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April 23

Step by Step

Today, reflect on the choices and responsibilities of sponsorship. If I have progressed in my sobriety that I need to ask someone to sponsor me, where and how do I begin? My home group is fertile ground, and I may think about selecting three or four members, narrow them down to those I feel I can trust most and then approach that potential sponsor in confidence. If I am being asked to sponsor someone, however, I ask my higher power for the wisdom and responsibility before taking on such a sacred trust. Let me understand that sponsorship does not mean I am the sponsee’s pseudo-priest and that the job does not make me “preacher.” Today, I extend my recovery to include asking to be sponsored and, God willing, consenting to someone’s request to extend my hand to his. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

SERENITY

Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.

~ Joseph Addison ~

Our Program allows us to stand back from day-to-day confusion and let serenity come into our lives. Our Program doesn’t take away all the struggle and problems from life, but it does let us learn a different outlook and attitude.

We don’t have to get caught up in every storm that blows our way. We don’t have to live the pain of every person who crosses our path. We don’t have to right every wrong.

Our recovery is a gift to us from a Power greater than we are. We become more and more aware of the meaning of the words in the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference.”

Let me learn to see the world as it actually is, not as I want it to be. I trust that my Higher Power didn’t make a mistake in designing this world or the plans for my life.

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

We must find some spiritual basis for living, else we die.

~ Bill Wilson ~

When one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous wrote these words, he was speaking from the perspective of a recovering man. He knew that his addiction would kill him if he didn’t base his life on a spiritual footing. There is also such a thing as being spiritually dead while our physical bodies are still alive. Whether we are recovering from addiction or codependency, or walking some other healing path, our life force is rooted in our spiritual connection.

Just as an addiction grows and progresses through the span of our lives, so too, if we are consciously attentive, our spiritual development continues through the years of our lives. We grow stronger, become more accepting of ourselves and others, and feel more connected to the people and the world we live in.

Today conscious contact with my creator keeps me alive.

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

To show great love for God and our neighbor, we need not do great things.

~ Mother Teresa ~

We don’t have to invent a cure for cancer or lift the burdens of a friend to prove our worth to other people. Being considerate of someone’s feelings is quite enough, and it is something any of us can do. It takes only a moment’s thought and the willingness to treat others as we’d like them to treat us. I he real blessing is that we feel much better each lime our heart guides our actions.

Loving others is perhaps the simplest of all actions we can take in this life. It requires no planning, no money, no muscle power, no problem solving. It’s a simple decision we can make daily or hourly. Every person we encounter, every situation we face, is an opportunity for us to hone the skill. And every loving act or thought makes the world a better place.

It’s human nature to treat others as we are treated If each of us becomes willing to offer the hand of love to someone else today, we will indeed have done a great thing!

I can make a worthwhile contribution today. I can be kind to a stranger.

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

I have a dual disorder, an illness like diabetes

I wonder if having a dual disorder is like having any other disease, say, like diabetes? Having a dual disorder makes me feel different, excluded, self-conscious. Sometimes it’s even hard to face people. Some seem afraid of me. They don’t understand my addiction and emotional problems.

But I have a no-fault illness, just like people with diabetes. I need professional help, just like people with diabetes. I deserve to be treated with respect and understanding, just like people with diabetes. I am in recovery—just like people diagnosed with diabetes.

When I feel stigmatized, I will call a friend for reassurance and support.

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

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

Mark Twain

Education doesn’t only happen within the four walls of a classroom or school. We can learn in almost every situation, at almost every moment of the day. Our teachers don’t need a wall covered with framed degrees from schools or universities. In some cases, our teachers are those who have been through what we have been through. They can light the way for us. Often, they have something we don’t—like serenity—that they are willing to share with us. They may teach us by being an example for us, or they may share with us how they found peace in recovery.

As learners, our main task is to keep an open mind, to be willing to listen, and to ask questions. Most important is our willingness to learn. The teacher usually appears when the student is ready.

Today may I be willing to listen and learn from other recovering people. May I also be willing to teach what I have learned.

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

Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.

~ Mary McLeod Bethune ~

Have you ever seen the wind? You can see a kite flying up above, a sailboat navigating waters with air-filled sails, birds dipping and turning as they navigate wind currents, or leaves shivering on trees. Such things let you know the wind exists.

Faith is like the wind; it is something you feel but can-not see. Faith is not comprised of logic and reason, but a trust in something greater than yourself. Faith exists when you can see the beauty of life all around you—in budding flowers, a cloudless sky, a majestic ocean. It provides you with the strength to face a challenge you feel is insurmountable, and yet you conquer it. It is there when you feel that daylight will never come, and dawn breaks.

Faith is the belief that most things are possible. It gives you strength to steer the strong winds of change and al-lows you to find comfort in the calming breeze of God’s presence. Faith is trust that good will triumph over evil, that your sins can be forgiven, that your wrongdoings can be righted, and that the storms of your life can be navigated.

I have faith that I am being guided in my life by a presence greater than myself. Through this faith, I trust that anything is possible.

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

Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue!

~ Eugene O’Neill ~

Has today been a day when we felt like we’ve fallen apart, faltered in our sense of direction, or lost confidence in ourselves? Tonight we may feel like we just can’t get it together-that it would be better for us to curl up in a tight ball and wait for a new day.

But the dawn of tomorrow will not work miracles upon us. It is up to us to get us back on track. When our shirt loses a button, we don’t throw away the shirt. We use a needle and thread and a little bit of patience to sew the button back on. The work we put into the shirt doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to make the shirt wearable again.

Tonight we need to take time to mend ourselves. And we have the tools to do this – our Higher Power, literature, and meditation. These are our needle and thread. Through the grace of God, we’ve been given all that we need to mend ourselves.

How can I use the tools of the program to rebuild myself?

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

Overcoming the urge

When you feel the urge to use, think it all the way through. This is a critical step in staying away from that first drink, pill, or fix. Some-times we’re confronted with situations where it seems we have no defense against the first one. So then we ask ourselves, What did my fellow addicts say to do?

They said; “Think it through” to its logical conclusion. For us that first drink, pill, or fix can mean wreckage and despair. And with such a thought to the consequences, we will gain the resolve to overcome the urge.

Do I know how to overcome the urge?

Higher Power, when my defenses are down, grant me the presence of mind to think the act of using all the way through.

If I feel the urge to use today, I will reflect on the consequences, such as

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

© 1974, 1998 by Hazelden Foundation

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

The moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too.

~ JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE ~

Newcomer

I sat down last night and tried to begin writing my Fourth Step. So many feelings went swirling through me that I got completely blocked. My life is full of things I feel embarrassed and ashamed about. There are secrets I’ve never told anyone. Some of these things are just too personal. How am I ever going to share them with another human being?

Sponsor

No wonder you’re anxious. It sounds as if you’re trying to do Step Five before you’ve begun Step Four. Each Step involves taking a specific action and having the willingness and faith to complete that action. In Step Four, the action is to write, and to be fearless and thorough as we do so. The Step doesn’t mention sharing what we write. It’s premature to decide whom to share with, and it’s counterproductive, in any case, to speculate about how someone is going to respond. Today, it’s just you, putting words on paper—that is your focus in the present moment.

I’m glad that you’ve shared your fear of this task with me. When we speak out loud about a fear, it begins to lose its power over us. As we so often hear in meetings, the opposite of fear is faith. We can pray for courage as we begin this Step. We can continue to pray each time fear arises in the process of writing.

I promise that by the time you’ve completed your Fourth Step, the process will have moved you to a new place, one you can’t really know or understand ahead of time. Only then will you be ready for the next Step.

Today, I stay focused on the present and on the task at hand. I let past and future go. I remember to breathe, as I replace fear with faith.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

It would be possible for a nation, or even the world, to exist without many of the natural resources we have, but no nation could exist without men. The strength of the nation is the strength of its men.

The men who comprise the population of the nation are individuals and the sum total of the virtues of the individuals is the character of the nation.

Our value to society is not our newfound sobriety but our new character as developed by our new and better way of living.

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

1) Never Alone

2) Short version of the serenity prayer: Forget it!

3) Stop Global Whining

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

Letting Go

As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God,
Because God is my friend.
But then, instead of leaving my Higher Power
In peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help,
With ways that were my own.
At last, I snatched them back and cried,
“How can You be so slow?”
“My child,” God said, “what could I do?
You never did let go.”

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

COMING OF AGE

As you grow in spiritual power and understanding you will find that many outer regulations will become unnecessary; but this will be because you have really risen above them. This point in your development, where your understanding of Truth enables you to dispense with certain outer props and regulations, is the spiritual coming of age.

However, this spiritual coming of age cannot be hurried or forced, but must appear when the consciousness is ready, exactly as the flowering of a bulb can only be the result of natural growth. You have to demonstrate where you are. To seek to demonstrate beyond your understanding is not spiritual. Fix your attention upon spiritual things, and without consciously trying to make haste you will be amazed to discover the pace at which your soul has hastened.

To take a simple example: Suppose that in a street accident you find that a man has severed an artery and blood is spurting out. The normal course is that unless this bleeding is stopped the victim will die. Now, what is the spiritual attitude to take in such a case? Claim the ability of God to heal. If your faith is strong enough the severed artery will immediately be healed. But if your faith fails, you must take the usual steps to save the man’s life by immediately improvising a tourniquet, or whatever the proper procedure may be, still claiming divine aid.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised) . . . (Hebrews 10:23)

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

When the Time is Right

To everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven.

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 ~

C.Y. O’Connor’s dream was to build a water pipeline to irrigate parched terrain east of Perth, Australia. After years of planning and labor, the aqueduct was constructed, and throngs stood at the mouth of the huge conduit to see the first drops of liquid life. But when the valve was opened, nothing appeared. The next day, O’Connor was found dead in his home; the failure of his dream was too much for him to live with. Several days later, a trickle of water appeared at the mouth of the pipeline, and before long, water was gushing abundantly. The only thing that went wrong was his idea of when it would happen.

The early Bible, recorded in Greek, uses two different words for our word time. Chronos is the Biblical word for the time of day, which we translate into hours, minutes, and seconds. The other word, kairos, means, “in nature’s time,” or “in due time.” There is a divine order to life, and timing is a part of it.

If you feel frustrated or disappointed over lack of results on a project, hang in there and have some patience. If your venture is a good one, you will see the results. Perhaps not in chronos, your idea of the right time, but in kairos, the right time—the one appointed by Spirit. If you have done all you can to make something happen, and nothing seems to be coming of it, turn it over to God. Nurture your Spirit, and trust the universe to support you.

Give me the trust to know that all things are working in my favor, even when it does not appear to be so. Help me move beyond discouragement and see my dreams through to completion.

God’s timing is perfect. Divine order is operating now.