Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - June

[bluidkiti]

June 21

Step by Step

"The wars which had been fought, the burnings and chicanery that religious dispute had facilitated, made me sick. I honestly doubted whether, on balance, the religions of mankind had done any good. Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest. If there was a Devil, he seemed the Boss Universal, and he certainly had me." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 1 ("Bill's Story"), p 11.

Today, do not reject the possibility that a higher power of good can exist despite all the bad - even evil - that we see every day. Cynicism may block willingness to believe that something stronger and better than ourselves can exist to set us toward sobriety and recovery. Perhaps a beginning is to understand the distinction between religion and spirituality and that the two are parallel but never intersect. We are not ask to believe in any religious code but come to find a higher power of our understanding. How do we reconcile the bad that surrounds us, including wars and all other affairs? If we can accept that one of our most precious collective gifts is the freedom of choice, is it not plausible that the state of man is a direct consequence of our choices individually and collectively? If so, cannot what is bad around us be the consequence of our self-will run riot and not because of a punitive god? Today, I set out to find my higher power of my understanding, not of man's religious concept. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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

THE RECOVERING YOUNG

The Program is a school in which we are all learners and all teachers regardless of age.

~ Anonymous ~

The younger generation in the program embrace the Program with enthusiasm that can only be attributed to the young. And, of course, abstinence is never wasted on anyone, let alone young people whose whole lives are in front of them.

Today, a larger percentage of young men and women are flooding recovery units and meeting hails. Although older members may have long abstinence, they are often bested by the eagerness the young devote to working their Program. Many who are new to recovery ask the same question: "What will I do with all my time now that I've stopped using?” Young people learn that service work and sober activities with fellow members keep them busy.

I know the future of our Program is secure because of the many good young people who are working it.

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

Do not let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

~ H. Jackson Brown Jr. ~

There are many kinds of friends. Some are work friends; we enjoy knowing each other and doing our jobs but don’t ever get very personal. We have recreational friends with whom we enjoy doing the same activities. Some friends are like soul mates; we feel we were cut from the same cloth and we understand each other at a deep level. With our soul mates we can talk about almost anything—and sometimes we don’t have to talk about it. And some friends are lifelong buddies who knew us way back when; we know each other in ways that new friends never can.

Our egos can get in the way and spoil the development of good friendships. For instance, we may take things too personally and feel offended over small things. Or sometimes our ego maybe so determined to be right that we sacrifice the friendship in order to stand up for our position. A good friendship requires that our ego step back a bit, making room for others to have dignity and be imperfect too.

Today I am grateful for all the different kinds of friends in my life.

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

Often I need to cut myself and others some slack. When I remind myself to lighten up, the intensity of the situation diminishes.

~ Lisa Keyes ~

Most of us have honed, quite skillfully, our ability to take most situations far too seriously. Perhaps If we were as careful to hone our skill of relying on our Higher Power to see us through situations, we’d more fully enjoy the moments God gives us.

Our struggle with perfectionism, coupled with our need to control outcomes, makes us experience life far too gravely. At the root of these character traits lies fear. We may not recognize our behavior as fear-based. However, were we not anxious about unfolding events, we’d feel peaceful and free to pursue activities that would reward us with the spiritual growth this program has promised.

Being reminded to lighten up may irritate us and feel like criticism at the time, but this advice can quickly change how we feel. After all, what we want is more serenity in our lives. We simply need reminders about how to attain it. Lightening up is one of the best and simplest of reminders.

I will remind myself to lighten up today, as many times as it takes to feel some peace.

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

I want to be open and willing

When my doctor gave me a (nonaddictive) medication for my anxiety, I filled it right away and took it regularly. To my surprise I still had times when I felt on edge and couldn't relax for long. Sometimes watching TV was the best I could do.

When I finally mentioned this to my therapist, he asked me how I felt about trying a relaxation technique. At first I didn’t want to do anything new or different (especially since I was angry at my medication for not doing what I expected it to do). But I trusted him and began learning something else I could do to help with my symptoms. Today, I am glad I did. I'm glad I have options.

Today I will think twice before saying no and practice being flexible.

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

This above all: to thine own self be true.

~ William Shakespeare ~

Being true to ourselves means more than not imitating others. To be ourselves, we need a sense of self. Recovery involves taking a look at what’s inside. We can learn who we are and who we would like to be. We can begin to change a little at a time, earning our own respect.

Being true to ourselves also means making decisions based on what is best for us in the long view, not simply what can be attained right now or what is easiest.

Recovery calls us to be honest with ourselves and motivated by personal integrity in our relationships with others. As we learn who we really are, we find it easier to live with honor. As we make progress in recovery, we recapture our pride and self-respect.

Recovery is a time of self-discovery and, through sharing ourselves with others, our sponsor, and our Higher Power, we slowly learn more about who we are. Now, we can be true to ourselves.

Today may the mirror of recovery help me see myself more clearly, and may I be true to the personal vision I see.

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

How would you go about taming a wild horse? You wouldn’t whip it back into a comer. You’d pat it on the nose and give it some carrots. . . .

~ Steven C. Hayes ~

The way you treat or view yourself today is likely the way you were treated in the past and repeats the messages you were told by others. You may have little confidence in your abilities and explode in anger at yourself whenever you make even the smallest of mistakes. Or you may regularly talk about yourself in negative terms, using such phrases as “I’m so stupid” or “I’m never going to amount to anything.”

You would not tame a wild horse by beating it or screaming at it. Instead you would move about it slowly and talk to it calmly. You would treat the horse with respect and kindness for however long it would take, until the horse finally saw you as someone who would not mistreat it.

You need to treat yourself in the same way. When you show yourself kindness and respect, and when you are patient with yourself, you will gradually shift how you think about yourself. You will be able to see that you have more positive qualities and abilities than you thought.

Today I will treat myself with kindness and respect so I can learn to see the good in me.

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

A person remains immature, whatever his age, as long as he thinks of himself as an exception to the human race.

~ Harry A. Overstreet ~

Most every rule has an exception because of special people or circumstances. We may sometimes believe we are exceptions to the rule when it comes to the program. We may believe our set of circumstances or who we are makes us different. We may feel the slogans and Steps are good for most people, but they don't relate to us because of some unique things we believe no one else has.

Even though each of us is a unique individual with our own lifestyles and set of circumstances, we're no different than anyone else in the program. We are in the program for one purpose: To learn to live a better way of life while coping with the effects of an addiction. Once we realize we're working toward the same solution as everyone else, we won't see ourselves as exceptions. Our growth will occur in leaps and bounds once we're freed from the label of "exception to the rule."

I'm no different than anyone else when I look at the reasons why I'm in the program. I will remember my connection, not my exception.

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

Dealing with problems

Eventually we reach a point in recovery where one trying incident doesn’t have to ruin the whole day. We reach a point where we’re less sensitive or emotional. We learn to take each day with everything in it. We learn to take each day with humor, acceptance, and love.

This is not to say that we become door-mats; it just means we’re going to find ways to calm down and not complicate existing problems. Just for today, let’s leave all our trials and complications to our Higher Power.

Am I learning to be less sensitive or emotional?

Higher Power, when I start to feel the pressure of today’s tribulations, help me remember that you can handle anything.

My plan for handling problems today is

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

Grief is itself a medicine.

~ WILLIAM COWPER ~

Newcomer

There were many things I did when I was active in my ad-diction-positive things, creative work—that have totally fallen apart. I don’t know how to begin again. Recovery has become my entire life.

Sponsor

At the beginning of my own recovery, going to meetings was most of what I did for a while; I was grateful that they were there to fill my time and hold me together. I showed up for work, but I felt shaky. I was afraid that my former feelings of competence and energy were gone for good. In time, I became able to function far better. The wonderful parts of my old life weren’t lost; they were more available to me than ever before.

Hearing you reminds me that recovery is still relatively new to us, compared with our years of active addiction. There are days when we’re not sure who we are any more. Our old lives may seem preferable to this discomfort and uncertainty.

It’s necessary to grieve for the people we were. The grief that we experience is good recovery work. It’s the beginning, not the end. Our true selves will emerge in recovery over time.

Today, I trust that what I most cherish in life is alive within me.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

We alcoholics have lived in two entirely different worlds that were separated only by an act of decision.

One day we lived in a world filled with hostile people, a world devoid of understanding and sympathy; a world of ugliness, suffering and despair. By this act of decision, a new day was created and we were transported into a different world.

If you would change the world, change yourself.

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

THE GIFT OF HUMILITY

Grant upon us, O God, the gift of humility. When we speak, teach us to give our opinion quietly and sincerely. When we do well in work or play, give us a sense of proportion, that we be neither unduly elated nor foolishly self-deprecatory. Help us in success to realize what we owe to You and the efforts of others; in failure, to avoid self-pity; and in all ways to be simple and natural, quiet in manner, and reasonable in thought.

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

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Perhaps the most startling change that the discarnate has to meet is the fact that thought is the normal means of communication, and therefore there is no deception. You pass for what you are and that is the end of matter.

What is it that determines the kind of place to which you will go after death and the sort of people among whom you will find yourself? You will go to the sort of place and be among the sort of people for whom you have prepared yourself by your habitual thinking and your mode of living while on this earth. Remember that death makes positively no change in you; you are just the same person that you were before it happened. No one "sends" you anywhere. You naturally gravitate to the place where you belong.

You do not "meet God" on the next plane any more than you do on this plane. Of course, He is fully present on the next plane just as He is on this plane; but there as here, He is to be contacted only in one's own consciousness. Heaven is that perfect state of consciousness in which one is in full realization of the divine Presence. If you can reach to that level of consciousness while still in this world (and a few have succeeded in doing so), you are in heaven now and your awareness of God will be intensified after death.

However, there are some very unpleasant localities in the next world and people whose minds are chiefly given up to hared, deceit, or sensuality, will find themselves in such places. These are the places referred to as "hell."

Consider the man or woman who lives wholly for the body and is dominated by it. Physical cravings, being part of the mentality, are, of course, carried over to the next plane, but there is no physical body through which these appetites may be satisfied, and so the victim is tormented by desire but unable to satisfy it, until, in the course of time, these desires fade out by starvation. This is the natural punishment for allowing the physical body ro assume control, and surely it is punishment enough.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1).

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

Go to the Beach

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.

~ Lily Tomlin ~

“After five frustrating attempts to get in touch with people who were renting houses, I got the message that I wasn't supposed to be trying." John recounted. "l told my wife, 'Let's just go to the beach.' While we were there, we saw a friend who asked us, 'Do you know anyone who would like to rent my house?' We made a great deal for his beach house and thoroughly love it!"

If something you're doing is not working, doing more of it will probably not work any better. lf you're butting your head against a wall again and again, stop. Rest. Breathe. Let go for the moment, then try a different approach. Whatever you do, don't keep trying to swim against the flow of life.

If a door is not opening organically, there's a good chance you are to go through another door. The moment you perceive struggle, step back and reassess your strategy. Commit yourself to success by way of ease, and you will open doors you never could have opened by trying to kick them down. True power is gentle, not forceful.

Imagine that the universe is set up for you to have what you want without struggle, Imagine that for every need you have, there is someone out there who has a need to offer the thing you want. Watch for signs and hints that you're on the right path or that you're looking for your good in the wrong place. Dare God to bless you without pain, and Spirit will answer with Peace.

Help me to take the light path. I open myself to receive my good gently and joyfully.

I do not have to fight for my good. Love will provide me with all that I want and need.