Oct. 26, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013

"Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." - Step Seven

Today, I cannot be too eager to release my shortcomings or character defects without first laying the foundation that is cemented in Steps Four, Five and Six. I cannot be honest about my defects without first taking the self-inventory of Step Four and then giving them voice by acknowledging them to myself, the God of my understanding and to another person as required in Step Five. And I certainly cannot ask for those defects to be removed if I am not willing to let them go, as mandated in Step Six. It has been heard in meetings that some people hold onto defects because they are not ready to let them go. But if those defects I cling to are a roadblock to the quality of recovery I seek, I have to be willing to release them. Today, I can "humbly ask Him to remove my shortcomings," but only after I have done the homework to let them go. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Oct. 26, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
Sixth, I have AA meetings to go to, thank God. Where would I go without them? Where would I be without them? Where would I find the sympathy, the understanding, the fellowship, the companionship? Nowhere else in the world. I have come home. I have found the place where I belong. I no longer wander alone over the face of the earth. I am at peace and at rest. What a great gift has been given me by AA! I do not deserve it. But it is nevertheless mine. I have a home at last. I am content.

Do I thank God every day for the AA fellowship?

Meditation for the Day
Walk all the way with another person and with God. Do not go part of the way and then stop. Do not push God so far into the background that He has no effect on your life. Walk all the way with Him. Make a good companion of God, by praying to Him often during the day. Do not let your contact with Him be broken for too long a period. Walk all the way with God and with other people, along the path of life, wherever it may lead you.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may walk in companionship with God along the way. I pray that I may keep my feet upon the path that leads upward.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 26, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013

Reflection for the Day
From time to time when I see the slogan "But for the Grace of God," I remember how I used to mouth those words when I saw others whose addictions had brought them to what I considered a "hopeless and helpless" state. The slogan had long been a cop-out for me, reinforcing my denial of my own addiction by enabling me to point to others seemingly worse off than I. "If I ever get like that, I'll quit," was my oft-repeated refrain. Today, instead, "But for the Grace of God" has become my prayer of thankfulness, reminding me to be grateful to my Higher Power for my recovery, my life and the way of life I've found in The Program.

Was anyone ever more "hopeless and helpless" than I?

Today I Pray
May I know that "but for the grace of God," I could be dead or insane by now, because there have been others who started on addictive paths when I did who are no longer here. May that same grace of God help those who are still caught in the downward spin, who are heading for disaster as sure as gravity.

Today I Will Remember
I Have seen God's amazing grace.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 26, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013

All men eventually die; it might be said that we live to die. The way we die is usually the way we live. Dying is the last thing we do on this earth, but certainly we do not live just to die. Living would not be worthwhile if that were so.

The only worthwhile purpose of living is that those whose lives we come in contact with will be enriched thereby. If you live so that others will live more abundantly, then you are performing the purpose of your little life.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 26, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Do not be afraid of the ego. It depends on your mind, and as you made it by believing in it, so you can dispel it by withdrawing belief from it.
 -- A Course in Miracles

Some of us are fond of saying "the devil made me do it" when we've done something we're not too proud of. We might as well say "the ego made me do it" because the ego is our own personal "devil."

Sometimes we like to claim that we weren't in complete control of our actions, that we were overcome by an irresistible urge. We can't, however, say that with a clear conscience. At one time in our addictive past, maybe, but not now. Now, we can be responsible. An urge can overcome us only to the extent that we let it - only as we give it the power of believing in it.

We have a choice. We can listen to the voice of our ego or the voice of God. How can we tell the difference? By how we feel. The ego's urgings always leave us with some misgivings. God's guidance assures us.

I choose to listen to the voice of assurance.

From the book:

In God's Care by Karen Casey

In God's Care by Karen Casey. © 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Friday, Oct. 25, 2013

"God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 9 ("The Family Afterward"), p 133.

Today, let me not be discouraged even in sobriety if the Program of AA is not complete enough to treat my physical, emotional or spiritual maladies. The Program was never intended to replace treatments that might be needed for those medical or psychological conditions that preceded alcoholism or developed in sobriety. If clinical depression or bipolar disorder have been ever-present shadows in my life, for example, I may need medication to stabilize those conditions, and I should not and cannot feel let down if AA does not treat such maladies. The Program was never intended to and, instead, is another facet of the multiple therapies that I might require. As the Program's Big Book points out, alcohol is but a symptom of our underlying problems. And if those problems should be a medical or psychological condition that warrants medical treatment, sobriety will be an elusive payoff if we treat only the symptoms and leave the conditions unattended. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Oct. 25, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Oct. 25, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
Fifth, I have learned to live one day at a time. I have finally realized the great fact that all I have is now. This sweeps away all vain regret and it makes my thoughts of the future free of fear. Now is mine. I can do what I want with it. I own it, for better or worse. What I do now, in this present moment, is what makes up my life. My whole life is only a succession of nows. I will take this moment, which has been given to me by the grace of God, and I will do something with it. What I do with each now, will make me or break me.

Am I living in the now?

Meditation for the Day
We should work at overcoming ourselves, our selfish desires and our self-centeredness. This can never be fully accomplished. We can never become entirely unselfish. But we can come to realize that we are not at the center of the universe and that everything does not revolve around us at the center. I am only one cell in a vast network of human cells. I can at least make the effort to conquer the self-life and seek daily to obtain more and more of this self-conquest. "He that overcomes himself is greater than he who conquers a city."

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strive to overcome my selfishness. I pray that I may achieve the right perspective of my position in the world.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, Oct. 25, 2013

Reflection for the Day
My addictions were like thieves in more ways than I can count. They robbed me not only of money, property and other material things, but of dignity and self-respect, while my family and friends suffered right along with me. My addictions also robbed me of the ability to treat myself properly, as God would treat me. Today, in total contrast, I'm capable of true love of self- to the extent that I'm able to provide myself with more love than even I need. So I give that love away to other people in The Program, just as they have given their love to me.

Do I thank God for bringing me to a Program in which sick people are loved back to health?

Today I Pray
Thanks be to God for a way of life which generates such love and caring that we in The Program can't help but learn to love ourselves. When I see that someone cares about me, I am more apt to be convinced that perhaps I am, after all, worth caring about. May I be conscious always of the love I am now able to give - and give it.

Today I Will Remember
Someone caring about me makes me feel worth caring about.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, Oct. 25, 2013

The greatest piece of self-deception on the part of the drinker is the actual belief that a drink will make him feel better. We got this illusion because alcohol in the blood stream and in the brain deadens the misery momentarily, but it also served to make us thirsty and so we continued the drinking and inevitably felt worse. Whiskey will pick you up a foot or so, but it drops you a hundred. What made you sick will never make you well.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 25, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Friday, Oct. 25, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

We're not given more than we can handle.

Sometimes I take on more than I can comfortably manage - that’s one of the ways in which my life becomes unmanageable. It happens when I'm operating according to self-will rather than the will of a Higher Power.

I believe that God does not expect more of me than I can produce, that along with the challenges and difficulties I encounter comes the strength I need to cope with them and learn from them. When chaos threatens, I'm either taking on more than I should, or I'm not using the resources available to me.

With recovery, we learn to arrange our priorities so that we do not get worn out with compulsive activity and busy-ness. Everything becomes more manageable when we're not trying to run the show by ourselves. Solid experience teaches us that support is always at hand, that our Higher Power comes through for us when we ask for help.

I will face today's tasks confident that I will be given the ability to accomplish my Higher Power's will for me.

From the book:

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L.

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L. © 1990 by Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2013 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013

"The alcoholic may say to himself in the most casual way, 'It won't burn me this time, so here's how!' Or perhaps he doesn't think at all. How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, 'For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?' Only to have that thought supplanted by, 'Well, I'll stop with the sixth drink.' Or, 'What's the use anyhow?'" - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 2 ("There Is a Solution"), p 24.

Today: what's the use anyhow? Most likely, there isn't any use if I cave into the myth that "just one" won't hurt. "Just one" triggers the craving that leads to "just two," then "just six" and, in the end, "What's the use anyhow?" So much for "just one." It's the one that sets off the craving, temptation or thirst for the "just two" or "just six." How, then, not to feed a craving, temptation or thirst? Simple! Don't drink the first one, and the Program has endowed us with the tools to steer clear of the mythical "just one." All we need do is pick up the tools and put them into action. Today, we have the power and choice to prevent that horrible conclusion of our drinking days: what's the use anyhow. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013

Oct. 24, 2013 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013

AA Thought for the Day
Fourth, I have turned to a Power greater than myself. Thank God, I am no longer at the center of the universe. All the world does not revolve around me any longer. I am only one among many. I have a Father in heaven and I am only one of His children and a small one at that. But I can depend on Him to show me what to do and to give me the strength to do it. I am on the Way and the whole power of the universe is behind me when I do the right thing. I do not have to depend entirely on myself any longer. With God, I can face anything.

Is my life in the hands of God?

Meditation for the Day
The grace of God is an assurance against all evil. It holds out security to the believing soul. The grace of God means safety in the midst of evil. You can be kept unspotted by the world through the power of His grace. You can have a new life of power. But only in close contact with the grace of God is its power realized. In order to realize it and benefit from it, you must have daily quiet communion with God, so that the power of His grace will come unhindered into your soul.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be kept from evil by the grace of God. I pray that henceforth I will try to keep myself more unspotted by the world.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2013 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013

Reflection for the Day
So many of us in the Program went through childhood - as well as part of our adult lives - emotionally shackled with the terrible burden called shyness. We found it difficult to walk into crowded rooms, to converse with even our friends, to make eye contact with anyone. The agonies we suffered! We learned in The Program that shyness is just another manifestation of self-centered fear, which is the root of all our character defects. Shyness, specifically, is fear of what others think or might think about us. To our enormous relief, our shyness gradually leaves us as we work The Program and interact with others.

Am I aware that I'm okay as long as I don't concentrate on me?

Today I Pray
God, may I be grateful that I am getting over my shyness, after years of pulling back from people, squirming, blushing, blurting out all the "wrong things" or saying nothing at all - then reliving the agonies and imagining what I should have said and done. May I know that it has taken a full-blown addiction and a lot of caring people to convince me that I'm okay - and you're okay, he's okay and so is she.

Today I Will Remember
A cure for shyness is caring about somebody else.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2013 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013

Resolutions, like clay pigeons, are made to be broken. They are nearly always made in sincerity, but the very act of making a resolution is a confession on the part of the maker of his inability to keep it otherwise. As resolutions are contrary to the subconscious wishes of the maker, they are almost surely doomed from the start.

If a person really wanted what he resolved, he would do it without the resolution, for we are prone to do those things that we really want to do.

Hazelden Foundation

Oct. 24, 2013 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

The evolution of human growth is an evolution from an absolute need to be loved towards a full readiness to give love.
 -- Dr. Karl Stern

As children, we looked to our parents for love, for clothes and food, for an indication of who we were. If our needs were met, we felt secure. As developing adults, we still seek love. We continue yearning for security and all too often our self-definition comes through someone else. But a healthy sign of our growth is revealed each time we extend love to another with no thought that love is owed us in return.

We can show our love in myriad ways - a genuine smile, a note of appreciation, an unexpected favor, perhaps flowers, or a phone call. Warmly giving another attention in any form is an act of love, one that will be repaid in full by someone, at some time.

The ease with which we genuinely love others is directly proportional to our commitment to loving as a priority in our lives. To love is a decision first, an action second, a value next.

From the book:

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey. © 1985 by Hazelden Foundation