Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - January

[bluidkiti]

January 22

Step by Step

“Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” – Step 10

Today, Step 10, the extension of the Fourth, is a reminder that the self-inventory isn’t a one-time shot. Just as the car needs an occasional tune-up, so it goes with our moral fiber. Neglect of the 10th Step risks progress in recovery and consigning us to stagnation. While the Fourth challenges us with self-inventory, we’re commanded in the 10th to “promptly admit” when we are wrong. In doing that, we could be sparing ourselves pent-up anger, resentments, fears, frustrations and thoughts of “revenge,” none of which has a part in recovery. Today, when I am wrong in anything, I’ll admit it and let it go. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

MIRACLES

Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God when he did not wish to sign.

~ Anatole France ~

Chance is that unplanned and unexpected happening that brings happiness and freedom to us. It is often another name for a miracle.

Miraculous good fortune comes to all of us when we work our Program. We accept the miracles of chance (luck) with gratitude. In fact, we help to make our own miracles by constant attention to thinking and behaving to the best of our ability and within our limitations, and by staying open to our Higher Power’s will for us.

We make positive efforts to deserve the fortunes of chance. We cannot depend on luck, but must try to become receptive to the good things that happen to us. We accept the fact that, in recovery, miracles happen not to just a few at rare times, but to all of us, often.

I am learning in my Program that I must never depend on miracles to solve my problems. But I can create the emotional and spiritual climate within myself for them to occur by working my Program.

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

In the face of uncertainty, there is nothing wrong with hope.

~ Bernie Siegel ~

Are we willing to hope? Some of us have adopted an attitude of optimism about the progress of life. We know that many things are unpredictable, but we believe we have the strength to deal with whatever happens. Others of us have chosen the opposite. We dare not hope, protecting ourselves from the hurt of disappointment. But our spiritual growth calls every one of us to believe in the possibilities for recovery and all the promises that go with it.

We need to ask ourselves, do I dare to hope? That is what the Second Step challenges us to do. We simply suspend our doubts. We put them on the shelf and hold open the possibility that good things will happen. And if we don’t get what we hoped for, we can deal with it. It is a choice we make.

Today I will accept the challenge to suspend my doubts and accept that my life can get better.

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

I always have two lists: things I’m happy about and things I’m not. It’s my choice which list I focus on.

~ Anne Arthur ~

Why do we all too eagerly see the glass as half- empty rather than as half-full? It need not be a habit that we are stuck with forever. All of us feel helpless at times to change our vision of life. Discouragement and self-pity become comfortable, and we fear that discarding them will leave us vulnerable.

Seeing the glass as half-empty is a sign that our attitude is holding us back. Unfortunately, a bad attitude is seductive. It’s as though we find pleasure, perverse though it may be, in feeling sorry for ourselves. Sometimes we even imagine staying in that place forever. It’s then that we need the warmth of loving friends, and it’s no accident that we are surrounded by them in this fellowship.

We may, at first, try to ignore those reaching toward us, but we will soon feel their presence. We can thank God for the inspiration to adjust our attitude.

If I reach out lovingly to someone else today, I will not need a nudge from my Higher Power to adjust my attitude.

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

I am learning to let go

I had dreams for my life. I envisioned that one day, I would have a family and a house and a good job. I dreamed my dream for a happy life. I never dreamed I would develop a dual disorder and perhaps have to let go of some dreams.

But in coming as far as I have in my recovery, I now believe that I have a higher power who truly cares about me and wants me to be happy. And I am learning to trust my higher power. I believe that I can still have a happy life, although it may look different from the vision in my dreams.

I will read Step Three and pray to accept myself and my life.

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

See who you are. Own who you are.
Be who you are. Don’t apologize.

~ Jerry K. ~

At some point in our recovery, we need to admit to ourselves and others who we really are. Looking inside and pondering our shortcomings is not the most comfortable thing the program has asked us to do. In the past it’s been more comfortable to deny them, to look the other way, to sweep the human error element under the rug.

But the rewards are great. Once we own our shortcomings, once we tell them out loud to another person, we have taken full responsibility for our-selves — who we are, what we are — and how we have acted.

Now we are closer to our Higher Power, who has accepted us all along. Now we can return to the spiritual support that is always available. When we admit who we are to ourselves and others, we are given the gift of self-acceptance and a sense of belonging to the human race.

By opening ourselves this way, we enrich our relationships with our Higher Power, ourselves, and our fellow humans. These relationships bring a new sense of belonging and meaning to our lives.

Today help me tell myself, my Higher Power, and at least one other person who I really am.

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

The most difficult part of attaining perfection is finding something to do for an encore.

~ Author unknown ~

Living life striving for perfection can be as difficult as making a piece of furniture without any wood, nails, or tools. Whenever you set impossible-to-reach goals, create expectations that you will make no mistakes—ever—or constantly demand that you be the very best in all you do, what you may find is that you rarely achieve such things. From time to time you may, but the odds are not in your favor. No one, really, is perfect.

Demanding perfection of yourself, while noble, more often than not results in defeat or shortfalls. In fact, often your quests for perfection will lead to mistakes, errors in judgment, or things done in haste.

Mistakes are a fact of life. But rather than view them as annoyances that reveal your weaknesses or prevent you from achieving perfection, consider them to be important communicators. Mistakes are valuable guideposts to destinations along your path of recovery and growth. They provide important cautions and help you refocus your concentration. So, there is a value to falling short in your quest for perfection. Mistakes and missteps are what you learn from. Without them, you would not learn how to persevere.

Today I will accept that perfection is illusive. Instead, I need to strive to be the best person I can be.

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

Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?

~ Frank J. Giblin, II ~

Almost every magazine devotes its cover to movie stars and famous personalities. We are taught that we need to look like the most attractive and glamorous people. We need to wear what they wear, eat what they eat, and fix our hair like theirs. The message we are given is: Don’t be yourself, be like someone else.

There will always be someone who looks better than we do, has more money, scores better on tests, or has more creative skills. If we’re always trying to mimic other people, we won’t be looking at ourselves. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it keeps us from being ourselves.

We need to stop focusing on what others have that we don’t have. We need to look inward at our good qualities as well as our imperfections. We need to see who we are by being ourselves. Life is not made up of people who are good and bad, happy and sad, rich and poor, beautiful and ugly. Life is made up of people being themselves.

I will start to be myself. Help me show others the real me, not an imitation.

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

Accepting the past

Noted psychiatrist Carl Jung once said, “If one can accept one’s sin, one can live with it. If one cannot accept it, one has to suffer the inevitable consequences.” We must come to accept our past acts before they will stop causing us pain.

All the Steps help us do this, but in particular, Steps Four and Five (the inventory Steps) and Steps Eight and Nine (the amends Steps) help. If we attend to these Steps properly, we will no longer regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.

Am I coming to accept myself?

Higher Power, help me accept the ways I’ve behaved in the past—and the ways I behave in the present—that cause me pain, so that in your time I may be freed.

I will work on self-acceptance today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

Over and over, we begin again.

~ BANANA YOSHIMOTO ~

Newcomer

Yesterday was such a difficult day. But here it is, morning again—somehow, I’ve gotten through another twenty-four hours, and without a drug. I wish I’d known yesterday that things wouldn’t feel so bad this morning.

Sponsor

Yesterday, we did the best that we could. Yesterday is over. We have slept. We think we know some of what today will hold. We may boil water in the same kitchen, take the same route to work, see some of the faces we usually see. At the meeting we attend, we’ll hear the familiar readings, take comfort from hearing the words we’ve heard before. Perhaps our shoulders, hunched with any tensions we’re experiencing, will drop at the sound of those accustomed words, and we’ll relax.

Along with the predictable, there may be a thousand unexpected experiences: a new color in the sky, a smile answering our own, a phrase of music, a sense of willingness rising within us to do something differently.

Let’s take some deep, slow breaths and begin the day with faith that whatever it brings, we’ll be present for it.

This day is a gift that recovery has given to me.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

Nothing is impossible for God, therefore nothing is impossible for you and God if you are both playing on the same team. There is a big difference between being on God’s team and getting God on your team.

To get on God’s team we must train rigidly, know all the rules of the game, follow the instructions of the Great Captain in the spirit as well as in the letter, go to your Captain frequently when in doubt, co-operate with the other team members, do not try to be the big Star, be on the practice field early and stay late and put all you have into your efforts. Who knows—you might become a Regular upon whom God can rely to play his position as it should be played. One thing is sure—if you do make His team you are sure to win.

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~ POCKET SPONSOR ~ (Back to the Basics for Addiction Recovery) ~

The sole purpose of AA is to help the alcoholic stop drinking. The sole purpose of NA is to help the addict stop using. The sole purpose of CDA is to help the chemically dependent give up mind affecting chemicals. The soul purpose of all these fellowships is service, unity, and recovery.

“I do not put the sole purpose of any fellowship above the soul purpose.”

~ Shelly Marshall ~

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

1) Sobriety is never an accident.

2) You can be about as happy as you decide to be.

3) From Shame to Grace

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

Sobriety Prayer

If I speak in the tongues of men and even of angels, but have not sobriety, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains but have not sobriety, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not sobriety, I gain nothing.

When I am sober, I am patient and kind. When I am sober, I am not jealous nor boastful, nor arrogant or rude. When I am sober, I do not insist on my own way. When I am sober, I am not irritable or resentful. I do not rejoice at wrong as I used to do but rejoice in what is right. 

When I am sober, I can bear all things, believe in all things, hope all things, and endure all things.

Sobriety never ends and never fails.

When I was using, I spoke like an arrogant child, thought like a stubborn child, and reasoned like a rebellious child. When I chose sobriety for my life, I gave up my childish ways.

So faith, hope, love, and sobriety abide, but for me, the most important has to be sobriety, for without it, I cannot have the other three, nor can I ever have the serenity I yearn to possess.

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

IF THE KEY STICKS

We have said the golden Key is simple, but, of course, it is not always easy to turn. If you are very frightened or worried it may be difficult, at first, to get your thoughts away from material things. But by constantly repeating some statement of absolute Truth that appeals to you, such as There is no power but God, or I am the child of God, filled and surrounded by the perfect peace of God, or God is love, or God is guiding me now, or, perhaps best and simplest of all, just God is with me—you will soon find that your mind is clearing. Do not struggle, be quiet but insistent. Each time that you find your attention wandering, just switch it straight back to God.

Do not try to think out in advance what the solution of your difficulty will probably turn out to be. This is technically called outlining, and will only delay the demonstration. Leave the question of ways and means to God. You want to get out of your difficulty—that is sufficient. You do your half, and God, will never fail to do His.

. . . whosever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered . . . (Joel 2:32)

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

Fear No Evil

F.E.A.R. is False Evidence Appearing Real

~ Anonymous ~

While horseback riding, I gained a profound insight about fear. Occasionally during the ride, the horse would approach the edge of a cliff or negotiate a steep or rocky part of the trail, and I would have a moment of fear. On that day, I was feeling particularly relaxed, and I noticed that in my generally calm state, the fear would arise and depart in a moment. On previous rides when I had felt more uptight, I would have the moment of fear, followed by many moments of worry: “What if this happens again?”

I realized that what most people call “fear” is really worry. When we obsess about something bad that may happen, the thing we fear is always in the future, and it is generated by something in the past. Examined closely fear has nothing to do with the now. On my horseback ride, I could see that even my moment of “fear” was actually just a call to pay close attention at that moment. Thus, I realized that fear is not real; it is but a trick of the mind.

Cats are masterful teachers of ease. You have probably observed a cat sleeping underneath a parked car when the driver starts the car. In an instant, the cat springs out from under the car and moves a few feet away Within seconds, the cat is stretched out and relaxed again, not missing a step in the dance.

When confronted with fear, ask yourself this question: Am I all right at this moment? If you are honest, you will see that you are almost always all right in this moment. If not, ask yourself what you need to do in this moment to get all right. By peeling away the onion skins of fear in this way, you will find that when you arrive at the center, there is nothing to fear.

A Course in Miracles reminds us, “I could see peace instead of this.” Stay in the present moment, and the doors to peace will open.

I pray to be released from anxious worry. Help me to feel safe in Your love and comforted in Your Presence.

I am always safe in God.