Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - April

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April 9

Step by Step

Today, experience freedom from resentments and feel relief from the weight of carrying them. Focus today primarily on the one character defect that can be as catastrophic as alcohol, sometimes moreso. If we can be resentment-free for just one day, we may learn that continuing to harbor grudges is not worth their weight from the relief and freedom that come when we let them go – and not take them back. Today, ask our higher power that we feel freedom from resentments and all their residual garbage – anger, isolation, revenge. For these 24 Hours, a resentment-free zone. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

SERVING

Serenity or piece of mind is accomplished by very few people in the world. True happiness will come to the person who seeks and finds how to serve others.

~ Anonymous ~

We are overjoyed that our giving and sharing is called volunteering. If, in carrying the message of hope, we are volunteers, we are happy to be among those who are volunteers in its purest form. We welcome a chance to serve.

There are no honor rolls, awards, money, or trophies. We give for the pure joy of helping. Our greatest rewards come in the form of a firm handshake or a hug from someone to whom we’ve given. Sometimes it’s the gratitude in the eyes of a family member. That is enough.

I want to practice the advice not to seek glory for kindness I perform. I can never be happy if I depend on material rewards for what I have given.

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

The coining to consciousness is not a discovery of some new thing it is a long and painful return to that which has always been.

~ Helen Luke ~

When a few guys in Ohio first developed the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, they didn’t just sit down to devise a way to help alcoholics. The Steps were born out of the pain and desperation of men in the grips of a disease that seemed hopeless and terminal. By trial and error they wrestled with this grip of addiction, slowly uncovering an approach that was helping them to stay sober. It was only after awakening in their new life of sobriety that they started to define and write down the steps they had taken.

In some ways, to reach our awakening we all must pass through the same process of pain and challenge that those men in Ohio did. No life is free of pain. The best of us take our pain and seek to use it as a learning tool. We ask how we can make something positive out of our distress. We take stock of where we are and accept it as our starting point for moving forward. When we awaken to consciousness through the Twelve Steps, it is a unique and personal story, and yet it is a universal human story.

Today I give thanks for my growing consciousness.

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

Two new beings are brought forth during child-birth: a newborn and a mother.

~ Anne Marie Nelson ~

Whether or not we have given birth to a child, we can certainly appreciate the miracle. The opportunity that we now have to give birth to a new self through recovery is comparable.

It is empowering to realize that we can create, or rather re-create, ourselves through the help of this detailed, yet simple program. Who could have imagined that we, while in the midst of a chaotic, drug-infested world, were capable of taking on a new persona, becoming a new woman?

But here we are, charting a new course for our lives. Just as women need and deserve assistance in childbirth, we can rely on the help and guidance of other women who, like us, seek to sustain their rebirth. Together we will bring new women into this world, women who are eager to make a healthy difference in the lives of others.

I have the tools to create whoever I want to be. I am an artist at work.

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

I am grateful for my life

I was married. We had a child. I was successful at my job. I felt fulfilled. But then I developed serious mental health problems and addictions. It wasn’t long after I started to recover from my dual disorder that my wife and I got divorced.

I don’t know how I’ve managed these life changes, but I now have my feet on solid ground. And I only know that regularly I have called on my higher power, and regularly I have called on the combined experience, strength, and hope of my helpers in my Twelve Step and support groups. For giving me hope, for saving my life, I am deeply grateful to them all.

Today I will work Step Twelve and carry the message of dual recovery with gratitude and humility.

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

Seize the day!

~ Horace ~

During active addiction, everything was going to happen “tomorrow.” We’d give up our addiction, get a good job, make up with our families and friends, call someone for help, go to that meeting, get a new apartment, become honest and decent and proud, learn a new trade, find a better life…tomorrow. For today, we’d do the same old things in the same old way.

Now we know today is all we have: the past is over and tomorrow may never come. All we can count on, all we can control, is just one day: today.

But what a world is contained in that one day! We can be abstinent for one day. We can be the best person possible for one day. We can be loving and giving and caring for one day.

In this one day, we can stop to smell the roses and really see the wonders around us. We can give thanks to our Higher Power for the beauty in the world. We can reach out to a newcomer and find support with our sponsor. In this one day, we can be all we ever dreamed we’d be.

Today let me be grateful for all I have, and be the best “me” possible.

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

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.

~ Aesop ~

Plants flourish in a garden that receives the right amount of sunlight and water, as well as a well-balanced soil. Manure and compost can be excellent fertilizers, although it is ironic that something so repellent is vital to sustaining life. The same holds true with misfortunes, failures, and disappointments. Such things are as beneficial to you as manure and compost are to a garden. They facilitate the growth of positive things. Fortune can arise out of misfortune, success can rise up from failure, and fulfillment can be more fully appreciated through the experience provided by disappointment.

In Chinese language the symbol for the word crisis de-notes a duality: “a moment of danger and of opportunity.” This symbol conveys that every crisis can be viewed as both an enemy—a threat to your vital resources—and an ally—an experience that challenges you to make change.

Whenever you feel intimidated by any of life’s crises, accept the challenge. Greet it like a reed in the wind. Bend through the adversity until it has passed. Then stand up-right once again, a stronger person for the experience.

I will accept the challenges during times of adversity so I may weather them and grow stronger in the process.

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

We struggle after ideas. We read this book and that, and go from place to place … instead of pausing to make our own the few great but profoundly simple laws and truths of the spirit.

~ Dr. Horatio Dresser ~

Right now, all we have to remember is that the program teaches us many slogans: Easy Does It, Keep It Simple, Let Go and Let God, Live and Let Live. These slogans are more than simple statements. They are truths for our spiritual well-being.

Today may have been a day of intense activity. We may have worked at a frantic pace, but felt we accomplished little. We may then have rushed home to eat a quick meal only to rush somewhere else.

Now is the time to slow down, to stop our frantic pace, if only for a few minutes. We can breathe deeply, let go of all the worries and tensions of the day, then think of a slogan. We can picture how simple it is, yet how truthful its meaning. Now is the time to rest and feel some serenity.

What is my favorite slogan? How can this slogan help me relax tonight?

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

Rewriting the program

People who abuse mood-altering chemicals fall into three categories with respect to the Twelve Step program: those who neglect the program entirely, those who try to put the program right, and those who want the pro-gram to put them right. Needless to say, those in the first two categories do them-selves little good.

If we expect to recover strictly on our own or feel the need to rewrite the Steps, arrogance and self-centeredness will block us every time. But when we accept the fact that something bigger than us can help, we are well on the road to recovery.

Am I living the program as prescribed?

Higher Power, help me believe that if I can’t, you can, and if I let you, you will.

I will practice accepting the program today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

Other people don’t always dream your dream.

~ LINDA RONSTADT ~

Newcomer

When people at meetings use the words “control” and “con-trolling,” the tone is always negative. What’s so bad about control? I’m glad that I have more control over my life, now that I’m not active in my addiction. I grew up hearing about “self-control” all the time. I assumed it was a good thing.

Sponsor

There are different ways in which people in recovery use the word “control.” One of them, in the phrase “controlled drinking” or “controlled drugging,” describes a state that’s neither drunk nor sober. It’s an attempt to use an addictive substance or behavior only in carefully measured amounts— the “I can handle it” approach. Those who engage in it cheat themselves both of the oblivion of addictive behavior and the joy of recovery. I can’t imagine a grimmer form of denial; it means never being free of obsession with a drug.

We also use the word “control” to name the illusion that we’re responsible for all the outcomes of our actions. The Serenity Prayer makes a distinction between things we can and can’t control. It helps me to remember that I have control over my actions, but not over those of others. I can control what I eat, but not how my body processes the food and what I weigh. I can choose my words, but not how people will respond to them. We may expend a lot of energy trying to manipulate others to feel and behave as we wish. It may even seem to work sometimes—but that’s an illusion. I don’t deliberately do things that I think may offend people or hurt their feelings; but what they feel, do, or say in reaction to me is not in the realm of my control.

Today, I accept my powerlessness over addictive substances and my powerlessness over other people’s thoughts and feelings.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

Many Groups and Clubs permit a little “friendly game” in the clubrooms. Far be it from us to criticize anyone for anything, as we like a little game occasionally ourselves, but we have all known of cases where the games got out of control. We have well deserved reputations for intemperance.

Card games can be the breeding place for a grand emotional upset and, incidentally, it does not help a fellow’s chance of sobriety to send him home broke to the wife and kids.

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

1) If you think you are an NA watchdog, just remember that watchdogs have to bark and bite

2) My serenity, my pace, my choice

3) We didn’t all arrive on the same ship, but we are all in the same boat.

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

Ninth Step Prayer

Higher Power, I pray for the right attitude to make my amends, being ever mindful not to harm others in the process. I ask Your guidance in making indirect amends. Most important, I will continue to make amends by staying abstinent, helping others, and growing in spiritual progress.

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

THE BIBLE HAS THE ANSWER

Don’t try to straddle the fence. If you wish to accomplish anything, you must be single-minded. It will be going the long way around if you first turn left and then right when you really want to go straight ahead. Let nothing turn you from the path. The Bible says,

A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8)


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

I Love You

Love always answers, being unable to deny a call for help, or not to hear the cries of pain that rise to it.

~ A Course in Miracles ~

Half an hour into healer Patricia Sun’s lecture, a man stood and announced, “I came in late—would you please tell me what happened?” This interruption seemed rather rude, considering that Patricia had spent time developing her theme for a thousand eager listeners. But Patricia did not play the judgment game. She smiled at the man and told him, ‘‘I love you—that’s what happened.” Patricia paused for a moment for him to receive the gift; then he replied, “Thank you,” and sat down.

The man was not really seeking information, but love and acknowledgment. He felt left out and wanted to be included. Giving him the love he sought cut past the game he was playing to get it, and everyone was served to observe the gift Patricia gave him.

One of the most powerful ways to deal with irritating behavior is to reinterpret it as a call for love. I am fascinated by teenagers who drive up and down city streets blasting car stereos so loud that one can hardly carry on a conversation within a hundred feet. With each passing year, the speakers grow larger, now to a point where many of these aficionados have removed their back seats to fit in two giant speakers. When I hear one of these cars passing, I translate the gross noise into, “Please pay attention to me! Please listen to me! Please know that I am here!” I am certain that a sociological study would reveal these car owners to be children who have felt unseen and unheard by their parents or society. If we gave our kids more love and attention at home, they would not need to buy huge speakers to demand attention from the world.

The next time someone asks you for attention in an inappropriate way, stop, take a breath, and sincerely tell them, “I love you.”

I pray to give only love today. I know I can meet all needs by giving love.

Love is my answer, no matter what the question.