Tag: sober living

DR – November 16, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 16, 2018

Daily Reflection

A DAILY REPRIEVE

What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85

Maintaining my spiritual condition is like working out every day, planning for the marathon, swimming laps, jogging. It’s staying in good shape spiritually, and that requires prayer and meditation. The single most important way for me to improve my conscious contact with a Higher Power is to pray and meditate. I am as powerless over alcohol as I am to turn back the waves of the sea; no human force had the power to overcome my alcoholism. Now I am able to breathe the air of joy, happiness and wisdom. I have the power to love and react to events around me with the eyes of a faith in things that are not readily apparent. My daily reprieve means that, no matter how difficult or painful things appear today, I can draw on the power of the program to stay liberated from my cunning, baffling and powerful illness.

Big Book Quote

“My drinking assumed more serious proportions, continuing all day and almost every night. The remonstrances of my friends terminated in a
row and I became a lone wolf.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill’s Story, pg. 3~

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I have got rid of most of my inner conflicts. I was always at war with myself. I was doing things that I did not want to do. I was waking up in strange places and wondering how I got there. I was full of recklessness when I was drunk and full of remorse when I was sober. My life didn’t make sense. It was full of broken resolves and frustrated hopes and plans. I was getting nowhere fast. No wonder my nerves were all shot. I was bumping up against a blank wall and I was dizzy from it. A.A. taught me how to get organized and to stop fighting against myself. Have I got rid of inner conflicts?

Meditation For The Day

“When two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” The spirit of God comes upon His followers when they are all together at one time, in one place, and with one accord. When two or three consecrated souls are together at a meeting place, the spirit of God is there to help and guide them. Where any sincere group of people are together, reverently seeking the help of God, His power and His spirit are there to inspire them.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be in accord with the members of my group.
I pray that I may feel the strength of a consecrated group.

Keep It Simple

Pray for powers equal to your task.—Phillips Brooks

Our task is to stay sober and to help others who still suffer from addiction. We will need patience and understanding. We will need much love. Most of all, we’ll need to work a strong program.

Pray that you come to know the Steps well. Pray that you’ll want to help others—always. Pray for these things, and you’ll have a strong program. In the program, we learn that prayer works. We see prayer change our lives and the lives of those around us. We came to know the power of prayer.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, I pray for knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry it out.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll admit my needs by praying for help from my Higher Power.

Each Day A New Beginning

Rigidity is prevented most of the time as love and compassion mesh us into tolerant human beings.
–Kaethe S. Crawford

Looking outward with love, offering it freely to our friends and family, makes fluid, flowing, and fertile our existence. Each expression of love engenders more love, keeping tender our ties to one another, encouraging more ties.

The more flexible our lives, the more easily we’ll be attracted to an unexpected opportunity. And flexibility is fostered by a loving posture. As we approach the world, so it greets us. We are not mere recipients of life’s trials and tribulations. We find what our eyes are wanting to see. When our focus is rigid and narrow, so are our opportunities.

The Steps are leading us to be freer with our love, more tolerant in our expectations. The level of our compassion, fully felt and fully expressed, is the measure of our emotional health. Rigid attitudes, rigid behavior, rigid expectations of others recede as the level of our emotional health rises. Our approach to life changes and so do the results we meet.

I will love others. It’s my only assignment in life, and it guarantees the security I crave.

Elder’s Meditation

“We do not want riches, but we want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches, we want peace and love.”

— Red Cloud, OGLALA LAKOTA

The Elders say that what is important is peace and love. To have material things is okay, but if not, that’s okay too. To have peace and love is more important than anything material. Our children will see the value of peace and love only if adults show they are a priority. Too often we think we can offer material things and they will replace the time spent with our children. But the most important way to give our children peace and love is to spend time with them.

My Creator, give me Your peace and love today.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Just when you think all your ducks are neatly lined up in a row, they might waddle off in different directions. This sudden chaos prompts you to either feel a sense of panic or pangs of disappointment. But even getting simple things done can be complicated when mischievous Mercury retrogrades in your 6th House of Routines. Thankfully, there’s hope on the horizon. Returning to the drawing board with a project may be necessary because you didn’t think the details through the first time. Consider this a second chance to arrange things in a better order than they were before. Practice makes perfect.

DR – November 15, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 15, 2018

Daily Reflection

VITAL SUSTENANCE

Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse air, light or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 97

Step Eleven doesn’t have to overwhelm me. Conscious contact with God can be as simple, and as profound, as conscious contact with another human being. I can smile. I can listen. I can forgive. Every encounter with another is an opportunity for prayer, for acknowledging God’s presence within me. Today I can bring myself a little closer to my Higher Power. The more I choose to seek the beauty of God’s work in other people, the more certain of His presence I will become.

Big Book Quote

“But life among Alcoholics Anonymous is more than attending gatherings and visiting hospitals. Cleaning up old scrapes, helping to settle family differences, explaining the disinherited son to his irate parents, lending money and securing jobs for each other, when justified these are everyday occurrences. No one is too discredited or has sunk too low to be welcomed cordially if he means business.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 161~

Twentty-Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I am less sensitive and my feelings are less easily hurt. I no longer take myself so seriously. It didn’t use to take much to insult me, to feel that I had been slighted or left on the outside. What happens to me now is not so important. One cause of our drinking was because we couldn’t take it, so we escaped the unpleasant situation. We have learned to take it on the chin if necessary and smile. When I am all wrapped up in A.A., I do not notice the personal slights so much. They do not seem to matter so much. I have learned to laugh at self-pity, because it’s so childish. Am I less sensitive?

Meditation For The Day

God’s miracle-working power is as manifest today as it was in the past. It still works miracles of change in lives and miracles of healing in twisted minds. When a person trusts wholly in God and leaves to Him the choosing of the day and hour, there is God’s miracle-working power becoming manifest in that person’s life. So we can trust in God and have boundless faith in His power to make us whole again, whenever He chooses.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be sure that there is nothing that God cannot accomplish in changing my life. I pray that I may have faith in His miracle-working power.

Keep It Simple

The best way to know God is to love many things.—Vincent Van Gogh

Now that we’re in recovery, we’re learning to love people. We’re learning to love nature.

We’re learning to love new ideas about life. The result? We love the way we feel now that we’re taking care of ourselves.

Is our Higher Power really so close? Can we really find our Higher Power just by loving many things? Yes! When we love, we wake up that part of us that is part of all creation—our spirit.

We really come to life when we love!

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, remind me that You are near when I love someone or something. The energy of love come from You.

Action for the Day:
I will list three things I love that help me know my Higher Power is near me.

Each Day A New Beginning

Zeal is the faculty igniting the other mind powers into the full flame of activity.
–Sylvia Stitt Edwards

When enthusiasm is absent in our lives, no activity appears inviting. In fact, most situations foster fear. With fear, we’re ever so familiar. The program we’re committed to relieves us of all fear, when we work it. And it offers us the enthusiasm that will guarantee positive outcomes for our efforts, when we look to our higher power for the right attitude.

An open, trusting, sincere relationship with our higher power equals enthusiasm about life. But that relationship takes work on our part. When we’ve done our homework we discover that no lesson will baffle us. Prayer and meditation make all things understandable and guarantee that we will “pass the course” on life.

I will begin this day, and every day, looking to God for the gift of zeal to live fully every moment, to give fully what I have to give, and to glory fully in all that I receive. My attitude of gratitude will increase my happiness manyfold. I will look to this day with zeal.

Elder’s Meditation

“Our Spiritual belief is that we were created as part of the land – so our identity, our names, and our songs are all tied to the land.”

— Chief Roderick Robinson, NISGA’A

In the traditional way, the names of native people had great meaning. We even had naming ceremonies. The naming of someone was very important and had great significance because it was tied to the Earth. The identity of each member and the teachings of the songs were all tied to Mother Earth. We need to know these teachings from our culture. This knowledge will help us heal the people.

My Maker, today help me find my identity.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You may feel an extra-strong connection today to people who share your ideals and beliefs. You are eager to demonstrate a commitment to your principles by donating your time or money. If you put your energy into the cause, you might find the bonding experience extremely rewarding. However, your new alliance with others could highlight your previous loneliness. Thankfully, your sense of isolation can be overcome by seizing this moment to do even more to put your values into action. Fighting for what you believe in draws you into a community of like-minded friends.

DR – November 14, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 14, 2018

Daily Reflection

INTUITION AND INSPIRATION

. . we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle.

~ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 86

I invest my time in what I truly love. Step Eleven is a discipline that allows me and my Higher Power to be together, reminding me that, with God’s help, intuition and inspiration are possible. Practice of the Step brings on self- love. In a consistent attempt to improve my conscious contact with a Higher Power, I am subtly reminded of my unhealthy past, with its patterns of grandiose thinking and false feelings of omnipotence. When I ask for the power to carry out God’s will for me, I am made aware of my powerlessness. Humility and a healthy self-love are compatible, a direct result of working Step Eleven.

Big Book Quote

“Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks, drinks which they see others taking with impunity.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Doctor’s Opinion, pg. xxviii~

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

A better way than judging people is to look for all the good you can find in them. If you look hard enough and long enough, you ought to be able to find some good somewhere in every person. In A.A. I learned that my job was to try to bring out the good, not criticize the bad. Every alcoholic is used to being judged and criticized. That has never helped anyone get sober. In A.A. we tell people they can change. We try to bring out the best in them. We encourage their good points and ignore their bad points as much as possible. People are not converted by criticism. Do I look for the good in people?

Meditation For The Day

There must be a design for the world in the mind of God. We can believe that His design for the world is a universal brotherhood of men and women under the fatherhood of God. The plan for your life must also be in the mind of God. In times of quiet meditation you can seek for God’s guidance, for the revealing of God’s plan for your day. Then you can live this day according to that guidance. Many people are not making of their lives what God meant them to be, and so they are unhappy. They have missed the design for their lives.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to follow God’s design for today. I pray that I may have the sense of Divine Intent in what I do today.

Keep It Simple

Make it a point to do something every day that you don’t want to do—Mark Twain

Self-discipline is a key part of living sober life. We need it t get to our meetings regularly. We need it to understand the Steps. We need it to work the Steps.

And we get much in return. With self-discipline, we learn to trust ourselves. We learn to do what is most loving and caring for ourselves. What a great relief! One of the worst parts of our illness was that we couldn’t count on ourselves. We didn’t know what we’d do next. Self-discipline heals this part of our illness.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, You have given me much. It’s only right that I give You part of my day. I will pray and meditate on Your wonders.

Action for the Day:
I will list areas of my program where I lack self-discipline. I will share the list with my group and sponsor, and I’ll let them know in a month how I’m doing.

Each Day A New Beginning

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. –Kathleen Casey Theisen

How awesome is our power, personally, to choose our attitudes and our responses to any situation, to every situation. We will feel only how we choose to feel, no matter the circumstance. Happiness is as free an option as sorrow.

Perceiving our challenges as opportunities for positive growth rather than stumbling blocks in our path to success is a choice readily available. What is inevitable–a matter over which we have no choice–is that difficult times, painful experiences will visit us. We can, however, greet them like welcome guests, celebrating their blessings on us and the personal growth they inspire.

No circumstance demands suffering. Every circumstance has a silver lining. In one instance you may choose to feel self-pity; in the next, gladness.

We do not always feel confident about our choices, even when we accept the responsibility for making them. How lucky for us that the program offers a solution! Prayer and meditation, guidance from our higher power, can help us make the right choice every time.

I will relish my freedom to choose, to feel, to act. I and only I can take it away.

Elder’s Meditation

“The hearts of little children are pure, and therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.”

— Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa) OGLALA LAKOTA

Sometimes adults think they know more than the children. But the children are closer to the truth. Have you ever noticed how quickly they can let go of resentments? Have you ever noticed how free they are of prejudice? Have you ever noticed how well the children listen to their bodies? Maybe adults need to be more like children. They are so innocent. The children pray to the Creator and trust that He will take care of them.

Grandfather, today let the children be my teacher.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You may find a precious gem in the unlikeliest of places today. You might score a fabulous outfit at a thrift store or discover a rare record in the discount album bin. In any case, an abstract idea that once seemed preposterous takes shape now. The spirited sextile between the quirky Aquarius Moon and quick Mercury reminds you that another person’s trash is your treasure. Suspending your suspicions opens exciting doors of opportunity. Magic can be found wherever you look.

DR – November 13, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 13, 2018

Daily Reflection

LOOKINGOUTWARD

We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no requests for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 87

As an active alcoholic, I allowed selfishness to run rampant in my life. I was so attached to my drinking and other selfish habits that people and moral principles came second. Now, when I pray for the good of others rather than my “own selfish ends,” I practice a discipline in letting go of selfish attachments, caring for my fellows and preparing for the day when I will be required to let go of all earthly attachments.

Big Book Quote

“To sum up about sex: We earnestly pray for the right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situation, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing. If sex is very troublesome, we throw ourselves the harder into helping others. We think of their needs and work for them. This takes us out of ourselves. It quiets the imperious urge, when to yield would mean heartache.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 70~

Twentty-Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Who am I to judge other people? Have I proved by my great success in life that I know all the answers? Exactly the opposite. Until I came into A.A., my life could be called a failure. I made all the mistakes a man could make. I took all the wrong roads there were to take. On the basis of my record, am I a fit person to be a judge of my fellow men? Hardly. In A.A. I have learned not to judge people. I am so often wrong. Let the results of what they do judge them. It’s not up to me. Am I less harsh in my judgment of people?

Meditation For The Day

In our time of meditation, we again seem to hear: “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Again and again we seem to hear God saying this to us. “Come unto me” for the solution of every problem, for the overcoming of every temptation, for the calming of every fear, for all our need, physical, mental or spiritual, but mostly “come unto me” for the strength we need to live with peace of mind and the power to be useful and effective.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may go to God today for those things which I need to help me live. I pray that I may find real peace of mind.

Keep It Simple

Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present. —Anonymous

We addicts often learn things the hard way. In the past, we found it very hard to take advice from anyone. It’s still hard to take advice, but it’s getting easier every day. We know now that we can’t handle everything in life by ourselves. We’ve come to believe there is help of us. And we’re learning to ask for help and advice.

Sometimes we don’t like the advice we get. We don’t have to use it. But if it comes from people who love and understand us, we can try to listen. Write it down. Think about it. It may make sense another day.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, please work through people who love me. I need your advice. Help me listen to it.

Action for the Day:
I will make notes to myself, writing down things that seem important. I will read them once in a while.

Each Day A New Beginning

My Declaration of Self-Esteem:

I am me. In all the world there is no one else exactly like me. There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me. Therefore, everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it. –Virginia Satir

Feeling special, feeling worthy and unique in the contribution we make to our surroundings is perhaps not a very familiar feeling to many of us in this recovery program. We may have recognized our differences from others, but not in a positive way. We may well have figured that to be our problem. “If only I were more like her . . .” To celebrate our specialness, the unique contribution we make to every situation we experience, is one of the gifts of recovery.

It’s spiritually moving to realize the truth of our authenticity. To realize that no other choice will ever be just like our choice–to realize that no other contribution will be just like our contribution. Our gift to life is ourselves. Life’s gift to us is the opportunity to realize our value.

Today, I will be aware of my gifts, I will offer them and receive them thankfully.

Elder’s Meditation

“My Grandfather survived on this earth without using anything that did not go back into the earth. The whole world could learn from that.”

— Floyd Westerman, SIOUX

Our grandfathers knew how to live in harmony. They did not create poisons or technologies that destroyed things. They did not make their decisions based on greed or for selfish reasons. They did not take more then they used. Their thoughts and actions were about respect. The Elders conducted themselves in a respectful way. We need to consider our actions around respect for Mother Earth.

My Creator, have the grandfathers teach us today about the old ways.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

A conflict between unresolved feelings from your past and important demands of the present can hijack your day. Naturally, you expect your attention would immediately snap to address the issues of the current moment. Yet, it’s likely hard to shake being in a sentimental funk. You’re possibly missing an unconscious connection between before and now. Chances are you can push through any wall of procrastination once you allow your nostalgic feelings to surface without resistance or fear. The shock of spotting the missing link will prompt you to take clear and swift action.

DR – November 12, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 12, 2018

<b><u>Daily Reflection</u></b>

MORNING THOUGHTS

“Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick.”

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164

For many years I pondered over God’s will for me, believing that perhaps a great destiny had been ordained for my life. After all, having been born into a specific faith, hadn’t I been told early that I was “chosen”? It finally occurred to me, as I considered the above passage, that God’s will for me was simply that I practice Step Twelve on a daily basis. Furthermore, I realized I should do this to the best of my ability. I soon learned that the practice aids me in keeping my life in the context of the day at hand.

<b><u>Big Book Quote</u></b>

“Liquor ceased to be a luxury; it became a necessity.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill’s Story, pg. 5~

<b><u>Twentty-Four Hours a Day</u></b>

A.A. Thought For The Day

I am less critical of other people, inside and outside of A.A. I used to run people down all the time. I realize now that it was because I wanted unconsciously to build myself up. I was envious of people who lived normal lives. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be like them. And so I ran them down. I called them sissies or hypocrites. I was always looking for faults in the other person. I loved to tear down what I called “a stuff shirt” or “a snob.” I have found that I can never make a person any better by criticism. A.A. has taught me this. Am I less critical of people?

Meditation For The Day

You must admit your helplessness before your prayer for help will be heard by God. Your own need must be recognized before you can ask God for the strength to meet that need. But once that need is recognized, your prayer is heard above all the music of heaven. It is not theological arguments that solve the problems of the questing soul, but the sincere cry of that soul to God for strength and the certainty of that soul that the cry will be heard and answered.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may send my voiceless cry for help out into the void. I pray that I may feel certain that it will be heard somewhere, somehow.

<b><u>Keep It Simple</u></b>

It may be those who do most, dream most.—Stephen Leacock

Daydreaming gives us hope. It makes our world bigger. Daydreaming can be part of doing Step Eleven. As we meditate, we daydream. Through our daydreaming, we get to know ourselves, our spirit, and our Higher Power. What special work can we do? Our dreams can tell us.
There is time to work and time to dream. Daydreaming helps us find the work our Higher Power wants us to do.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, please speak to me through my daydreams.

Action for the Day:
I’ll set aside time to daydream. I will look into a candle flame, at picture, or out a window, and let my mind wander.

<b><u>Each Day A New Beginning</u></b>

Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality; they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.
–Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Our minds mold who we become. Our thoughts not only contribute to our achievements, they determine the posture of our lives. How very powerful they are. Fortunately, we have the power to think the thoughts we choose, which means our lives will unfold much as we expect. The seeds we plant in our minds indicate the directions we’ll explore in our development. And we won’t explore areas we’ve never given attention to in our reflective moments. We must dare to dream extravagant, improbable dreams if we intend to find a new direction, and the steps necessary to it.

We will not achieve, we will not master that which goes unplanned in our dream world. We imagine first, and then we conceive the execution of a plan. Our minds prepare us for success. They can also prepare us for failure if we let our thoughts become negative. I can succeed with my fondest hopes. But I must believe in my potential for success. I will ponder the positive today.

<b><u>Elder’s Meditation</u></b>

“I don’t think that anybody anywhere can talk about the future of their people or of an organization without talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future, the future of the Cherokee people, and of the Cherokee Nation.”

— Wilma P. Mankiller, CHEROKEE

The world has changed in the last 50 years. It will change even more in the next 50 years, and it will change even faster. We must educate ourselves to ensure our future generations will maintain the language and the culture of our people. We need to be concerned about our land because when our land goes away, so will our people. We need to be concerned about leadership, our families, and about alcoholism. We need to be concerned about what’s going on around the world. We can only do this by being educated. Then we can control our future.

Great Spirit, please guide our children; let me know how I can help.

<b><u>Daily Horoscope – Cancer</u></b>

Giving to others out of guilt or coercion is emotional manipulation, not generosity. Perhaps someone is quietly, or not so quietly, trying to strong arm you into acquiescing to their demands. What might be doubly confusing is that you want to please more rather than push back. However, after some reflection, you may realize you’re the one twisting another person’s arm to comply to your heart’s desires. True charity has few expectations to it. But real courage often requires letting go.

DR – November 11, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 11, 2018

Daily Reflection

SELF-ACCEPTANCE

We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105

I pray for the willingness to remember that I am a child of God, a divine soul in human form, and that my most basic and urgent life-task is to accept, know, love and nurture myself. As I accept myself, I am accepting God’s will. As I know and love myself, I am knowing and loving God. As I nurture myself I am acting on God’s guidance. I pray for the willingness to let go of my arrogant self-criticism, and to praise God by humbly accepting and caring for myself.

Big Book Quote

“The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God. He clamors for this or that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until is material needs are cared for. Nonsense. 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, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 98~

Twentty-Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When I think of all who have gone before me, I realize that I am only one, not very important, person. What happens to me is not so very important after all. And A.A. has taught me to be more outgoing, to seek friendship by going at least half way; to have a sincere desire to help. I have more self-respect now that I have less sensitiveness. I have found that the only way to live comfortably with myself is to take a real interest in others. Do I realize that I am not so important after all?

Meditation For The Day

As you look back over your life, it is not too difficult to believe that what you went through was for a purpose, to prepare you for some valuable work in life. Everything in your way may well have been planned by God to make you of some use in the world. Each person’s life is like the pattern of a mosaic. Each thing that happened to you is like one tiny stone in the mosaic, and each tiny stone fits into the perfected pattern of the mosaic of your life, which has been designed by God.

Keep It Simple

Have the courage to live; anyone can die.—Robert Cody

Living means facing all of life. Life is joy and sorrow. We used to be people who wanted the joy without the sorrow. But we can learn from hard times, maybe more than we do in easy times. Often, getting through hard times helps us grow. When things get tough, maybe we want to turn and run. Then, a gentle voice from within us say, “I am with you. You have friends who will help.” If we listen, we’ll hear our Higher Power. This is what is meant by “conscious contact” in Step eleven. As this conscious contact grows, our courage grows. And we find the atrength to face hard times.

Prayer for the Day:
I pray for the strength and courage to live. I pray that I’ll never have to face hard time alone again.

Action for the Day: I’ll list two examples of conscious contact” in my life.

Each Day A New Beginning

Life has got to be lived–that’s all there is to it. At 70 I would say the advantage is that you take life more calmly. You know that, “This, too, shall pass!”

–Eleanor Roosevelt

Wisdom comes with age, but also with maturity. It is knowing that all is well in the midst of a storm. And as our faith grows, as we trust more that there is a power greater than ourselves which will see us through, we can relax, secure that a better time awaits us.

We will come to understand the part a difficult circumstance has played in our lives. Hindsight makes so much clear. The broken marriage, the lost job, the loneliness have all contributed to who we are becoming. The joy of the wisdom we are acquiring is that hindsight comes more quickly. We can, on occasion, begin to accept a difficult situation’s contribution to our wholeness while caught in the turmoil.

How far we have come! So seldom do we stay caught, really trapped, in the fear of misunderstanding. Life must teach us all we need to know. We can make the way easier by stretching our trust–by knowing fully that the pain of the present will open the way to the serenity of the future.

I know that this too shall pass.

Elder’s Meditaiton

“If you don’t know the language, you’ll only see the surface of the culture…the language is the heart of the culture and you cannot separate it.”

— Elaine Ramos, TLINGIT

The Creator gave to every person their own special way to communicate and understand. Indians understand connectedness, balance, harmony, spirituality, and the relationship to Mother Earth. The understanding of these things is expressed in the language. The true understanding of culture is expressed in the language. The language is the heart of the people. If we have not learned the language, we need to find a teacher.

Great Spirit, help me to learn the culture. Let me pray and sing to You in my language.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Someone in your intimate circle might demand more of your attention and time than you want to give. Of course, you try to be sensitive to the needs of others, but it’s difficult to strike an accord between your own pressing concerns and theirs. Be careful of compromising too quickly today, especially if you wind up with the cruddier end of the stick. Patiently hearing out everyone’s views is the only sensible strategy. See if you can work out a win-win solution, but don’t make a bad deal just to make a deal. No deal may even be a better one as long as all parties feel heard.

DR – November 10, 2018

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Daily Recovery Readings
November 10, 2018

Daily Reflection

A SENSE OF BELONGING

Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us.

~ TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105

That’s what it is — belonging! After a session of meditation I knew that the feeling I was experiencing was a sense of belonging because I was so relaxed. I felt quieter inside, more willing to discard little irritations. I appreciated my sense of humor. What I also experience in my daily practice is the sheer pleasure of belonging to the creative flow of God’s world. How propitious for us that prayer and meditation are written right into our
A.A. way of life.

Big Book Quote

“I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind. I saw that will power and self-knowledge would not help in those strange mental blank spots. I had never been able to understand people who said that a problem had them hopelessly defeated. I knew then. It was a crushing blow.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 42~

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I am less self centered. The world used to revolve around me at the center. I cared more about myself, my own needs and desires, my own pleasure, my own way, than I did about the whole rest of the world. What happened to me was more important than anything else I could think of. I was selfishly trying to be happy and therefore I was unhappy most of the time. I have found that selfishly seeking pleasure does not bring true happiness. Thinking of myself all the time cut me off from the best in life. A.A. taught me to care less about myself and more about the other fellow. Am I less self-centered?

Meditation For The Day

When something happens to upset you and you are discouraged, try to feel that life’s difficulties and troubles are not intended to arrest your progress in the spiritual life, but to test your strength and increase your determination to keep going. Whatever it is that must be met, you are to either overcome it or use it. Nothing should daunt you for long, nor should any difficulty overcome or conquer you. God’s strength will always be there, waiting for you to use it. Nothing can be too great to be overcome, or if not overcome, then used.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may know that there can be no failure with God.
I pray that with His help I may live a more victorious life.

Keep It Simple

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.—Will Rogers

The greatest adventure ever is recovery, and action is what’s important in recovery. That’s
because the Twelve Steps are full of action. The whole world has now opened up to us. At
times, this will scare us. But we aren’t alone. Our Higher Power is there to help us. All we
have to ask ourselves is, “Would this action keep me in touch with my Higher Power?” If the
answer is yes, then we take action. If the answer is no, then we don’t.

In recovery, we’ll be busy. We admit our wrongs. We take inventories. We seek answers. We
ask for help. We are to get as much as we can out of life. We can’t sit and watch; we have to
get out and live life.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, You gave me a second chance at life. Help me use it and not let my fear stop.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll five things I want to do but I’m afraid to try. I’ll talk to someone I trust about how I can do these things.

Each Day A New Beginning

Because society would rather we always wore a pretty face, women have been trained to cut off anger. –Nancy Friday

Anger is an emotion. Not a bad one, nor a good one; it simply exists when particular conditions in our lives are not met as we’d hoped. We can get free of our anger if we choose to take action appropriate to it. Anger can be a healthy prompter of action. But when no action is taken, anger turns inward, negatively

influencing our perceptions of all experiences, all human interaction.

We need to befriend all of our emotions. We need to trust that they all can serve us when we befriend them, learn from them, act in healthy concert with them. Our emotions reveal the many faces of our soul. And all are valid, deserving respect and acceptance. They are all representative of the inner self.

Because we are less at home with anger, it becomes more powerful. When we deny it, it doesn’t disappear. It surfaces in unrelated circumstances, complicating our lives in unnecessary ways. We can learn to enjoy our anger by celebrating the positive action it prompts. We can cherish the growth that accompanies it, when we take the steps we need to.

It’s okay for me to be angry today. It’s growthful, if I use it for good.

Elder’s Meditation

“The battle for Indian children will be won in the classroom, not on the streets or on horses. The students of today are our warriors of tomorrow.”
— Wilma P. Mankiller, CHEROKEE

The world is constantly changing. One of the strengths of Indian people has been our adaptability. In today’s world, education is what we need to survive. We need doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists. We can become these things and still live in a cultural way. We need to live in two worlds; the educated world and the Indian cultural world. Education will help protect our land, our people’s health, and provide knowledge for our people. We must teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. Also, we must teach the language, the culture, the ceremony, and the tradition of our people.

Creator, let me remember You are my teacher.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Implementing subtle but powerful changes can happen without interference now. Consider the smoothness of this energetic shift the parting gift of the independent Sagittarius Moon’s free-flowing trine to innovative Uranus. Don’t stress today over whether a modification will last. Be grateful for the opportunities to evolve and for your eagerness to begin a new set of routines. Author Leni Zumas wrote, “I am fascinated by tiny, incremental changes, almost imperceptible shifts in how people orient themselves in the world, because those are in some ways the most hopeful.”

DR – November 9, 2018

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Daily Recovery Readings
November 9, 2018

Daily Reflection

STEPPING INTO THE SUNLIGHT

But first of all we shall want sunlight; nothing much can grow in the dark. Meditation is our step out into the sun.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10

Sometimes I think I don’t have time for prayer and meditation, forgetting that I always found the time to drink. It is possible to make time for anything I want to do if I want it badly enough. When I start the routine of prayer and meditation, it’s a good idea to plan to devote a small amount of time to it. I read a page from our Fellowship’s books in the morning, and say “Thank You, God,” when I go to bed at night. As prayer becomes a habit, I will in- crease the time spent on it, without even noticing the foray it makes into my busy day. If I have trouble praying, I just repeat the Lord’s Prayer because it really covers everything. Then I think of what I can be grateful for and say a word of thanks.

I don’t need to shut myself in a closet to pray. It can be done even in a room full of people. I just remove myself mentally for an instant. As the practice of prayer continues, I will find I don’t need words, for God can, and does, hear my thoughts through silence.

Big Book Quote

“As a class, alcoholics are energetic people. They work hard and they play hard. Your man should be on his mettle to make good. Being somewhat weakened, and faced with physical and mental readjustment to a life which knows no alcohol, he may overdo. You may have to curb his desire to work sixteen hours a day. You may need to encourage him to play once in a while. He may wish to do a lot for other alcoholics and something of the sort may come up during business hours. A reasonable amount of latitude will be helpful. This work is necessary to maintain his sobriety.”

Alcoholics Anonymous – Fourth Edition, Chapter 10 – To Employers, p. 146

Twentty-Four Hours a Day, AA Though for the Day

I have learned to be less negative and more positive. I used to take a negative view of almost everything. Most people, in my estimation, were bluffing. There seemed to be very little good in the world, but lots of hypocrisy and sham. People could not be trusted. They would “take you ” if they could. All church-goers were partly hypocrites. It seemed I should take everything “with a grain of salt.” That was my general attitude toward life. Now I am more positive. I believe in people and in their capabilities. There is much love and truth and honesty in the world. I try not to run people down. Life now seems worthwhile and it is good to live. Am I less negative and more positive?

Meditation For The Day

Think of God as a Great Friend and try to realize the wonder of that friendship. When you give God not only worship, obedience, and allegiance, but also close companionship, then He can feel that He and you are working together. He can do things for you and you can do things for Him. Your prayers become more real to you when you feel that God counts on your friendship and you count on His.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think of God as my Friend.
I pray that I may feel that I am working for
Him and with Him.

Keep It Simple

He who can take advice is sometimes superior to he who can give it. —Karl von Knebel

In recovery, we learn that we don’t know everything. We had stopped listening. Most of us had been asked by family, friends, doctors, and employers to stop drinking and using other drugs. But, we didn’t listen. If we had listened, we would’ve been in this program long ago. Addiction did something to how we listen. We heard only what we wanted to hear. Do I still hear only what I want?

In recovery, we learn to listen. We listen to our groups. We listen to our sponsor. We listen as we read. The better we listen, the better our recovery. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, open my ears and eyes to this new way of life. Allow me to hear Your wisdom in the Twelve Steps. Allow me to be someone who takes advice, not just gives it.

Action for the Day:
Today, I’ll try to listen. Today I’ll seek the advice to others. I’ll ask my sponsor how I may better my program.

Each Day A New Beginning

On any journey, we must find out where we are before we can plan the first step.
–Kathy Boevink

Our lives in all aspects are a journey toward a destination, one fitting to our purpose, our special gifts, our particular needs as women. Each day contributes to our journey, carrying us closer to our destination. However, we often take a circuitous route. We get stranded or waylaid by our selfish desires, by the intrusion of our controlling ego.

We can reflect on the progress we’ve made toward our destination, the steps we’ve taken that have unknowingly contributed to our journey. Our easiest steps have been the ones we took in partnership with God. It’s in God’s mind that our path is well marked.

We are just where we need to be today. The experiences that we meet are like points on the map of our journey. Some of them are rest stops. Others resemble high-speed straight-aways. The journey to our destination is not always smooth, but the more we let God sit in the driver’s seat, the easier will be our ride.

I will plan my journey today with God’s help, and my ride will be smooth.

Elder’s Meditation

“Language is a vehicle for carrying spirit, life, and family. Language, religion, and land base are three things that characterize culture.”
— Edmund Ladd, ZUNI PUEBLO

The Elders say we need to know the answers to three questions in order for us to be connected; the Earth, the Sky, the East, the West, the South, and the North. The three questions are: 1. Why are we? 2. Who are we? 3.Where are we going? If we know the language, if we have our spirituality, and if we can pray on sacred spots, then we are able to seek the answer to the questions. We must protect the language, religion, and land so our future generations can stay connected.

Great Spirit, help us maintain our language, spirit, family, religion and our Mother Earth.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

Boredom will not be one of your problems today. You’re high on energy, pluck, and excitement with the fast-moving Moon and Mercury roaming together in adventurous Sagittarius. But you might demand more information than you have time to understand or expect to go to more places than you can possibly visit in a day. Respect your limits by breaking your goals into manageable chunks. Your need for sleep is just part of being a human. Indeed, the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak.

DR November 8, 2018

On By mikeykjrIn Daily Recovery Readings

Daily Recovery Readings
November 8, 2018

Daily Reflection

AN INDIVIDUAL ADVENTURE

Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way.

— TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 101

My spiritual growth is with God as I understand Him. With Him I find my true inner self. Daily meditation and prayer strengthen and renew my source of well-being. I receive then the openness to accept all that He has to offer. With God I have the reassurance that my journey will be as He wants for me, and for that I am grateful to have God in my life.

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

Big Book Quote

“Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. A man may criticize or laugh at himself and it will affect others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often produces the contrary effect.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 125

Keep It Simple

Any man may make a mistake; none but a fool will persist in it.  —Cicero.

The way we face life’s challenges is what gives meaning to our lives. If we run from our mistakes, they follow us. If we stand up and work with them, we learn. Facing our mistakes teaches us wisdom and courage. Our self-respect grows. Spiritual growth means asking, “How would my Higher Power want me to deal with this mistake?” Then we listen for the answer and do what is needed. The better we get at facing our mistakes, the better we become at learning from them. Native American culture teaches us that all mistakes in life are gifts. The gift is that we are given a chance to learn.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, help me face the mistakes of life and find the lessons that lie within them.

Action for the Day:
When I make a mistake, I’ll stop and ask, “What does my Higher Power want me to learn from this?”

Each Day A New Beginning

As in the physical world, so in the spiritual world, pain does not “last forever.”

–Katherine Mansfield

Each of us struggles with pain and its repercussions; some of us more than others. At times pain seems unending. Sometimes we hang onto the pain in our lives, maybe because we fear even more what’s on the other side. The unknown so easily controls us. Right at this moment, each of us can look back on other painful times and feel thankful for what they taught us. The puzzle pieces take on a deeper meaning when we enjoy the gift of perspective. The pain at this moment fits, too, in the bigger picture of our lives. And it will pass. It is passing.

The wisdom of the past tells us that pain enriches us, prepares us to better serve others. We come to know who we are and the specialness of our gifts through the despair that at times encumbers us. An old, wise saying, is, “We are never given more than we can handle.”
My pain today is bringing me closer to the woman I’m meant to be. With each breath I’ll remember that.

Today’s Gift – Hazelden

First Things First – Order

Busy people often declare, with some exasperation, that they cannot do everything at once. People with emotional problems, a group that includes many alcoholics, often feel that they are trying to do everything at once. Quite often, this pressure means that we waste our time fretting about all the things facing us, becoming totally ineffective as a result.

The simple slogan “First things first” shows us how to set priorities in an orderly way. In every situation or problem, there is always one step we can take that is more important than the others. Following that, we find a step of second importance, another of third importance, and so on. Sometimes, a certain action comes first simply because other things depend on it.

By using “First things first” as a guiding principle in our lives, we can live in an orderly, disciplined manner. If we have work to do today, we can plan to do the most important things first. If we have to reduce our activities, we can decide which activities we ought to retain. Having made these decisions, we can be at peace about our choices. We cannot do everything at once and we need not feel guilty about it.

Knowing that order is Heaven’s first law, I’ll do things today in an orderly manner.

Elder’s Meditation

“See how the boy is with his sister and the other ones of his home lodge and you can know how the man will be with your daughter.”
— LAKOTA Proverb

Very early in our lives we form beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and habits. We will live by these habits when we are older. The Elders say to watch the boy with his sister. If he is respectful and treats her good, then odds are that’s the way he will treat all women when he is older. Also, watch the young girl and how she treats her brother, for that will indicate what kind of woman she will be to her man. We need to teach our children to respect one another while they are young. The best way to teach them is to show respect ourselves.

Great Spirit, let me be a role model for the children.

Daily Horoscope – Cancer

You receive a much-needed energetic boost when you are willing to commit to a disciplined daily routine. Exuberant Jupiter amplifies your 6th House of Work, empowering you with new ways of executing common tasks. Thankfully, there’s no need to spend too much time integrating this energy into your natural momentum. Embrace the zeal of Jupiter’s partnership with the adventurous Sagittarius Moon and put on your badge of courage. You can grow bigger than your problems if you face your fears with the power of a superhero.

DR – November 7, 2018

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Daily Recovery Readings
November 7, 2018

<b><u>Daily Reflection</u></b>

LET GO AND LET

“. . . praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out”

~TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 96

When I “Let Go and Let God,” I think more clearly and wisely. Without having to think about it, I quickly let go of things that cause me immediate pain and discomfort. Because I find it hard to let go of the kind of worrisome thoughts and attitudes that cause me immense anguish, all I need do during those times is allow God, as I understand Him, to release them for me, and then and there, I let go of the thoughts, memories and attitudes that are troubling me. When I receive help from God, as I understand Him, I can live my life one day at a time and handle whatever challenges that come my way. Only then can I live a life of victory over alcohol, in comfortable sobriety.

<b><u>Big Book Quote</u></b>

“My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go back to it even if I could.”

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

<b><u>Keep It Simple</u></b>

Telling the truth is a pretty hard thing.   —ThomasWolfe.

Often, we get scared to tell the truth. We wonder, “What will happen? Will I get in trouble? Will someone be mad at me?’” These things could happen. But good things could happen too. Sometimes we want to lie.

We don’t want anyone mad at us or unhappy with us. We want people off our back. So we lie. And it comes back to haunt us. We must believe that the best will happen in the long run if we tell the truth. Our program tells us that we can stay sober if we’re honest. Telling the truth takes faith. We must have faint in the program. We must be honest. Our sobriety and our life depend on it.

Prayer for the Day:
Higher Power, help me remember that I’m doing things Your way when I tell the truth.

Action for the Day:
I will think about what I say today. I will be as honest as I can be.

<b><u>Each Day A New Beginning</u></b>

“. . . we will be victorious if we have not forgotten how to learn.”   –Rosa Luxemburg

For most of us the struggle was long, painful and lonely to the place where we are now. But survive we have, and survive we will. The times we thought we could go no further are only dimly recalled. The experiences we were certain would destroy us fit ever so neatly into our book of memories.

We have survived, and the program is offering us the means for continued survival. Step by Step we are learning to handle our problems, build relationships based on honesty, and choose responsible behavior. We are promised serenity if we follow the Steps.

Gratitude for our survival is best expressed by working the program, setting an example for others, helping those women who haven’t yet attained victory. We must give away what we have learned to make way for our own new growth. There are many victories in our future if we keep pressing forward, opening new doors, and trusting in the process of the program and its promises.

I am still willing to learn or I wouldn’t be here, now. There are victories in my future. I will look for a victory today. It’s certain to accompany responsible action on my part.

<b><u>Today’s Gift – Hazelden</u></b>

Where is God?

AA members have always had a difficult time explaining the “God business.” We didn’t want to be considered religious, but at the same time we’ve always believed some contact with a Higher Power is necessary for real personal growth.

There’s nothing wrong – for our purposes – in simply visualizing God as a Higher Power that has always been within us and around us. “Before they call, I will answer,” goes an old saying, and that was true even in our darkest days. Many of us can look back to realize that a certain force was moving us toward recovery long before we knew we needed any recovery. Many of us also believe that a Higher Power helped bring AA into being and move it along to become a worldwide force for good.

But God works in ways that can seem to come from chance or coincidence. Quite often, we’ll find that little events had far-reaching results in our lives. When we review how such things happened, we should not conclude that this happens only to certain “special” people. All human beings are part of God’s creation and can avail themselves of guidance and direction. The more serious problem is that guidance and direction are sometimes ignored or rejected.

I’ll go about my affairs today with the knowledge that my Higher Power is making the important decisions in my life. I’ll come out about where God wants me to be.

<b><u>Elder’s Meditation</u></b>

“Abuse and repression have no place in a traditional family.”
— Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

Traditional families guided by their culture were taught how to live. The were taught about relationships, respect, and spirituality. Only since alcohol was
introduced to Indians have we seen physical abuse, sexual abuse and verbal abuse. These behaviors have no room in traditional families. The cycle of abuse must be broken during this generation. We do this by asking for help to quit drinking and abusing and return to our traditional culture and spirituality.

Creator, plant inside of me the knowledge of the traditional family.

<b><u>Daily Horoscope – Cancer</u></b>

You may experience a life-altering epiphany regarding your relationship to fun and pleasure. The Scorpio New Moon’s dive into your 5th House of Fun and Games plunges you into invigorating waters. You’re likely to reconnect to a long-lost activity or object that once gave you plenty of joy. Don’t fret too much about how long this feeling will last or how to make more of it. Instead, fully appreciate the connection as it is now. Embrace your newfound bliss as a cue to enjoy yourself more in the present moment.