Daily Recovery Readings - May

[bluidkiti]

May 25

Daily Reflections

PROGRESSIVE GRATITUDE
Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 29

I am very grateful that my Higher Power has given me a second
chance to live a worthwhile life. Through Alcoholics Anonymous, I
have been restored to sanity. The promises are being fulfilled in my
life. I am grateful to be free from the slavery of alcohol. I am grateful
for peace of mind and the opportunity to grow, but my gratitude should go
forward rather than backward. I cannot stay sober on yesterday's
meetings or past Twelfth-Step calls; I need to put my gratitude into
action today. Our co-founder said our gratitude can best be shown by
carrying the message to others. Without action, my gratitude is just a
pleasant emotion. I need to put it into action by working Step Twelve,
by carrying the message and practicing the principles in all my affairs.
I am grateful for the chance to carry the message today!

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In twelfth-step work, the third thing is conviction. Prospects must be
convinced that they honestly want to stop drinking. They must see and
admit that their life is unmanageable. They must face the fact that
they must do something about their drinking. They must be absolutely
honest with themselves and face themselves as they really are. They
must be convinced that they must give up drinking and they must see
that their whole life depends on this conviction. Do I care enough
about other alcoholics to help them reach this conviction?

Meditation For The Day

There is no limit to what you can accomplish in helping others. Keep
that thought always. Never relinquish any work or give up the thought
of any accomplishment because it seems beyond your power. God will help
you in all good work. Only give it up if you feel that it's not God's will
for you. In helping others, think of the tiny seed under the dark, hard ground.
There is no certainty that, when it has forced its way up to the
surface, sunlight and warmth will greet it. Often a task seems beyond
your power, but there is no limit to what you can accomplish with
God's help.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may never become discouraged in helping others. I pray
that I may always rely on the power of God to help me.

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As Bill Sees It

To Take Responsibility, p. 145

Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and
brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a
moving and fascinating adventure.

But every A.A. has found that he can make little headway in this new
adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an
accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in
his wake.

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

The readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to
take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is
the very spirit of Step Nine.

12 & 12
1. p. 77
2. p. 87

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Walk in Dry Places

Forgetting past failures
Living today.
"You never do anything right!" Some of us carry this accusation deep in our minds, perhaps from childhood. We remember past mistakes and failures, sometimes dregging them up again when new failures occur.
When we do this, we unduly burden ourselves with a past that should be released and forgotten. The result of past mistakes was a feeling of inadequacy and helplessness that prolonged our sickness. IN those troubled days, we were trying to solve our problems inways that actually made the problems worse. On that path, there was no hope of a real solution.
Today our failure and mistakes are but signs that we are will human and still fall short of perfection. But now we can use failure to good advantage and even learn from it. Our best progress will come when we separate ourselves from the mistakes and failures of the past.
Today I will not believe that "I never did anything right!" I will go through the day knowing that I am capable and effective, and have the help of my higher power in everything I do.

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Keep It Simple

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me.---Virginia Satir
Let's keep this in mind: each of us is special in our own way. Often, we're hard on ourselves because we're different.
Our Twelve Step groups pull our differences together. We listen and learn from our differences.
We learn to see that each one of us is different---and this is important. Our program and the Steps stay alive for us, because each new person brings a different way of seeing things. Let's celebrate our differences instead of trying to be alike.
Prayer for the Day: Today, is a day to celebrate that, in all of the world, there is only one me. Thank-you, Higher Power, and help me see clearly how special I am.
Action for the Day: I'll make a list of what makes me special. I'll share this with a friend or my sponsor and my Higher Power.

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Each Day a New Beginning

One is happy as a result of one's own efforts, once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness--simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience. Happiness is no vague dream, of that I now feel certain. --George Sand
We are as happy as we make up our minds to be, so goes the saying. But happiness is the result of right actions. We prepare for it daily. We chart our course. Many of us have to first determine where we want to go before we can decide on the chart. We have perhaps passively floated along for years. But now the time is right to navigate, to move toward a goal.
We may have fears about moving ahead. We can be courageous, however. Strength is at hand, always, if we but ask for it. We can make a small beginning today. And every day, we can do at least one thing we need to do to bring us closer to our goal. Accomplishment, however small, nurtures good feelings. Happiness is the byproduct.
Today is wide open. I will decide on a course of action and move ahead. All around me help is available for the asking.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

Trembling, I stepped from the hospital a broken man. Fear sobered me for a bit. Then came the insidious insanity of that first drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I was off again. Everyone became resigned to the certainty that I would have to be shut up somewhere, or would stumble along to a miserable end. How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the forth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness as time passes.

p. 8

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

The most common symptoms of emotional insecurity are worry, anger, self-pity, and depression. These stem from causes which sometimes seem to be within us, and at other times to come from without. To take inventory in this respect we ought to consider carefully all personal relationships which bring continuous or recurring trouble. It should be remembered that this kind of insecurity may arise in any area where instincts are threatened. Questioning directed to this end might run like this: Looking at both past and present, what sex situations have caused me anxiety, bitterness, frustration, or depression? Appraising each situation fairly, can I see where I have been at fault? Did these perplexities beset me because of selfishness or unreasonable demands? Or, if my disturbance was seemingly caused by the behavior of others, why do I lack the ability to accept conditions I cannot change? These are the sort of fundamental inquiries that can disclose the source of my discomfort and indicate whether I may be able to alter my own conduct and so adjust myself serenely to self-discipline.

p. 52

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"I'd never trade my worst day sober for my best day drunk."
--unknown

"If you do what you have always done, you'll get what you've always
gotten."
--Anon

He who learns, teaches.
--African Proverb

"You must get good at one of two things: sowing in the spring or
begging in the fall."
--Jim Rohn

"Don't ever slam a door; you might want to go back."
--Don Herold

"We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege
and adventure to discover our own special light.
--Mary Dunbar

God bids me to do the right and loving thing.
--SweetyZee

" For every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness"
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

God knows our hearts and wants better for us than we can dream.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

VARIETY

"The growth of the human mind is
still high adventure, in many ways
the highest adventure on earth."
--Norman Cousins

Today my life is an adventure. I am prepared for the unusual; I expect
the confusion of life; I revel in God's reflected difference within
creation: variety and the acceptance of variety is part of my joy in
living.

God is to be found in the "odd" things in life: The dance, relationships,
Charlie Chaplin, jogging, the pet dog and the sincere hug. The
adventure we find in life reflects our adventure in God.

Spirituality is seeing beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary: "The
Kingdom of God is within".

May I always seek to find You in the smallest and strangest places.

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Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give
you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your
souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21

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Daily Inspiration

The best way to guide your own behavior is to make a commitment to always be a good example. Lord, may I be a reflection of Your love.

Should you find your energy lapsing, a sure remedy is to give someone a helping hand or a word of support and make their day. Lord, You are patient with me and loving. May I be the same with the people in my life.
Appreciate every moment of life because even in your darkest moment God is with you. Lord, I know that when things become too difficult for me, You will take my burden and carry me. I am not afraid.