Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - January

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January 24

Step by Step

“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” – Step 12

Today, Step 12, the “graduation” step that bestows marching orders and ushers us into the world and puts AA into service by taking the message to other alcoholics. But to be “qualified” as a 12th-stepper, we have to see that this step is actually one in three; we are required in it, first, to have had a spiritual awakening, second, to carry the message, and third, to practice in all our affairs the principles laid out in the previous 11 steps. And without achieving each three requirements, our effectiveness as a carrier of the message is likely to be compromised. After all, how can we talk about a spiritual awakening if we have not had one, and how can we ask someone to practice AA’s principles if we don’t do so ourselves? Today, I ask myself if I have experienced the spiritual awakening that is fundamental to recovery, if I actually practice AA’s principles in all I do, and if I try to carry the message when asked. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

LOVELY THOUGHTS

What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness.

~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich ~

Thinking lovely thoughts during recovery encourages lovely acts. It is true that what starts as lovely will produce an air of loveliness around those of us who work for spiritual things. Truth has a relationship with lovely deeds. A great poet wrote that “beauty is truth and truth beauty,” and also gave us the familiar words, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

Our thoughts determine the way we behave and shape the personal image which we pass on to those around us. There is an “outer show of an inner glow” which results from kindness and beauty of mind. Unhealthy thoughts or false fronts are destructive. We are what we think we can be and want to be. If we recognize the best and most healthy in the world around us, we will be worthy of the honest image others have of us.

Let me think only the best thoughts so that I might be the best I can be.

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

Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.

~ Christina Baldwin ~

Many men use daily notes in a private journal as a method of meditation. It is a means to learn about themselves as they reflect with pen in hand and put uncensored thoughts down on paper. It can take many forms. Some days a person might just make a list. It might be a prayer list: all the people he loves and all the people he is concerned about. It might be a list of the day’s tasks, with notations on the spirit with which to approach them. Some guys draw pictures in their journals and say it helps them quiet their minds and deepen their understanding of a situation. Some simply record the events of the day and then reflect on how they feel about them and what they mean.

Every man in spiritual development needs a daily pattern of meditation and reflection. It should be a gentle means to respect himself, be honest with himself, and hold himself responsible for his life.

Today I will make notes on paper and use my notes to interact with my thoughts.

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

People have always wanted to talk to me about their problems. I guess I’m a good listener. Maybe I have something to contribute after all.

~ JoAnn Reed ~

No one is without value in this life. Maybe we haven’t discovered our unique purpose or special gifts, but we each have a place in the universe or we wouldn’t be here.

Each of us can offer friends a valuable gift every day—we can listen. Messages from our Higher Power often come through the words of others. We perform a wonderful service for our companions by listening and by sharing our own experience and advice.

Rapt attention—giving it and receiving it—is perhaps the most valuable contribution any of us can make. Let’s never underestimate the sacredness of listening.

I will keep my own mind quiet if a friend wants to share her concerns today. That way, my heart may be able to offer her the wisdom she needs.

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

I can pray for my needs

In part, I am afraid to pray. If I get what I ask for, I may feel guilty, as if I don’t deserve it. If my request is not met, I may feel rejected, angry, unworthy.

But slowly I am learning that it’s OK to have needs, and that to get my needs met I must ask for help at times. I am learning that a “no” does not mean I’m a bad person or that I am unworthy. My higher power is accepting and forgiving and will not reject me.

Today I will talk with my sponsor and a friend about the Eleventh Step and prayer.

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

I get a massage almost every week no matter where I am, eat a healthy diet, schedule time alone, and if I get to a point where I feel I need a block of time…I’ll cancel.

~ Anne Wilson Schaef ~

Do we love and care for our body as well as we love and care for our home and car? Do we feel our body deserves full attention and a loving maintenance plan?

Taking our body for granted is easy because of its remarkable durability and regenerative power. We may get lulled into a false sense of “nine lives” body security, believing our physical being will fix itself no matter what.

Self-care takes time and priority planning to be successful. We may find we put off our exercise and nutritional needs, saying, “Tomorrow I’ll start taking better care of myself.” But sooner or later tomorrow comes, and our body produces symptoms that demand attention.

Learning to love and nurture our body brings rewards without measure. We deserve to reap the benefits starting today.

Today let me realize that respect for my body builds a healing temple in which the rest of my life can grow.

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

How does one kill fear, I wonder? How do you shoot a spectre through the heart, slash off its spectral head, take it by its spectral throat?

~ Joseph Conrad ~

You squander time and energy when you fret about bad things that could happen or when you imagine countless scenarios in which you are rejected, you fail, or your health is in jeopardy. You waste golden opportunities when you ask “What if … ?” rather than “Why not… ?” When you dwell in a state of thinking something will go wrong, you become immobilized by fear. You can be-come so timid in your actions that you never develop self-assuredness that will help you ride out the storms of life.

Imagine you are a little boat sitting in the harbor about to set sail. There are boats much bigger, which could capsize you. Storms could toss you against rocks. But, then again, maybe these things will not happen.

Today imagine you have the opportunity to set sail out of your protective harbor. What lies ahead is unknown. View the uncertainty as an adventure. Take full advantage of each moment today. Get out of your comfort zone and discover what you can do.

Although I have no idea what may happen from minute to minute, today I will believe that everything happens for the best.

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

It’s all right to hold a conversation, but you should let go of it now and then.

~ Richard Armour ~

Do we pay close attention to those who talk to us, or do we spend more time talking to them? How well do we listen to others? Do we hear only what we want to hear, mentally editing out comments and statements from others?

A good exercise to improve listening is to repeat statements said to us, almost as if we were parroting the speaker. It may sound easy, but try it first! Too many of us pay more attention to our thoughts and don’t let in words spoken to us. As we think back over the conversations of the day, we may find we cannot recall the things discussed with co-workers, friends, or relatives. We may only recall our parts of the conversations. Can we remember things said at last night’s meeting or today’s noontime meeting? If we can’t, we probably didn’t carry much healing or strength away with us. If we begin the listening exercise and use it every day, we may find our growth improving by leaps and bounds, because we’ve started listening to others.

Help me begin the listening exercise. I will listen as closely as I can to those around me and learn from them.

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

Getting honest

Most of us have tried to con ourselves into believing that maybe it was actually okay for us to use drugs, because we needed an occasional tension reliever, for example. When we said that, we were still considering drugs as our Higher Power.

We approached the question Why not use drugs? from every angle, hoping that we could win the argument and rationalize using. When we get honest about Why not? we begin to accept our condition.

Am I honest about my true condition?

Higher Power, help me accept that I am mentally and physically different from nonaddicts, so that I can be free of the desire to use chemicals.

I will be honest about my condition today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

A friend is a person with whom I may he sincere. Before him I may think aloud.

~ RALPH WALDO EMERSON ~

Newcomer

Someone from where I used to work showed up at the meeting I went to last night. I was uncomfortable, and I avoided looking straight at him, but I’m pretty sure he saw me. What happens to my anonymity now? I don’t want the whole world to know my problems.
Sponsor

I’m glad that you’ve raised this question; it’s an important one. What, exactly, is “anonymity” with respect to Twelve Step fellowships? The root of the word means, literally, “without a name.” I honor the tradition of anonymity by not mentioning your name in connection with the name of this program. I may decide to tell someone that I’ve been at a meeting, but I will not say that I saw you there. And I must never talk to anyone about what you’ve shared here. That won’t change after I’ve been here ninety days, or a year, or twenty years. I never have the right to break your anonymity to people in the community, even your close friends or family—that choice is yours and no one else’s. We all share this trust, and most of us are surprisingly good at honoring it. Anonymity gives a sense of freedom essential to recovery. If you bump into this person again, maybe you’ll just nod a greeting, or maybe you’ll reassure him that he can trust you to respect his anonymity!

Today, I have no room in my life for gossip or self-consciousness. I feel joy at seeing others participate in recovery.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

The AA Program is so simple and so honest that it confounds the physician with his Latin prescriptions and the scientist with his intricate formulas. They have been looking for the answer through a microscope or a telescope while the solution was at their finger tips. No wonder AA astounds them— they have been like the old woman who tore her house down looking for her glasses, only to find them on her forehead.

The simplicity of our program is its attraction and we must keep it awfully simple or the results will be simply awful.

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

1) FINE: Feeling Insecure Neurotic = Emotional

2) Act, don’t react.

3) A meeting a day keep my defects at bay.

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

My first Prayer

I surrender to Thee my entire life, O God of my understanding. I have made a mess of it, trying to run it myself. You take it, the whole thing, and run it for me, according to Your will and plan.

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

THE LAW OF RELAXATION

Another of the great mental laws is The Law of Relaxation. In all mental working effort defeats itself. This is just the opposite of what we find on the physical plane, but it will not surprise us because we know that in many cases the laws of mind are the reverse of the laws of matter.

On the physical plane, the harder you press a drill the faster will it go through a plank. The harder you hammer a nail the sooner does it go into the wall. But any attempt at mental pressure is foredoomed to failure because the moment tension begins, the mind stops working creatively. When you try to force things mentally, when you try to hurry mentally, you simply stop you creative power.

In all mental working be relaxed, gentle, and unhurried for effort defeats itself.

. . . in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength . . . (Isaiah 30:15)

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

Gotta Serve Somebody

Bury not your faculties in the sepulcher of idleness.

~ George Shelley ~

After traveling extensively for many years, I had several months at home without teaching. At first I found my free time quite refreshing. After a while, however, I became very self-involved. Spending a lot of time alone, I began to focus on my problems and get caught up in small thinking. Although I did not realize it, I was drifting away from the high consciousness I usually enjoy while teaching. Then one evening I presented a seminar, and I was amazed by how much better I felt. I was empowered, uplifted, and back on track. Through that turnaround, I realized I need to give. I need to stay in the presence of God, which I remember through presenting seminars and counseling. As much as students need to take my seminars, I need to give them.

The chemistry of life requires that we give in order to receive. We are not “paid” for giving by receiving later; in the action of giving, we enjoy the benefits of all we are offering. Right livelihood is like making love? as we are serving and blessing the other person, we receive pleasure and healing. In loving, we feel loved.

The prayer of St. Francis affirms the importance of regular service:

In giving we receive;
In pardoning we are pardoned;
And in surrendering we are born to eternal life.

If you feel bottled up, depressed, or self-involved, find someone to love. There is no lack of people and groups needing love, and as you extend service to them, you will find your own healing.

Lift me out of self-involvement, that I may know the joy of true service.

I find peace by giving love.