Daily Recovery Readings for October 2, 2017:

Daily Reflection

“THE ACID TEST”

As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for the adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions?

— TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 88

I know the Promises are being fulfilled in my life, but I want to maintain and develop them by the daily application of Step Ten. I have learned through this Step that if I am disturbed, there is something wrong with me. The other person may be wrong too, but I can only deal with my feelings. When I am hurt or upset, I have to continually look for the cause in me, and then I have to admit and correct my mistakes. It isn’t easy, but as long as I know I am progressing spiritually, I know that I can mark my effort up as a job well done. I have found that pain is a friend; it lets me know there is something wrong with my emotions, just as a physical pain lets me know there is something wrong with my body. When I take the appropriate action through the Twelve Steps, the pain gradually goes away.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

“Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get
well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in
God and clean house.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 98~

Keep It Simple

. . .and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.—Second half of Step Ten

We are human. We make mistakes. This is half the fun of being human.
Step Ten clearly tell us what to do when we are wrong: admit it. This
keeps us honest. It keeps us from hiding secrets that could cause us to
use alcohol or other drugs again.

Trust the gift we get from Step Ten. When we admit our wrongs, people
start to trust us again. We feel good, and people feel good being around us.
Even when they don’t like how we act, they can trust us to run our lives.
No one will ever be prefect. The closet we get is that we admit it when
we’re wrong. This is as good as it gets.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me admit my wrongs. Help me
earn the trust of others by being honest about my mistakes.

Action for the Day: I will list any wrongs I’ve done today. That way,
I’ll start tomorrow fresh and without any burdens from today.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You may be overly sensitive to someone’s subtle attempts at controlling your actions today. You expect others to behave with the highest ethics, but their actions leave you wondering. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell if people are really interfering with your plans or if a sudden brush with unsubstantiated paranoia is getting the best of you. Don’t let your self-doubt pull you down a rabbit hole when there are more important issues to address. Choose the most honorable path possible without being concerned about anyone else’s expectations. Author Robert Tew wrote, “Nothing and no one can make you happy until you alone make you happy.”

Daily Recovery Readings for September 29, 2017:

Daily Reflection

EXACTLY ALIKE

Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.

— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

A man came to the meeting drunk, interrupted the speakers, stood up and took his shirt off, staggered loudly back and forth for coffee, demanded to talk, and eventually called the group’s secretary an unquotable name and walked out. I was glad he was there – once again I saw what I had been like. But I also saw what I still am, and what I still could be. I don’t have to be drunk to want to be the exception and the center of attention. I have often felt abused and responded abusively when I was simply being treated as a garden variety human being. The more the man tried to insist he was different, the more I realized that he and I were exactly alike.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 89~

Keep It Simple

Remember how we used to live? We were always trying to cover up some lie or mistake.

We were all like Al. Our energy was going into our illness, not into living. Gratitude is the key word in the program. Gratitude is being thankful for the getting to know our Higher Power. Remember what it was like to not
smile for all those years?

Recovery has given us back our smiles. What a relief! We can relax and enjoy our new life.

Prayer for the Day:
I pray that I’ll always remember what is was like when I was using. I pray that I’ll not take my recovery for granted. I prayer for gratitude.

Action For the Day:
I will list all the things the program and recovery have given me. I will smile about them today.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You are fixated on a specific image that captures a romantic fantasy and you can’t get it out of your mind. Paradoxically, glimpses of perfect love vanish when you try to share your vision with someone else. In fact, the more you talk about it, the less clear it becomes. Luckily, communicator Mercury rides to the rescue once it enters objective Libra. Indulging your favorite dreams can be a pleasant diversion as long as you don’t confuse them with reality. Shakespeare wrote, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.”

Daily Recovery Readings for September 28, 2017:

Daily Reflection

LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.

— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

Sponsorship held two surprises for me. First, that my sponsees cared about me. What I had thought was gratitude was more like love. They wanted me to be happy, to grow and remain sober. Knowing how they felt kept me from drinking more than once. Second, I discovered that I was able to love someone else responsibly, with respectful and genuine concern for that person’s growth. Before that time, I had thought that my ability to care sincerely about another’s well-being had atrophied from lack of use. To learn that I can love, without greed or anxiety, has been one of the deepest gifts the program has given me. Gratitude for that gift has kept me sober many times.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead. We must take the lead. A remorseful mumbling that we are sorry won’t fill the bill at all. We ought to sit down with the family and frankly analyze the past as we now see it, being very careful not to criticize them. Their defects may be glaring, but the chances are that our own actions are partly responsible. So we clean house with the family, asking each morning in meditation that our Creator show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 83~

Keep It Simple

Honesty is the backbone of our recovery program. Honesty opens us up. It breaks down the walls we had built around our secret world. Those walls made a prison for us. But all of that is now changed. We are free. Honesty has made us wise. We aren’t sneaking drinks anymore. We don’t have a stash to protect. People who didn’t trust us now depend on our honesty. People who worked hard to avoid us, now seek us out. Self-honesty is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, You are truth. I pray that I may not turn away from truth. I will not lie. My life depends on honesty.

Action For the Day:
For twenty or thirty minutes, I will think about how learning to be honest has changed my life.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You might grow anxious if you think that someone is trying to control your message today. It feels as if your efforts are thwarted before you can bring your truth out into the open. However, the wheels of change are starting to roll, empowering you to hold onto your thoughts until they are heard. In the long run, everyone involved will benefit from the truth. Author Bryant McGill wrote, “Real transformation requires real honesty. If you want to move forward, get real with yourself.”

Daily Recovery Readings for September 27, 2017:

Daily Reflection

WITHOUT RESERVATION

When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, . . .

— AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37

While practicing service to others, if my successes give rise to grandiosity, I must reflect on what brought me to this point. What has been given joyfully, with love, must be passed on without reservation and without expectation. For as I grow, I find that no matter how much I give with love, I receive much more in spirit.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

When ready, we say something like this: My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen. We have then completed Step Seven.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 76~

Keep It Simple

Honesty is the backbone of our recovery program. Honesty opens us up. It breaks down the walls we had built around our secret world. Those walls made a prison for us. But all of that is now changed. We are free.

Honesty has made us wise. We aren’t sneaking drinks anymore. We don’t have a stash to protect.

People who didn’t trust us now depend on our honesty. People who worked hard to avoid us, now seek us out. Self-honesty is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, You are truth. I pray that I may not turn away from truth. I will not lie. My life depends on honesty.

Action For the Day:
For twenty or thirty minutes, I will think about how learning to be honest has changed my life.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Although unexpected changes at work may accelerate your rise to success, you might not be eager to sacrifice quality time at home with your family. You won’t likely be happy with professional advancement unless you can coordinate your new responsibilities with your personal life. Don’t just assume that you will be able to do it all. It’s in everyone’s best interest to address these concerns sooner than later. Coach John Wooden wrote, “Next to love, balance is the most important thing.”

Daily Recovery Readings for September 26, 2017:

Daily Reflection

OUR CHILDREN

The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly relations with his children. . . . In time they will see that he is a new man and in their own way they will let him know it. . . . From that point on, progress will be rapid. Marvelous results often follow such a reunion.

— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 134

While on the road to recovery I received a gift that could not be purchased. It was a card from my son in college, saying, “Dad, you can’t imagine how glad I am that everything is okay. Happy Birthday, I love you.” My son had told me that he loved me before. It had been during the previous Christmas holidays, when he had said to me, while crying, “Dad, I love you! Can’t you see what you’re doing to yourself?” I couldn’t. Choked with emotion, I had cried, but this time, when I received my son’s card, my tears were tears of joy, not desperation.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 77~

Keep It Simple

The distance doesn’t matter; only the first step is difficult.—Mme. Marquise du Deffand

During our addiction, we were on a path leading to death—death of our
spirit, mind, and body.

On that path, we tired not to think about where it would lead. We didn’t want to get there. We just followed the path toward death, with one drink, pill, snort or toke at a time.

Now we’ve chosen a new path for our lives. Making that choice was hard.

We knew only the old path. We were afraid to change. But we did it. That
was the hardest part.

We are excited to follow our new path. We know it leads to good things.

We can follow the map—the Twelve Steps—and enjoy the trip. It will last as long as we live, and the map will guide us.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, thanks for helping me choose the path of life.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll study the map for my life by reading the Twelve Steps.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You might become overwhelmed when you see too many distinct possibilities in your future. You wish life was simpler now, but you are resigned to work your way through this nexus of opportunities. Instead of trying to choose one path, reverse the process by eliminating the options that are the least attractive. Narrowing down your choices makes it much easier to proceed. Starve your distractions; feed your focus.

Daily Recovery Readings for September 25, 2017:

Daily Reflection

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job – wife or no wife – we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98

Before coming to A.A., I always had excuses for taking a drink: “She said . . . ,” “He said . . . ,” “I got fired yesterday,” “I got a great job today.” No area of my life could be good if I drank again. In sobriety my life gets better each day. I must always remember not to drink, to trust God, and to stay active in A.A. Am I putting anything before my sobriety, God, and A.A. today?

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

Everybody nowadays believes in scores of assumptions for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof. And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the weakest proof? It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are not inward reality at all.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 48~

Keep It Simple

Martyrs set bad examples—David Russell

Sometimes we call people “martyrs.” We sometimes think of them as victims. They suffer, but sometimes not for a cause. They play “poor me.” They want people to notice how much they suffer. They are afraid to really live. These are the people who set bad examples.

True martyrs died for causes they believed in. We remember them because they were so full of energy and spirit. Recovery helps us live better. Let’s go for it!

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, thanks for giving me energy and for healing my spirit. Help me live fully by putting my life in Your care.

Action for the Day:
What kind of example do I set? Does my life reflect joy for life and recovery?

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Unrealistic expectations encourage you to bite off more than you can chew today. You may be tempted to create a lengthy to-do list, only to discover that you are setting yourself up for disappointment. However, a more pragmatic approach to managing your calendar empowers you to reach your goals in a timely manner. Author Jim Rohn wrote, “Either you run the day or the day runs you.”

Daily Recovery Readings for September 24, 2017:

Daily Reflection

VIGILANCE

We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.” Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.

— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33

Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different. My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must never forget what I am. Alcohol will surely kill me if I fail to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily basis. I am not playing a game in which a loss is a temporary setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which there is no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

Whatever our ideal turns out to be, we must be willing to grow toward it. We must be willing to make amends where we have done harm, provided that we do not bring about still more harm in so doing.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 69~

Keep It Simple

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.— Will Durant

Sometimes we say bad things about others. When we do this, it makes us look bad too.

Our friends worry what we might say about them behind their backs. They’re afraid to trust us. We become known as gossips.

The things we say about other people tell a lot about us. We are kind or unkind. We gossip or we don’t. This doesn’t mean we have to say everyone is wonderful all the time. As we work our program to see ourselves better, we begin to see other people more clearly too. We see their strong points and their weak points. But we can know these things without gossiping about them.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, help me see others clearly, and in their best light. Let me bring out the good in others.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll list the people I’m closest to at work, school, and home. I’ll think of how I talk about them to others. Am I kind?

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Ironically, your misinterpretation of someone’s message might actually turn out for the best because it gives you a chance to stretch your imagination. Luckily, your illusion could eventually become real as active Mars opposes fantasy-prone Neptune. However, discerning the facts can be quite challenging now as conflicting stories battle for supremacy. Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes wrote, “Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water.”

Daily Recovery Readings for September 23, 2017:

Daily Reflection

“I WAS AN EXCEPTION”

He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, “Do you think that you are one of us?”

— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413 (Third Edition)

During my drinking life I was convinced I was an exception. I thought I was beyond petty requirements and had the right to be excused. I never realized that the dark counterbalance of my attitude was the constant feeling that I did not “belong.” At first, in A.A., I identified with others only as an alcoholic. What a wonderful awakening for me it has been to realize that, if human beings were doing the best they could, then so was I! All of the pains, confusions and joys they feel are not exceptional, but part of my life, just as much as anybody’s.

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Big Book Quote

If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also.

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~

Keep It Simple

“. . . he who finds himself loses his misery.” ~ Matthew Arnold

We have lost a lot of misery. In it’s place inside us, a spirit grows. . . as love is added.

Especially self-love. In our illness, we came to hate ourselves. It was really our illness we hated. We couldn’t find ourselves. All we saw was what others saw—our illness.

In recovery, we’ve found ourselves again. We’ve found we’re good people. We’ve also come to love the world around us. We see we have something to offer this world—ourselves.

Why? Because we have found ourselves.

Prayer for the Day:
I’m so glad to be alive. At times life hurts, but, in living, I found You. Thank-you Higher Power. I pray that we may always be close.

Action for the Day:
I will list ten great things I’ve discovered about myself in recovery.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You have a message to convey today, and won’t likely be swayed from your previously established agenda. The fixed Scorpio Moon is camped out in your 5th House of Love and Romance, turning even the most casual conversations into ones filled with flirtation and innuendo. Thankfully, you can consciously slow things down if an interaction heats up too quickly. Regardless of where this road takes you, be sure to express your gratitude for the diverse experiences you have along the way. Serve the world with your joy.