Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - December

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December 6

Step by Step

“Shakespeare said, ‘All the world’s a stage, all the men and women merely players.’ He forgot to mention that I was the chief critic. I was always able to see the flaw in every person, every situation. And I was always glad to point it out, because I knew you wanted perfection, just as I did. AA and acceptance have taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we are all children of God and we each have a right to be here. When I complain about me or about you, I am complaining about God’s handiwork. I am saying that I know better than God.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Stopped in Time,” Ch 17 (“Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict”), p 449.

Today, no complaining if for no other reason than to experience not complaining. So much of my emotional energy was spent complaining in my drinking days and maybe even in sobriety. The end result is always the feeling of not getting my way with everything and everyone, and that kind of feeling opens the door to futile emotions like anger, resentment and smugness. Today, let me go without complaining about any situation and anyone, and let me remember that those against whom I complain probably have an arsenal of complaints they can unleash on me. And I can’t expect anyone to tolerate my complaints against them anymore than I want to hear theirs against me. Today, in not complaining, let me see that I might become a more serene person and working my program may be a little less difficult. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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~ A YEAR OF MIRACLES ~ (Meditations Written by Members of Nicotine Anonymous) ~

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.

~ HENRY DAVID THOREAU ~

The price of anything suggests a cost; the value of anything suggests the return on the investment. The value of recovery from my nicotine addiction is priceless. The actual price I paid was the commitment to attend every Nicotine Anonymous meeting in my area, no matter what. There were times it was inconvenient, but I would compare the inconvenience to the effort I would have been willing to make to get my drug.

I never had to go out in the middle of the night and drive on icy streets to get to a meeting. I never had to lie and sneak out of my work. I never had to use grocery money. I gave up bronchitis. I gave up standing out in the cold and rain. I gave up lectures from doctors, friends and family.

Anytime I thought a meeting was too inconvenient, I would think of another member. He lost his job and wound up having to temporarily live with his sister who lived sixty-five or more miles from the meeting. He still made meetings.

Today, I am grateful for the priceless gift of recovery.

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

SPIRITUAL

Spirituality is at the heart of the Twelve Step program of recovery. There is not A spiritual part of the Program. It IS a spiritual Program.

~ Jerry Dollard ~

A person who has had a spiritual experience does not wear that experience on their sleeve. What the Fellowship has discovered about the spirit has nothing to do with a “holier than thou” attitude. A spiritual person is surrounded by peace and tranquillity. They are busy with life, living each moment fully. They have an active concern with the well-being of other people.

A spiritual person may be surrounded by turmoil and still have serenity. The spiritual experience causes us to act differently. We are less concerned about ourselves. We know that we are well provided for. We are told to remember, “When we got to the place where there was nothing left but God, we found that God was enough.”

My spiritual growth has helped me, through my attitudes and actions, to better live with myself, my Higher Power, and others.

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

Character is what you know you are, not what others think you are.

~ Marva Collins and CiviaTamarkin ~

True self-esteem is built by having values and living by them. Many men seek to repair their self-esteem by going after the praise of others. Praise is nice to get, but the most highly successful men can still live with an insatiable hunger, an empty hole in their own self-regard.

Our self-esteem is built by first asking ourselves what our values are. What do we admire most in a man? What do we believe is most important in the character of a good person? What is our highest calling as we live our lives? When we have the answers to these kinds of questions, we have a road map to achieving an inner feeling that we are worthwhile. We don’t have to be perfect in fulfilling those values, but if we use them as our guides, we will have self-esteem, regardless of whether others praise us.

Today I will choose my actions in accord with my highest values.

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

Some days I wonder how light can survive in a world with so much darkness. But most days I wonder how darkness can survive in a world with so much light.

~ Jill Clark ~

Global events can be overwhelming. Nations of people are starving and at war. Earthquakes, hurricanes, rampant poverty know no bounds. We search for hope and wonder where it is. Those walking our path are learning that it resides within. Let’s be grateful.

Whether we see a situation as positive and for our good depends on our attitude. Life is as fulfilling and joyful as we decide to make it. Accepting whatever comes to us today in the spirit of gratitude will allow us to cultivate each experience for all it’s worth.

Just as surely as we can cultivate a bright outlook on a day’s events, we can work on a healthy perspective toward darkness. Why would we ever choose otherwise?

I don’t have to relish dark thoughts today. Remembering that God is in charge and all is well will let me see the light.

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

My life is changing

I look around me and nothing looks the same—although nothing physical has changed. It’s the same city, family, home, and job. But it doesn’t feel the same. I don’t feel the same. Sometimes, I feel a little lost.

According to my counselor, there may be two major changes at work: (a) I am no longer drinking; and (b) I am now taking medication for my emotional illness. He also pointed out that I am attending a support group and a Twelve Step meeting, and I’m meeting new people. He admitted that with all these changes, he might feel a little lost too.

I will list three anchors—whether people, places, or things—that help me stay centered in my recovering life.

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

Being a man, ne’er ask the gods for life set free from grief, but ask for courage that endureth long.

~ Menander ~

If we feel God has not heard our prayers, perhaps we’re asking the wrong questions. How often have we sat alone wishing that God would end our suffering, wishing that “just this once God, if You do this for me, I’ll do that for You”?

Maybe what we need is not an end to our suffering but the courage and guidance from our Higher Power to see it through — and the trust that whatever befalls us is necessary for our continued growth and recovery. God knows the path we are to follow. God knows the struggles that will make us better human beings.

It takes humility to accept and understand that God’s will for us might include suffering, but humility is the doorway to compassion, and thus to the loving company of other people. In asking God for courage and guidance we free ourselves to accept it.

Today help me ask for the courage to endure whatever happens.

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

Do not wait for your ship to come in. Swim out to it.

~ Author unknown ~

Have you ever noticed that those people who are most optimistic seem to experience great fortune? It is as if they attract people and opportunities and seem to have things turn out for them in beneficial ways. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those people who are pessimists. They seem to live under a dark cloud that follows them everywhere. They rarely have anything good to say. They seem to never catch a break and always have something catastrophic or dramatic happening to them.

The law of attraction can be applied to the attitude you bring to life. If you are a negative person, you have a good chance of attracting negative energy and outcomes. But when you are a positive person, you have a good chance of attracting positive energy and having things turn out well.

Today think about the image you usually present to the world. Imagine this image is translated into the energy that courses through your body and your mind. It is the energy that emanates from you and surrounds you, and it is what you attract in kind. Consider how you can transform a negative image and outlook into one of confidence and a positive attitude.

I will greet the day with a smile on my face and lightness in my heart.

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

We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.

~ Carlos Castaneda ~

“Woe is me!” is a familiar cry to many of us, for we have cried it ourselves long and hard. We’ve placed a lot of energy into feeling our misery, in discussing it, in analyzing it, in living and reliving it. Misery has been our favorite tape recording, to be played over and over.

But our awakening in the program has taught us that we do not have to live in misery. We are learning we have choices, and one of those choices is to hold on to our feelings. If we choose to hold on to pain and despair and misery with both hands, we have no way to grasp on to strength and hope and happiness.

We can let go of misery tonight. Perhaps we won’t want to release both hands right away, and that’s okay. But we can release the grip of one hand and have it grasp on to positive, strength-giving feelings. Little by little, we’ll learn to let go of our misery and use both hands to hold on to the hope of the program to make ourselves strong.

I do not need to fear letting go, for nothing bad will happen to me—only good.

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

Accepting joy

In our drug-free lives, we frequently experience great joy and happiness. But some-times, because of our past, we feel so guilty that we don’t accept this happiness. To avoid being happy, we’ll even go so far as to create new problems.

The familiarity of being troubled is somehow comforting. Acknowledging and releasing this false need clears the way for the journey along the spiritual path. Accepting our Higher Power’s gifts of joy enables us to spread joy and to receive it in turn—to heighten our spirituality.

Have I learned how to accept joy and happiness?

Higher Power, may I know in my heart that you love me and that I am worthy of being happy.

I will accept the joy that comes my way today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle.
I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.

~ MOTHER TERESA ~

Newcomer

I’ve heard of “Twelve Step calls”—going to people’s homes and carrying the message. Is that what we’re supposed to do?

Sponsor

“Twelve Stepping” is not limited to situations in which two or more people in recovery go to the home of someone who’s ready to get sober, in order to share their experience, strength, and hope. There are many ways to carry the message. Answering telephones, providing meeting information and transportation to newcomers or out-of-town visitors, buying literature for the group, sponsoring—any service we perform that makes it possible for people to attend meetings and to hear the message of the program is a form of Twelfth Step work. The simple act of showing up at a meeting, sharing and thanking others for sharing, is Twelfth Step work. Our willingness and consistency and simply being ourselves send a powerful message.

All of us are qualified to share our own experience, strength, and hope. Our recovery itself is eloquent.

Today, I perform some form of service for others in recovery. I give it back in order to keep it.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

If you are satisfied with your progress in AA you are not only an exception, but you may be headed for trouble. Remember One Day at a Time, and Easy Does It. Before you measure your advancement, be sure you have an accurate yardstick. Nature is always slow in its development of good things.

Some weeds mature and bloom in a few days, but it takes Nature many centuries to perfect a diamond. Don’t worry about your rate of progress — you have a lifetime ahead of you — but just be sure that you progress.

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

Becoming Whole

Dear God, I pray my physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual selves become one, a whole person again. I thank You for showing me how to match my outside to my inside. To laugh when I feel like laughing. To cry when I feel sad. To recognize my own anger or fear or guilt. I pray for wholeness.

~ Adapted from A Day at a Time, May 18 ~

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

WAITING UPON THE LORD

Read Psalm 27.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Here, the Psalmist once more makes it clear to his own mind that his reliance is indeed entirely upon the divine Power, and not upon his own limited intellect, or will power.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord (Psalm 27:13-14).

The closing phrase is a powerful exhortation to be active and steadfast in prayer. To “wait upon the Lord” does not in the least mean neglecting a problem in the hope that God will come along and solve it for you. Waiting on the Lord means praying constantly and systematically about your problem. No particular form of prayer is essential, but prayer there must be; that is, the conscious dwelling upon the Being of God.

If your intuitive nature is well developed, you will seldom need to use formal statements. This is excellent—for who will trouble to climb a ladder when he is strong enough to leap over the wall? However, many people lose the ability to receive intuitional messages when worried or frightened. Then the ladder will probably be their salvation.

Nevertheless, it must not be overlooked that very many people do all their praying with formal statements of Truth, but not through repeating affirmations like a parrot. Those who work like a parrot inevitably make the parrot’s demonstration—they remain in the cage. Of a good prayer who used the same phrases many times it was said by a friend: “He constantly uses the old affirmations, but be stuffs them with fresh feeling every time.”

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

Golden Words

The world is divided into two classes of people: the few who make good on their promises and the many who don’t; get in Column A and stay there. You’ll be valuable wherever you go.

~ Robert Townsend ~

In the film, Holy Matrimony, Patricia Arquette plays a huckster named Sonora who follows her husband in order to hide from the low in a Mennonite community. When her husband dies, Sonora is required by religious law to marry his 12-year-old brother, Jeb. Despite his tender age, Jeb has strong values, and he is a wiser man than his brother ever was. After Sonora sneaks off to have an affair with an older man, Jeb challenges her choice, asking her if this man has any integrity. He asks Sonora, “Is his word golden?”

The act of keeping our word is an immeasurable gift. To be in a marital or working relationship with someone whose words you can trust is a precious blessing. And to be such a person is to give your friends the greatest gift of all.

Because we have the power to co-create with God, the words we utter have enormous import. Our words make our life if we speak them with conviction, and they can break us if we let our tongue be guided by foolishness or fear. Take care to speak only what you want to see manifested.

Take care, too, to do what you say you are going to do. To make a promise to others, even to meet them at a particular time, is a sacred act. If you do not keep your promises, you become untrustworthy, and your loved ones will be confused about who you are and what you will do. Do not make promises that you are not sure you can keep. If you’ve made a promise that you’re unable to fulfill, go to the other person quickly and seek to find a new way that will work for both of you.

Be at peace with yourself by being at peace with the words you speak. A golden life begins with golden words.

Your word is perfect, comforting, and trustworthy. May my words be the same.

I empower myself and others by living the words I speak.