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Feb. 23, 2016 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016 Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is: There are sounds to seasons. There are sounds to places, and there are sounds to every time in one's life. -- Alison Wyrley Birch Live is rich and full. Your life. My life. Even when the day feels flat or hollow, there's a richness to it that escapes our attention. We see only what we choose to see. We hear selectively, too. Our prejudgment precludes our getting the full effects of any experience. Some days we hear only the drum of the humdrum. But the greater our faith in the program and a loving God, the clearer our perceptions become. We miss less of the day's events; we grow in our understanding of our unfolding, and we perceive with clarity the role others are playing in our lives. We can see life as a concert in progress when we transcend our own narrow scope and appreciate the variety of people and situations all directed toward the same finale. The more we're in tune with the spiritual activity surrounding us, the more harmoniously we will be able to perform our parts. I will listen to the music of today. I will get in tune, in rhythm. I am needed for the concert's beauty. You are reading from the book: Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey. © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation

June 21, 2014 - Step by Step

Step by Step
Saturday, June 21, 2014
 
"The wars which had been fought, the burnings and chicanery that religious dispute had facilitated, made me sick. I honestly doubted whether, on balance, the religions of mankind had done any good. Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest. If there was a Devil, he seemed the Boss Universal, and he certainly had me." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 1 ("Bill's Story"), p 11.

Today, may I not reject the possibility that a higher power of good can exist despite all the bad - even evil - that I see every day. Just as Bill W. shared as co-founder of the Program, cynicism may block willingness for me to believe the possibility that something stronger and better than myself could exist to set me on the journey toward sobriety and recovery. Perhaps a beginning is to understand the distinction between religion and spirituality and that one has nothing to do with the other. The Program does not require me to adhere to any religious code; it does require that I come to believe in a Higher Power or God of my understanding. But how can I be reconciled to the bad that surrounds me, including wars and all other affairs? If I can accept that one of our most precious collective gifts is the freedom of choice, is it not plausible that the state of man is a direct consequence of his choices individually and collectively? If so, cannot what is bad around me be the consequence of man's self-will run riot and not because of a punitive god? Today, I set out to find my Higher Power of my understanding, not of man's religious concept. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2014

June 21, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, June 21, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
Intelligent faith in that Power greater than ourselves can be counted on to stabilize our emotions. It has an incomparable capacity to help us look at life in balanced perspective. We look up, around and away from ourselves, and we see that nine out of 10 things which at the moment upset us will shortly disappear. Problems solve themselves, criticism and unkindness vanish as though they had never been.

Have I got the proper perspective toward life?

Meditation for the Day
A truly spiritual man or woman would like to have a serene mind. The only way to keep calm in this troubled world is to have a serene mind. The calm and sane mind sees spiritual things as the true realities and material things as only temporary and fleeting. That sort of mind you can never obtain by reasoning, because your reasoning powers are limited by space and time. That kind of a mind you can never obtain by reading, because other minds are also limited in the same way. You can only have that mind by an act of faith, by making the venture of belief.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have a calm and sane mind. I pray that I may look up, around and away from myself.

Hazelden Foundation

June 21, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Saturday, June 21, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
"Direct" is a key word in the Ninth Step. There are times, unfortunately, where many of us are hopeful that indirect amends will suffice, sparing us the pain and supposed humiliation of approaching people in person and telling them of our wrongs. This is evasion and will never give us a true sense of breaking with the wrongdoings of the past. It shows that we're still trying to defend something that isn't worth defending, hanging on to conduct that we ought to abandon. The usual reasons for sidestepping direct amends are pride and fear.

As I make amends to others, do I realize that the real, lasting benefits accrue to me?

Today I Pray
May I be sure that the best reward for coming on straight as I try to repair my damages is, after all, my own. But may I avoid making amends purely for my own benefit - to be forgiven, to be reinstated, to flaunt the "new me." Ego-puffing and people-pleasing are not part of the real "new me." God save me from opportunism.

Today I Will Remember
No puffery or people-pleasing.

Hazelden Foundation

June 21, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Saturday, June 21, 2014
 
We alcoholics have lived in two entirely different worlds that were separated only by an act of decision.

One day we lived in a world filled with hostile people, a world devoid of understanding and sympathy; a world of ugliness, suffering and despair. By this act of decision, a new day was created and we were transported into a different world.

If you would change the world, change yourself.

June 21, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stay there, lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again... but also, she will never sit down on a cold one any more.
 -- Mark Twain

"Last night I asked for help, but the person couldn't give it to me. Tonight I'm not going to ask because I'll be refused."  Poor us! One person has rejected us, so now we've got the whole world rejecting us. We believe if one person lets us down, everyone else will too.

Such thinking, as negative as it is, can provide safety. If we believe we can't trust anymore, then we won't. But there won't be any growth in this kind of safety. By condemning everyone, we won't see those who want to help.

To find help we may have to ask several people. If a few people turn us away, we shouldn't give up hope. There are many flowers in the field of life, but to pick the best, we need to look at them all.

If I get rejected it doesn't mean I'm a bad person or no one can be trusted. It means I need to take another risk or maybe two.

From the book:

Night Light by Amy E. Dean

Night Light by Amy E. Dean. © 1986, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation

June 20, 2014 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, June 20, 2014
 
AA Thought for the Day
You should be ready and willing to carry the AA message when called upon to do so. Live for some purpose greater than yourself. Each day you will have something to work for. You have received so much from this program that you should have a vision that gives your life a direction and purpose that gives meaning to each new day. Let us not slide along through life. Let us have a purpose for each day and let us make that purpose for something greater than just ourselves.

What is my purpose for today?

Meditation for the Day
To see God with eyes of faith is to cause God's power to manifest itself in the material world. God cannot do His work because of unbelief. In response to your belief, God can work a miracle in your personality. All miracles happen in the realm of personality and all are caused by and based on belief in God's never-failing power. But God's power cannot manifest itself in personalities, unless those personalities make His power available by their faith. We can only see God with the eyes of faith, but this kind of seeing produces a great change in our way of living.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may see God with the eyes of faith. I pray that this seeing will produce a change in my personality.

Hazelden Foundation

June 20, 2014 - A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, June 20, 2014
 
Reflection for the Day
When we take the Ninth Step, we must be willing to be absolutely honest. Obviously, though, indiscriminate "absolute honesty" would blow the roof off many a house and entirely destroy some relationships. We must hold nothing back through deceit and pride; we may need to hold something back by discretion and consideration of others. Just when and how we tell the truth - or keep silent - can often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and none at all.

Am I grateful for the products of truth which, through the grace of God, I have been privileged to receive?

Today I Pray
May I have the wisdom to know the fine-line difference between tact and dishonesty. In my eagerness to make restitution, may I not be the charmer, the flatterer or the crawler who insists, "You're so good, and I'm so bad." All are forms of dishonesty and hark back to the role-playing days of my active addiction. May I recognize them.

Today I Will Remember
Tact is honest selectivity.

Hazelden Foundation

June 20, 2014 - The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, June 20, 2014
 
Centuries ago a man learned to ignite wood artificially. No one in the world today knows his name, but all modern inventions are directly or indirectly traceable to his act. What his name is doesn't matter, but every skyscraper in the world is his monument. His name perished as all names are apt to do, but his almost juvenile act of starting fire by friction will live as long as civilization does.

A single word you utter might kindle a fire that would burn through the ages.

Hazelden Foundation

June 20, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

Friday, June 20. 2014

Today's thoughts from Hazelden are:

 

First we work the program because we have to. Then we work the program because we are willing to. Finally we work the program because we want to.

*****

When you do all the talking you only learn what you already know.

*****

Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed.

*****

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.

*****

Sponsors: have one, use one, be one. 

From the book:

Keep Coming Back Gift Book by Meiji Stewart

Keep Coming Back © 1995 by Meiji Stewart