Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - August

[bluidkiti]

August 4

Step by Step

" ...(S)ubconsciously I was in earnest about wanting to quit liquor forever. It was no momentary emotionalism born of self-pity in a maudlin condition. I was seeking something, and I was ready to learn. I did not need to be told that my efforts were and would be unavailing if I did not get help. ...(L)ittle by little, I learned how my need could be met. The story of Alcoholics Anonymous fascinated me." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Personal Stories," Ch 7 ("The News Hawk"), p 258.

Today, how much more the cost to answer how willing I am to get sober, when enough is enough, when I can take no more, when self-loathing and self-disgust are more than enough to motivate me to take responsibility for both my addiction and recovery and get to work on both. If I've reached the proverbial bottom but, more practically, if I've hit the point when not even I believe my lies anymore, when I've had enough of needing more whiskey or any other drug every day just to achieve normalcy or when the "buzz" doesn't buzz anymore and when I have no other option but to believe that there is something better - my time has come. The Twelve Steps are there; all I need do is begin working them, Step by Step. How much more is my addiction going to cost me? Starting today, no more. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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

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

SERENITY

There is a gentle serenity in God's peace, there is a soothing tranquility in God's love.

~ Anonymous ~

The words "gentle" and "soothing" can quiet the most troubled heart. The notion of serenity and tranquility can create an inner peace that is wonderful. What good is it if a person owns the entire world and does not have serenity and tranquility? What have our hearts cried out for from the time we took our first breath if not for serenity and tranquility? When we speak of hopes and dreams. we are talking of finding them.

In Step Three we found them. Once we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a Higher Power, we render ourselves open to the gentle serenity of God's peace and the soothing tranquility of God's love.

The Serenity Prayer starts "God grant. . . ." Serenity is a gift that God grants. When I take my will out of the way in Step Three, then God can grant me serenity.

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

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

The name of this infinite and inexhaustible depth and ground of all being is God. That depth is what the word God means. And if that word has not much meaning for you, translate it, and speak to the depths of your life, of the source of your being of your ultimate concern, of what you take seriously without any reservation.

~ Paul Tillich ~

In the words of the Twelve Steps, we are guided toward God, as we understand God. Many of us are at first turned off by the word God. Some of us received early spiritual guidance through childhood religious training, but others had none at all—and some of us had negative experiences with organized religion. Now we are guided to grow into an adult form of spirituality.

The words of today’s quotation come from a great theologian who understood the same wisdom that the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous did We don’t have to limit our understanding of God by confining, dogmatic definitions. Our spiritual life is grounded in a sense of awe and rises from the deepest part of our being.

Today my recovery is restored by God, who surpasses all understanding

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

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

Retreat is not defeat!

~ Kay Lovatt ~

Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is back away from a situation that’s causing us pain. Every time we feel compelled to resolve a crisis, we can retreat, at least for a time. Giving our emotions a rest gives us a fresh perspective.

Trying to force another person to see a situation as we do seldom works, just as we can’t be convinced against our will that someone else is right. The history we carry colors our view. But we can learn from one another; that’s why we are sharing this journey.

Does it seem that we encourage conflicts? Is our security tied to having others validate our opinions? Perhaps turning to our Higher Power each time we anticipate conflict will relieve us of the need to express an opinion that’s not crucial to the moment.

I don’t have to resolve anything today. I can simply go along with how things are and trust that they will change, with God’s help.

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

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

My past is no longer my present

Growing up, I was abandoned physically and emotionally—and felt lost. As an adult, I experience addiction and emotional illness—and have felt a victim. While I can't change my past, I need to understand it and accept it so I can deal better with my present.

In recovery I do this in two ways. First, I take part in the Twelve Step fellowship for dual recovery—a stable, nurturing, spiritual community. Second, I take part in therapy—a safe, educational, and healing community. With the help of these two programs, I am developing a new outlook: I am no longer a victim. I take care of myself—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—and I am taken care of.

I will meditate on how my past affects my present and how taking care of myself in the present can help me accept my past.

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

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

Don’t compromise yourself; you are all you’ve got.

~ Betty Ford ~

We continue to learn through our recovery program that we feel better when we listen to our feelings. Even though we may be uncomfortable when we disagree with others, or refuse to go along with the crowd, we are much more peaceful when we don’t do something just because everybody else is doing it. We like the part of recovery that is teaching us to be honest with ourselves and others.

Feelings are like a road map to us. One writer said they are “our reaction to the world around us.” When we begin to understand our anger, guilt, anxiety, joy, hurt, and loss, we realize feelings are road markers we can use to grow in recovery. Although our feelings were dulled for years by alcohol and other substances, we have found it is never too late to listen to our feelings and learn from what they are teaching us. It is a new language for us; painful sometimes, but always true.

Today I pray to let others experience the real me, including my feelings.

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

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

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.

~ Edward Stanley ~

A good number of the world’s greatest athletes have experienced career-ending injuries. Some approached such injuries with a defeatist attitude. Because they could not engage in the sport they loved, they gave up completely on exercise. Others, however, used a positive attitude to rebound from their injuries so they could discover a different activity they could enjoy.

Finding an exercise you enjoy can be challenging as you get older. Injuries may present limitations. The stamina you once enjoyed in your youth can take away some of the ease with which you once played a sport. There may be other limitations as well. The busier your daily schedule is, the harder it can be to find time for regular exercise.

Just because you cannot engage in your favorite exercise does not mean you cannot or should not exercise at all. And using a busy schedule as an excuse for not exercising will end up working against your overall health in the long run. Removing an unhealthy habit begins a cleansing process that will make you feel better. But you need regular exercise to strengthen your body, tone your muscles, and build a foundation for a healthier future.

Today I will commit to being fit.

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

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

The height of wisdom is to take things as they are . . . to endure what we cannot evade.

~ Montaigne ~

What are some of the things we dread? As children we probably dreaded school and occasions when we had to dress up. As students we most likely dreaded tests. As adults we may now dread job performance reviews or visits with our parents. We may have other dreads such as going to a dentist or doctor, purchasing a major appliance, or making changes.

Wisdom is the ability to acknowledge the dread and not run from it. It's okay to feel dread: wanting to postpone, feeling sick, having an anxiety attack, becoming dependent on another to help us out. As long as we don't succumb to those feelings—as powerful as they may be—we will endure the dreaded event.

Nothing lasts forever. Job reviews and dentist visits comprise only a portion of a day. If we can accept these dreaded events as inconveniences, we will have a more mature approach to them instead of magnifying them. The steps to overcoming dread are simple: accept, let go, and do it!

Are there events I dread tonight? I can remember the three steps to overcoming dread and work through my feelings.

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

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

Being lucky

Some people think “luck” is the reason for success in their lives. But does luck really mean the suffering and pain that we’ve not hesitated to endure? The opportunities for growth that we’ve embraced? The kindness and humor that we’ve shown others? The thanks we’ve expressed to others for their kindness to us?

If success is “lucky,” then we make our own luck. Then luck means being open and available; luck means willingness plus grace.

Do I realize what a lucky person I am?

Higher Power, help me to be open and willing to receive your grace.

Today I will thank God for my “luck” by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

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

To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.

~ BERNADETTE DEVLIN ~

Newcomer

When I listen to people at Step meetings, the word “humility” always seems to come up, no matter which Step is being discussed. I still have resistance to that word.

Sponsor

Like many people in recovery I've experienced some resistance to each Step as I've come to it; by letting myself feel this resistance, then moving through it, I've learned some things about myself. I think that our objections to each Step add up to a portrait of our disease. Whether a particular Step addresses our relationship with a substance or a behavior with ourselves, with other people, or with a Higher Power it asks us to see ourselves as part of something larger than our own will. There has been arrogance and willfulness in our insistence on doing things our way, rejecting help, trying to stand alone in the universe, and feeling unlovable and unforgivable.

Humility is simply a recognition that we have limitations. Paradoxically, accepting our limitations gives us the freedom to become part of something limitless.

Today, I have the courage to let go of resistance.

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

~ THE EYE OPENER ~

It is almost a general rule that no one achieves in life what they planned in their youth. The great ambitions of our teens never seem to materialize. In spite of all our plans, it is a safe bet to say, however, that we are where we were intended to be, doing the things that we were intended to do, whether we like it or not. Apparently we are not running the world.

It is very probable that we would have made a terrible mess of it had we followed our wishes and would have wound up a much bigger flop than we did. No matter what our station in life, we can daily thank God that it is no worse than it is.

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

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

Honesty, Purity, Unselfishness, and Love

Dear God, may I breathe in the inspiration of goodness and truth.
Breathe in the spirit of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love.
They are readily available to me, if I am willing to accept them wholeheartedly.
God, You have given me two things: Your Spirit and the power of choice.
To accept or not, as I have the gift of free will.

When I choose the path of selfishness, greed, and pride, I am refusing to accept Your Spirit.
When I choose the path of love and service, I accept Your Spirit, and then it flows into me and makes all things new.

~ Adapted from Twenty-Four Hours a Day, August 29 ~

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

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

A TIME TO REST

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Read Exodus 20:8-11.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).

This commandment about the Sabbath Day was given to the people at the time of their leaving Egypt and going into the desert, and on the surface it meant what it said for that age. It was a wonderful thing in Moses' day to insist that everybody set aside one day a week to think about God or at least to oblige him to stop his secular activities. No rule can make a man religious, or give him faith, but it can help.

Like all the other commandments, this one is instruction in seeking the presence of God everywhere, particularly where the trouble seems to be. Where there is fear and doubt He brings faith, where there is lack He brings abundance.

But here in this commandment about the Sabbath Day there is a still deeper meaning. When you are praying every day and recognizing that God is working in you and in all your affairs, there will be a sense in which every day will be a Sabbath, because for you every day will be a holy day. One of the most wonderful things about the Bible teaching is that we get rid of the distinction between the sacred and the secular. That is one of the most important steps in the whole history of the soul.

God is present everywhere. For those who understand Jesus' teaching, it is always the Sabbath Day, and the place whereon they stand is holy ground.

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

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

The Power of the Word

In the beginning was the word.

~ John 1:1 ~

A woman in relatively good health underwent dilation and curettage (D&C) surgery. After her operation, however, Sally was not recovering, and each day she sank deeper into the abyss. Medical professionals were at a loss, since all tests revealed she was physically healthy. Finally, someone suggested hypnosis. During her session, it was discovered that under surgery Sally had heard one of the members of the operating team ask her doctor, “Do you think she'll make it?"

The doctor answered, "No way—I give her a few days at the most" What Sally didn’t realize was that the conversation was about another patient. Although Sally's conscious mind was asleep, her subconscious heard every word and, not knowing the bigger picture, she accepted the statement as true about herself and went onto manifest the picture her subconscious had adopted Sally's hypnotic regression assisted her to realize this was not her prognosis, and she recovered.

The subconscious is the part of our mind that manufactures our experience. Psychologists tell us that the subconscious cannot distinguish between imagination and reality. If you hold am image in mind long enough and feel it as if it is real, you can manifest it. This is the essence of creative visualization, as well as self-fulfilling prophecy. If we think or worry about something enough, we may draw that experience to ourselves. We can use the same principle to bring us what we want. Hold in mind images of the life you desire, and refuse to feed thoughts of what you do not wish. Watch your words. Be careful what you say to little children (or the little child in adults), for children emotionally absorb ideas even if they are said in jest or the heat of an angry moment. Feed your mind and heart with the most positive, energetic, and enlivening ideas and feelings you can imagine Then you will live not in the world that is cast upon you, but the one you choose.

Help me to feed myself and others with soul-nourishing thoughts and feelings'

I speak the word of love, and it is manifested.