Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - March

[bluidkiti]

March 22

Step by Step

Today, put into practice the strategy of living sober and and not as an alcoholic struggling not to get drunk. There is more to life than living with a daily struggle not to drink. But before I can apply my program and recovery to every realm of my life, I have to make sure I’m walking the walk and not just talking the talk. I have to be honest that I have begun at the very beginning, with the program’s first four words – “Admitted (I am) powerless …” – and that I have“come to believe” in something greater than myself, that I have done all the steps thoroughly and honestly, and that I am truly an effective carrier of the message. Memorizing every word in the Big Book, burning in my mind every word of the 12 steps and traditions and of every 24-hour inspirational achieve nothing if I don’t put action to them. Today, if I am only in the program, I’ll get with it. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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~ EASY DOES IT ~ (A Book of Daily 12 Step Meditations) ~

BEING NEEDED

The most general survey shows us that the two foes of human happiness are pain and boredom.

~ Schopenhauer ~

Filling a need is more vital than being loved When we are needed, we are automatically loved. No effort of ours can ever be too great or too small.

We have never heard anyone who is involved in a program of spiritual growth complain of being bored. The discoveries and excitement of spiritual exploration are limitless. Also, carrying a message of hope to those who still suffer strengthens our own hold on the serenity and security of a personal recovery.

Feeling needed is the greatest encouragement we will ever receive that our goals can be achievable.

If people stopped volunteering to fill other people’s needs, the end of civilization would be close behind. My pain is forgotten and my boredom is gone when I am needed.

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~ WISDOM TO KNOW ~ (More Daily Meditations For Men) ~

If you treat every situation as a life-and-death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.

~ Dean Smith ~

We have lived through many crises. Many of us grew up in situations that were chaotic and filled with turmoil. We felt constantly on the edge of catastrophe and needed to be ever-vigilant to avoid it. We lost our ability to sift and screen what was genuinely in need of our attention and what we could just turn over to the work of the universe.

The spiritual part of recovery promises that we can rest in the care and security of a Higher Power. Not every situation has to automatically go to the top of our priority list of things to fix. Even if this is a random universe, forces are always in play to keep things working and put things in order. Often our anxiety and our attempts to fix things only get in the way of a good solution. So we can relax and trust that if we reserve our energy for the things we can improve, this change within ourselves will make the world a better place.

Today I will be more discerning about what really is critical and try to stay out of the way of my Higher Power.

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~ A WOMAN’S SPIRIT ~ (More Meditations For Women) ~

When we are all wrapped up in ourselves, we present a very small package to others.

~ Georgette Vickstrom ~

Self-centeredness affects many people, not just recovering women. In this program, we are honing the skills that can free us from its clutches. Being willing to use these skills is the hallmark of our recovery.

Everybody on our path today needs our attention. Each person we meet may have something to teach us, or perhaps the reverse is true. But if we are focused on ourselves we’ll miss these opportunities. Being open to other people helps us grow. If our attention is forever inward, we’ll never grow beyond our current limited understanding.

Let’s be willing to give more of ourselves to others today. The benefits we’ll reap will move us forward in our personal journey.

Today I can put aside my tendency to look at every circumstance in relationship to myself. With God’s help, I can put my attention on others.

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~ TODAY I WILL DO ONE THING ~ (Daily Readings for Awareness and Hope) ~

I can let go

I didn’t want to work on myself. (I didn’t want to admit I had a problem.) I didn’t want to accept help. I didn’t want to get “better” – because I didn’t know what “better” would be like. I was scared and could not trust.

One day I finally told my counsellor how scared I was. She looked at me and said, “Yes, I think I understand. And I want to help you.” Somehow, I believed her. Somehow, I trusted her. Once I’d told her how I felt, I was able to admit my problems, accept her help – and begin recovery. For that moment, I let go. And once I let go, I found a grip.

Today I will give someone a chance to earn a measure of my trust.

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~ BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT ~ (Inspiration and Support for Recovery) ~

Mutual aid is as much a law of animal life as mutual struggle.

~ Prince Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin ~

Admitting we need help can be so hard sometimes, especially if we let our egos get in the way. No matter how huge the problem, we think we have to solve it alone. Yet, how different we feel when someone asks us for help. We find great joy in supporting other people. When someone needs us, we find vast resources of patience and time.

So next time we hesitate to lean on another for support, we can remember how good it feels to help someone else. That can be our gift to others: letting them have the great feeling that comes from giving of oneself to another. We all rely on each other for strength, comfort, and support. So now it’s our turn, to turn to our Higher Power and to our friends and loved ones. Today we can be human and vulnerable. Today we can admit we need help.

Today let me put my ego aside and ask for what I need. Let me be gracious to those who want to help me.

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~ MORNING LIGHT ~ (Meditations to Begin Your Day) ~

Just because you have a… handicap… doesn’t mean that you can’t be happy; it just means that it takes a lot of work to figure out how to do that.

~ Jodie Foster ~

One day a blind woman prepared to cross a street. But as she did, her cane made contact with a car parked in the crosswalk. “Who owns this car?” she demanded in a loud voice. “This car is in my way. Can’t anyone notice I am blind?” A man tapped her on the arm. “I am blind, too,” he told her. “But my dog and I would be happy to take you across the street.”

The woman drew her arm back from his touch. “This is not right,” she snapped. “Yes, it is wrong,” agreed the blind man. “But why not cross the street safely with us?” Having a visible handicap, or an invisible one such as an addiction, can be stressful. You have to work extra hard doing things most people take for granted. Yet rather than bemoan the difficulties and challenges you face, you can be thankful for those who offer help by providing a guiding arm, holding a door open, or offering a seat in a crowded meeting.

Today I will accept the assistance of those who reach out to me.

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~ NIGHT LIGHT ~ (A Book Of Nighttime Meditations) ~

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which [were] overcome while trying to succeed.

~ Booker T. Washington ~

When hurdlers race, they look ahead to see each hurdle that must be leaped. High-jumpers see the height of the bar they have to clear. Businesspeople look at charts to see their positions and the number of positions they must pass in order to reach their goals. Students are well aware of the number of credits and course requirements needed for a degree.

Not all of the obstacles in life are as easy to see. Those of us who grew up in alcoholic homes had to overcome tremendous obstacles just to survive. Some of us may have such a low self-image that by just feeling satisfied with an accomplishment, we have over-come tremendous blocks to our growth.

As we measure each day’s successes, we need to keep in mind the obstacles we have to face. When we have leaped over a hurdle in life, we have earned a great success. Overcoming one obstacle means there is one less hurdle to stand in our way.

Tonight I can review my day and look for my small successes. I know I have overcome some obstacles today and have done well.

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~ DAY BY DAY ~ (Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts) ~

Being honest inside

All the answers we will ever need are available to us. Even though they seem to come from outside us—through other people—the answers are already inside us. We need only recognize them when they emerge. Something inside us hears the truth, and for a long time we pretend that we don’t notice it. But then one day, we decide to get honest about how we really feel.

At that point we gain a bit of freedom. We begin to make progress when we become honest with ourselves about how we really feel. Our Higher Power can help us, but only if we present ourselves with humble honesty.

Am I honest with myself about how I really feel inside?

Higher Power, allow me to really feel today, even though I risk being vulnerable.

Today I will examine my true feelings about

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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~ IF YOU WANT WHAT WE HAVE ~ (Sponsorship Meditations) ~

Put some gratitude in your attitude.

~ SAYING HEARD AT MEETINGS ~

Newcomer

Often I hear someone say, “I’m so grateful” or “I’m a grateful recovering [whatever they are).” I don’t understand. How can a person be grateful for alcoholism, compulsive overeating, codependency, or whatever has ruined his or her life?

Sponsor

I could not have begun this process we call recovery before knowing and accepting the fact that I have a disease. Lots of people out there die without ever hearing how we can stop the behavior that’s killing us. Others have to suffer even longer than I did. I’m grateful that I finally hit bottom and became willing to do something about it. I’m grateful that recovery has given me a way of life that brings me freedom and self-esteem. I’m grateful to be here, awake, showing up for my life. I’m grateful for so-called little things I rarely noticed or thought about when I was active in my addiction—a bird, a flower, a smile.

Gratitude is a spiritual tool. I can choose to pick it up; I can cultivate the habit of using it.

Today, I cultivate gratitude.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

We cannot give the new man our conception of the Program and expect him to get the same results as we. This is particularly true of the spiritual phases of our thinking. We must each seek and find our own solution, but we can tell him how we did it; we can direct his thinking along spiritual lines so that he too will find a God of his understanding and work out a system of procedure that will make the Program work for him.

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~ WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG BOOK ~ (Official & Unofficial Sloganeering From the 12 Step Programs) ~

1) It isn’t “me” and “you” anymore, it’s “we” and “us.”

2) HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired

3) When the horse dies, dismount.

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~ The 12 STEP PRAYER BOOK ~ (A Collection of Favorite 12 Step Prayers and Inspirational Readings) ~

Against Temptations

May the strength of my Higher Power guide me.
May the power of God preserve me.
May the wisdom of my Higher Power instruct me.
May the hand of God protect me.
May the way of my Higher Power direct me.
May His shield defend me.
And may the presence of, and belief in, my Higher Power guard me against the temptations of the world.

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~ AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX ~ (A Book of Daily Readings) ~

THE BEATITUDES

The Sermon on the Mount opens with the eight Beatitudes. They are actually a prose poem in eight verses and constitute a general summary of the Christian teaching. A general summing up, such as this, is highly characteristic of the old Oriental mode of approach to a religious and philosophical teaching, and it naturally recall the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the Ten Commandments of Moses, and other such compact groupings of ideas.

Jesus concerned himself exclusively with the teaching of general principles, and these general principles always had to do with mental states, for he knew that if one’s mental state are right, everything else might be right tool. Unlike the other great religious teachers, he gives us no detailed instruction about what we are to do or are not to do.

…. The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

…the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:21, 23-24).

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~ A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE ~ (365 Daily Inspirations for Heart-Centered Living) ~

Jesus and Judas

Life is a long lesson in humility.

~ James Matthew Barrie ~

When Rembrandt set out to paint the likenesses of Jesus and the apostles, he walked the streets of Amsterdam to find men who embodied the character of his Biblical subjects. Rembrandt began with a tall, handsome man who bore the stature and purity of Christ. Then, after setting the images of the disciples to canvas, Rembrandt was ready to paint Judas, and he searched for a man with a tortured soul. After combing Paris, he found a homeless man sitting outside a store. The man was dirty, unkempt, and his eyes spoke of deep sadness. After painting Judas, Rembrandt thanked the man for his assistance.

“Don’t you remember me?” asked the man.

“I don’t think so,” answered the artist.

“I sat for your portrait of Jesus,” the man answered.

Within every human being is the propensity to rise to the highest of the high and sink to the lowest of the low. That is why we can never judge others for their sins or errors. Given the same circumstances, we might be in exactly their position and take the same action they did. Mother Teresa became a nun when she recognized that “there is a bit of Hitler in every one of us.”

While we strive to be the Christ, we must have compassion for the Judas, who simply played out his role in the Christ drama. In the end, we are not the roles we play. We are the light that animates every soul in the dance we call life.

Help me to not judge my brothers and sisters, but let me recognize my unity with them. Help me to see the spark of the divine in all eyes I look into.

I am one with God and with everyone I meet.