Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - December

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December 9

Step by Step

“Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 5 (“How It Works”), p 64.

Today, I cannot hear too often that my drinking “was but a symptom” of a deeper emotional and spiritual turmoil that plunged me into alcoholism. Accepting this truth, logic brings the companion truth that abstinence from drinking by itself will not bring me the serenity and better life that sobriety promises. Without confronting and taking on the “causes and conditions” of my alcoholism, I may be a relapse waiting to happen. This is why, for me, I have to move beyond abstinence alone and work the steps of the program, from the gut-wrenching honesty of the Fourth Step to offering amends to everyone my drinking hurt and the spiritual renewal promised me in Step 12 – and its command that I be in some form of service if for no other reason than to take my attention off myself and on the needs and plights of the alcoholic who still suffers. Today, simply not drinking is not enough by itself and I look to the steps to guide me to the promise of being sober and not just a dry drunk. 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) ~

Faith is spiritualized imagination.

~ HENRY WARD BEECHER ~

Scientists have been trying to prove or disprove the concept of God for centuries. Philosophers have been debating the issue. But no one has concrete evidence either way. It takes faith in a Power greater than ourselves, not proof.

I seriously and diligently tried every means in my control to break free of my compulsion to use nicotine, but was unsuccessful. Our Fellowship provided the strength I lacked. Not only do we provide each other the ability to get and stay free, we help each other learn to live better lives.

To me the efforts human beings have consistently made over centuries in becoming better people are evidence of a greater Power.

Today, I will look for the good in every person.

Nicotine Anonymous World Services

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

TRANSFORMATION

Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator.

~ Robert F. Kennedy ~

We humbly ask God in our Seventh Step to remove our shortcomings. We are asking God to do in other parts of our lives what He has done to our addiction. Each moment we experience freedom from our disease, we acknowledge God’s Power. Many of us lost our desire for our addiction quickly. Others waged a long and painful battle to reach a point of surrender. How will God work on our shortcomings? Will it be immediate or will it be over time?

Our Fellowship suggests that we live our lives one day at a time. Personal change occurs but one day at a time. We must resist the temptation to set God’s clock to fast forward. The long-sought-after changes will occur in ways we cannot predict and should not expect.

I have not been the best judge as to what is good for me. I must trust God in all things, even those that are most personal to me.

by Anonymous

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

It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

When a serious problem comes into our life, the first question most of us ask is, why me?

It’s a question with no answer. But we know that being born means we will face problems and challenges. No life is free of them. Our development is as much about learning to deal with problems as it is about learning to avoid them. Most of us have tried mightily to not deal with our problems by hiding from them or denying them. We have also tried bulldozing our way over problems with the force of our will.

Now we have a new tool for facing problems; it’s the paradox of powerlessness. Now we understand that we cannot control many of life’s challenges. When we boldly face difficulties that we cannot control, we accept the facts. Accepting our powerlessness over a problem surprisingly makes us stronger. It changes everything. It even transforms our life.

Today I will face difficulty head on and admit the situation as I see it.

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

We are ruled by that which we choose not to see.

~ Clara Rosemarda ~

Why do we choose to ignore particular experiences? Some would say it’s because we want to avoid taking the action that our conscience demands. Others suggest it’s out of fear: what we can’t see can’t hurt us. On the contrary, unaddressed situations, whether acknowledged or not, make their demands on us. We will pay in time.

How do we make sure we are dealing with problems that affect us? Being willing to see what’s going on is the first step. Focusing our thoughts on the present comes next. We need to remember the slogan “One day at a time.” We certainly know that, but it’s hard to live by it consistently. Little by little, we’ll realize we are changing, that we are more aware of what’s happening around us. The result is that we’ll come to understand the influences in our lives. We’ll no longer be ruled by mysteries.

What I pretend not to see has power over me. Being consciously in charge of my life will decrease my anxiety today.

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

I am learning to pray

Before I started learning about the Steps in my recovery program, I did not pray. I did not have talks with a higher power. I was angry and I felt too alone and unloved to trust. I could not admit that I needed help, although I needed it badly.

Now, after only a few months in dual recovery, I have already seen prayer work for others. By quiet example, they are teaching me how to pray—simply, personally, any time, any place. I can now admit to my higher power that I need help. And I feel strong enough to ask for that help in a spiritual way. I am learning the power of prayer. I believe mine will be heard. *

I will stop whatever I am doing, close my eyes, and make contact with my higher power.

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

I often turn in a crowded city to stare at a face on which experience has written a pattern of celebration.

~ Mary Francis Shura Craig ~

A beautiful soul can’t be dimmed. A soul lit by joy brightens all our features and makes us beautiful beyond measure. Even though our bodies often show wear, an internal zest grows stronger and shines brighter.

Living our lives with vigor and involvement fuels the spirit and keeps us getting up each morning expecting good to come of the day.

This doesn’t mean we expect all joy and no sadness. It doesn’t mean we don’t anticipate challenge. It has been said that we couldn’t see the beauty of the canyon carvings without the windstorms of life. By surviving and growing through life’s windstorms, we find ourselves more weathered and more real. We also find ourselves trusting more in our Higher Power. Time is teaching us that our surface beauty may be temporary, but the beauty of a joyful spirit, the beauty of God, is forever.

Today let me value my joyful spirit and love myself for the light that shines from my human struggles.

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

It is very difficult to be wholly joyous or wholly sad on this earth. The comic, when it is human, soon takes upon itself a face of pain

~ Joseph Conrad ~

Recovery encourages you to recognize and manage your feelings so you can reduce your chance of relapse, develop open and honest relationships with others, and improve your overall health and wellness. Feelings are sometimes referred to as positive or negative. Positive emotions include love, joy, happiness, pride, and excitement. Negative emotions include hatred, anger, jealousy, fear, and guilt.

But such labels can be limiting. Take, for instance, the emotion of pride. When you feel proud of something, it can infuse you with positive energy But if you feel too much pride, you run the risk of displaying an overblown ego. On the other hand, anger is often considered to be a negative emotion. However, anger can also be seen as positive, especially when it provides you with a valuable warning that your boundaries have been encroached, when you have been mistreated, or when you are feeling tired or vulnerable.

Consider the positive and negative aspects offered by any emotion you feel. They are your most honest expressions of what is going on, so pay attention to them.

I will pay attention to my feelings so I can better understand myself.

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

Risk! Risk anything! . . . Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.

~ Katherine Mansfield ~

Many times when we feel fear we don’t realize it’s related to a risk that we have the option to take. A risk doesn’t have to be as dramatic as climbing a mountain or placing all our money on a bet. A risk can be walking into a new meeting, smiling at a familiar face, or purchasing our first program literature.

In the beginning, we may feel fear taking small risks. As time goes on, we learn there is nothing to fear at a new meeting, at smiling at another, or reading literature that tells us who we are. Then we begin to take greater risks, like asking someone to be our sponsor, going out for coffee, or taking the Fourth Step.

The safety and security we feel when we take risks in the program will help us take risks outside the program. With time, we can learn to trust others, share our needs, and set our limits at home, at work, and with friends. Taking a new risk allows another to soon appear.

What is there to fear in taking a risk? Help me learn that each time I take a risk I open another door. 

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

Being healthy

Because we are clean and sober, we now con-front matters we had previously overlooked or snubbed. One concern new to many of us is the importance of taking care of our bodies.

After years of mistreating ourselves, we can’t expect to be perfectly healthy. Some conditions may be permanent. The next time we start to feel sorry for ourselves because our bodies are not perfect, let us breathe in and out and listen to our heartbeat. Can we say our Higher Power hasn’t been good to us?

How is my spiritual health?

Higher Power, help me to remember that mind and body are connected and to know that the healthier my thoughts are, the healthier my body will be.

I will improve my health today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

~ KAHLIL GIBRAN ~

Newcomer

Someone told me that she liked what I’d shared at a meeting and asked me to be her sponsor. I explained that I don’t have a full year of recovery yet and that I need to wait until the year is up before taking on a sponsee. I’m flattered that she asked me, but sponsoring someone seems like such a big responsibility.

Sponsor

What a lovely acknowledgment of your growth, your love of the program, and your clarity. Her request that you sponsor her indicates respect for you and your recovery. I trust you can accept the compliment. Sometimes we’re not aware of how much we’ve grown until people who’ve seen and heard us sharing let us know that they appreciate our words and example.

You are wise, too, to have said no to this particular request. Customs vary from program to program, group to group; in some places, people may begin serving as sponsors before they themselves have completed a year of recovery. But giving ourselves time to go through an entire year of focusing on our own recovery ensures a more solid basis for helping other newcomers. The time will come. Meanwhile, there are many other ways to give service.

Today, I’m aware of the difference my recovery has begun to make in the lives of others.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

Remember when they used to tell us, “If you don’t stop drinking you’ll go straight to Hell”? What a laugh that is — trying to tell us about Hell when we had been living in it for years. If we had told them about the Hell we knew, it would probably have scared them into drinking.

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

1) Silence: Cultivate silence.

2) Work(ing): You don’t have to understand how the Steps work for them to work.

3) STANDARD ACRONYMS: WISDOM: Words In Steps Do Open Minds.

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

For the Spirit of Prayer

Help me, Higher Power, to cultivate the habit of prayer. Enable me to know Your will. I pray I may conform my actions to the demands of Your will. I will pray with concentration of my mind, and I will pray with all my soul. I will pray to You in words of devotion with all my heart. I will pray to You aloud, and I will pray to You in silence. For You hear my prayers, even in thought, and measure my feelings and know my aspirations. I will pray, O God, that prayer may lift me to You and make me Yours.

~ Adapted from a Zoroastrian prayer ~

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

THE EVERLASTING GATES

Read Psalm 24.

The Twenty-fourth Psalm is the great summing up of the Bible teaching on letting God come into your life.

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof…

The key to the true meaning of this first stanza is found in the two pivotal words Lord and earth. In the Bible the word Lord means the I AM. The earth is a general term covering all expression or manifestation under the jurisdiction of the I AM. Now all trouble of every land really arises from the belief that the earth is subject to the dominion of some outer power or law that is able to govern it independently of the I AM. But the Law of Being is, that man is the image and likeness of God, and has full dominion over all his conditions, and this psalm emphasizes this wonderful fact by adding the world, and they that dwell therein.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?

The hill of the Lord, or His holy place, means the realization of God. It is that vivid, real sense of the Presence. When one attains to this he has a marvelous power of helping and healing others. To reach this state is the real object of all our prayers.

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart…

But who are the pure in heart? Fundamentally, purity means complete loyalty to the belief in one single, all-embracing, Omnipotent God, Our Father which art in heaven. Hold unswervingly to God—this is purity.

To keep one’s mentality consciously loyal to the One Power is only half the battle. The other half is to purify and re-educate the soul, not merely from the grosser sins that everybody recognizes, but from the thousand-and-one concessions to limitation belief that fill the everyday life of humanity. This is to have “clean hands,” and to be able to ascend that wondrous “hill of the Lord.”

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

Withholding Tax

When we’re hungry, love will keep us alive.

~ from the song, “Love Will Keep Us Alive,” by The Eagles ~

Would you like more love in your life? Do you long to be closer to other people? Is your heart yearning for more intimacy and safety? If so, here is a practice that will ensure all of these goals if you put its principles into action.

Begin to notice the ways you are withholding love from others. Such an introspection requires courage and honesty, for we are prone to avoid facing or admitting our resistance to love. If you can do it, you will be rewarded far beyond any fear you have to walk through in order to get there.

Withholding love is made visible through the symbols we attach to love. Are you withholding money from anyone, refusing to pay them, diminishing the amount you will pay, or delaying payment to get back at them for something they did that hurt you? Usually divorce-settlement fights over children or assets have nothing to do with the objects, which become pawns in the ego’s game to withhold love to punish. Do you withhold sex from your partner? Do you withhold the completion of your part of an agreement? Do you withhold your presence by making yourself so busy that you cannot be there in quality relationships? Are you consistently late? Do you withhold sharing your feelings for fear of being hurt? Do you withhold generous words of praise when someone deserves them?

While the ego perceives that withholding these things is protecting us, it only hurts us. Whenever you withhold love, you are the one who loses. In our efforts to punish another, we punish ourselves. In attempting to maintain worldly security, we lose our spiritual security. Only giving love can keep us secure. Love is the real food of our soul; the way we get more is by giving it away. Begin to discover where you are holding back from giving what would heal you; there you will find the doorway to the peace you seek.

Show me where and how I can love more.

I give all the love I would receive. The more I love, the happier I am.