Daily Recovery Readings - July

[bluidkiti]

July 1

Daily Reflections

THE BEST FOR TODAY

The principles we have set down are guides to progress.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 60

Just as a sculptor will use different tools to achieve desired effects in
creating a work of art, in Alcoholics Anonymous the Twelve Steps are
used to bring about results in my own life. I do not overwhelm myself
with life's problems, and how much more work needs to be done. I let
myself be comforted in knowing that my life is now in the hands of my
Higher Power, a master craftsman who is shaping each part of my life
into a unique work of art. By working my program I can be satisfied,
knowing that in the doing the best that we can for today, we are
doing all that God asks of us."

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In following the A.A. program with its twelve steps, we have the
advantage of a better understanding of our problems. Day after day
our sobriety results in the formation of new habits, normal habits. As
each twenty-four-hour period ends, we find that the business of staying
sober is a much less trying and fearsome ordeal than it seemed in the
beginning. Do I find it easier as I go along?

Meditation For The Day

Learn daily the lesson of trust and calm in the midst of the storms of
life. Whatever of sorrow or difficulty the day may bring, God's
command to you is the same. Be grateful, humble, calm, and loving to
all people. Leave each soul the better for having met you or heard
you. For all kinds of people, this should be your attitude: a loving
desire to help and an infectious spirit of calmness and trust in God.
You have the answer to loneliness and fear, which is calm faith in the
goodness and purpose in the universe.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be calm in the midst of storms. I pray that I may pass
on this calmness to others who are lonely and full of fear.

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As Bill Sees It

The Reality of Spiritual Experiences, p. 182

"Perhaps you raise the question of hallucination versus the divine imagery of a genuine
spiritual experience. I doubt if anyone has authoritatively defined what a hallucination
really is. However, it is certain that all recipients of spiritual experiences declare their
reality. The best evidence of that reality is in the subsequent fruits. Those who receive
these gifts of grace are very much changed people, almost invariably for the better. This
can scarcely be said of those who hallucinate.

"Some might think me presumptuous when I say that my own experience is real.
Nevertheless, I can surely report that in my own life and in the lives of countless others,
the fruits of that experience have been real, and the benefactions beyond reckoning.

Talk, 1960

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Walk In Dry Places

Are we victimizing ourselves?
Finding the New Happiness
Some believe that people create their own trouble by attracting the wrong conditions and people in their lives. This may not be entirely true, but we can find that some element of it was at work with us. Time and time again during our drinking, we set ourselves up for abuse and rejection, though our motives seemed right.
Why did we do this? Supposedly to punish ourselves, the theory has it.
If this is true, then we should now call a halt to the process immediately. If we've emerged from the terrors of alcoholism, we've had all the punishment anybody needs.
We can change our bad patterns by looking carefully at the people and situations we seem to attract. Without resentment or condemnation, we can part company with any problems these have been bringing us. We can
start building new relationships and attracting better conditions that will be immensely successful in terms of happiness and well-being.
I'll remember today that in the new life I'm seeking, there's no need for punishment. I will not go out of my way to attract people or conditions that create problems in my life.

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Keep It Simple

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.---Step Seven
In Step Six, we got ready to give up our shortcomings. In Step Seven, we ask God to remove them. There is one catch. We humbly as God to remove them.
Being humble means we remember who we are: human beings who need God's help. Being humble means not pretending we're God. We admit we need God's help. Being humble means seeing ourselves as we are. We're a small but important part of God's plan. We can change much, but only God can change some things about us. This is why we ask. Being humble is not a weakness, but a true strength.
Prayer for the Day: God, please remove my shortcomings.
Action for the Day: Throughout the day, I'll pray to God to remove my shortcomings.

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Each Day a New Beginning

It's quite uncomfortable to be an adolescent at age thirty-two. --Peggy Cahn
Our lives are in process every moment, which means change is ever-present. As new information is sorted and acquired, old habits are discarded. We don't let go of some old behaviors easily, however. They are like comfortable shoes. They may be worn thin, and they probably embarrass us in certain company, but we slip them on unconsciously and then it's too late.
Maturity is an "as if" behavior, initially. Emotional development was stunted, for most of us, with the onset of our addictive behavior, thus, we often respond to situations like adolescents. Application of the "as if" principle will result both in new personal attitudes and unfamiliar, yet welcome, responses from others. Acting as if we are capable, strong, confident, or serene will pave the way for making those behaviors real, after a time. If we believe in ourselves and our ability to become the women we strive to be, we can then move forward confidently.
When my behavior embarrasses or shames me, I will accept the responsibility for changing it. Changing it offers immediate rewards. The people around me will react in refreshing ways, and I'll feel more fully alive.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 10 - To Employers

Of course, this chapter refers to alcoholics, sick people, deranged men. What our friend, the vice president, had in mind was the habitual or whoopee drinker. As to them, his policy is undoubtedly sound, but he did not distinguish between such people and the alcoholic.

p. 149

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Five - "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

More realism and therefore more honesty about ourselves are the great gains we make under the influence of Step Five. As we took inventory, we began to suspect how much trouble self-delusion had been causing us. This had brought a disturbing reflection. If all our lives we had more or less fooled ourselves, how could we now be so sure that we weren't still self-deceived? How could we be certain that we had made a true catalog of our defects and had really admitted them, even to ourselves? Because we were still bothered by fear, self-pity, and hurt feelings, it was probable we couldn't appraise ourselves fairly at all. Too much guilt and remorse might cause us to dramatize and exaggerate our shortcomings. Or anger and hurt pride might be the smoke screen under which we were hiding some of our defects while we blamed others for them. Possibly, too, we were still handicapped by many liabilities, great and small, we never knew we had.

pp. 58-59

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I welcome solitude into my life today. I welcome the peace, serenity,
wisdom and spirituality I find when I take that special time for me.
--Ruth Fishel

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you
plant.
--Robert Louis Stevenson

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we
give."
--Norman MacEwan

We're not invited into relationship with God at a deeper level in the
absence of our challenges, but in the midst of all of life, including our
challenges. Difficulties provide us a chance for greater closeness.
Every situation in life carries with it an incredible opportunity for
sweetness, depth and wonder. Receive every experience today as an
opportunity and a gift.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

"It is easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is the one who can smile, When everything
goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is troubled, And it always
comes with the years. And the smiles that is worth the praises of
earth, Is the smile that shines through tears."
--Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold
well.
--Josh Billings

"Character is what you are in the dark."
--Dwight L. Moody

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

BELIEF

"Seek not to understand that you
may believe, but believe that you
understand."
--St. Augustine

For years I tried to understand my behavior around alcohol and I only
came away more confused. Sometimes my efforts to understand led
me into dishonesty and manipulation. I drank because I was lonely,
angry, happy, overworked or because I had problems with my parents.
You see, I tried to understand "why"!

Science has no definitive answer as to why some people are alcoholic
other than to postulate the disease factor, with the emphasized advice,
"Don't pick up the first drink." So today I don't understand why I am
an alcoholic. I also believe that I can never drink alcohol without
having alcohol problems. This cherished belief keeps me sober and
gives me a God I can understand; a life that I can love; and a world I
can live in.

Oh yes -- and I can remember where I have been today!

Help me to believe in what I know and to be content with the
imperfection of my knowledge.

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"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
John 14:1-3

"Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path."
Psalms 119:105

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Daily Inspiration

It's easy to give up, but no matter what the outcome is, if you do your best, you are always the winner. Lord, may I truly realize that it is the way I participate in life that counts for me.

Example is the best way to teach. Lord, may I teach Your goodness by the way I live my life.