Daily Recovery Readings - May

[bluidkiti]

May 22

Daily Reflections

STEP ONE

WE . . . (The first word of the First Step)
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21

When I was drinking all I could ever think about was "I, I, I,"
or "Me, Me, Me." Such painful obsessions of self, such soul
sickness, such spiritual selfishness bound me to the bottle for
more than half my life.
The journey to find God and to do His will one day at a time
began with the first word of the First Step . . . "We." There
was power in numbers, there was strength in numbers, there was
safety in numbers, and for an alcoholic like me, there was
life in numbers, If I had tried to recover alone I probably
would have died. With God and another alcoholic I have a
divine purpose in my life . . . I have become a channel for
God's healing love.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

What impresses us most at an A.A. meeting is the willingness
to share, without holding anything back. And pretty soon we
find ourselves sharing also. We start telling our own
experiences and by so doing we help the other person. And
when we've got these things off our chest, we feel a lot
better. It does us a lot of good to share with some other
poor unfortunate person who's in the same box that we were
in. And the more we share, the more we have left for ourselves.
Do I know that the more I share, the better chance I'll have
to stay sober?

Meditation For The Day

Constantly claim God's strength. Once convinced of the right
of a course of action, once reasonably sure of God's guidance,
claim that strength now. You can claim all the strength you
need to meet any situation. You can claim a new supply when
your own supply is exhausted. You have a right to claim it and
you should use your right. A beggar supplicates, a child
appropriates. When you supplicate, you are often kept waiting,
but when you appropriate God's strength in a good cause, you
have it at once.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may claim God's strength whenever I need it. I
pray that I may try to live as a child of God.

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As Bill Sees It

God-Given Instincts, p. 142

Creation gave us instincts for a purpose. Without them we wouldn't
be complete human beings. If men and women didn't exert
themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest
food or construct shelter, there would be no survival. If they didn't
reproduce, the earth wouldn't be populated. If there were no social
instinct, there would be no society.

Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed
their proper functions. Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they
drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives.

<< << << >> >> >>

We tried to shape a sane ideal for our future sex life. We subjected
each relation to this test: Was it selfish or not? We asked God to
mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. We remembered
always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore good,
neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed.

1. 12 & 12, p. 42
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 69

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Walk in Dry Places

Emotional sobriety may be elusive
Serenity
It is easy to know when one is maintaining sobriety as far as alcohol is concerned. Emotional sobriety is more difficult to measure, because is it usually gauged by our behavior and feelings in response to people and situations.
If we lack emotional sobriety, we are likely to end up in "dry drunks". This means we lose emotional control under pressure or when threatened. We may think we have this control, yet find ourselves falling apart when seemingly small problems come up.
Maybe we have to accept that we will never have all the emotional control that we admire in others. This emotional sensitivity may even be part of our alcoholism. Most important, we must ensure that emotional binges do not become binges involving real booze.
Nor should wed judge ourselves too harshly when we undergo another emotional binge, or "dry drunk." Such judgmental attitudes, even toward ourselves, may be a form of false pride.
Today I'll seek all the serenity I can find. If I lose my cool temporarily, I'll accept it as part of my general problem and get back to orderly thinking as quickly as possible.

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Keep It Simple

Showing up is 80 percent of life.---Woody Allen
Life is full of things we don't want to do. Yet when all parts of us( mind, body, spirit) show up, things go okay. By being there, we can learn about ourselves and help others.
Showing up means we care about our program. It means we speak up at meetings. It means we care about our family, our friends, the world. It means we listen when a friend has a bad day. It means seeing ourselves in others. It means we talk to someone who bothers us. Showing up means we laugh when something seems funny. It means we cry when we feel sad. We're important, and we need to bring our mind, body, and spirit with us---wherever we go. Have I learned to show up, all of me?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me show up for my life. Help me show up to do my part in Your plan today.
Today's Action: As I go through my day, I'll think about how I'm showing up for my life. I'll be proud of myself for doing my part.

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Each Day a New Beginning

The change of one simple behavior can affect other behaviors and thus change many things. --Jean Baer
Our behavior tells others and ourselves, who we are. Frequently, we find ourselves behaving in ways that keep us stuck or embarrass us. Or we may feel deep shame for our behavior in a certain instance. Our behavior will never totally please us. But deciding we want to change some behavior and using the program to help us, is a first step.
Remember, imperfections are human and very acceptable. However, changing a particular behavior, maybe deciding to take a walk every morning rather than sleeping 30 extra minutes, will change how we feel about ourselves. And a minor change such as this can have a remarkable effect on our outlook, our attitudes.
The dilemma for many of us for so long was the fear we couldn't change. But we can. And we can help each other change, too.
One small change today--a smile at the first person I meet--meditation before dinner--a few minutes of exercise--will help me chart a new course. I will encourage another woman to join me in this effort too, and I will be on my way.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

But it was not, for the frightful day came when I drank once more. The curve of my declining moral and bodily health fell off like a ski-jump. After a time I returned to the hospital. This was the finish, the curtain, it seemed to me. My weary and despairing wife was informed that it would all end with heart failure during delirium tremens, or I would soon have to give me over to the undertaker or the asylum.

p. 7

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Also of importance for most alcoholics are the questions they must ask about their behavior respecting financial and emotional security. In these areas fear, greed, possessiveness, and pride have too often done their worst. Surveying his business or employment record, almost any alcoholic can ask questions like these: In addition to my drinking problem, what character defects contributed to my financial instability? Did fear and inferiority about my fitness for my job destroy my confidence and fill me with conflict? Did I try to cover up those feelings of inadequacy by bluffing, cheating, lying, or evading responsibility? Or by griping that others failed to recognize my truly exceptional abilities? Did I overvalue myself and play the big shot? Did I have such unprincipled ambition that I double-crossed and undercut my associates? Was I extravagant? Did I recklessly borrow money, caring little whether it was repaid or not? Was I a pinch penny, refusing to support my family properly? Did I cut corners financially? What about the "quick money" deals, the stock market, and the races?

p. 51

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You don't stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because
you stopped laughing.
--unknown

God cannot help those who do not seize opportunities.
--Chinese Proverb

Help yourself and God will help you.
--Dutch Proverb

"No one grows old by living, only by losing interest in living."
--Marie Beynon Ray

"There is just one life for each of us: our own."
--Euripides

Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind
word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of
caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
--Leo Buscaglia

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

EARTH

"This could be such a beautiful world."
Rosalind Welcher

The beauty that I see in the world also reveals a sadness - a sadness in
knowing that it could be a much more loving and accepting place for
everybody. If only we would get together in our difference instead of
demanding sameness.

We destroy so much God--given beauty by our desire to control,
understand and arrogantly pursue a philosophy of selfishness - and we
all lose.

But my spiritual hope for tomorrow comes in the creative choices I
make today.

Let me be a good steward in Your world because it is Your gift to me.

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"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates
his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must
follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will
honor the one who serves me."
John 12:24-26

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Daily Inspiration

To be happy, we must live in the present. Living in the past often brings painful memories and living in the future can bring worry and fear. Lord, when my thoughts slip away, help me quickly return my attention to where I am at this moment.

God is always at work in your life. Notice His light on the events of your day. Lord, I sometimes look without really seeing. Help me to pause and notice.