Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - August

[bluidkiti]

August 26

Step by Step

" ...(M)y life has had a purpose, not in great things accomplished but in daily living. Courage to face each day has replaced the fears and uncertainties of earlier years. Acceptance of things as they are has replaced the old impatient chomping at the bit to conquer the world. I have stopped tilting at windmills, and instead have tried to accomplish little daily tasks, unimportant in themselves, but tasks that are an integral part of living fully." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three," Ch 10 ("He Sold Himself Short"), p 295.

Today, may I not be self-critical or deflated if something I hope to achieve isn't realized because, if I have worked toward it without drinking, I have achieved one of those "little daily tasks" that might be "unimportant in themselves" but "are an integral part of living fully." If I have gone through the last 24 Hours without drinking, that in itself is an accomplishment of gratitude and inspiration for the next 24 Hours. And if doing today without drinking seems like something not to be fully appreciated, a comparison to what I DIDN'T accomplish on a day of drinking should provide a measure of the magnitude of not drinking today. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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

TODAY IS THE NOW

I've shut the door on yesterday
And thrown the key away.
Tomorrow holds no fears for me
Since I have found today.

~ Vivian Y. Laramore ~

Living in the now is one of the most important ways of finding lasting recovery. One of the favorite slogans to be followed is “One Day at a Time." We willingly accept the fact that yesterday is gone forever and tomorrow is only an expectation. When we have finished with yesterday and have no fear of tomorrow we can be assured that we can truly be content with each new today.

Living in the now is an acceptance of life's realities. Honesty is the keynote to being happy throughout each day as it comes. Today surely is the "first day of the rest of our lives." It can be, if lived with gratitude, love, and honesty, the best day yet in our newly found today.

Today truly can be that wonderful exciting day that on yesterday I eagerly called "tomorrow.” I can greet every today by exclaiming, "This day can be the start of the best years of my life."

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

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.

~ African proverb ~

Only by meeting many different conditions and being challenged by problems do we develop great skill in dealing with life. We say a man is soft who has always had everything handed to him. We admire a man who has met great challenges and come through them. However, while we are struggling and when the challenges are really on top of us, we may not feel that we are in the midst of some admirable battle. We are more likely to simply feel burdened and stressed, not knowing what the outcome will be.

When the sailor is in the midst of the storm, he focuses intently upon what he has to do right now. He learns to read the wind and the waves in these extreme conditions by being there and by learning from others who are more experienced. That is a model for developing our skills on this sea of life.

Today I will focus on what I need to do just for today, and I will learn from those who are more experienced than I am.

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

Whatever the mind pictures and expects, that it will also build and produce for you!

~ Catherine Ponder ~

Our addiction fed our belief that others were responsible for how we acted. That has made it hard to accept that we are in charge and have been all along. Our personal power is nearly beyond comprehension. The images we carry in our minds become our reality.

This program and its principles can guide our thoughts and so give us hope that we can have more positive lives. We can quiet our minds and deliberately decide what to dwell on. We usher in the reality we deserve when we picture joy and loving interactions with people, when we create the positive details we long for in our relationships, our jobs, our personal attitudes.

I am in control of how I see and experience my life today. My mind is always at work, but I’m its boss!

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

I need, to be gentle with myself

As I am seeing my emotional illness and addiction more and more clearly, as I am coming to see just how they have affected my life. Some- times I feel afraid and ashamed and guilty and overwhelmed. Sometimes I don't like the way I am or what I've done.

At times like these, it usually helps when I promptly share my struggle with my support person. He reassures me that my feelings are not unusual. Then he reminds me to keep thinking about three things: (a) being gentle with myself as my awareness deepens; (b) respecting myself for the courage and strength I have already shown; and (c) forgiving myself. When I think of his helpful words and his acceptance of me, I can better accept myself and move through this difficult stage.

I will write down one positive thing I have done today and then add one reason I like myself.

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

God is in the details.

~ Mies Van Der Rohe ~

The Swiss psychoanalyst C. G. Jung had inscribed on his front door, “Whether invoked or not, God will be present.”

It may be difficult for us to believe that God is closest to us when we are farthest from God. Do we think God comes to us only through virtue and goodness? Do we continue to view God as judge and stem parent? Loving ourselves and others unconditionally is impossible if we feel we have to prove, and reprove, our worth to our Higher Power.

Accepting that God never leaves our side is our security blanket. If God doesn’t keep score, why are we so hard on ourselves?

How would we act today if we believed that we were perfectly protected? What difference would our acceptance of God’s ongoing presence and love make in our daily lives?

Today let me accept God’s presence and unconditional love in every moment of my life.

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

Courage is only an accumulation of small steps.

~ George Konrad ~

In a Sioux Indian story about courage, the Great Creator gathers all living things together and presents them with a challenge. “I gave each of you courage,” the Creator says. “But it is something I want humans to work hard to dis-cover. Where can I hide it?”

The eagle spoke. “I am not afraid to soar high into the sky. I will place it among the stars ” But the Creator said, “No. One day humans will fly into the skies and easily find this.”

The dolphin said, “I am not afraid to dive deep into the ocean. I will deposit it on the ocean floor.” But the Creator said, “No. One day humans will go far below the surface of the ocean and find it.”

Then a tiny gnat spoke up. “I cannot soar into the sky or dive deep into the ocean or dig into the ground. Even so, I have courage. Why not place it inside of humans? Then it will be up to them to discover it themselves.” And so it was.

Until you discover your courage, you will not be able to see how high you can soar and all of the things that you can accomplish.

I will seek the courage within me and use it to guide me in all that I do.

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

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

~ Marcel Proust ~

How have we felt when we return to our home-towns, childhood homes, old playgrounds, or high schools after years of absence? Suddenly each place isn't as it once seemed because we're looking through the eyes of someone older and changed. Where we once saw our high school through the eyes of students, we now look at it through the eyes of adults—in a much different way.

So it is with all areas of our lives: our jobs, homes, families, friends, or partners. Many of these people and places haven't changed for a long time. Yet, we change every day. Instead of seeing our job as the same old job or our home as the same old home, we can start to look at them differently.

Tonight we don't need to change things on the outside to feel better on the inside. We can change how we look at things from the inside out. We can start to see who and what are outside of us as if we were looking at them for the first time. Tonight the ho-hums in our lives can turn into ah-has just by changing the way we see them.

There may be many things in my life that haven't changed, but I'm not one of them. Tonight I can see them all with new eyes.

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

Letting go of fear

Some people talk about the Four Horsemen of chemical dependency: Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, and Despair. The Four Horsemen have a leader, Fear, and there are a thousand forms of fear for the horsemen to command.

The way to combat the horsemen and their leader is with abstinence, honesty, and faith (fear cannot exist where there is faith).

Am I finding the faith to let go of my fear?

Higher Power, help me find the faith I need to let go of fear.

Should I feel afraid about anything today, I will pray that

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

In search of my mother's garden l found my own.

~ ALICE WALKER ~

Newcomer

I heard someone say that no one is in our lives by mistake. But am I supposed to believe that my boss is the best of all possible bosses? That people who've hurt me somehow did the right thing? Should I avoid people who threaten my recovery or shouldn't I?

Sponsor

When we say, "No one comes into our lives by mistake," we don't mean that we're at the mercy of whomever we happen to encounter, but rather that every situation involving another human being offers us an opportunity for getting to know ourselves better and for growing spiritually.

We can choose our friends and associates. We're not required to like or trust everyone. But as we look at those we spend time with and those we avoid, those we embrace and those we fear, we learn a great deal about who we are. What part of ourselves are we intolerant of when we encounter it in someone else? What part of ourselves are we willing to face and deal with? What part of ourselves are we prepared to love unconditionally?

People in our lives can become our teachers, if we let them.

Today, I take the opportunity for growth that the presence of someone in my life offers me.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

With fiery zeal we devote much energy to going through the motions of living AA. We speak on every occasion we are invited, we rush ourselves dizzy carrying the message to all who call on us, but in the process we sometimes neglect the one man we are most interested in—ourselves. Our AA has become muscular.

To reach ourselves requires quiet meditation, daily use of prayer and a comprehensive study of the Program and of ourselves.

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

Thank You for My Friends

I give You thanks, O God, for those who mean so much to me. For those friends in the Program I can go to anytime. For those with whom I can talk and keep nothing back, knowing that they will not laugh at my defects or dreams. For those whose fellowship makes it easier to be good. For those who, by their warning, have held me back from making mistakes I might have made. Above all, I thank You, God, for giving me all of my recovery friends who are bound to me by a common problem; together we find a common solution.

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

THE FOUR HORSEMEN

Read Revelation 6.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse give the key to the nature of man as we know him. When you understand these symbols thoroughly you will understand your own makeup, and you will be able to begin the work of getting dominion over yourself and your surroundings.

The Bible is not written in the style of a modem book. It has a method of its own of conveying knowledge through picturesque symbols, the reason being that this is the only possible way in which knowledge could be given to people in all ages in different parts of the world and of different degrees of spiritual development. A symbol appeals to any audience, each individual getting just what he is ready for.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse stand for the four parts or elements of our human nature. There is, first of all, the physical body—the thing that you see when you look into the glass. Then there is your feeling nature or emotions, and although you cannot "see" your feelings, you are tremendously conscious of them. Third, there is your intellect, which contains every bit of knowledge that you possess. Finally, there is your spiritual nature, your real eternal self; the true you, the I AM, the Indwelling Christ. This is your real identity, which is eternal. Almost everyone believes in its existence, but most people are very little conscious of it as an actuality.

Ultimately the time will come when the first three will be merged in the fourth, and then we shall all know instead of only believing that the spiritual nature is all.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

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

See Perfection

It is done unto You as You believe.

~ Jesus Christ ~

Helen was very nearsighted for many years. The moment she woke up each day, she would reach for her eyeglasses; she would take them off only when she closed her eyes to sleep, and she became very uncomfortable when she was required to be without them for even a short time. Then Helen read a book on metaphysics in which she learned that physical challenges stem from inner decisions we make. Vision, Helen read, is related to our willingness (or resistance) to see what is happening in our life. Helen decided she would test the theory and shift her attitude to see all things as perfect. Whenever she was tempted to see a situation as faulty or victimizing, she reminded herself, ''I see perfection, and l see perfectly.'' Before long, Helen’s vision began to improve, and eventually she threw away her glasses. The vision of perfection manifested in perfect vision.

If you wear glasses, a powerful question to ask yourself is, “When I first began to need eyeglasses, what was happening in my life that l did not want to see?” When I ask this in my seminars, I hear some profound answers. Many people began to wear glasses when their parents were getting divorced, or they were feeling abused by family or friends, or they faced a life trauma. I began to wear eyeglasses when I was bullied by several boys in elementary school, and I felt unprotected.

Our physical body is always sending us messages about what is happening with our spirit. Just as we shut down on seeing or hearing when we don’t want to see or hear what's happening in our physical world, we can restore our health by making a new decision to see and hear through God's eyes and ears.

Your will for me is perfect health and happiness. I accept your gifts and magnify Your love.

I see perfection as it is.