Daily Recovery Readings - August

[bluidkiti]

August 24

Daily Reflections

A RIDDLE THAT WORKS

It may be possible to find explanations of spiritual experiences
such as ours, but I have often tried to explain my own and have
succeeded only in giving the story of it. I know the feeling it
gave me and the results it has brought, but I realize I may never
fully understand its deeper why and how.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 313

I had a profound spiritual experience during an open A.A. meeting,
which led me to blurt out. "I'm an alcoholic!" I have not had a
drink since that day. I can tell you the words I heard just prior
to my admission, and how those words affected me, but as to why it
happened, I do not know. I believe a power greater than myself
chose me to recover, yet I do not know why. I try not to worry or
wonder about what I do not yet know; instead, I trust that if I
continue to work the Steps, practice the A.A. principles in my
life, and share my story, I will be guided lovingly toward a deep
and mature spirituality in which more will be revealed to me. For
the time being, it is a gift for me to trust God, work the Steps
and help others.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"When we saw our faults, we listed them. We placed them before us in
black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and we were
willing to set these matters straight. We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We
asked God to remove our fears and we commenced to outgrow fear.
Many of us needed an overhauling in regard to sex. We came to
believe that sex powers were God-given and therefore good, if used
properly. Sex is never to be used lightly or selfishly, nor is it to be despised
or loathed. If sex is troublesome, we throw ourselves the harder into
helping others, and so take our minds off ourselves." Am I facing my
sex problems in the proper way?

Meditation For The Day

Cling to the belief that all things are possible with God. If this
belief is truly accepted, it is the ladder upon which a human soul
can climb from the lowest pit of despair to the sublime heights of
peace of mind. It is possible for God to change your way of living.
When you see the change in another person through the grace of God,
you cannot doubt that all things are possible in the lives of people
through the strength that comes from faith in Him who rules us all.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live expectantly. I pray that I may believe deeply
that all things are possible with God.

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As Bill Sees It

Looking for Lost Faith, p. 235

Any number of A.A.'s can say, "We were diverted from our
childhood faith. As material success began to come, we felt we were
winning at the game of life. This was exhilarating, and it made us
happy.

"Why should we be bothered with theological abstractions and
religious duties, or with the state of our souls, here or hereafter? The
will to win should carry us through.

"But then alcohol began to have its way with us. Finally, when all our
score cards read 'zero,' and we saw that one more strike would put us
out of the game forever, we had to look for our lost faith. It was in
A.A. that we rediscovered it."

12 & 12, pp. 28-29

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Walk In Dry Places

Is Life Unfair?
Justice
The glib remark "Life is Unfair" is sometimes used to dismiss any concern about trouble or seeming injustice. This usually implies that all such matters are part of God's plan..... that somehow God couldn't create life without making it unfair. But nobody really knows whether life is unfair or not, since what we see
is only a small part of it.
We should know, however, that we can practice fairness ourselves. We will live better if we forget how unfair
life can be and make the best of the opportunities we have.
Some of us could even argue that life treated us unfairly by giving us a susceptibility to alcoholism. In the long run, this turned out to be an opportunity to live the Twelve Step program. Some of us even consider
this to be outworking of divine justice that has proved to be eminently fair. As one AA member put it, It was a case of one of the worst things becoming one of the best that ever happened to me !
I'll not let any seeming unfairness or injustice keep me from doing my best today. My real belief is that there is an eternal justice underlying all things.

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Keep It Simple

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. Oscar Wilde
There’s a big difference between being self-centered and having self love. We’re self-centered when we think we don’t need people. We might think, “I’m more important than others.” Being self-centered ends up hurting us.
It makes us lonely. It keeps us from our Higher Power. Addiction is about being self-centered.
Recovery and the Twelve Steps are about self-love. If we love ourselves, we say, “We’re all equal and in need of each other.” Self-love includes having good relationships.
It includes trusting that they we’ll do what is best, with the help of our Higher Power. We must believe in ourselves to trust others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me love myself as You love me. Help me take good care of myself.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three things I like about myself. I’ll talk with a friend and share these things. I’ll ask my friend what he or she likes about me.

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Each Day a New Beginning

There were many ways of breaking a heart. Stories were full of hearts broken by love, but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream--whatever that dream might be. --Pearl S. Buck
No new door is opened without the inner urge for growth. Dreams guide us, encourage us, stretch us to new heights--and leave us momentarily empty when they are dashed.
Recovery has given us resilience and a multitude of reasons for living. We have come to understand that when one dream serves us no longer, it is making way for an even better one. Our dreams are our teachers. When the student is ready, a new one comes into focus.
Dreams in our earlier years often come to nought. They couldn't compete for our attention as effectively as the self-pity. The direction they offered was lost. Each day that we look forward with positive anticipation, we put the wreckage of the past farther from our minds.
Our dreams are like the rest areas on a cross-country trip. They refresh us, help us to gauge the distance we've come, and give us a chance to consider our destination.
Today's dreams and experiences are points on the road map of my life. I won't let them pass, unnoticed.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

Fred’s story speaks for itself. We hope it strikes home to thousands like him. He had felt only the first nip of the wringer. Most alcoholics have to be pretty badly mangled before they really commence to solve their problems.

p. 43

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

When a drunk has a terrific hangover because he drank heavily yesterday, he cannot live well today. But there is another kind of hangover which we all experience whether we are drinking or not. That is the emotional hangover, the direct result of yesterday's and sometimes today's excesses of negative emotion--anger, fear, jealousy, and the like. If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly need to eliminate these hangovers. This doesn't mean we need to wander morbidly around in the past. It requires an admission and correction of errors now. Our inventory enables us to settle with the past. When this is done, we are really able to leave it behind us. When our inventory is carefully taken, and we have made peace with ourselves, the conviction follows that tomorrow's challenges can be met as they come.

pp. 88-89

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"My father gave me these hints on speech-making: Be sincere . . . be brief . . . be seated."
--James Roosevelt

"Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state
of mind. Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy
attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful."
--Norman Vincent Peale

You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always
control what goes on inside.
--Wayne Dyer

Not what we gain, but what we give measures the worth of the life we
live.
--Cited in BITS & PIECES

"Yesterday's home run doesn't win today's ball game."
--Unknown

"Some people think that hanging in there shows great strength when
the truth is 'letting go' is the real test of character."
--Unknown

It is not God's will that makes me miserable. It is my resistance to
God's will that makes me miserable.
--unknown

Dear God, Please keep your arm around my shoulder, but keep your hand
over my mouth!
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LIMITATIONS

"Why would we kill off a good
watchdog just because he could
not fly?"
-- Frank Mar

God has created this world with variety and we all have different gifts.
Some people make music, others write stories and many are practical
at home or in industry. We need to understand what gifts and skills we
have and develop them.

It is both fruitless and negative to spend our time complaining that we
are not like other people --- or are without their talents. Such an
attitude stops us from discovering our own creative talents. We are so
busy comparing ourselves with others that we miss our own
uniqueness.

Today I enjoy discovering more about me and the abundant gifts that
God has freely given to me. What about you?

I pray that I may be truly grateful for what I have.

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In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we
must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself
said: `It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Acts 20:35

I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2

When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and
pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets,
will reward you.
Matthew 6:6

For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
Proverbs 23:7

"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong."
Job 6:24

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Daily Inspiration

Frequently remind yourself of that which is important in your life. Lord, help me to treasure my family and friends, recognize how valuable they are and tell them often how happy that I am because they are in my life.

There is light behind every shadow. Lord, You are the light of the world. May I never forget to turn to You when my life fills with shadows.