Daily Recovery Readings - September

[bluidkiti]

September 9

Daily Reflections

OPENING NEW DOORS

They [the Promises] are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly,
sometimes slowly.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84

The Promises talked about in this passage are slowly coming to life for
me. What has given me hope is putting Step Nine into action. The Step
has allowed me to see and set goals for myself in recovery. Old habits
and behaviors die hard. Working Step Nine enables me to close the
door on the drunk I was, and to open new avenues for myself as a
sober alcoholic. Making direct amends is crucial for me. As I repair
relationships and behavior of the past, I am better able to live a sober
life! Although I have some years of sobriety, there are times
when the "old stuff" from the past needs to be taken care of, and
Step Nine always works, when I work it.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When an alcoholic is offered a life of sobriety by following the A.A.
program, he will look at the prospect of living without alcohol and he
will ask: "Am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring
and glum, like some of the righteous people I see? I know I must get
along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient
substitute?" Have I found a more than sufficient substitute for
drinking?

Meditation For The Day

In God's strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the
grace of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you
want to make the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God,
the Master and Giver of all life. Your regard for depending on God's
strength will be sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to
face life, sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people
brought to a new way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all
your own doing, but largely the working out of the grace of God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to rely more fully on the grace of God. I pray
that I may live a victorious life.

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As Bill Sees It

Face the Music, p.251

"Don't be too discouraged about that slip. Practically always, we
drunks learn the hard way.

"Your idea of moving on to somewhere else may be good, or it may
not. Perhaps you have got into an emotional or economic jam that
can't be well handled where you are. But maybe you are doing just
what all of us have done, at one time or another: Maybe you are
running away. Why don't you try to think that through again
carefully?

"Are you really placing recovery first, or are you making it
contingent upon other people, places, or circumstances? You may
find it ever so much better to face the music right where you are
now, and, with the help of the A.A. program, win through. Before
you make a decision, weigh it in these terms."

Letter, 1949

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Walk In Dry Places

Compliance isn’t acceptance
Honesty
We are sometimes mystified when people come into the AA program,
respond to its message for months or years, and then disappear, seemingly without
a trace. Later, we may be shocked to learn that they’re drinking again.
While we have no way of knowing the real reason, one possible explanation
is that they were practicing compliance without really accepting the program. The
danger of compliance is that it may simply be an outward show of working the
program while leaving one’s real thoughts and feelings unchanged.
At the same time, we often urge people to practice what is really only a form
of compliance. We then the, for example, to “bring the body” to meetings in the
belief that they heart will follow. This does little good if one’s heart does not
follow!
The only solution is to continue the difficult but rewarding search for
honesty in all things. When we examine ourselves honestly, we will recognize
when we are truly accepting and when we are merely complying.

I’ll remember today that the real success of AA is not in the number of people
who show up at meetings, but in how we truly accept the program.

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Keep It Simple

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears---by listening to them. ---Dean Rusk
We hate being told what to think. We like to make up our own minds.
It helps to talk things out with another person who, listens to us.
Someone who care what we think.
We can give this respect to others. We can listen their point of view.
We can try to understand them and care about what they think.
When we do this, others start to care what we think too. We share ideas.
The ideas get a little more clear. They change a little. We get a little
closer to agreement. We both feel good.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know when to listen and
when to talk today. Work for me and though me. Thanks.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for chances to listen to others
when I really want to talk. I’ll say, “Tell me more about that.” And I’ll listen.

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Each Day a New Beginning

I do not want to die . . . until I have faithfully made the most of
my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the
last small twig has grown. --Kathe Kollwitz
There's so much to do before we rest . . . so much to do. We each
are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others' talents,
but unique in how we'll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents?
We need only to dare to dream, and there they'll be.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no
purpose, fearing we'll take life nowhere, dreading others' expectations
of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice
is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them
and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We
can expect adventure, and we'll find it. We can look for our purpose;
it's at hand. We can remember, we aren't alone. We are in partnership
every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full
use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God’s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn’t it?
We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves.

p. 49

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

We "constructively criticized" someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned not being present, we thought we were helping others to understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel superior by pulling him down. We sometimes hurt those we love because they need to be "taught a lesson," when we really want to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention. This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living. An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek.

pp. 94-95

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Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to
be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped
off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me
surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.
--Melody Beattie

We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Today I will spend some time putting my own needs aside to help
someone else. It is so good to know that I can be filled with such good
feelings and I get so much when I give of myself.
--Ruth Fishel

God loves all of us, whether we walk away pain-free or not. Keep
taking care of yourself, no matter what. God, transform my pain into
compassion for others and myself.
--Melody Beattie

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
--Jesse Jackson

My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but
doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next
moment.
--Oprah Winfrey

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were
always yours. And if they don't, they never were."
--Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet"

Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it...
--unknown

The task before you is never greater than the power behind you...
--unknown

Always, He will watch over us and comfort us.
--Ernest Holmes

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

RELIGION

"Science without religion is
lame, religion without science is
blind."
-- Albert Einstein

In the field of addiction we need to work together and listen to the
professionalism we all bring: the answer will be in "the many".

So often we divide ourselves up into "ghettos" of learning and miss
what "the others" are saying -- and the disease wins! This is
reminiscent of the old days in the church when science was seen as
the enemy, the world was flat and the earth was the center of the
universe. Pride and ego kept people sick, isolated and afraid -- and
thousands suffered and died. However, people began to listen to each
other and the world benefited from the shared wisdom.

As addictionologists and recovering people we need to listen to each
other.

Help me to see You in the honest experience of every man.

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Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love.
Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
Psalm 109:26-27

With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I
will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to
save his life from those who condemn him.
Psalm 109:30-31

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
James 1:2-3

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Daily Inspiration

If a part of your past continues to haunt you and rob you of your joy, forgive.
Lord, I can not undo the past, but with Your help, I can let go by forgiving myself
and everyone else that has hurt me.

Do not let yourself be judged by others or ruled by approval or disapproval.
Lord, may I always trust in myself and You and live each day accordingly.