Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - February

[bluidkiti]

February 14

Step by Step

Today, no concession to any disappointment or fear of someone or something gone wrong, no caving in to self-pity as an excuse to wallow in the “poor me’s.” Sobriety does not promise being spared setbacks, disappointment, fears and seemingly insurmountable challenges – everyone faces them. As an alcoholic with a personality that is both emotionally and spiritually challenged I might be apt to “give up,” “give in” and whine, “Why me?” Answer: why not? AA has given me the tools to meet setbacks and disappointments effectively. It is up to me to use them. Today, then, I will meet disappointment, fear, frustration, anger and anything else potentially lethal as a challenge to find and nourish them into something less than bad. But I first must be in a place where I don’t want to twist anything into an excuse to drink, use, gamble, over-eat, whatever. Today, I choose not to want to return to the very dark place from whence I came. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

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

LOVE IS…

The pleasure of love is in loving.

~ La Rochefoucauld ~

Love is one of the most useful tools we have for building a house for spiritual living. We received love generously from new friends in our Fellowship who told us, “Let us love you until you can learn to love yourself.” Today we are happiest when we give love rather than seek it.

Love is being available to anyone who is in need. May we always give love to the seemingly unlovable until we can see them as lovable. Our ultimate joy would be to do, each day, one act of love in such a way that nobody but us would ever know its origin.

In recovery, the simplest love we can give is to wish others well. Our worst enemy would never deserve a wish that they resume the bondage of addiction.

Today, I’ll find love in my Higher Power, the Program, and my friends.

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

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

All our loves are first loves.

~ Susan Fromberg Schaeffer ~

When we fall in love with someone, it is a unique thing that comes from deep within us. Any relationship is the creation of two people who open themselves to each other and share themselves beyond the usual boundaries. That is the excitement of true love. Two people give each other the keys to their private world, just as we might share the key to our home, trusting that it will be used with care and respect. This intimacy isn’t usually instantaneous. It builds on experience together.

In an intimate relationship, we have the responsibility to be good stewards of the trust given to us. Looking at our partner’s role is always so much easier than looking at our own, but we need to resist that easy temptation. Our first questions should always be, Do I make it safe for my partner to be open with me? Do I take my partner’s vulnerability as a trust that I do not abuse? Am I gentle and respectful with the key my partner gave me?

Today I will be a good partner, honoring and guarding the trust I have been given. 

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

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

My husband, four children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren are the most important things in my life. I love them all.

~ Thelma Elliott ~

Liking, let alone loving, those closest to us seems elusive at times, because as relatives, we seldom put on our best face for each other. With ease we express our criticism. But coming to really love the members of our family, loving their faults as well as their strengths, will help us love ourselves. And loving ourselves is the primary lesson we are here to learn.

By the time we reach this program, we all have numerous regrets. But we can make amends and demonstrate through changed behavior our new commitment to acting from an attitude of love. Time is too fleeting and life too fragile to let our most important companions walk by unnoticed, unappreciated, unloved. Each family member will benefit, but even more important, our spirits will be lifted each time loving thoughts guide our actions.

I will take time to notice the most important friends I have, my family. Each family member will get my love and kind thoughts today.

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

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

I can be forgiven

As I look closely at my assets and liabilities in Step Four, I see mistakes I am not proud of. I see mistakes that I still feel guilty about. It hurts to realize that I cannot undo them. It hurts even to admit them.

Yet in my dual recovery program, there is forgiveness. The more meetings I attend and the more I share, the more I sense the love and care of my fellow members. And as they accept me where I am in recovery—with my faults, failings, and problems—the more I accept myself, and the less shameful and guilty I feel. In the fellowship, I experience true forgiveness.

I will forgive one mistake I make today and one mistake of another.

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

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

A mighty fortress is our God.

~ Martin Luther ~

Our Higher Power is there for us when we need a safe place, a place where there is only love. That fortress shields us from the dangers of the world, the thoughtless word, the unkind deed. Without judgment or criticism, our Higher Power loves us as we are, flaws and all. No one else can give us this kind of acceptance. No one else can bring us this kind of peace. How wonderful to be loved no matter what we do, no matter what mistakes we might make, to be loved and nurtured even when we don’t love ourselves.

Our Higher Power is there for us, any time we are in need, in the midst of a crowd or on an empty street. Springing from the goodness in us, our Higher Power will never abandon us, but is in us and with us forever. We can see our Higher Power’s grace everywhere we look, in the goodness of others, in nature, in a newborn baby, or in an older individual. Always, our Higher Power is there to protect, love, support, and nurture us.

Today let me give thanks for my Higher Power. Help me be grateful for the gifts I’ve been given.

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

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

We do not love people because they are beautiful, but be-cause they seem beautiful to us because we love them.

~ Russian proverb ~

How would you write the words “I love you” to someone you love, using twenty-five words or less and without using the words “I love you”?

Intimate relationships can have a profound influence in your life. They can take you outside yourself, encouraging you to think about and give to others. They can make the less enjoyable aspects of life more enjoyable by providing companionship, communication, and support. They can bring you shared experiences, joy, and laughter. They can offer romance and passion. They can provide stability and security. They can strengthen and deepen love, both self-love and love for another person.

Perhaps the love you feel today is different from love you were shown in the past. The healthier you become, the more you will understand that love has a far deeper meaning than sex. Love is based on courtesy and kind-ness, openness and honesty, and acceptance and trust. Love is having a generous heart, a willingness to forgive mistakes, and a desire to see and fully accept who another person is.

Today I will write an “I love you” essay to someone I love. I will focus on the good qualities of that person and communicate how wonderful our love feels.

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

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

I will love you no matter what. I will love you if you are stupid, if you slip and fall on your face, if you do the wrong thing, if you make mistakes, if you behave like a human being—I will love you no matter.

~ Leo Buscaglia ~

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were just one person in our lives who loved us no matter what our faults? And wouldn’t it be equally nice if we, too, could love just one person in the same way?

Love is not an easy emotion for us to feel. In the past we may have associated feelings of love with negative feelings such as pain, hurt, rejection, or disappointment. But we can put the negative feelings aside and learn how to feel love as a positive emotion.

Love does not necessarily mean sexual attraction or commitment. Love can simply be seeing someone for who he or she is, whether that person is a friend, co-worker, boss, family member, or lover. To show love, we can keep our actions simple—by making a phone call, writing a letter, or sharing a hug. Let’s show someone we care.

How can I use Keep It Simple to show someone I care?

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

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

Learning that God is love

“God is love.” Through love our lives can be made whole. If we love ourselves, we don’t abuse our bodies with alcohol and other drugs. If we love ourselves, we don’t mistreat our minds with hate. If we love ourselves, we don’t treat our fellows unkindly.

When we truly know that God is love—a love that includes suffering and pain as well as splendor and light—we need never be alone in despair again.

Do I know God is love?

Higher Power, I pray that I may know the meaning and power of your love.

I will seek to know God’s love today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

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

First, I came. Then I came to. Then I came to believe.

~ SAYING HEARD AT MEETINGS ~

Newcomer

Step Two begins, “We came to believe …” I’m uncomfortable with the idea that sooner or later I’m going to have to have the same belief in God that everyone else here has.

Sponsor

I’d be uncomfortable with that, too. Step Two isn’t about sticking around until your beliefs are similar to others’ beliefs. I can assure you that not everyone here shares the same spiritual beliefs or practices. Far from it.

I didn’t come here seeking to embrace a particular, prescribed belief, but I did come here seeking something. Addiction was in charge of my life. It had been a long time since I’d felt that I could truly believe in myself, in my connection with others. I was exhausted, scared, unhappy. Some people call this “rock bottom.” Some call it a spiritual crisis.

When I could admit that I wanted to stop my addictive behavior and that I hadn’t been able to stay stopped on my own, something changed. After coming to some meetings, I felt less alone, and I felt hope. I could look within myself and acknowledge that something in me wanted to live. The life spirit at the center of my existence was waking up. I wanted to be whole again.

In Step Two, we begin to accept that healing is possible, and that, in fact, it has begun.

Today, I look inward and see light and health.

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

~ THE EYE OPENER ~

Comparatively early in our drinking careers we knew our principal fault was our drinking, and we even knew but would not admit that our other faults were the offspring of the first.

We changed brands, we switched from whisky to beer, we changed our drinking companions, we put more time between drinks, we changed jobs, wives, localities. Somehow it never occurred to us that the only way to deal with our drinking was to abandon it to a glow death by starvation.

You can’t shoot, drown or strangle alcoholism but you can abandon it.

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

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

1) GIFT: God Is Forever There

2) Focus on the program, not the problem.

3) If you saw myself as others see you, would you deny it?

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

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

Who, Me?

I need to be forgiven, Lord, so many times a day. So often do I stumble and fall. Be merciful, I pray. Help me to not be critical when others’ faults I see. For so often, Lord, the same faults are in me.

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

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

AS WE FORGIVE

As we repeat the Great Prayer intelligently, we are suddenly caught up and grasped as though in a vice, so that we must face this problem of separation from God. We must extend forgiveness to everyone.

Notice that Jesus does not say, “forgive me my trespasses and I will try to forgive others.” He obliges us to declare that we have actually forgiven, and He makes our claim to our forgiveness to depend upon that. Who could be so insane as to endeavor to seek the Kingdom of God without desiring to be relieved of his own sense of guilt? We trapped in the inescapable position that we cannot demand our own release before we have released our brother.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts (Psalm 139:23).

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

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

Be My Valentine

O, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.

~ Henri F. Amiel ~

The legend of St. Valentine goes back to the early days of Christianity when Christians were being persecuted by the Romans. One Christian, Valentinus, was tried as a heretic and sentenced to death. In prison, Valentinus befriended a guard who respected his wisdom, and soon the guard brought his seven-year-old blind daughter, Julia, to Valentinus for lessons. Daily, the two talked of important things, and Julia developed a deep love and respect for her mentor. One day Julia asked him, “Valentinus, do you think I will ever be able to see?”

Valentinus thought for a moment and answered, “With love in your heart and belief in God, anything is possible, Julia.”

At that moment, Julia was overtaken with a flash of light, and suddenly her eyesight was restored. “Valentinus, I can see!” the child shouted.

“Praise be to God,” he humbly answered.

The next day when Julia came to visit Valentinus, he was gone. He had been taken to his execution. Julia found this note:

My Dear Julia,

Although we shall never see each other again, know that I will always love you. You are very dear to me. I will stay unseen by your side, and I will live in your heart. I believe in you.

Your Valentine

Be a true valentine by reminding your beloved ones that they are un–limited. Inspire them to trust their heart’s wisdom, and miracles will occur. And if you are your own valentine, remember that all the love you need is within you, just as you are, right where you are.

I pray to remind my loved ones of their highest possibilities.

I create miracles by using the vision of divine love.