as I really am, not as I want to see myself but how others see me. If I can be strong and honest enough to see in myself what must go and what needs to be kept, I have to accept the good and bad before I know how to begin the work of moving forward to the promises of the Program. But, in all honesty, if the bad out-weighs the good, I can keep the good as a building block to tear away the bad. If, on the other hand, I accept myself with no improvements needed, I’ve lied to myself. Today, I pray to God for the serenity to change the things I can - me. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

Sept. 25, 2012 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

AA Thought for the Day
Let us consider the term “spiritual experience” as given in Appendix II of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous: “A spiritual experience is something that brings about a personality change. By surrendering our lives to God as we understand Him, we are changed. The nature of this change is evident in recovered alcoholics. This personality change is not necessarily in the nature of a sudden and spectacular upheaval. We do not need to acquire an immediate and overwhelming God-consciousness, followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook. In most cases, the change is gradual.”

Do I see a gradual and continuing change in myself?

Meditation for the Day
“Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” For rest from the care of life, you can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real relaxation and serenity come from a deep sense of the fundamental goodness of the universe. God’s everlasting arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes for your life. Be sure of God’s strength available to you, be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that true rest from God fills your being.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be conscious of God’s support today. I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 25, 2012 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Reflection for the Day
At the suggestion of a long-timer in The Program, I began taking “recovery inventories” periodically. The results showed me - clearly and unmistakably - that the promises of The Program have been true for me. I am not the sick person I was in years past; I am no longer bankrupt in all areas; I have a new life and a path to follow, and I’m at peace with myself most of the time. And that’s a far way from the time in my life when I dreaded facing each new day. Perhaps we should all write recovery inventories from time to time, showing how The Program is working for each of us.

Just for today, will I try to sow faith where there is fear?

Today I Pray
God, let me compare my new life with the old one - just to see how things have changed for me. May I make progress reports for myself now and then - and for those who are newer to The Program. May these reports be - hearteningly - about “what I am doing” rather than - smugly - about “what I have done.”

Today I Will Remember
Has The Program kept its promise? Have I kept mine?

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 25, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Everyone is potentially as good as God made him, and the reason that he does not show it is because he has buried the fact beneath a mountain of selfishness.

It has ever been man’s misdirected efforts to benefit himself and himself alone that have resulted in his greatest disservice to himself.

The closer man gets to himself, the further away he is from God and the world. The further he is away from God and the world, the further away he is from God’s blessings and the world’s happiness.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 25, 2012 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

We are Only Human

We can admit our limitations and defects.

When we admit the truth about our limitations and defects, we create fertile ground for new growth and change. But if we wallow in hopeless belief that our defects are just our true nature, we grow committed to them. That is the difference between powerlessness and helplessness. When we accept our powerlessness to control everything, we wake up to a deeper wisdom - that more willfulness only brings more defeat. Some of our needs can only be met and some growth can only happen when we receive a healing infusion of outside help.

But when we tenaciously refuse to accept our powerlessness, our dogged willfulness keeps us trying harder to do what we cannot do alone. Eventually that leads to resignation and helplessness. Our better choice is both painful and hopeful. We can admit our limitations and defects. Then we become receptive to help and acceptance from our mate, other people and from our Higher Power.

Tell your partner one of your defects that you are willing to give up.

From the book:

The More We Find In Each Other by Merle Fossum and Mavis Fossum

The More We Find in Each Other by Merle Fossum and Mavis Fossum. © 1992 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Sept. 24, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

“ …I was convinced that I was having a serious mental breakdown. I wanted help, and I tried to cooperate. As the treatment progressed, I began to get a picture of myself, of the temperament that had caused me so much trouble. I had been hypersensitive, shy, idealistic. My inability to accept the harsh realities of life had resulted in a disillusioned cynic, clothed in a protective armor against the world’s misunderstanding. That armor had turned into prison walls, locking me in loneliness - and fear. All I had left was an iron determination to live my own life in spite of the alien world - and here I was an inwardly frightened, outwardly defiant woman, who desperately needed a prop to keep going.
“Alcohol was that prop …” - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three, Ch 4 (“Women Suffer Too”), p 226.

Just for today, let me see with absolute honesty - for perhaps the first time - the temperament of my character that misguided me to make the choice to use alcohol as the prop to shield myself from “the world’s misunderstanding” and from all else I wanted to shut out. But in shutting out everything, I went to the only place left - within myself. And there lurked the isolation from anything good, and the loss of good leaves only the bad. My choice was to develop and nurture the bad - and it took me to the darkest places of my poisoned emotional and spiritual soul. Today, the temperament of my character can be tempered by the principles of the Program’s Twelve Steps: grant me courage and strength to emerge from the bad and look for the good. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

Sept. 24, 2012 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

AA Thought for the Day
Let us continue with Step Twelve. We must practice these principles in all our affairs. This part of the twelfth step must not be overlooked. It is the carrying on of the whole program. We do not just practice these principles in regard to our drinking problem. We practice them in all our affairs. We do not give one compartment of our lives to God and keep the other compartments to ourselves. We give our whole lives to God and we try to do His will in every respect. “Herein lies our growth, herein lies all the promise of the future, an ever-widening horizon.”

Do I carry the AA principles with me wherever I go?

Meditation for the Day
“Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” The words of eternal life are the words from God controlling your true being, controlling the real spiritual you. They are the words from God which are heard by you in your heart and mind when these are wide open to His spirit. These are the words of eternal life which express the true way you are to live. They say to you in the stillness of your heart and mind and soul: “Do this and live.”

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience. I pray that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 24, 2012 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

Reflection for the Day
“Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow. - Goethe

I ask myself sometimes, as we all do: “Who am I?” “Where am I?” “Where am I going?” “What’s it all about?” The learning and growing process is usually slow. But eventually our seeking always brings a finding. What seem like great mysteries often turn out to be enshrined in complete simplicity.

Have I accepted the fact that my willingness to grow is the essence of my spiritual development?

Today I Pray
God give me patience and the perseverence to keep on hoeing the long row, even when the end of it is out of sight. The principles of The Program are my almanac for growing, even more than for harvesting. The harvest will come, abundant enough to share, if I can stick to my garden-tending.

Today I Will Remember
Getting there, not being there.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 24, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

We are all serving a term here on earth, and it is a tough rap for we are not only serving a life term but we are condemned to death in the end. We can get some special privileges for good behavior, however, but even with this it would be a hopeless situation except for the hope held forth in the inspired Book of God.

Through this Book, we can look forward beyond this prison of Life and visualize the freedom that is beyond.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 24, 2012 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Now that I'm not acting crazy I can accept feeling crazy once in a while. -- Sandy B.

Saying no to ourselves may be a greater act of courage than rushing into a burning building to save a child. The act of heroic rescue may be impulsive, almost involuntary, and completed before there is time for a reasoned judgment. Ah, but the other one! To consciously challenge our own will is never a spontaneous thing. We may feel crazy the first day we deny ourselves the familiar comfort of nicotine or other substances. The first, or fifth, or twenty-fifth time we practice detachment may make us feel like we're coming apart. First efforts at taking responsibility for our own behavior can make us feel as peculiar and disjointed as if we'd decided to go through the rest of our lives walking on our hands instead of our feet.

But to be crazy is to keep on asking for what we don't want. If, for a while, sane action has to be accompanied by crazy feelings - then so be it. To accept that paradox and forge ahead anyway is to join the ranks of heroes who don't get medals. No medal can adequately symbolize those fierce and private battles.

Today, I ask my Higher Power for a surer sense of mission.

From the book:

Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty. © 1987, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.

Sept. 23, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

“For 18 years, from the age of 21 to 39, fear governed my life. By the time I was 30, I had found that alcohol dissolved fear. For a little while. In the end, I had two problems instead of one: fear and alcohol.” - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “Personal Stories,” Ch 9 (“The Man Who Mastered Fear”), p 275.

Just for today, neither fear nor alcohol will have mastery over me because I understand now that both are choices - and I choose not to devote any part of today to either. Whether fear came first and triggered my drinking or if my drinking plunged me into fear of virtually everything is of no consequence anymore. Like cancer, both feed each other, and my participation is required for the exchange to occur. Just as a toddler grows bored with crawling and pushes the challenge to stand on his own, so it is with me: I am tired and bored with my drinking fueling my fear and my fear pushing me to the bottle. The time has come to push the challenge to walk again on my own - in sobriety. AA is here to hold my hand. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

Sept. 23, 2012 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

AA Thought for the Day
Step Twelve is, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Note that the basis of our effectiveness in carrying the message to others is the reality of our own spiritual awakening. If we have not changed, we cannot be used to change others. To keep this program, we must pass it on to others. We cannot hoard it for ourselves. We may lose it unless we give it away. It cannot flow into us and stop; it must continue to flow into us as it flows out to others.

Am I always ready to give away what I have learned in AA?

Meditation for the Day
“Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you.” When you are faced with a problem beyond your strength, you must turn to God by an act of faith. It is that turning to God in each trying situation that you must cultivate. The turning may be one of glad thankfulness for God’s grace in your life. Or your appeal to God may be a prayerful claiming of His strength to face a situation and finding that you have it when the time comes. Not only the power to face trials, but also the comfort and joy of God’s nearness and companionship are yours for the asking.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer. I pray that I may feel His nearness and His strength in my life.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 23, 2012 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

Reflection for the Day
On studying the Twelve Steps, many of the first members of The Program exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.” “Do not be discouraged,” we’re told at meeting after meeting. “No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.”

Can I believe, in the words of Browning, that my business is not to remake myself, but to make the absolute best of what God made …?

Today I Pray
Even if I am an old hand at The Program, may I not forget that the Twelve Steps do not represent an achievement that can be checked off my “things-to-do” list. Instead, they are a striving for an ideal, a guide to getting there. May I keep my mind open to deepening interpretations of these principles.

Today I Will Remember
Progress rather than perfection.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 23, 2012 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

In Step Twelve, we learn that we should “try to carry this message to alcoholics” but only after we have “had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps.”

Notice, please, that it does not say that we have an “understanding,” but it says “spiritual awakening.” It takes no English scholar to know the meaning of every one of those two hundred words. A child of ten can grasp what the words actually say, but it is only when we have had this spiritual experience can we understand their full significance.

Only when we have this spiritual experience do we fully possess the Program, and unless we possess it, it is certain that we cannot give it away.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 23, 2012 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

All our loves are first loves. -- Susan Fromberg Schaeffer

When we fall in love with someone, it is a unique thing that comes from deep within us. Any relationship is the creation of two people who open themselves to each other and share themselves beyond the usual boundaries. That is the excitement of true love. Two people give each other the keys to their private world, just as we might share the key to our home, trusting that it will be used with care and respect. This intimacy isn't usually instantaneous. It builds on experience together.

In an intimate relationship, we have the responsibility to be good stewards of the trust given us. Looking at our partner's role is always so much easier than looking at our own, but we need to resist that easy temptation. Our first questions should always be - Do I make it safe for my partner to be open with me? Do I take my partner's vulnerability as a trust that I do not abuse? Am I gentle and respectful with the key my partner gave me?

Today I will be a good partner; honoring and guarding the trust I have been given.

From the book:

Wisdom to Know by Anonymous

Wisdom to Know © 2005 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.