[bluidkiti]

May 9

Step by Step

"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do ...We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." - Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition, 1976, Ch 6, p 85

Today, a cautionary tale against "rest(ing) on our laurels" and that staying sober is a day-to-day reprieve. Just as clear are the words that my reprieve is based on the "maintenance of (my) spiritual condition." "How can I best serve (my Higher Power) - Thy will (not mine) be done," is the cornerstone of our spiritual recovery. Neglect of that cornerstone will predictably erode the humility obtained when seeking and carrying out the will of our higher power and, with a weakened foundation or none at all, relapse is predictable. That we have only a day-to-day reprieve and the warning against "rest(ing) on our laurels" remind us that the number of 24 Hours we accumulate is no guarantee that we will add to it today. But, today, I am concerned not with how many 24 Hours I have been sober but with carrying out His will instead of mine. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M

**************************************************

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

TRUST

A person who doesn’t trust themselves can never trust others.

~ Anonymous ~

Our Fellowship provides a realistic opportunity to trust again. We learn to accept people for who they are. We do not place expectations on others. We discover our fellow travelers have had experiences similar to our own and that the issues they struggle with are issues we have in common. We learn not to wrap up all our hopes and dreams in another person. We reserve this relationship for our Higher Power.

Our recovery allows us to live in a world where people have flaws, where mistakes are made, where we might be let down and hurt. It is equally true, however, that we can find joy, companionship, and a warm fellowship if we allow ourselves to trust. We no longer demand that the world change so we can trust it.

First I learned to trust the Program. Now I’ve begun to trust myself and others again.

**************************************************

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

God as the ultimate mystery of being is beyond thinking.

~ Joseph Campbell ~

The child’s profound question “Where did I come from?” never really gets answered as long as we live. We learn to settle for things that point to an answer, for bits of evidence of partial answers. Holy scriptures tell us what inspired and wise people said over the millennia. But in the end, our thinking isn’t big enough to encompass or understand the ultimate mystery.

Yet it seems to be in the nature of our human race to think in spiritual terms and to embrace mystery. We are in awe when we see the vastness of the ocean, when we gaze across the vista from a mountainside, or when we look through a microscope at the inner workings of a cell. This feeling of awe and beauty, and the mystery it evokes, is the spiritual impulse. The mystery brought us here, and when we follow it, we can learn to trust it. It gives us our birthright to be here and it will care for us.

Today I am in the care of God, and I will accept the comfort of trusting God.

**************************************************

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

Control is an illusion. It doesn’t work.

~ Melody Beattie ~

We’ve probably spent years trying to control the actions and the opinions of others. With powerful determination, we harp, we nag, we get angry and spiteful. Seldom do we succeed in getting our way.

Perhaps there are times when controlling others is appropriate. For instance, keeping our children safe is necessary. But we can’t keep people from harm if they decide to take certain actions. The best we can hope for is that our suggestions help them control their impulses.

While controlling others is an illusion, controlling ourselves is not. We can and should be adamant about taking full responsibility for our every action, thought, dream, and plan. Our willingness to let others live their own lives will influence them in positive ways. That’s almost as good as control!

I will acknowledge how limited my power to control is. Today I’ll focus on my actions only.

**************************************************

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

I need to use my support network

I sit at home, watch TV, and eat. I can’t concentrate enough to read. And I can’t stop thinking. At night sometimes, I’m too agitated to sleep. When I wake up, I feel exhausted. I have little energy.

Those are the longest days and longest nights. And yet I know I don’t have to be alone or cope all by myself. If I work up the courage, I can go to a recovery meeting, talk with a friend on the phone, walk with a friend, or get hold of my sponsor or councillor. I know that when I spend time with others in recovery, it’s easier to spend time with myself.

Today I will contact two support people, one during the day and one in the evening.

*************************************************

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

You don’t live in a world all alone.
Your brothers are here, too....

~ Albert Schweitzer ~

Some days, we may be too shy to reach out to people. We’re not alone. Others may be shy, too. Often, we can get the help we need by offering it to another. When we can overcome our shyness enough to offer support to someone else, we feel better about ourselves and the world. Soon, we’ll find it easier to reach out to people, to begin a conversation or ask for help ourselves. Those efforts succeed far more often than they fail. We don’t have to let shyness keep us from people.

We discover that giving blesses the giver as much as the receiver. Our Higher Power always sees to it that we get what we need. All we need is to be open to that strength, and to the fact that God’s plan for us includes our sharing with others.

Today help me reach out to others and share of myself.

**************************************************

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

Attention is a tacit and continual compliment.

~ Anne-Sophie Swetchine ~

When soldiers are ordered to attention, they stand erect and completely still. Their eyes are focused ahead. They are silent. Their attention is completely centered on their leader so they can respond without hesitation to the commands they receive. When you listen to another, your focus needs to be like that of a soldier at attention. Your mind must be free from the clutter of your own thoughts so you can give full attentiveness to the words of another.

There may be times when you are thinking about other things or formulating your response—interfering with your ability to truly listen to others. Or there may be times when your own burdens are all you can handle. To listen to another is an effort you may not be able to make.

But do this often, and you may miss out on the opportunity for human connection to ease your loneliness or isolation. You may lose learning from another’s experience, which may be useful in your own life. And you may miss out on nuggets of wisdom that can ease some of the burdens you are carrying.

Today I will put aside my own thoughts and truly listen to the words of another. I will give my undivided attention so I can gain a different perspective and outlook.

**************************************************

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

How many times have we heard, "Why? I've given him the shirt off my back and now look what he has done to me," or "I've given him the best years of my life and look what I get in return." If we bestow a gift or favor and expect a return for it, it is not o gift but a trade.

~ Anonymous ~

It’s not easy to give to another with no thought of return. In the past we may have given to takers who drained us of money, food, and time. We may have felt we were supposed to give and give some more.

Then in the program we learned we could receive and didn't have to give all the time. We may have then become overly conscious of giving. We may have been so adamant about not being taken advantage of that we became afraid to give.

Through our growth in the program, we may find it easier to see the difference between a taker and a true friend. In so doing, we'll find we don't need to measure our giving. It will come back to us from those who are truly worth giving to.

I can give to the people I know won't hurt me or take advantage of me. I can trust them.

**************************************************

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

Knowing our limitations

If someone asks us for spiritual information or guidance, we must be sure we have spiritual information or guidance before trying to give it away. It’s an error to assume that just because we are clean and sober anything we suggest will be correct. There is no shame in saying, “I don’t know,” or suggesting another source of help. In fact, it’s a sign of humility.

It takes great courage to recognize and admit our limitations. When we ask for guidance in helping others, we might listen for that “still small voice within” to tell us whether to move forward or hold back.

Am I learning my limitations?

Higher Power, help me to be of real service to you and your children.

Today I will seek spiritual guidance in helping others by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

**************************************************

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

Falling in love with your doctor or nurse or a fellow patient is an old romantic story.

~ LIVING SOBER ~

Newcomer

A friend tells me that she’s been experiencing feelings of attraction toward her sponsor. I’ve heard that this happens, even though most sponsors and sponsees follow the suggestion not to work together if a potential for attraction exists. What should be done about it?

Sponsor

I’m glad that you trust me—and yourself—enough to discuss this sensitive issue.

In most sponsor-sponsee relationships, both participants share a lot about themselves and let themselves be seen as they really are. The mutual respect and caring that can result is a blessing. However, in such a close relationship, feelings, thoughts, and wishes occasionally come up in the form of an attraction. In my own role as a sponsor, I’ve learned that certain intense feelings a sponsee may express, whether of attraction or anger, don’t necessarily belong to me. This sort of emotional transference is common in therapy and other relationships in which the work is close and exposing.

Often, romantic feelings on the part of a sponsee pass quickly. Sometimes all that’s needed is to share them. In my own opinion, it’s good to give the problem some time— if it were to persist as a concern for either the sponsor or the sponsee, they’d want to reconsider the advisability of working together.

Today, I am grateful for boundaries, others’ and my own, that make the fellowship a safe place.

**************************************************

~ THE EYE OPENER ~

God has done some mighty fine work with what the world thought was very indifferent material. St. Paul and St. Augustine were two examples of men that God chose that no personal officer in the world today would have given the OK. AA is full of similar examples where God has chosen the godless and made him His instrument for the performance of good work.

The tremendous energy, zeal, initiative, enthusiasm, and ambition that were factors in our becoming alcoholics, now diverted to better use, make us well qualified to serve in God’s cause.

**************************************************

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

WHEN SEEKING GOD

If a person would find God, let that person humbly ask for a chance to believe; and meanwhile let him or her go personally, not by delegate, to a less fortunate brother, helping him in his need of body and soul.

When a person seeks God, he or she will presently find what is sought. For when a person can leave him−or herself and enter the lives of others, that person leaves his or her own heart open so that God may enter and dwell within.

*************************************************

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

PRAYER DOES CHANGE THINGS

Prayer does change things. Let us be perfectly clear about this. Prayer does change things. Many people say that prayer is a good thing because it gives us courage and fortitude for meeting our troubles. They say that prayer often gets a man out of difficulty simply by giving him self-confidence that he would otherwise have lacked. Of course, this is not spiritual Truth. The fact is that seeing the Presence of God where the trouble seems to be does not merely give us courage to meet the trouble; it changes the trouble into harmony.

Prayer heals the body by changing the tissues, and it does this by first changing the mind that forms them. Prayer brings man his salvation by changing his nature fundamentally; not by making the best of him as he is. The body, the environment, the universe itself, is plastic to our thought; and it always reflects our sincere belief.

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverb 23:7)

**************************************************

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

Truth and Greatness

If any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both.

~ Horace Mann ~

Years ago, I taught yoga in a local adult school. I enjoyed it so much that I decided I wanted to make it my profession. I launched a massive promotion campaign, calling and writing every health spa and adult school in the phone book. After great efforts, I manifested two contracts, one which was eventually canceled due to low enrollment, and the other in a health spa. Our class was located on the floor next to the exercisers who walked over the relaxing yogis and joked about us en route. I began to wonder if a publicity blitz was really the way to go. In the wake of my fruitless efforts, I decided to simply focus on the classes I was already teaching and give them 100 percent of what I had to give. As a result, word-of-mouth spread, and before long I had more invitations that I could accept.

Many of us have the cart before the horse when it comes to establishing a career. We believe that if our presentation is slick enough, we can wedge our foot in the doors we desire. But do you really want to be where you are valued for presentation alone? We earn our right place by giving quality service. Treat your customers like God, and God will provide for you like the heir to the kingdom that you are. Put aside your desire for fame, power, riches, and worldly success, and make it your first priority to give true caring to your clients. Deep in every customer's heart is the knowledge and appreciation of integrity. Quality is the best promotion.

Help me serve through being what I truly am. I put aside my illusions of grandeur and trust that if I am grand in love, I shall live in abundance and joy.

I give my best to life, and life gives its best to me.