[bluidkiti]

June 5

Wisdom for Today
As addicts and alcoholics, we are a people of excess. Much of how we have lived our lives has been in excess. I can remember kiddingly telling others that my drug of choice was, “MORE.” Recovery has a way of changing this kind of thinking. One of my favorite mottos in the program is, “Easy does it.” This tells us to do the best we can with what we have and not to get to bent out of shape over things that happen both within the program and outside of it. For many of us, we drank or used drugs to help us cope with a myriad of emotions. It did not take much to push our buttons, and we would go on an emotional tear. It did not matter if it was anger, guilt, sadness, or fear; each of these emotions and others we would experience in the extreme. This was not because the situation warranted it, but it was because we lived life in the extreme. Our personalities and character would multiply our emotions until we had to find a way to escape.
“Easy does it,” tells me that I need to learn patience, tolerance, understanding, delayed gratification, and wisdom. It teaches me to learn moderation in my response to life’s twists and turns. It teaches me to relax and to wait. It shows me the importance of slowing down enough to check things out with my Higher Power. It lets me know that I am not running the world and do not have to be responsible for more than God asks me to do. It teaches me that if I am going to live in a normal world as a normal person, I need to make adjustments in how I live and experience the world. Have I learned to take life on life’s terms and not let things go to extremes?
Meditations for the Heart
God is our refuge and our strength. Both of these qualities of God are important for addicts and alcoholics. Each of us needs a place of refuge. Many of us used to hide in the bottle or hide in the fog of drug abuse. But in recovery we find we do not so much need a place to hide as much as we need security. Addiction provides no safety, but the arms of our Higher Power wait to hold us in a place of deep security and safety. Here we can find a place to rest, reflect and meditate on His will for us. Here we also find His strength and are provided with His power - the power we all need to carry out His will for us. No bottle, pill, or fix ever provided this for us. But God grants this to us all freely. All we need do is accept the gift. To feel secure and strong was something I could not imagine when I was active in my addiction. In recovery I cannot imagine being without security and strength. Have I found refuge in my Higher Power’s arms?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Remind me to take a deep breath and slow down when I get caught up in the fast pace I am so easily attracted to. Teach me to take life in an easy manner and to seek refuge in your arms whenever I need to. Help me this day to live life fully and abundantly, but not in extreme. Let me feel the security and strength that You so freely provide.
Amen