Daily Recovery Readings
April 13, 2023
Daily Reflection
THE FALSE COMFORT OF SELF-PITY
“Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects that we know. It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all effective communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands for attention and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill afford.”
— AS BILL SEES IT, p. 238
The false comfort of self-pity screens me from reality only momentarily and then demands, like a drug, that I take an ever bigger dose. If I succumb to this it could lead to a relapse into drinking. What can I do? One certain antidote is to turn my attention, however slightly at first, toward others who are genuinely less fortunate than I, preferably other alcoholics. In the same degree that I actively demonstrate my empathy with them, I will lessen my own exaggerated suffering.
From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Big Book Quote
“An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature.”
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill’s Story, pg. 16~
24 Hours a Day – The Little Black Book
Thought for the Day
Having found my way into this new world by the grace of God and the help of A.A., am I going to take that first drink, when I know that just one drink will change my whole world? Am I deliberately going back to the suffering of that alcoholic world? Or am I going to hang onto the happiness of this sober world? Is there any doubt about the answer? With God’s help, am I going to hang onto A.A. with both hands?
Meditation for the Day
I will try to make the world better and happier by my presence in it. I will try to help other people find the way God wants them to live. I will try to be on the side of good, in the stream of righteousness, where all things work for good. I will do my duty persistently and faithfully, not sparing myself. I will be gentle with all people. I will try to see other people’s difficulty and help them to correct it. I will always pray to God to act as interpreter between me and the other person.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may live in the spirit of prayer. I pray that I may depend on God for the strength I need to help me to do my part in making the world a better place.
The Language of Letting Go – Codependency
Enjoyment
One of the prohibitions many of us learned in childhood is the unspoken rule — don’t have fun and enjoy life. This rule creates martyrs — people who will not let themselves embrace the pleasures of day-to-day living.
Many of us associated suffering with some sort of sainthood. . Now, we associate it with codependency. We can go through the day making ourselves feel anxious, guilty, miserable, and deprived. Or we can allow ourselves to go through that same day feeling good. In recovery, we eventually learn the choice is ours.
There is much to be enjoyed each day, and it is okay to feel good. We can let ourselves enjoy our tasks. We can learn to relax without guilt. We can even learn to have fun.
Work at learning to have fun. Apply yourself with dedication to learning enjoyment. Work as hard at learning to have fun as you did at feeling miserable.
Our work will pay off. Fun will become fun. Life will become worth living. And each day, well find many pleasures to be enjoyed.
Today, I will let myself enjoy life as I go through my day.
Touchstone – Men’s Meditation
“Are you willing to be sponged out, erased,/ cancelled,/made nothing?/Are you willing to be made nothing?/dipped into oblivion?/If not, you will never really change.”
—D. H. Lawrence
Many men have a self-centered attitude about change. They say, “Lift yourselves up by your bootstraps! Take charge! Be aggressive!” They have only a beginner’s understanding of what real change is. When we try to change ourselves by our own methods, we simply give rebirth to our already limited controlling ideas. We recycle and intensify our problems.
This program has given us a profound possibility for change. We discover we are able to move beyond our compulsion to control by surrendering. The promises for recovery are clear and bright, if we yield to this program totally – but they do not come on our timetable. We yield. We allow ourselves to be helped. We allow change to overtake us. We earnestly seek to do our part. And change comes! It comes – not when we say, “Now I deserve, it,” but when we are ready to accept it.
Today, I surrender again. Each day I learn to surrender and grow deeper.
Elder’s Meditation
“Once you make a friend, a friend never leaves you, even to death. So a friend is really hard to find.”
–Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
Once, an Elder told me he made a decision to be my friend. He said this friendship wasn’t based on my behavior or how I acted; he said the friendship was based on his decision. He decided to be my friend. This friendship has happened like he said. Even if I don’t see him for a long time, or if I get mad at him, he has never changed his decision. This is true friendship.
Great Spirit, I’m glad you are this kind of Friend.
Daily Horoscope – Cancer
Networking may open new doors for you at the moment. You might normally wait for others to approach you, but a recent rise in confidence can boost you to ask for what you want from others or reach out to those you want to befriend. When you’re curious about someone, instead of waiting and hoping that they notice you, do your best to stand out from the crowd and show them that you’re worth getting to know. It’s okay for you to take the spotlight!
The Wandering Enigma 