Daily Recovery Readings - January

[bluidkiti]

January 29

Daily Reflections

THE JOY OF SHARING

Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover,
to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to
see a fellowship grow up about you. to have a host of
friends - this is an experience you must not miss. We
know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with
newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our
lives.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS , p. 89

To know that each newcomer with whom I share has the
opportunity to experience the relief that I have found
in this Fellowship fills me with joy and gratitude. I
feel that all the things described in A.A. will come to
pass for them, as they have for me, if they seize the
opportunity and embrace the program fully.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

What a load wasting money puts on your shoulders! They
say that members of A.A. have paid the highest initiation
fee of any club members in the world, because we've
wasted so much money on liquor. We'll never be able to
figure out how much it was. We not only waste our own
money, but also the money we should have spent on our
families. When you come into A.A., that terrible load
of wasted money falls off your shoulders. We alcoholics
were getting round-shouldered from carrying all those
loads that drinking put on our shoulders. But when we
come into A.A., we get a wonderful feeling of release
and freedom. Can I throw back my shoulders and look
the whole world in the face again?

Meditation For The Day

I believe that the future is in the hands of God. He
knows better than I what the future holds for me. I am
not at the mercy of fate or buffeted about by life. I
am being led in a very definite way, as I try to rebuild
my life. I am the builder, but God is the architect. It
is mine to build as best I can, under His guidance.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may depend on God, since He has planned my
life. I pray that I may live my life as I believe God
wants me to live it.< /span>

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As Bill Sees It

Alone No More, p.252

Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded
by people who loved us. But when our self-will had driven
everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced
to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this, we
had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of
passers-by.

We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by
being dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally
ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still
vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or
dependence.

For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In
this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.

12 & 12, pp. 116-117

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Walk In Dry Places

Willingness is the Key___Strong Desire.
Although willpower alone does not work in overcoming alcoholism, there is a place for the will, or willingness, in the search for a happy sobriety. Things can happen if we are willing to let them happen. More important, progress often depends on our willingness to give up what stands in our way. It also requires our willingness to take that actions necessary for success.
This same willingness, so vital to finding sobriety, is also applicable in other areas of our lives. The pioneers of AA suggested that getting sober required being willing to go to any lengths. This is the key to other achievements and to the overcoming of problems besides alcohol.
We often have to put up with unpleasant conditions simply because we do not want to change them badly enough. For example, we may dislike the unpleasant coughing and risks of smoking, but lack the willingness to quit. We may brood over lost opportunities, but be unwilling to take advantage of the opportunities we have now.
The key to constructive change in our lives is willingness… and that applies to other matters as well as to alcohol.
I'll try to be honest today about what I really want. I will remind myself that if I want something badly enough, willingness is they key to action and to success

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Keep It Simple

An alcoholic spends his life committing suicide on the installment plan.--Laurence Peter
None of us woke up one morning and found we had suddenly turned into an addict. We got to be one by practice. And we practiced often. We ignored our families--we left work early--and went drinking and drugging. Daily, we chose chemicals over anything else. Likewise, getting sober is no accident. We work the program. At meetings, we're reminded to help others. We all get sober on the installment plan. A day at a time. We got sick one day at a time; we recover one day at a time.
Prayer for the Day: Today, with my Higher Power's help, I'll be happier, more honest, more sober. Sobriety is like a good savings account. Higher Power, help me to put in more than I take out.
Action for the Day: I'll go over my Step One to remind myself it's no accident I'm an addict.

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Each Day a New Beginning

"I can't help it" . . . that's what we all say when we don't want to exert ourselves. --Eva Lathbury
Irresponsible behavior is not unfamiliar to us. Passivity is equally familiar. In the past, excusing ourselves of all responsibility prevented us from being blamed. We have learned that it also prevented us from feeling worthy, from fulfilling our potential, from feeling the excitement that comes with achievement.
Our fear of failure helped us to be irresponsible. We may still fear failure, but the program offers us an antidote. We can't fail if we have turned our lives over to our higher power. We will be shown the way to proceed. Our fellow travelers have messages for us that will smooth our path.
I have chosen recovery. I have already said, "I can help it." I will celebrate that I am taking responsibility for my life today.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. This just isn’t so. In some cases the wife will never come back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came back too soon.

pp. 99-100

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."

When these facts were printed, there was a profound reaction. To people familiar with endless drives for charitable funds, A.A. presented a strange and refreshing spectacle. Approving editorials here and abroad generated a wave of confidence in the integrity of Alcoholics Anonymous. They pointed out that the irresponsible had become responsible, and that by making financial independence part of its tradition, Alcoholics Anonymous had revived an ideal that its era had almost forgotten.

p. 165

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The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.

"Let us open our natures, throw wide the doors of our hearts and let in the sunshine of good will and kindness." --O. S. Marden

Prayer of St. Theresa
May today there be peace within
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are
meant to be....
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love
that has been given to you....
May you be content knowing you are a child of God....
Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the
freedom to sing, dance and to bask in the sun….
It is there for each and everyone of you….
--St. Teresa

When you love someone, don't let a single thing become bigger than that love. It can destroy you both. Ask yourself, "Will this matter in 20 years?"

The gift of Forgiveness is a gift you have given to yourself. The peaks and valleys of my life have become gentle rolling hills.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SUCCESS

"Success is a journey not a
destination."
-- Ben Sweetland

So long as I am sober I know that I am successful. But I also know
that my sobriety is more than keeping away from the first drink. My
sobriety requires that I be a creative and successful human being in
all areas of my life --- in my relationships, at work, with my family,
my business ventures and in my acts of charity. The road to success is
exactly that --it is a "road" that I am traveling along, and I will be on it until
the day I die. I suppose the danger is in thinking that I have arrived. Then
I get complacent and apathetic, I slow down and the energy for
recovery is diminished.

Today I know that I am successful so long as I keep moving along
with my spiritual program.

Let me always be confident as I walk in my journey of life.

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"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." Psalm 19:7-8

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all." 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Psalm 25:5

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Daily Inspiration

Call on God when you need a friend to make it through the day. Lord, may we share Your love and beauty so that our lives may not be lonely.

Holding on to hurts causes us to live the pain over and over. Lord, may I forgive so that I may heal.