![]() Links |
![]() Join |
![]() Forums |
![]() Find Help |
![]() Recovery Readings |
![]() Spiritual Meditations |
![]() Chat |
![]() Contact |
|
![]() |
#16 |
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 75,253
|
![]()
September 12
Daily Reflections I AM RESPONSIBLE For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87 In recovery, and through the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learn that the very thing I fear is my freedom. It comes from my tendency to recoil from taking responsibility for anything: I deny, I ignore, I blame, I avoid. Then one day, I look, I admit, I accept. The freedom, the healing and the recovery I experience is in the looking, admitting and accepting. I learn to say, "Yes, I am responsible." When I can speak those words with honesty and sincerity, then I am free. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day "What draws newcomers to A.A. and gives them hope? They hear the stories of men and women whose experiences tally with their own. The expressions on the faces of the women, that undefinable something in the eyes of the men, the stimulating atmosphere of the A.A. clubroom, conspire to let them know that there is haven at last. The very practical approach to their problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny understanding that these people in A.A. have is irresistible." Have I found a real haven in A.A.? Meditation For The Day "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." The eye of the soul is the will. if your will is to do the will of God, to serve Him with your life, to serve Him by helping others, then truly shall your whole body be full of light. The important thing is to strive to attune your will to the will of God, a single eye to God's purpose, desiring nothing less than that His purposes be fulfilled. Try to seek in all things the advance of His kingdom, seek the spiritual values of honesty and purity, unselfishness and love, and earnestly desire spiritual growth. Then your life will emerge from the darkness of futility into the light of victory. Prayer For The Day I pray that my eye may be single. I pray that my life may be lived in the light of the best that I know. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Satisfactions of Right Living, p.254 How wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially distinguished among our fellows in order to be useful and profoundly happy. Not many of us can be leaders of prominence, nor do we wish to be. Service gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given brings a full return, the certainty that we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we can fit and belong in God's scheme of things--these are the satisfactions of right living for which no pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes. 12 & 12, p.124 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Handle the Old tapes with care. Releasing the Past. A large number of recovering people have a tough time coming to terms with the abuse and abandonment of childhood days. Sometimes we play those "old tapes" while reliving the past in a mood of self-pity and resentment. This is destructive. We cannot completely erase the past, but we can turn it over to our friends and our Higher power. Our goal should be to transform past experiences into constructive examples. We can start by reminding ourselves that all unhappy experience is a product of the world's sickness and ignorance. Far from being unusual, our misery was a common thing that we're only now beginning to overcome. We can also practice God's forgiveness, remembering that real forgiveness is humanly impossible. We should resist the temptation to tell others about our past sufferings in order to gain sympathy. At all times, the old tapes must be handled with care. Whatever happened in the past cannot affect me today unless I let it. I'll play the old tapes only when it can be done constructively. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When angry, count to ten before you speak: if very angry, a hundred. ---Thomas Jefferson Sometimes we just want to yell. Maybe a family member or a friend messed up, and we want to “set them straight.” Start counting. Maybe we got chewed out at work and we want “to get even.” Start counting. We get drunk on anger. We may feel powerful when we “set someone straight.” But like an alcohol high, an anger high last only a short time and can hurt others. We must control our anger. This is why we count. Cool down. Think out what you need or want to say. Use words that you’ll not be ashamed of later. Learning how to respect others when we’re angry is a sign of recovery. Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, teach me to respect others when I’m angry. Action for the Day: Today, when I feel angry I’ll count. I’ll work at not controlling other with my anger. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning No person is your enemy, no person is your friend, and every person is your teacher. --Florence Scovel Shinn We can open ourselves to opportunities today. They abound in our lives. No circumstance we find ourselves in is detrimental to our progress. No relationship with someone at work or at home is superfluous to our development. Teachers are everywhere. And as we become ready for a new lesson, one will appear. We can marvel at the wonder of our lives today. We can reflect on our yesterdays and be grateful for the lessons they taught. We can look with hopeful anticipation at the days ahead--gifts, all of them. We are on a special journey, serving a special purpose, uniquely our own. No barrier, no difficult person, no tumultuous time is designed to interrupt our progress. All experiences are simply to teach us what we have yet to learn. Trusting in the goodness of all people, all situations, all paths to progress will release whatever our fears, freeing us to go forth with a quicker step and an assurance that eases all moments. The Twelve Steps help us to recognize the teachers in our lives. They help us clear away the baggage of the past and free us to accept and trust the will of God, made known to us by the teachers as they appear. I am a student of life. I can learn only if I open my mind to my teachers. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS On one proposition, however, these men and women are strikingly agreed. Every one of them has gained access to, and believe in, a Power greater than himself. This Power has in each case accomplished the miraculous, the humanly impossible. As a celebrated American statesman put it, “Let’s look at the record.” p. 50 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." To certain newcomers and to those one-time agnostics who still cling to the A.A. group as their higher power, claims for the power of prayer may, despite all the logic and experience in proof of it, still be unconvincing or quite objectionable. Those of us who once felt this way can certainly understand and sympathize. We well remember how something deep inside us kept rebelling against the idea of bowing before any God. Many of us had strong logic, too, which "proved" there was no God whatever. What about all the accidents, sickness, cruelty, and injustice in the world? What about all those unhappy lives which were the direct result of unfortunate birth and uncontrollable circumstances? Surely there could be no justice in this scheme of things, and therefore no God at all. pp. 96-97 ************************************************** ********* "Pray to God, but keep rowing to the shore." --Russian Proverb The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. --Flora Whittemore One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it. --Henry Moore "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace--that where there is hatred, I may bring love--that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness--that where there is discord, I may bring harmony--that where there is error, I may bring truth--that where there is doubt, I may bring faith--that where there is despair, I may bring hope--that where there are shadows, I may bring light--that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted--to understand, than to be understood--to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen." --12 & 12, p. 99 *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation SELF-LOVE "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance." -- Oscar Wilde Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me, there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good. For years I thought that to love "self" was wrong and sinful, a misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me. O God who created me to love, let me begin with me. ************************************************** ********* The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration No one has the power to take your happiness or keep you from being happy and at peace unless you allow it. Lord, help me remember that I am sustained and supported by Your love for me who wants only for my safety and goodness. Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.
__________________
![]() "No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy
AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K. When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt We stay sober and clean together - one day at a time! God says that each of us is worth loving. |
![]() |
![]() |
Sponsored Links |
![]() ![]() |
Bookmarks |
Tags |
daily recovery readings, recovery |
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 32 (0 members and 32 guests) | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
More Recovery Readings - September | bluidkiti | Daily Recovery Readings | 29 | 09-29-2013 11:09 AM |
Daily Recovery Readings - June | bluidkiti | Daily Recovery Readings Archive | 29 | 09-14-2013 12:38 PM |
Daily Recovery Readings - August | bluidkiti | Daily Recovery Readings Archive | 36 | 09-01-2013 12:07 AM |
DAILY RECOVERY READINGS FOR MEN | MajestyJo | Daily Recovery Readings Archive | 31 | 08-31-2013 06:30 PM |
Daily Recovery Readings - July | bluidkiti | Daily Recovery Readings Archive | 30 | 08-08-2013 12:32 PM |