Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - August

[bluidkiti]

August 17

Step by Step

"A lot of lost dreams, empty futures and crazy things of the past went through my mind. One night, I was struck with the memory of a line Alan Ladd used in 'Shane,' a movie that I'd worked on. He told a villain, 'The trouble is, old man, you've lived too long.' How that line echoed through my mind! I knew why I identified. It was MY line, the story of MY life. I'd lived too long and become a loser, dependent on booze. Well, at least I could drink myself to death. Real soon. Then everyone would be sorry for me." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Stopped in Time," Ch 3 ("Those Golden Years"), p 333.

Today, no asking if I have lived too long or too briefly and if I am predestined to "drink myself to death," exiting the world with everyone feeling "sorry" for me. Is this the legacy for which I have lived my life? If I want and expect better, and whether I am sober or drinking today, AA has given me the tools to build the legacy that will remain after I am gone. And the program promises better than being remembered as the "poor soul" who wasted a lifetime and died an alcoholic's death. Through AA, I can craft my legacy to be someone who rose from an alcoholic's gutter and re-crafted himself as a person who sobered up and sought to help the person who became helpless and hopeless. But I cannot think in terms of my final legacy. It is built 24 Hours at a time. Today, I focus on what my legacy is now. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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

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

PRAYER

The only way to pray is to pray, and the way to pray well is to pray often.

~ Anonymous ~

To us in recovery, prayer is always the one great move on our part that leads to spiritual progress. The need for prayer and meditation is a big part of our Program. Step Eleven is centered on the necessity for us to seek through prayer and meditation our own awareness of what God's will is for us.

We now know that prayer is best when it takes the form of a conversation with our Higher Power. Surely it can never be a span of time during which we are engaged only in asking, demanding, bargaining, or borrowing. A large part of all prayer and meditation should be devoted to our listening for answers. And answers do always come to those who are patient, tolerant, and trusting.

When I began to pray in recovery, the only prayer I said was "Thank You, God." Now I have many other prayers and I pray often. Now I know that my prayers are answered.

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

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

Marriage is our last best chance to grow up.

~ Joseph Barth ~

Most of us think of marriage in romantic terms. We imagine finding the “right one” and we form a vision of the ideal mate. Others of us have given up on ever finding a lifelong partner. The romance of a relationship naturally plays a less important role as we deal with practical matters like house cleaning, earning a living, and child care. When problems develop, we think about how we want our partner to change. If only they would listen to us more. If only they would spend money more responsibly. If only... If only — Most of our ideas about improving our marriage are left over from childhood ideas about how we would like to be taken care of. We want more attention. We want more love. We want to change our partners to satisfy our needs better. But when we give up on changing our partners, we grow up ourselves. When we accept that our partners are also on a life path, which is not identical to our own, we can accept them as friends, and the good things we share grow in importance.

Today I will be a full-grown man, responsible for my part in my intimate relationship, and let the rest go.

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

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

Shut up and listen!

~ Anne Arthur ~

Sometimes we need to do ourselves a favor and "shut up and listen.” Depending on our family, we may have heard the words “Shut up!” many times daily. To counter the verbal abuse, we might have learned to carry on an inner dialogue to drown out these words. That way of coping served us well. However, it became our habit to shut others out, regardless of their words, and now we need to break that habit. It serves us no more. In fact, it harms us.

We have learned that our Higher Power often tries to reach us through the words of a friend. If we have an inner dialogue going on, we will not hear the guidance we seek. We have heard many times in Twelve Step meetings the saying “When the student is ready the teacher appears.” Being quiet is being ready.

I will be ready for my lesson today. I will listen intently to the words of my friends.

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

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

I gain strength and serenity in the program

Of late my life is troubled. My mind is plagued, my body abused, my spirit downcast. My addiction ignites the depression which fans the addiction. The cycle is strong.

But the cycle is weakening. As I continue to practice my Twelve Step program, devote time to it each day, I feel stronger and less troubled. By attending meetings each week and listening carefully to fellow members—my strong and humble teachers—I am coming to accept myself as I am, with all my problems.

To help myself by helping others, I will offer to do service for my group.

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

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

The longer you’re in recovery, the more you appreciate humor.

~ Julie K. ~

Humor has long been recognized as an aid to recovery. Humor is part of most Twelve Step meetings in one form or another. It could be a story shared, a comment or an aside, or something that just pops out. We appreciate humor because it shows our common bond. It brings our spirits closer together. It relieves tension, and helps us banish worry. We laugh as a group, never “at” someone, but with someone.

Humor also gives us a way to share an experience we all know only too well. When we smile or laugh, we own our pain, forgive ourselves, and share understanding.

We may have lost our sense of humor from years of seriousness, neglect, inner pain, and rigidity. Regaining it can be a sign that we are making real progress in our recovery after years of pain, hurt, and isolation. The smiles humor generates remind us that we are getting better every day.

Today help me see the beauty of a flower, a smile, a sober lifestyle, one moment at a time.

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

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

Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it.

~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau ~

Each day you may hear hundreds of promises. Advertisers promise that your clothes will be cleaner, your hair will be thicker and fuller, or you will shed excess weight in a short amount of time. Similarly, politicians make campaign promises to end war, lower taxes, increase employment, and unite the two parties of government. The sad truth is, you have probably developed a thick skin to such promises. You know that the product you buy will most likely not deliver the promised results. You know that when the politician is elected, the promises made will most likely not be fulfilled.

Just as you do not trust the advertisers or politicians or the promises they make and do not keep, so too may others have lost trust and faith in the promises you made when you were using. In the beginning, they wanted to believe what you were saying. But, over time, you simply became an advertiser or politician making promises just to get buy-in.

In your recovery it is important for you to make promises and to deliver upon those promises. Make promises that you can and will fulfill, and you will be building a lusting foundation of trust.

Today I will deliver on any promise I make.

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

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

. . . there are hundreds of tasks we feel we must accomplish in the day, but if we do not take them one at a time and let them pass through the day slowly and evenly, as do the grains of sand passing through the narrow neck of the hourglass, then we are bound to break our own physical or mental structure.

~ Ted Bengermino ~

Our mental and physical states at bedtime are important. If we are tense, edgy, and feel a sense of failure and defeat, our sleep will probably be restless and unpeaceful. But if we go to sleep tonight feeling we have put the day to rest in peace and acceptance, our sleep will likely be restorative and refreshing.

What difference does it make if things are left undone tonight? Will it matter ten years from now? Nothing is so important that we should carry tension and worry into our relaxation time. What is important is our ability to accept the day's events by the time we're ready to sleep. The most important thing right now is to get the rest we need to be in good shape for tomorrow. The day is done, and so is the day's work

I am ready to relax in a peaceful, restful sleep. I can loosen the day's tension from my shoulders and meditate on acceptance.

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

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

Pausing for HALT

The acronym HALT reminds us to avoid getting too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. When we feel this way for a while, we are much more likely to have a slip or to relapse.

When we feel especially hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, it helps to pause and attend to what our bodies and spirits are telling us they need. We will be happier and more serene when we can avoid their extremes.

Do I pause when I feel too H?A?L?T?

Higher Power, help me to become more aware of the needs of my body and spirit.

If I feel especially hungry, angry, lonely, or tired today, I will

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

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

Duty is what one expects from others—it is not what one does oneself.

~ OSCAR WILDE ~

Newcomer

I do intend to make amends to everyone I've harmed, but I still feel scared when I start to think about it.

Sponsor

The prospect of facing someone whom we owe amends may bring up unnecessary fear if we cling to our old notion that we do everything alone.

We can plan to telephone a sponsor or program friend both before and after making the amend. We can ask for help from our Higher power; praying for the willingness to make the amend, for the ability to speak our truth simply and clearly, and for the serenity that comes from understanding that another person’s response is not in the realm of things we can control. Tools work, when we’re willing to use them. As always, faith is the antidote to fear. If we feel that our faith is insufficient, we can listen to others in recovery sharing about their experience of the loving presence of a Higher Power—we can borrow from others, reserves of faith, when our own are low

Today, I'm not alone. I allow myself to ask for and accept the support I need and deserve.

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

~ THE EYE OPENER ~

As startling as this may sound to some members, AA has no first, second or third class memberships. A sober member is in good standing if he has been dry for twenty-four hours or twenty-four months.

Of course, no one means to discriminate, but some of us just naturally gravitate to a certain person or group of persons within the group. The “low-bottoms” are just as guilty as the “high-bottoms” in this respect. After all, we were all drunks and all of us smelled the same when we came in.

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

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

Blessing from Lao Tzu

Follow diligently the Way in your own heart,
but make no display of it to the world.
Keep behind, and you shall be put in front.
Keep out, and you shall be kept in.
He who humbles himself shall be preserved entire.
He who bends shall be made straight.
He who is empty shall be filled.
He who is worn out shall be renewed.

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

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

OUR PROMISE

Read Psalm 91

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. This clause has been taken to indicate some kind of favoritism on the part of God, whereas, of course, such a thing is impossible. It means simply that those who pray are saved from trouble that would otherwise overtake them, and that does, in fact, overtake those who do not pray.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. In the Bible, the word promise is the name given to a statement of some spiritual law. So, a "Bible promise" is a statement of the consequences that naturally follow from certain states of consciousness. If Boyle's law were written in the Bible idiom, it would read something like this: "As I live, saith the Lord, whenever thou shalt double the pressure of a gas, thou shalt halve the volume, temperature remaining constant." In the language of natural science, our Bible promise would run: "By meditating regularly on the Presence of God with you, and directing your life in accordance with that fact, you become immune from any kind of danger."

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

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

Honor the Angel

Allow children to be happy their own way; for what better way will they ever find?

~ Samuel Johnson ~

When a child is born in Bali, its feet are not allowed to touch the earth for the first 105 days of life. The Balinese regard their children as angels from heaven, and they do not want them to be shocked by contact with the heaviness of the world. Every Balinese child is constantly held until almost four months of age. Then, a colorful ceremony is held at which the child's feet are placed upon the earth, with prayers and blessings.

In our culture, we need to remember to honor our children as spiritual beings. We all come from heaven, and the transition to earth is not easy for anyone. We must give our children the opportunity to retain their spiritual identity for as long as possible.

Many children are extremely psychic and spiritual, as you may have been. They voice the wisdom of old and wise souls; some report memories of past lives, talk to invisible friends, play with nature spirits, have premonitions, and recount contact with departed relatives. Many are quite sensitive to the energies in their environment, feeling touched and healed by loving people and events, and jarred by violence in thought or deed.

We must give our children the best possible atmosphere in which to start their journey. Let them be spiritual beings for as long as they choose; do not force them to trade their heritage for our cultural idea of education. The best gift we can give our children is to draw forth that which they already are.

Help me to respect children as whole and wise beings.
Through them I will remember my own innocence.

I come from heaven to bestow the gifts of God.