[bluidkiti]

May 21

Step by Step

Today, if I get frustrated or overwhelmed by the responsibilities with which sobriety has entrusted me, I will slow down to remember gratitude and humility, if for no other reason than I once could not be trusted with the responsibilities that I have being sober. Sobriety and recovery have given me a purpose and sense of inclusion that drinking took from me. But although sober and (hopefully) getting better emotionally and spiritually day by day, I must guard against a reckless or stupid moment in which what I have gained is destroyed - by me. Today, even if the candle burns at both ends, I will be grateful that my candle even has a flame. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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~ EASY DOES IT ~ (A Book of Daily 12 Step Meditations) ~

JEALOUSY

The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.

~ William Penn ~

The disappearance of jealously is a wonder to behold in the life of a recovering person. The world before our Program was a world of want for us. We never seemed to have enough of anything. Nothing was ever quite right. There was a constant sense of an incomplete world and that life wasn’t fair.

What was so painful for us was our wicked jealousy of those who seemed to have what we wanted. This created deep resentments.

Now life is different for us. We have more than we can ever use because the supply is limitless. What we desire now can’t be measured. It’s there for the taking. And it has nothing to do with what we wanted before. Our spiritual awakening has revealed a world of abundance and fulfillment.

The Program has given me what I need. I am no longer jealous of what others have.

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~ WISDOM TO KNOW ~ (More Daily Meditations For Men) ~

A man does not seek to see himself in running water, but in still water. For only what is itself still can impart stillness to others.

~ Chuang-tse ~

Our own reactivity has often escalated a problem rather than helped to resolve it. But we can learn to be less reactive. All of us have a range of responses. At our worst we may lash out in abusive anger. At our best we try to be tolerant and understanding. When we are exhausted or depleted in other ways, we are more prone to react from our worst self. And our harsh reaction only makes a crisis worse.

We can change our pattern of reactivity and give our best response by developing an inner calm. Then we always have access to our better self, and we are less prone to take things personally. That doesn’t mean we are always placid or passive, because sometimes our best self needs to rise up and say no! When we are calm, we can respond most effectively, either with open tolerance or with a “no” if it is called for.

Today I will maintain an inner calm as I deal with the issues that arise.

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~ A WOMAN’S SPIRIT ~ (More Meditations For Women) ~

My sense of balance depends on my sense of humor.

~ Joan Malerba-Foran ~

We’re surrounded by situations worth laughing over. Being human means making mistakes, and many of them are humorous. Being able to laugh at ourselves isn’t all that easy, however. If we grew up in rigid, shaming, or abusive families, we may feel inadequate and ashamed when we make a blunder.

Hearing our recovering friends laugh at themselves is wonderful training for us. We learn by their example that a good laugh takes the sting out of chaos. That, in turn, offers a balance to our lives. Without some levity, we can get far too serious and let every obstacle become more than it needs to be.

Laughter not only gives balance to our lives but also is healing, some believe physically as well as emotionally. One thing is certain: few experiences appear too bleak if observed through smiling eyes.

I will be willing to chuckle many times today, and I’ll go to bed much happier.

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~ TODAY I WILL DO ONE THING ~ (Daily Readings for Awareness and Hope) ~

The Twelve Steps are important to me

Soon after I left home, I stopped going to church. With mental and chemical illness in my family−and little spiritual foundation of my own−I soon felt lost and alone in the world. Eventually I became addicted and emotionally ill.

But in dual recovery, once again I have a spiritual guide, the Twelve Steps. They are simple, affirming, and practical. They ask only that I seek sobriety and stability. And yet I find that the more I embrace the Steps and a sober, spiritual life, the more I get out of them. Had I not found them, I might have lost my life altogether. I am deeply grateful for these Steps.

At my meeting I will show how the Steps have begun to restore my life, spiritually and emotionally.

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~ BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT ~ (Inspiration and Support for Recovery) ~

How poor are they that have not patience!
What wound did ever heal but by degrees?

~ William Shakespeare ~

Do we often begin the day worrying about all that has to be done? Even feeling unable to act because there’s too much to do? When this happens, we are usually taking on too much. We are loading down the present with worry about the future, and trying to do everything at once. We are forgetting about patience.

We have only one moment to live and that moment is now. We cannot sustain life by taking tomorrow’s breath today, and we can’t make ourselves happy in this moment by trying to settle the next day’s problems.

When we take on too much, we can ask for help. This skill is a new freedom in our recovery. It’s a way of accepting our limitations. Taking a single action toward our goal, we are doing what we can today, and we can let go of tomorrow. We can be calm, patient, and more serene. No worry over the future is worth sacrificing today’s serenity. Today’s serenity and today’s careful action will bring us just what we need tomorrow.

The rewards are a newfound patience with ourselves, the help of others who care, and a new life of patience and tolerance.

Today let me slow down and do what needs to be done each moment.

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~ MORNING LIGHT ~ (Meditations to Begin Your Day) ~

If you let yourself be absorbed completely, if you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.

~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~

When you were a child, you wanted the days to rush by to get to a birthday, holiday, or school vacation. Each day seemed to pass so slowly. When you were older, you looked forward with eagerness to getting your driver’s license, going off to college, or getting your first job. At times, it may have seemed the future would never come.

When you were older still, you may have looked for-ward to your wedding, to the birth of your first child, to buying your first home, or to a longed-for promotion. To achieve those things, you may have spent most of your present time planning for the future.

It is not always easy to live by the slogan “One day at a time.” It becomes doubly hard to stay focused on the present when you feel all you have to look forward to is another day without your addiction. Living one day at a time is, perhaps, one of the hardest things you face in recovery. But within each day lies hope. To live each day, each minute, and each second means to be ever hopeful for a better tomorrow.

All I have is today. I will appreciate each moment of it.

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~ NIGHT LIGHT ~ (A Book Of Nighttime Meditations) ~

She looked around and found there were no monsters, only shifting shadows from the play of moonlight through the trees outside the window.

~ Lisa Alther ~

How often have we heard a child's bedtime fears are the result of an overactive imagination? Our own imagination can run wild at night, to such an extent that our reality becomes distorted. We begin to imagine things that are not real.

If someone doesn't say hello to us, we may think that person hates us. An unreturned telephone call could signal that another has stopped being our friend. Instead of seeing what really exists, we let our imagination take over. Minor inconveniences become major catastrophes; small sounds become amplified into "things that go bump in the night."

Tonight is as real as today. There is nothing to fear except the thoughts in our own minds. And we can chase those away by remembering to look at things the way they really are, not as we imagine them to be.

Tonight I can use my mind to see clearly. Darkness cannot cloud my thoughts.

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~ DAY BY DAY ~ (Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts) ~

Passing it on

Before we can help others, we must first help ourselves. If we acknowledge our chemical dependency problems and seek to change, we are growing. In growing, we have something to offer others.

As those before us have helped us grow, we in turn, can help others grow. We can pass it on.

Am I growing and passing it on?

Higher Power, help me realize that as I grow through your love, others grow through my love for them.

Today I will share my love and growth with

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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~ IF YOU WANT WHAT WE HAVE ~ (Sponsorship Meditations) ~

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in the world.

~ HELEN KELLER ~

Newcomer

I’m feeling discouraged. I’ve always had health problems—backaches, allergies, and other physical problems. I’ve tried various remedies, taken vitamins on and off, and seen different kinds of practitioners. And, of course, I go to meetings. Sometimes I feel better for a few days; then suddenly things get worse. I’m miserable again today.

Sponsor

Our bodies have a way of getting our attention. There's an old story that asks, “How do you get a donkey to walk up a hill?” The answer is that first you hit him on the head with a two-by-four; then, when you’ve gotten his attention, you whisper in his ear—that way, you can get him to start walking up the hill. I think that we’re sometimes a bit like don-keys, and that bodily pain is the two-by-four that finally gets our attention and gets us moving. From what you’re telling me, I’d guess that something is wrong and is calling out for you to take an action.

It sounds as if up to now you’ve been trying a little of this and a little of that, taking half measures. That didn’t work when you were active in your addiction; you had to overhaul your life and make a wholehearted commitment to recovery. Why should this be different? It may be time for you to look for a physician you’re willing to trust, get a thorough checkup, and follow every one of his or her suggestions.

Recovery was the beginning of healing in your life. Having addressed your addiction and made some progress, you no longer find it acceptable to walk around in constant discomfort. That’s a positive change.

Today, I am willing to pay attention to my body and to take whatever steps are needed for healing.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

If we deny the fatherhood of God and our divine relationship to Him and each other, then we are but animated pieces of clay, each one independent of and unconnected with each other. If that be so, then we are foolish to love and labor for others. But are love and charity nonsense? Would life be a pleasant and interesting experience without them? No, if we removed these characteristics from our lives we would be left with only that which the baser animals possess.

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~ The 12 STEP PRAYER BOOK ~ (A Collection of Favorite 12 Step Prayers and Inspirational Readings) ~

THE MORNING LIGHT

Lord of the night,
Be with me through the hours of darkness,
Let all my questions,
Problems, decisions,
Be enveloped in sleep
That through the mystery
Of the sleeping mind
The difficulties of this day
Will be seen to be easier
In the morning light.
Into Your hands, O Lord,
I commit my spirit.

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~ AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX ~ (A Book of Daily Readings) ~

FROM WITHIN OUT

But thou, when you prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which in secret; and thy Father which seethin secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matthew 6:6−7)

The sixth chapter of Matthew presents the doctrine of the Secret Place and its importance as the controlling center of the “Kingdom.” It is the essential factor of the teaching of Jesus Christ. You are a king, Jesus says, the ruler of your own kingdom. When you know the truth of being, you are the absolute monarch of your own life.

It is very significant that Jesus should call your consciousness the Secret Place. It is obvious that nothing has any real significance but a change of policy in the Secret Place.

A distinguished Quaker some years ago said: “In my youth we discontinued the distinctive Quaker costume and certain other usages because we realized that people who were far from really caring for our Quaker ideals were joining us, nevertheless, for the sake of the educational facilities they could obtain so inexpensively for their children, as well as other advantages of our membership. It was so easy to style oneself a ‘Friend,’ to purchase and wear a coat without buttons or collar, and to interlard the conversation with a grammatical peculiarity, while leaving the character completely untouched. It is so easy to buy and wear ceremonial garments, to repeat set prayers by rote at certain times, to use stereotyped forms of devotion, to attend religious services at prescribed periods−and to leave the heart unchanged.”

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~ A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE ~ (365 Daily Inspirations for Heart-Centered Living) ~

Hang in There

If well thou has begun, go on foreright; it is the end that crowns us, not the fight.

~ Robert Herrik ~

I was inspired to establish a weekly community dinner at which spiritually oriented friends could get together for fellowship. I set the date to begin, invited my friends, cleaned the house, and baked an eggplant Parmigiana dinner as my offering to the potluck. When the appointed time arrived, no one had shown up. “Maybe they are fashionably late,” I reasoned, and waited. Half an hour later, there were still no guests, so I sat down to begin the dinner myself. Another half-hour went by, and there I sat with my eggplant and no guests. I felt very disappointed and wondered if I had made a mistake with the project.

I persevered and went on with the plan the next week, and two people joined me. The following week, we had half a dozen. Within a few months, the community dinner was booming, and the house was bursting at the seams with guests. We went on to share creative meals, music, and presentations for over five wonderful years. After I moved from the area, the program was carried on at various homes, and it became a source of support and friendship for many people. Looking back on my first night romancing the eggplant, I realized how foolish I was to judge the value or success of my project based upon the initial response. The idea was an excellent one; it just took a little time to get rolling.

If you have a good idea, don’t give up on it because your initial returns are not what you expected. Hang in there, hold the vision, keep the faith, and before long you may find your house bursting at the seams with success.

Help me be true to my visions, even when the outer world does not seem to support them. I know that the inspirations You give me are good and must succeed.

Steadfast I march on, secure. With God I am never alone.