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

 

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Happiness

If it is happiness you want, change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect your feet with shoes than to carpet the whole earth.

— Anonymous

“Happiness” is one of the three spiritual characteristics that the program tells us God wants for us. The other two are “joyous” and “free.” In our study of what comes to us during our recovery, we read often about the treasured state of being happy. Someone wrote that we “have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.”

We in the program are not selfish with the happiness we gain through our own efforts and through the sharing of our fellow members. We hope that all around us can be as happy as our program has made us. A happy state of mind is contagious. Happiness breeds satisfaction — with ourselves, our fellow travelers, and life as a whole. It is difficult to be successful without finding happiness.

I accept happiness as a gift and thank my Higher Power for it.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 26, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

“When I try to reconstruct what my life was ‘before,’ I see a coin with two faces. “One, the side I turned to myself and the world, was respectable …The other side …was sinister, baffling. I was inwardly unhappy most of the time. There would be times when the life of respectability and achievement seemed insufferably dull — I had to break out. This I would do by going completely ‘bohemian’ for a night, getting drunk and rolling home with the dawn. Next day remorse would be on me like a tiger. I’d claw my way back to ‘respectability’ and stay there — until the inevitable next time.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Stopped in Time,” Ch 16 (“Me an Alcoholic?”), p 432. 

Today, faith and security in recovery to know that there does not have to be “the inevitable next time.” Recovery encourages us to live in the solution of sobriety and not in the problem of alcoholism, and I am in the latter if my focus is on fighting off “the inevitable next time.” The threat of a “next time” is weakened if I practice with diligence and integrity the Program’s Steps and Principles and accept intuitively that drinking, for me, is a choice and that I will be held responsible to the consequences of that choice. Today, “the inevitable next time” may be less so if I stick to the Program and the understanding that I have a choice and the choice I make will have consequences. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

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

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

I am glad to be a part of AA, of that great fellowship that is spreading over the United States and all over the world. I am only one of the many AA’s, but I am one. I am grateful to be living at this time, when I can help AA to grow, when it needs me to put my shoulder to the wheel and help keep the movement going. I am glad to be able to be useful, to have a reason for living, a purpose in life. I want to lose my life in this great cause and so find it again.

Am I grateful to be an AA?

Meditation for the Day

These meditations can teach us how to relax. We can be of service to other people in a small way, at least. And we can be happy while doing it. We should not worry too much about people we cannot help. We can make it a habit to leave the outcome of the things we do to the Higher Power. We can go along through life doing the best we can, but without a feeling of urgency or strain. We can enjoy all the good things and the beauty of life, but at the same time depend deeply on God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may give my life to this worthwhile cause. I pray that I may enjoy the satisfaction that comes from good work well done.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

A Day at a Time

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

Reflection for the Day

None of us can claim to know God in all His fullness. None of us can really claim to understand our Higher Power to any extent. But this I do know: there is a Power beyond my human will which can do wonderful, loving things for me that I can’t do for myself. I see this glorious power at work in my own being, and I see the miraculous results of this same power in the lives of thousands upon thousands of other recovering people who are my friends in The Program.

Do I need the grace of God and the loving understanding of my friends in The Program any less now than when I began my recovery?

Today I Pray

May I never forget that my spiritual needs are as great today as they were when I came into The Program. It is so easy to look at others, newer to the recovery process, and regard them as the needy ones. As I think of myself as increasingly independent, may I never overlook my dependence on my Higher Power.

Today I Will Remember

I will never outgrow my need for God.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

The Eye Opener

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

As we alcoholics are selfish by nature, it is but right and proper that we should be more severe in our judgments of ourselves than of others. As we are our own best friend or our worst enemy, depending upon our treatment of ourselves, and as we are the one person in the world from whom we cannot escape, it is therefore essential that we do not allow ourselves to get away with anything in our treatment of ourselves. When we forgive ourselves, we are rationalizing. But to forgive others is divine.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 26, 2023 – Good morning and welcome to another fantastical Tuesday

 

Good morning and here’s a cute little puppy sitting on a whicker chair that apparently rolls to get your Tuesday off to a great start ….give the day your best effort, and don’t waste that effort on people and things that aren’t worthy of it

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

 

Monday, Dec. 25, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

When a person is concerned only with giving, there is no anxiety.

— Gerald Jampolsky

Whatever we give away returns to us, many-fold. When we show love or understanding, when we are gentle or express genuine concern, usually the same will come right back to us. Perhaps not in kind, maybe not in ways we expected, nevertheless our gifts bear fruit.

Many of us have longed for love and security to come from others with a promise of forever; inevitably, we became anxious that, in time, that love or security would disappear. When we view life from such a narrow perspective, no amount of love can bolster our sense of worth.

How different the world looks when we unselfishly give out love rather than longingly await the love, attention, or understanding of others. We guarantee receiving the good feelings we crave every time we share those feelings with a fellow traveler.

I am in charge of what I receive from others today. I will get back what I willingly give.

Hazelden Foundation

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

 

Step by Step

Monday, Dec. 25, 2023

“If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.

Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 4 (“We Agnostics”), pp 44-5.

Today, let me not blame my alcoholism on some moral failure or a philosophy that did not apply to me and, instead, take it for what it is — a physical, emotional, and spiritual disease of my character. While I should not and cannot be blamed for becoming alcoholic, I can and should be responsible for my recovery. To that end, I must completely accept the First Step of absolute powerlessness over alcohol and, then, at least come to believe in something — a Power greater and stronger than myself. But if I still grapple with this concept, perhaps my power can be my own experience of predictable behavior and outcomes, most of which carried increasingly severe consequences. Today, I am an alcoholic not because of a moral or philosophical failure on my part but because of a disease of my body and spirit. It cannot be cured, but it can be arrested. The Program’s first two Steps are my beginning. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

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

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Monday, Dec. 25, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

Many alcoholics will be saying today: “This is a good Christmas for me.” They will be looking back over past Christmases which were not like this one. They will be thanking God for their sobriety and their new found life. They will be thinking about how their lives were changed when they came into AA. They will be thinking that perhaps God let them live through all the hazards of their drinking careers, when they were perhaps often close to death, in order that they might be used by Him in the great work of AA.

Is this a happy Christmas for me?

Meditation for the Day

The kingdom of heaven is also for the lowly, the sinners, the repentant. “And they presented unto him gifts — gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Bring your gifts of gold — your money and material possessions. Bring your frankincense — the consecration of your life to a worthy cause. Bring your myrrh — your sympathy and understanding and help. Lay them all at the feet of God and let Him have full use of them.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be truly thankful on this Christmas Day. I pray that I may bring my gifts and lay them on the altar.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Monday, Dec. 25, 2023

Reflection for the Day

Today is a special day in more ways than one. It’s a day that God has made, and I’m alive in God’s world. I know that all things in my life this day are an expression of God’s love — the fact that I’m alive, that I’m recovering and that I’m able to feel the way I feel at this very instant. For me, this will be a day of gratitude.

Am I deeply thankful for being a part of this special day, and for all my blessings?

Today I Pray

On this day of remembering God’s gift, may I understand that giving and receiving are the same. Each is part of each. If I give, I receive the happiness of giving. If I receive, I give someone else that same happiness of giving. I pray that I may give my self — my love and my strengths — generously. May I also receive graciously the love and strengths of others’ selves. May God be our example.

Today I Will Remember

The magnitude of God’s giving.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 25, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Monday, Dec. 25, 2023

At some time in your AA experience, you will be called upon to make a talk before the Group. When that time comes, remember that you are talking for the new man out in front. You definitely are not talking just to demonstrate your wisdom and your oratorical ability. Above all, you don’t exaggerate your story nor make statements that are manifestly untrue. It has been done and the effectiveness of the talk destroyed. Keep in mind that the man out in front is an alcoholic and he can spot a phony afar off.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 25, 2023 – Good morning to a truly magnificent Monday and Christmas Day

 

Good morning with sincere wishes of a truly magnificent Monday and Christmas Day for everyone …and if anyone you don’t care about plunks coal in your holiday stocking, throw it back at ’em

Dec. 24, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023

Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

To understand all this a little better, it might help to look at someone who is quite the opposite.

—Benjamin Hoff

We addicts are a rigid, stubborn bunch. We often get something in our heads, and it seems to push all the questions out. Recovery suggests that we work to develop an open mind that wonders, questions, and is willing to cast doubts, even on our own motives.

One of the gifts of going to meetings is hearing the opinions of people whose thinking is directly opposite of ours. How often it happens that the person we see as having nothing to offer us ends up teaching us the most. This is the way of openness. Openness asks that we welcome the truth no matter who the messenger is. Openness is also an admission that we are incomplete and we need the new ideas, opinions, and suggestions of others.

Prayer for the Day

Openness allows me to hear the truth. Higher Power, you are the truth. Help me keep listening for your messages and guidance as they come to me through others.

Today’s Action

Today I will write down three times that my closed mind has gotten me struck or in trouble.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 24, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023

Today, Christmas Eve, I have no need, desire or excuse to partake of the holiday’s liquid cheer because I am here despite or in spite of it all, and my choice today is to safeguard or begin my recovery. If I still have family and friends to be with this holiday season, I will not sabotage it by drinking. If I am alone, it is because I have allowed it and shut out the support of family and friends, meeting houses, others in recovery or those who need help getting there. Today is not a day for selfishness, and I will not empower it with self-pity, anger, mourning and regret if they are what my drinking spawned. Instead, I will be grateful that I simply am and have the potential to recover, grow in it and, in some way, regain what I lost and keep what I haven’t lost. Today, I haven’t got time for the bittersweet of the season, only the promise of the sweet. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2023

Dec. 24, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023

AA Thought for the Day

We have been given a new life just because we happened to become alcoholics. We certainly don’t deserve the new life that has been given us. There is little in our past to warrant the life we have now. Many people live good lives from their youth on, not getting into serious trouble, being well adjusted to life, and yet they have not found all that we drunks have found. We had the good fortune to find Alcoholics Anonymous and with it a new life. We are among the lucky few in the world who have learned a new way to live.

Am I deeply grateful for the new life that I have learned in AA?

Meditation for the Day

A deep gratitude to the Higher Power for all the blessings which we have and which we don’t deserve has come to us. We thank God and mean it. Then comes service to other people, out of gratitude for what we have received. This entails some sacrifice of ourselves and our own affairs. But we are glad to do it. Gratitude, service and then sacrifice are the steps that lead to good AA work. They open the door to a new life for us.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may gladly serve others out of deep gratitude for what I have received. I pray that I may keep a deep sense of obligation.

Hazelden Foundation