Daily Recovery Readings
April 12, 2023
Daily Reflection
GIVING UP INSANITY
“. . . where alcohol has been involved, we have been strangely insane.”
— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 38
Alcoholism required me to drink, whether I wanted to or not. Insanity dominated my life and was the essence of my disease. It robbed me of the freedom of choice over drinking and, therefore, robbed me of all other choices. When I drank, I was unable to make effective choices in any part of my life and life became unmanageable.
I ask God to help me understand and accept the full meaning of the disease of alcoholism.
From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Big Book Quote
“We think it no concern of ours what religious bodies our members identify themselves with as individuals. This should be an entirely personal affair which each one decides for himself in the light of past associations, or his present choice.”
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 28~
24 Hours a Day – The Little Black Book
Thought for the Day
This sober world is a pleasant place for an alcoholic to live in. Once you’ve got out of your alcoholic fog, you find that the world looks good. You find real friends in A.A. You get a job. You feel good in the morning. You eat a good breakfast and you do a good day’s work at home or outside. And your family loves you and welcomes you because you’re sober. Am I convinced that this sober world is a pleasant place for an alcoholic to live in?
Meditation for the Day
Our need is God’s opportunity. First we must recognize our need. Often this means helplessness before some weakness or sickness and an admission of our need for help. Next comes faith in the power of God’s spirit, available to us to meet that need. Before any need can be met, our faith must find expression. That expression of faith is all God needs to manifest His power in our lives. Faith is the key that unlocks the storehouse of God’s resources.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may first admit my needs. I pray that then I may have faith that God will meet those needs, in the way, which is best for me.
The Language of Letting Go – Codependency
Letting Go of Fear
Picture yourself swimming floating – peacefully down a gentle stream. All you need to do is breathe, relax, and go with the flow.
Suddenly, you become conscious of your situation. Frightened, overwhelmed with “what if’s?” your body tenses. You begin to thrash around, frantically looking for something to grab on to.
You panic so hard you start to go under. Then you remember – you’re working too hard at this. You don’t need to panic. All you need to do is breathe, relax, and go with the flow. You won’t drown.
Panic is our great enemy.
We don’t need to become desperate. If overwhelming problems appear in our life, we need to stop struggling. We can tread water for a bit, until our equilibrium returns. Then we can go back to floating peacefully down the gentle stream. It is our stream. It is a safe stream. Our course has been charted. All is well.
Today, I will relax, breathe, and go with the flow.
Touchstone – Men’s Meditation
“Anyone who lives art knows that psychoanalysis has no monopoly on the power to heal…. Art and poetry have always been altering our ways of sensing and feeling – that is to say, altering the human body.”
—Norman 0. Brown
A man can lead a healing life on many levels. On one level, many of us have turned to healing professionals for help. That may strengthen our program and be very beneficial for many of our problems.
Relationships heal when they are loving, affirming, reliable, committed, and loyal. Nature heals: a tree, a walk through tall grass, a dry seedpod, or a potted plant gives life when we turn in its direction. Beauty heals: music, a poem, a novel, or a picture may move us to another plane and teach us about life. Meditation heals: solitude, quiet relaxation, prayer, and cosmic consciousness bring an inner peace. Laughter heals. Physical activity heals. Doing something for others helps us. At the basic level, accepting ourselves as lovable men, just as we are, is the foundation for all healing.
The forces for renewal and wholeness are varied. May I reach out to them and be healed by them.
Elder’s Meditation
“Dissimilar things were fitted together to make something beautiful and whole.”
–Nippawanock, ARAPAHOE
Sometimes we look at something close up and it appears to be ugly; but then we drop back and look at it as a whole and it is beautiful. If we look at an insect close up, it may be ugly, but if we drop back and look at the whole insect it becomes beautiful. We can drop back even more and observe what its role and purpose is, and the insect becomes even more beautiful and whole. How are we looking at ourselves? Are we focused on something ugly about ourselves, or are we dropping back and looking at ourselves as a whole? We all have purpose, and we are all beautiful.
Grandfather, today, let me see the beauty of the whole.
Daily Horoscope – Cancer
You might clash with someone that you’re normally on good terms with. Every relationship or friendship has ups and downs, and things could be dipping down for you two, inciting tension or miscommunication that creates bigger struggles with each other or with your larger friend group. Friends can understand where the disconnect between you is, so consider letting them counsel you separately to apologize to each other and let bygones be bygones. Don’t let a rift come between you because you couldn’t understand each other.
The Wandering Enigma 