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January 7

Step by Step

Today, I will invoke the Program’s oldest of mottoes and “Take It Easy.” If I am new to recovery, I will not become impatient and possibly disillusioned with the program if its promises are not soon enough for me. If I am well into recovery, I will not be overwhelmed by the responsibilities that sobriety requires and take each of those obligations in their proper priority and in the time they require. I will not push myself if I am not fast enough to get to the next task I want to achieve, and I will not expect too much of either myself or anyone else. Today, I will do what is expected of me by others and myself, but I will do it in the time required of the Higher Power. Adversely, I will not do anything today with the impatience that I wanted it done yesterday. To do that risks disillusionment with myself and the program, and recovery doesn’t allow for either. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

WANTING GOD

God becomes directly and actively concerned with us humans when we want Him enough.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

In writing about the Twelve Steps in the magazine Guideposts, Norman Vincent Peale stated, “Quite suddenly I saw that the power in (those steps) could be tapped by anyone wrestling with a power stronger than self. The Twelve Steps are a channel through which we can direct our appeal to the one Power that can lift the burden from us no matter what that burden is.”

The Twelve Steps can be successfully applied to solving problems caused by any obsession or dependency. Regardless of age, background, or any other difference among members, the Steps lead to admit-ting and accepting a need, finding a Higher Power, turning problems over to God as we understand Him, pinpointing defects of character, making amends, reducing our defects, and learning to find God’s will for us by prayer and meditation.

I am learning to let God further into my life.

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

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

~ Dalai Lama ~

The word compassion means literally to suffer with someone. We normally use the word more broadly to mean empathize, or feel, with a person. Moving out of the prison of our own self-centeredness, we grow in the ability to see the world through the eyes of others. We grow wiser and more effective in our own lives because we aren’t limited to one outlook. We learn to forgive ourselves and suddenly we are much freer with our forgiveness of others.

There is a generosity of spirit in compassion, and the most generous attitude comes when we can act compassionately with someone we don’t especially like. Even though we may not choose a particular guy to be our best friend, we can accept and honor the hard times he has had and we can put ourselves in his place to see what his challenges have been. Nothing is more admirable than a strong man acting generously and compassionately toward another human being.

Today I will strive to be generous with compassion and to see the world as someone else sees it.

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

We are giving birth to ourselves. Let’s be mid-wives to one another through this difficult, yet exhilarating, process.

~ Dudley Martineau ~

Helping each other survive the traumas of our lives strengthens us. We can’t be overwhelmed by any experience if we rely on each other for support as we walk through it. What lucky women we are.

Having the courage to take advantage of opportunities transforms us. Where do we want to take our lives? Who do we want to become? The decisions are many and exciting. The counsel of our friends can guide us, but which doors we open is up to us.

Most of us experienced the pain of our lives alone. Revealing to someone else what our lives were like was far too scary. How could they possibly like us or accept us if they knew who we really were? Now those days are gone forever. Our decision to get help, and thus give help, is giving every one of us the new life we deserve.

My rebirth gives me opportunities to share my good fortune with others. I will be attentive to everyone today.

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

I am letting go of old friends and making new ones

I didn’t want to give up my old using friends. Most every day we would show up at the same place to keep each other company and get high. We trusted each other. We understood each other like nobody else (except others with psychiatric illness).

I still miss the old crowd and sometimes I want to visit them. But I don’t. That would make it too easy to use again. I feel lonely at times, but I’m trying to let them go and slowly make new friends now—sober and stable ones. Given the way I used to live my life, that’s not easy. But there are a couple of people I can relate to these days. I will just have to give it some time.

I will pray for the willingness to make friends; I will pray for courage.

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

One way to become enthusiastic is to look for the plus sign. To make progress in any difficult situation, you have to start with what’s right about it and build on that.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

Beginning our days with a positive mental outlook is a great depression- chaser. Simply lifting our heads and looking up and out instead of down will make us feel better. Although we can’t spend all our time staring at the sty, we can train ourselves to look for the best in ourselves and others.

Even in the middle of difficulty or pain, we have choices. We can choose a gloom-and-doom attitude and endlessly replay the thoughts that accompany it. Or we can step back and find the one good thing. We may be blinded with pain. The situation may appear hopeless, utterly bleak. But recovery guarantees that we are equal to it, that in our pain there is at least one good thing.

We are the masters of our fate. We can change even the most difficult situations with an attitude of hope and positive expectation. Approaching each day with a hopeful heart will give us a different approach to our troubles.

Today help me find the one good thing. Help me let go of fear and negativity.

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

You have been under attack from the enemy, he has tried to steal your money, your marriage, your home, your children, your job, your peace, your joy, your love and today we declare “no more” and today we declare that we are on the road to recovery.

~ Doug Dickerson ~

The road of recovery offers some smoothly paved sur-faces, but often it has obstacles such as potholes and downed limbs. It is a bumpy, unpredictable path that can challenge your commitment and drain you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. At times you may feel your strength so depleted that you want to give up. And you may come across those who sense your near-defeat and tempt you to travel an easier route.

You have been down that road before! A road filled with those who wanted your companionship because you were as sick and wounded as they were. Those who said you did not have a problem.

Beware of those who will try to distract you. Know that there will be times when you move forward and times when you experience setbacks. The path that offers the greatest challenge is often the one leading you in the right direction.

The road to recovery will offer challenges to my strength. Today I accept these challenges and know that the more I work the program, the better I will become.

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

Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night.

~ Old proverb ~

Many of us believe prayer has to be scheduled—a once-in-the-morning and once-at-night routine. Yet few of us remember prayer is merely a conversation with our Higher Power. We can pray anytime and as often as we’d like.

Prayer in the morning is a wonderful way to open the day. Yet do we continue to keep the door open by renewing our conversation with our Higher Power? Do we turn to our Higher Power during times of stress, joy, sadness, or peace? We may be so busy in our daily tasks that we forget to keep that door open.

Tonight the door is still open. Our Higher Power is still there to listen. We can share our feelings of the day as though we were talking to a close friend. We don’t have to prostrate ourselves before our Higher Power. All we have to do is start talking. Then we can close the door with prayer, knowing we have with us the good, warm feelings that faith brings. And as we finally lay down to sleep tonight, we can say goodnight to our Higher Power and give thanks for the day.

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

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

Finding balance

Let’s not forget to play. Our new way of life is a serious matter, but it is not intended as a punishment; nor do we need to repent and suffer for the rest of our lives. Our new way of life is intended to produce growth.

But growth takes work. And work needs play for balance. If we forget to play and be joyful, our life will become imbalanced and we will suffer needlessly.

Have I found some balance in my life?

Higher Power, help me remember that all living things need balance: let me laugh, let me play, let me grow.

My plan for playing today is

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

Fortunately, time, rather than intelligence or study, eventually helps us see the other side of things.

~ ANNEMARIE COLBIN ~

Newcomer

I don’t think these meetings do enough. Some people come in with their health in terrible shape. Someone should be evaluating them! I think I should be getting vitamin B shots. I’m angry that such important things are being ignored.

Sponsor

You may very well need extra vitamins; nutrition sounds like something you might be ready to look into. You may want to see a doctor, a nutritionist, or both. I support you in your desire to get help with the ways you have neglected your health. And I understand that you feel angry at not being taken care of.

One reason that this program works for me is that it respects my decision to seek help, if and when I choose to, from the people and institutions I trust. It doesn’t get into the business of dispensing medical advice, diets, vitamins, or exercise plans, any more than it tells me where to pray, how to earn a living, or whom to vote for. The group doesn’t hire experts to come tell us how to run our lives, and we don’t have to be covered by insurance to come to a meeting. Each of us here is an expert on just one thing: our own experience of addiction and recovery. You might say that we’re specialists!

Today, I appreciate the gift of my experience.

I add one new thing to my knowledge of how to take care of my health—physical, mental, and spiritual.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

One day you were a weak, hopeless sot; then came a day when you were clear eyed and sober. You are certainly aware that you could not, of yourself, accomplish this miracle—for it was truly a miracle.
This did not happen because you were selected by wild chance. You were chosen because you possessed the qualities that made you suitable for the work the Higher Power needed done. To say that you lack the ability to “carry the message” is to question the wisdom of God.

There is work here that you were born to do.

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~ WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG BOOK ~ (Official & Unofficial Sloganeering From the 12 Step Programs) ~

1) Self-will run riot.

2) If you don’t want what we have, we will cheerfully refund your misery.

3) FEAR: Forget Everything And Run.

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

Prayer for the Hurried

Lord, slow me down.

Ease the pounding of my heart by quieting my mind. Steady my hurried pace. Give me, in the con fusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tension of my nerves and muscles. Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep.

Teach me to take minute vacations by slowing down to look at a flower or a cloud, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book. Remind me that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing speed.

Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

Lord, slow me down. Inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my great destiny.

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

YOUR LORD

A great deal of confusion seems to exist in many minds concerning the precise avenue through which realization and harmony are to be attained.

The only solution is to contact the divine Power that dwells within your own soul; and to bring it to bear upon the various difficulties in your life, taking them in due order, that is, attacking the most urgent first. The real remedy for every one of your difficulties is, as we are on every page of the bible, to find and know the Indwelling Presence.

Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee (Job 22:21)

This, then, is the task, and the only one—to find, and consciously know, your own Indwelling Lord. You see now how the confusion disappears, and the perfect simplicity of the whole thing emerges once you realize this fact.

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

Finally Made Something

What should it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?

~ Jesus Christ ~

As a boy, my idol was baseball star Mickey Mantle. Along with millions of other kids, I dreamed of playing centerfield for the Yankees, slamming home runs over the fence to the tune of a huge crowd’s roar of adoration, and winning the Most Valuable Player Award. Several years ago, I saw an interview with Mickey Mantle after he had come out of the Betty Ford Clinic. I was stunned to learn that my hero had succumbed to a long and grisly bout with alcoholism. The interviewer asked the former star, nearing death due to liver damage, “How would you like people to remember Mickey Mantle?”

With great humility, he answered, “I would like people to think that I finally made something of myself.”

Finally? I couldn’t believe my ears! If anybody had ever made anything of himself, I thought, it was Mickey Mantle, the most loved and respected athlete of an entire generation. The Mick was the king. Yet, through his eyes, all his stardom was for naught in the face of his losses to drink. To Mickey Mantle, overcoming his alcoholism was a far greater achievement than all the home runs he’d ever hit.

All worldly glory pales in comparison to spiritual awakening. Mickey Mantle mastered his lesson of a lifetime when he graduated from the Betty Ford Clinic. No matter what accolades we achieve in the outer world, it is our inner life we need to come to terms with. Although he had all the laurels a man could dream of, Mickey Mantle found peace only when he found himself.

Should you be tempted to trade inner peace for worldly glory, re–member the Mick. It’s what’s inside that counts.

Help me remember where my true peace lies.

I am a spiritual being. I nourish my spirit and I am fed.