Daily Recovery Readings - August

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August 14

Daily Reflections

REPAIRING THE DAMAGE

We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of
our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we
haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was
agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over
alcohol.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76

Making a list of people I had harmed was not a particularly difficult
thing to do. They had showed up in my Fourth Step inventory: people
towards whom I had resentments, real or imagined, and whom I had
hurt by acts of retaliation. For my recovery to be thorough, I believed
it was not important for those who had legitimately harmed me to
make amends to me. That is important in my relationship with God is
that I stand before Him, knowing I have done what I can to repair the
damage I have done.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"None of us like to think that we are bodily and mentally different
from others. Our drinking careers have been characterized by
countless vain attempts to prove that we could drink like other people.
This delusion that we are like other people has to be smashed. It has
been definitely proved that no real alcoholic has ever recovered
control. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.
There is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic."
Am I convinced that I can never drink again normally?

Meditation For The Day

We should have life and have it more abundantly--spiritual, mental,
physical, abundant life--joyous, powerful life. This we can have if we
follow the right way. Not all people will accept from God the gift of an
abundant life, a gift held out free to all. Not all people care to stretch
out a hand and take it. God's gift, the richest He has to offer, is the
precious gift of abundant life. People often turn away from it, reject it,
and will have none of it. Do not let this be true of you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may hasten to accept the gift of abundant spiritual life. I
pray that I may live the good life to the best of my ability.

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As Bill Sees It

Humility for the Fellowship, Too, p. 226

We of A.A. sometimes brag of the virtues of our Fellowship. Let
us remember that few of these times are actually earned virtues.
We were forced into them, to begin with, by the cruel lash of
alcoholism. We finally adopted them, not because we wished to but
because we had to.

Then, as time confirmed the seeming rightness of our basic
principles, we began to conform because it was right to do so. Some
of us, notably myself, conformed even then with reluctance.

But at last we came to a point where we stood willing to conform
gladly to the principles which experience, under the grace of God,
had taught us.

A.A. Comes Of Age, p.224

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Walk In Dry Places

Wasting Time
Time management
In dealing with our personal shortcomings, we may find traits of immaturity. For example, we might waste time doing the things we like to do rather than the things we must do.
We sometimes find a way to justify this. Drinking coffee with friends
might be called "having a meeting" even when it goes far beyond normal
limits and uses up time that should be devoted to family and work
responsibilities.
Without becoming workaholics or drudges, we do need to be hones about
our habits. If we're wasting too much time, it could be at the expense
of things that need to be attended to promptly. When we waste time, we
often have to work twice as hard to catch up later on. Let's be honest
about the management of our time.
I'll watch how I spend my time today. If I'm spending too much time
socializing, I'll put myself on a reasonable schedule that balances both
leisure and work.

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Keep It Simple

The best side of a saloon is outside.---Anonymous
We need to stay away from places where we used to drink or use other drugs. Sometimes we need to stay away from our old using friends. But some days it's hard to stay away. We remember the fun times. Or we want a quick fix for our problems. When we feel like this, we know something is wrong. We can call our sponsor and talk about it. And get to a meeting. We need to remember how much better our lives are now. We don't want our old lives back.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stay away from trouble. Thanks for keeping me sober today.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a list of places that mean trouble for me---places I need to stay away from.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Often when we're being tough and strong, we're scared. It takes a lot of courage to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to be soft. --Dudley Martineau
We've developed defenses for protection because we have felt the need for protection from the abuses of others, parents on occasion, bosses, spouses, even strangers. And in certain situations, our defenses served us well for a time. However, they have taken their toll. Hiding behind them for long makes them habitual, and we move farther and farther away from our center, from the woman each of us needs and wants to be.
Exposing who we really are invites judgment, sometimes rejection, often times discounting. It's a terribly hard risk to take, and the rewards are seldom immediate. But with time, others respect us for our vulnerability and begin to imitate our example. We are served well by our integrity, in due time.
Letting others see who we really are alleviates confusion, theirs and ours. We no longer need to decide who we should be; we simply are who we are. Our choices are simplified. There is only one appropriate choice to every situation--the one that is honest and wholly reflective of who we are at that moment.
Rewards will be forthcoming when I am honest.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

Some of you are thinking: “Yes, what you tell is true, but it doesn’t fully apply. We admit we have some of these symptoms, but we have not gone to the extremes you fellows did, nor are we likely to, for we understand ourselves so well after what you have told us that such things cannot happen again. We have not lost everything in life through drinking and we certainly do not intend to. Thanks for the information.”

pp. 38-39

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Nine - "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

Most of us begin making certain kinds of direct amends from the day we join Alcoholics Anonymous. The moment we tell our families that we are really going to try the program, the process has begun. In this area there are seldom any questions of timing or caution. We want to come in the door shouting the good news. After coming from our first meeting, or perhaps after we have finished reading the book "Alcoholics Anonymous," we usually want to sit down with some member of the family and readily admit the damage we have done by our drinking. Almost always we want to go further and admit other defects that have made us hard to live with. This will be a very different occasion, and in sharp contrast with those hangover mornings when we alternated between reviling ourselves and blaming the family (and everyone else) for our troubles. At this first sitting, it is necessary only that we make a general admission of our defects. It may be unwise at this stage to rehash certain harrowing episodes. Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.

pp. 83-84

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"Plant positive thoughts in your mind and expect a harvest of great
possibilities."
--Unknown

To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.
--Mother Teresa

Happiness is an INSIDE job.
--unknown

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges."
--Joseph F. Newton

"Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower."
-****Shigenori Kameoka

Once it [a spoken word] flies out, you can't catch it.
--Russian proverb

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TRUTH

"If error is corrected whenever
it is recognized as such, the path
of error is the path of truth."
-- Hans Reichenbach

I believe that in order to discover spirituality in our lives, we need to
confront the "disease", that destructive and negative side of our lives.
We need to make the disease work for us!

For too many years I tried to avoid and deny my alcoholism. I wanted
to recover by osmosis! I did not want to get my hands dirty with the
reality of my suffering but rather I wanted a "miracle" --- really
magic --- to make everything different from what it had been for
years. I did not want to face my pain! But it does not work that way. If
I am to get well, I need to confront my disease, smell my disease, hold
my disease, pull and tug at the disease in my life. Why? Because it is
mine. I need to be in touch with my disease if I am ever going to make
the necessary changes. I need to make my disease work for me --- that
is spirituality.

Let me have the courage to pass through the pain in order to
experience the gain.

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"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh
reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap
everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due
season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
Galatians 6:7-9

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows."
James 1:17

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are
being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which
comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
2 Corinthians 3:18

"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know
what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit
prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the
Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the
Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will."
Romans 8:26-27

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Daily Inspiration

Every moment of every day is your choice unless you give it away. Lord, I choose to live peacefully today and ask for patience and strength when I feel stress from the demands others place on me.

To give of yourself is when you truly give. Lord, even in my busiest moments may I be able to make time when someone really needs me.