[bluidkiti]

January 6

Step by Step

Today, I cannot take for granted the vital lifeline that the support of an AA home group and other program members are in my own recovery. As such, I need to determine that I am attending enough meetings to bolster my recovery or, if I am limited by whatever restraints to make the meetings, that I have a strong enough social network through the program to carry me through. Working toward any goal, and maybe especially so if the goal is sobriety, can be more difficult if I am working alone. That difficulty is weakened when I have the support of others working toward the same goal but, in the process, I need to be willing to be honest in sharing my own history, what I have gained in the program and on which steps I need more work. Today, I need not be in self-imposed isolation, even in recovery, and I have to recognize the importance of peer and group support and acceptance. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

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

KINDNESS

Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, help to make earth happy.

~ Julia A.F. Carney ~

No act of kindness is ever too small to serve a good purpose. Oceans are made possible by little drops of water. Beaches are formed by tiny grains of sand. Slowly but surely, small efforts combine to help, encourage, and. lead others to an ocean of success.

Small acts make large contributions to our spiritual growth. Newcomers to our Program are advised that they can rid themselves of hatred, envy, resentments, and dislikes by using little acts and words to create a great turnaround in behavior. For instance, we are told, “Start forgiveness by praying for those you think have harmed you.” This small act of prayer removes powerful negative emotions and replaces them with the wonder of serenity.

I shall try to be a little kinder and a little blinder to the faults of those around me.

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

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

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

~ Berthold Auerbach ~

We need ways to express what we have experienced. Expression gives form to our experience and allows us to move on. Music taps into our deeper self and evokes feelings that we may not otherwise have access to. It conveys what is otherwise inexpressible and opens a channel to the spiritual world. Some men love to make music, and all of us can listen to it.

When asked to describe how we make contact with our Higher Power, some men have said that it’s mainly through music. The great religious traditions of the world all use music: hymns, bells, chanting, drums. But we don’t necessarily need religious music to make conscious contact with our Higher Power. A good song on the radio can do it.

Today I will let music speak for me of things I cannot say in plain words.

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

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

… [A]ll shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.

~ Julian of Norwich ~

Why are we prone to exaggerating the seriousness of the circumstances in our lives? Perhaps it’s because we lived for years barely on the fringe of sensible choices. We reacted hysterically to all manner of experiences, the mundane as well as the momentous. Our reactions could turn any situation sour. At long last we are learning a new behavior, but it takes practice.

As we learn to rely on a Higher Power to help us handle our experiences, we begin to grow in peace and the belief that all is well. Even when we are tormented by a decision, we can have faith that our Higher Power will lead us where we need to go. Our part of the bargain is to ask for help and to be open to guidance.

I will know peace today because I will trust my Higher Power’s guidance in the situations I face. All will be well if I do my part.

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

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

I want my family to accept me

When I first got sick my family didn’t know what was happening. They got angry. They implored, “What’s wrong?!” They said “Straighten up!” They didn’t know how difficult their demands were. They didn’t know about addiction or mental illness and that both need treatment and support. I think they were very afraid, for me and for themselves.

Of course, I didn’t know the whole picture at first either. But through treatment, I am learning a lot about my illnesses and about myself. I am slowly coming to accept the way I am right now and my road to recovery. I believe that the more I accept myself, the more others will accept me.

I will pray for willingness to accept my family, as they are, and ask my helpers to bring us closer together.

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

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

Every man is the architect of his own fortune.

~ Sallust Crispus ~

When we were drinking or using, our loved ones grieved for us terribly. Just as our addiction damaged us, it also hurt those we love. Now that we are in recovery, we can make amends to those we’ve harmed, but we can’t heal them. This they must do on their own, in their own time.

We are not responsible for another person’s behavior, but we are responsible for our own. We got help from many sources, but for each of us, recovery is a personal triumph, our own achievement. No one could make us start, and no one could make us stop. We did that ourselves, and we did it by concentrating only on our own lives. This we must continue to do

Now we have the best of both worlds: the help and support we need to make progress in our programs, and the wonderful feeling of achievement and self-respect that comes from recovery.

Today help me neither blame others for my problems nor credit them for my triumphs.

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

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

Morning.
New day.
Joy of birth.

~ Deng Ming-Dao ~

Just as there is an air of mystery to night, with sunrise comes the joy of possibilities. What lies ahead?

Too many people start the day with little appreciation for the amazing miracle of a new dawn. They rarely live in the present moment. Like them, you may start a new day overloaded with commitments or plagued by the same old feelings of doubt or insecurity. You may begin the day haunted by ghosts of the past or phantoms of the future.

A Chinese parable tells the story of a wise man who challenges villagers to move a mountain together—a task that requires everyone to move a small amount of dirt and pebbles each day. Even after many hours of labor, he says, the task will be so grand that it will take generations of villagers to accomplish.

Rather than refuse to work or devise ways to speed up the project, the villagers choose to move the mountain. In performing the task, time means nothing to them, nor does reaching the goal. Rather, it is the task itself, and the ability to focus on that task, that is most important.

I offer a prayer giving thanks for the opportunity to experience a brand-new day. I ask for the strength to fully live in each moment.

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

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

So every faithful heart shall pray to Thee in the hour of anxiety, when great floods threaten. Thou art a refuge to me from distress so that it cannot touch me; Thou dost guard me in salvation beyond all reach of harm.

~ Psalm 32 ~

It’s difficult to focus on the present when our minds are thinking of events yet to come. We may be so obsessed with an upcoming happening that we forget to stay in the present.

Perhaps we’ve been asked to speak at a meeting. Or maybe we have a big test tomorrow. Or maybe we have some plans days from now for a party, a family get-together, or a trip, that are already sending us into a whirlwind of tension and anxiety.

To stay in the present, we need to ask for help. Our Higher Power can help us with our anxiety about a future event, whether the event will happen five minutes, five days, or five years from now. Tonight and tomorrow will happen, no matter how much anxiety we have. But future events may turn out a little better if we take some serenity from our Higher Power with us.

Is an upcoming event causing me a lot of anxiety? How can I use the program to help me let go of this anxiety?

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

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

Accepting powerlessness

There is nothing negative in the First Step of the program, where we admit that we are powerless over our addiction and our lives. Powerlessness is not weakness; it simply recognizes that power is an attribute of God, not humans.

We are powerless in and of ourselves. But when we look to the one who has all power, we can be set free—no longer bound by an addiction that does not love us. Have I tapped the source of all power?

Higher Power, help me to joyfully accept my powerlessness over my addiction, knowing that this will set me free.

I will accept my powerlessness today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

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

It’s not what you were, it’s what you are today.

~ DAVID MARION ~

Newcomer

I get the general idea of “ninety meetings in ninety days.” But aren’t there any exceptions? Some days, like on the weekends, I have time to go to more than one, but later in the week, when I’m exhausted from work, I’d sometimes rather go to a movie or go to bed early.

Sponsor

No one takes attendance; no one expects perfection. But why deprive yourself? In this program, we stay away from addiction a day at a time. At the beginning of recovery, especially if we’re going through a process of detoxification, twenty-four hours can seem endless. Going through a whole day of early recovery on our own may be bewildering and anxiety-producing. Why “white-knuckle it” when help is available at a meeting?

Anticipating a meeting at the lunch hour or at the end of a workday gives me a kind of safety net. Knowing throughout the day that I’m headed for a place where recovery is the top priority can help me through hard moments—I anticipate the meeting, instead of my preferred drug or compulsive behavior. Some of us prefer to begin the day with an early-morning meeting that helps us face the hours ahead calmly.

Each new day offers us new challenges, new opportunities for our addictions to flex their muscles. Going to a meeting can strengthen our spirits and help ensure our continuing recovery.

Today, I further my recovery by going to a meeting.

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

~ THE EYE OPENER ~

Let us stop and think about our room here on earth. We have occupied it all our lives; we have free heat and light. From the windows of this room we can look upon the grandest of nature’s landscapes if we so desire but it also looks upon poverty, slums and filth, if that is what we have eyes for.

How can we pay for our Room on Earth? Only by serving our fellow men, the children of the Landlord, “and inasmuch as ye did it unto these, ye did it unto Me.”

If you do less you are not worthy of your Room on Earth.

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

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

1) Most ( )A people spend more time deciding where to have lunch than in choosing a sponsor.

2) What starts out bad can’t end up good.

3) Insanity is the seeming inability to learn from past mistakes.

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

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

To Be Prayer

O Lord, I ain’t what I ought to be,
And I ain’t what I want to be,
And I ain’t what I’m going to be,
But O Lord, I thank You
That I ain’t what I used to be.

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

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

YOUR FATHER

The fourth name the prophet Isaiah speaks of is that of Everlasting Father. As Jesus so clearly pointed out, God is our Father, not merely our Creator. But we have to establish our own consciousness of this fact.

In the fifth place, we receive what is perhaps the greatest name of all, “The Prince of Peace.” Think what perfect peace of soul, if you could attain it, would actually mean to you. If you had real peace of soul, do you suppose that your body could be ill? Given real peace of soul, how easy it would be to find your true place in the world. How quickly and efficiently you could perform your work. Once you have attained true peace of soul, you have made it possible for the Child to teach you new things, utterly beyond the compass of your present understanding.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever (Isaiah 9:7).

In view of the fact that the weaker souls, the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the depressed, should find it impossible to believe that such good tidings could be true, the prophet clinches the matter with the definite assertion:

. . . The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:7). 

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

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

Limitbusters

Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

“May I speak to you for a moment?” the older woman asked the young hunk on the beach.

“Well, I was hoping to have some quiet time,” he replied.

“I won’t bother you—I just need to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

She pulled her beach towel next to his. “I need to talk to you because I am afraid to,” Beverly confessed. “I feel too shy to speak to good-looking men who are younger than I am. When I saw you today, I wanted to talk to you, but I felt anxious. So I had to do this to break my sense of ‘I can’t.’”

The man thanked Beverly for her honesty, and the two engaged in pleasant conversation. Then she excused herself and walked away, stronger than she was when she approached him.

Fear tells us that we are small, powerless, and separate. Love affirms that we are great, creative, and connected. Which voice do you choose to be your guide?

The way to dissolve a limit is to step right up to it and look it in the eye. When we shine the light on the darkness, we see that the thing we ran from had power over us only as long as we kept it at a distance. When we face what frightens us, we discover that we are bigger than it is. We can do anything we choose; we were not born to live in fear, but in love.

I am free as God created me.

I am bigger than fear. I step forward and live in the light.