Daily Recovery Readings - July

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July 2

Daily Reflections

THE HEART OF TRUE SOBRIETY

We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the
program. Willingness, honesty and open-mindedness are the essentials
of recovery. But these are indispensable.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 570

Am I honest enough to accept myself as I am and let this be the "me"
that I let others see? Do I have the willingness to go to any length, to
do whatever is necessary to stay sober? Do I have the
open-mindedness to hear what I have to hear, to think what I have to
think, and to feel what I have to feel?

If my answer to these questions is "Yes," I know enough about the
spirituality of the program to stay sober. As I continue to work the
Twelve Steps, I move on to the heart of true sobriety: serenity with
myself, with others, and with God as I understand Him.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In the association with members of the A.A. group to which we belong,
we have the advantage of sincere friendship and understanding of the
other members who, through social and personal contact, take us away
from our old haunts and environments and help to remove in large
measure the occasions of alcoholic suggestion. We find in this
association a sympathy and a willingness on the part of most members
to do everything in their power to help us. Do I appreciate the
wonderful fellowship of A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

"Except ye become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of
heaven." In this saying it is urged that all who seek heaven on earth or
in the hereafter' should become like little children. In seeking things
of the spirit and in our faith, we should try to become childlike. Even
as we grow older, the years of seeking can give us the attitude of the
trusting child. Not only for its simple trust should we have the childlike
spirit, but also for its joy in life, its ready laughter, its lack of criticism,
and its desire to share. In Charles Dickens's story, A Christmas Carol,
even old Scrooge changed when he got the child-spirit.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may become like a child in faith and hope. I pray that I
may, like a child, be friendly and trusting.

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As Bill Sees It

A Viewer-with-Alarm, p. 183

"I went through several fruitless years in a state called 'viewing with alarm for the good
of the movement.' I thought it was up to me to be always 'correcting conditions.' Seldom
had anybody been able to tell me what I ought to do, and nobody had ever succeeded in
effectively telling me what I must do. I had to learn the hard way out of my own
experience.

"When setting out to 'check' others, I found myself often motivated by fear of what they
were doing, self-righteousness, and even downright intolerance. Consequently, I seldom
succeeded in correcting anything. I just raised barriers of resentment that cut off any
suggestion, example, understanding, or love."

<< << << >> >> >>

"A.A.'s often say, 'Our leaders do not drive by mandate; they lead by example.' If we
would favorably affect others, we ourselves need to practice what we preach--and forget
the 'preaching,' too. The quiet good example speaks for itself."

1. Letter, 1945
2. Letter, 1966

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Walk In Dry Places

Sincerity at the Beginning
Self-Honesty
We were told at our first AA meeting that half-measures will avail us nothing. What's needed is a sincere desire to stop drinking and seek and way of life.
As we continue in the program, we learn that sincerity is an ingredient for success in everything we do. Quite often, we may find that we're failing in something simply because our heart isn't really in it.
We can't force ourselves into a sincere posture. Instead, the answer is to know ourselves well enough to know just how we feel about everything we do.
We'll learn to be careful about attempting to do something when our heart is not really in it. We may be doing something we dislike merely for the recognition and money it gives us. For real sincerity, we need more than that, and the truths of the program will help us find it.
I'll be conscious today of the sincerity I have about the things I am attempting to do. There may be some things I need to abandon or at least change.

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Keep It Simple

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. --- Albert Einstein
None of us know anything for sure about the future. We don't know if we'll be sober tomorrow.
But we can be sure of this moment. We get sober by moments. Our sober moments then stretch into hours, day, and years
Our program tell us to live in the present moment. This is because we can control this moment
We can't control the past or the future. We need to have a sense of control in our life. In our illness, we were out of control. This was because we wouldn't live from moment to moment.
Each moment is filled with as much life as we can handle. Each moment is filled with enough to keep us alive, interested, and growing.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me find You in each moment.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll stop and focus on the present moment. I will work to see how much control I can have if I stay with the moment at hand.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Humor is such a strong weapon, such a strong answer. Women have to make jokes about themselves, laugh about themselves, because they have nothing to lose. --Agnes Varda
Laughter can cure a physical condition; it can and will positively affect an emotional illness as well. Laughter ushers in a new perspective which gives vent to a changed attitude. And our attitude toward any situation, any individual, is all-powerful.
A negative, critical attitude toward our financial situation, toward our disease, toward our boss, or spouse, or children, determines how we feel moment by moment. In like manner, when we raise our sights, look at the world with lightness in our hearts, expecting to enjoy the day, the people, the activity, we'll succeed.
Finding humor in a situation, any situation prevents us from succumbing to feelings of powerlessness. Feeling powerless, behaving as victims, came easily for many of us before we chose this program and the Twelve Steps to live by. Choosing a humorous response, opting to laugh at our situation, at any point in time, keeps our personal power where it belongs--with ourselves.
My emotional health depends on my active involvement in deciding who I am, right now. Deciding to chuckle rather than snarl will give me an unexpected emotional boost.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

THERE IS A SOLUTION

Here is a fellow who has been puzzling you, especially in his lack of control. He does absurd, incredible, tragic things while drinking. He is a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He is seldom mildly intoxicated. He is always more or less insanely drunk. His disposition while drinking resembles his normal nature but little. He may be one of the finest fellows in the world. Yet let him drink for a day, and he frequently becomes disgustingly, and even dangerously anti-social. He has a positive genius for getting tight at exactly the wrong moment, particularly when some important decision must be made or engagement kept. He is often perfectly sensible and well balanced concerning everything except liquor, but in that respect he is incredibly dishonest and selfish. He often possesses special abilities, skills, and aptitudes, and has a promising career ahead of him. He uses his gifts to build up a bright outlook for his family and himself, and then pulls the structure down on his head by a senseless series of sprees. He is the fellow who goes to bed so intoxicated he ought to sleep the clock around. Yet early next morning he searches madly for the bottle he misplace the night before. If he can afford it, he may have liquor concealed all over his house to be certain no one gets his entire supply away from him to throw down the wastepipe. As matters grow worse, he begins to use a combination of high-powered sedative and liquor to quiet his nerves so he can go to work. Then comes the day when he simply cannot make it and gets drunk all over again. Perhaps he goes to a doctor who gives him morphine or some sedative with which to taper off. Then he begins to appear at hospitals and sanitariums.

pp. 21-22

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Self-righteous anger also can be very enjoyable. In a perverse way we can actually take satisfaction from the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority. Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness.

p. 67

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"In forgiving ourselves, we make the journey from guilt for what we
have done (or not done) to celebration of what we have become."
--Joan Borysenko

Pitying yourself will get you nowhere. Things aren't always going to
go the way you want them to, but still you must set the rules regarding
how you respond to them.

There is incredible beauty, in the gentle and quiet spirit, precious in
God's direction.
--SweetyZee

"He who cannot rest, cannot work; He who cannot let go, cannot hold
on; He who cannot find footing, cannot go forward."
--Harry Emerson Fosdick

"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far
more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting
moment."
--Benjamin Franklin

If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first
examine it and see whether it is not something that could be better
changed in ourselves.
--Carl Jung

Voices we prefer to ignore may speak words we need to hear.
--Don Deal

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

BEAUTY

"Beauty is not caused. It is."
--Emily Dickinson

So many people think that beauty is what you do to yourself; what you
wear, makeup, clothes, hairstyles or expensive jewelry. Again it is so
easy to get caught up in "things". Reality is not about what we wear
but who we are.

The beauty that God has created comes from within. The twinkle in
the eyes that says "hello". The hug that says "I love you". The gentle
embrace and smile that says "I forgive you". The tear that cries "I
understand".

When God said to the world, "It is good", Beauty was born. Drugs and
crazy relationships only get in the way of us being what we were
intended to be: beautiful for God.

Today I seek to put God's beauty in my actions, words and attitudes.

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"Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the
Lord."
Psalm 31:24

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from
being snared.
Proverbs 3:26

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Daily Inspiration


Avoid the tendency to presuppose that things will turn out for the worse. Lord, help me keep an open mind so that I am able to see other solutions to my situations and then give me the determination to make a difference when I can.

We take for granted so much of what God has planned for us. Lord, may I have sufficient preparation to meet the challenges of today and rejoice in the person that I am.