[bluidkiti]

November 21

Step by Step

“Here was – power! …(T)o live to the end of any given day, power to have the courage to face the next day, power to have friends, power to help people, power to be sane, power to stay sober. That was seven years ago – and many AA meetings ago – and I haven’t had a drink during those seven years. …What is this power? With my AA friends, all I can say is that it’s a power greater than myself.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Stopped in Time,” Ch 16 (“Me An Alcoholic?”), pp 436-37.

Today, powerless over alcohol – not powerless over everything. In surrendering in Step One, I have begun to reclaim the power to take back what my powerlessness over alcohol cost. I can assert my power not to be controlled by alcohol simply by not drinking. I can take back the power to face the new day with full memory of the day and night before, and I can work for the power to overcome powerlessness, helplessness and hopelessness. The power that is at my command is in the choices I make, and the benefit to have choices is a gift – graced on me by whatever power is greater than myself. Today, while I must acknowledge that over which I am powerless – alcohol – let me respect the power I do possess. God grant that I use it wisely. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M.

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

DECISION

G.O.D. = Good Orderly Direction.

~ Anonymous ~

When we decided to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we under-stood Him, we made a declaration of independence. We declared our freedom from the chains of our self-centered ego and the unrelenting demands of our self-will. When we decided that God was God and we were not, we began to receive the wonderful future that had been planned for us.

That decision was our claim to a new life. The prison that was our home has been destroyed. We decide to let go and let God on a daily basis. Our wills are always free to decide. We must decide to keep ourselves conscious at all times and listen to the voices that speak to us. We must decide to guard against our ego once again begging to run the show.

My will power will only be helpful tome when it is acting in accordance with my decision to let my Higher Power instruct me in the way to go.

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

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. You must ask for what you want. Don’t go back to sleep.

~ Rumi ~

We were asleep and now we are awake. The breeze that woke us may have been sharp and biting, but it was a gift that brought us back to consciousness. We carry many wants in our hearts. We needed to wake up to remember them.

On this particular day, we can remind ourselves of the things we want most and ask our Higher Power to keep us on our path to find them. It is good to take an inventory of our deepest desires. Most of all we want the healing and recovery that makes all other things possible. Many of us want to be good fathers to our children. We want to feel love and be good partners to our intimate mate. We want to be productive and fulfill our abilities and talents. We want to be good and strong and generous men.

Today I am grateful for my awakening to this renewed life.

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

God, you’re up all night. You can worry about it; I need to get some sleep.

~ Mary S. ~

If only we could put our minds to rest that easily! We can if we really want to. The Third Step makes it possible. Perhaps we assume that the Third Step doesn’t work for us because we tried it once and we still worried. We need to try again.

Why don’t we eagerly grasp this tool? Surely we don’t enjoy worrying. The truth is, we probably do. Worrying may make us feel as if we are doing something about an intolerable situation. The sooner we are able to believe that worrying solves no problems, the sooner we’ll be willing to let God have a crack at them.

It takes real commitment to turn to God, over and over, when we are consumed by worry. If we genuinely seek a solution for our problem, we’ll grow in our willingness to try.

I can be free of worry today. I can choose to use the Third Step at any moment.

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

It will help if I let recovery "happen"

I was impatient when I first came into recovery. For example, once I got help with my mental health problems and joined a Twelve Step fellowship for my addiction, I thought I should feel better now. I wanted instant relief, instant recovery.

I still get impatient sometimes, but I am getting some perspective. Even with weekly therapy, coming to understand myself will take some time. Even with weekly Step meetings my growth, my changes are subtle. I now see that recovery is a process; one that I need to let happen. Each day, I try to do what I need to do—knowing that I have time.

It will help if I practice doing one thing at a time.

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

Alcoholism is a disease.

~ E.M. Jellinek ~

Only a generation ago, alcoholism or other drug addiction in a family was cause for great shame. People just didn’t talk about it. Families hid their alcoholism. Most people pretended the disease was not there.

Today it is different for many of us. Although the stigma is still present, it is now much more acceptable to talk about our illness and seek treatment. We can join recovery groups for further support. We can listen to the old-timers who have such wisdom and experience.

Another great change is that addiction is being seen as a family illness. It’s not just the addicted person who is sick, but every member of the family. Guilt and shame have been unmasked as forces that impair people’s lives, generation after generation.

We are grateful for the disease concept and the understanding it has brought to the treatment of addiction. It frees us from shame and helps us learn to love ourselves again.

Today help us all come to understand that addiction is not a lack of character or moral strength, but an illness, and that it is toxic not only to one person but to the entire family.

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

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

~ Carl Bard ~

The upcoming holidays offer times in which you can connect with friends and family members. This can also be a time when you can think about reconnecting with one or two people in your life with whom you have had a falling out or hurt through your addiction.

On your list of those to whom you usually send out seasonal greetings, add the name of at least one person with whom you would like to make a fresh start. Then convey your feelings to that person with heartfelt honesty in a forgiveness card. A simple greeting might be: “I am so sorry we have not been able to reconnect. I would like to take care of whatever water has gone under the bridge between us and begin anew. If this is not what you would like, then please accept my blessings for good wishes, health, and happiness this season. If this is what you would like, I want you to know how much I look forward to hearing from you.”

Sometimes when you share forgiveness and extend a hand, someone else will be open to your overture and offer a hand in turn.

I will send a forgiveness card to someone I would like back in my life.

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

The first three times you came with the same story [they] would listen and try to help. But if you showed up a fourth time and it was the same old tired things, the others in the circle would just get up and move. . . . It was time you did something about it.

~ Anne Cameron ~

Many of us go to meeting after meeting, talking about the same problem. What are we looking for? What are we asking for? We aren't asking for help, because we usually are given good suggestions that we reject. We aren't looking to make changes, because we keep holding on to the same problem.

We may also have been in the opposite position- listening to one who keeps talking about the same problems. After hearing those people for a while, it's easy to want to tune them out.

But we can change. We can ask whether we use meetings to air the same grievances. If so, we need to .top complaining and do something. If we hear another doing the same thing, we can learn from that person's unwillingness to change. We can learn the difference between stagnation and growth.

I can listen and learn. If I ask for help, let me also be willing to accept it.

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

Practicing HOW

Principles, principles, principles. We talk so much about the principles of the Twelve Steps, but exactly what are they? how— honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness are surely key ones. By working the Twelve Steps, we live and breathe these three principles.

Do I practice honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness at all times?

Higher Power, help me be honest, open-minded, and willing every hour of this day.

I will practice honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness today hy

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

If you can't be direct, why be?

~ LILY TOMLIN ~

Newcomer

I heard someone who'd gone through enormous losses talk at a meeting recently. I reached out to him, invited him to coffee, and gave him my number. He started calling me, and I've enjoyed a lot of what he has to say. But the calls are always longer than I really want them to be. I don't dislike this man, and I really am willing to be a program friend, if we can set some limits.

Sponsor

Sometimes, out of kindness and the desire to help, you take on more than you can manage, perhaps more than is appropriate. You're not alone; many of us experience some variation of this problem in recovery. Setting and maintaining personal boundaries is a lifelong journey.

In situations like the one you describe, directness is important. When we give something we don't really want to give, when we act as if we're more available than we are, we end up with resentment. Forcing ourselves to give against our will distorts our relationships with others as we feed our egos. To give freely, whether of time, money, work, or material things, is a blessing. We experience our own and others' abundance. We can then feel gratitude for what has been given to us.

Today, my giving is honest. There are no strings attached.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

If a reasonable estimate could be made of the fatalities resulting from excessive drinking, the figures would be appalling. This loss, however, is only a small part of the price that Bacchus exacts.

The wasted man-hours of work, the homes broken up, the wealth of talent that was never developed, and the loss of moral character are also a part of the bill.

You definitely can't drink moderately. Can you afford to drink to excess?

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

Trust

Higher Power, when I was using, I trusted no one. I lied about everything. Cheating was a way of life. The only thing I could trust was my addiction. When I discovered that was the biggest lie of all, that was the greatest day of my life. Thank You, God, for helping me put my trust in the Program, the Steps, my sponsor, my group, and You, my Higher Power. Little by little, day by day, I am learning to trust again. And the greatest blessing is that others are learning to trust me.

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

DIVINE ABUNDANCE

When you go down to the seashore, you find what is practically an unlimited supply of sea water at your disposal. There are billions upon billions of gallons there, but the amount that you can carry away will depend upon the vessel with which you have provided yourself. If you take a ten-gallon can, you can get ten gallons, but if you take only a pint pot you can take away only a pint, and if you have nothing bigger than a thimble, you would not be able to take away more than a thimbleful.

So it is with divine abundance. The only limit is the limit of our capacity to receive.

Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:16).

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

Divine Alchemy

In each holy relationship is the ability to communicate instead of separate reborn.

~ A Course in Miracles ~

I am fascinated by the explosive development of the Internet, one of the most exciting and profound evolutionary leaps in history. Now, I anyone with a computer and phone line can communicate with any other like person on the planet instantly and almost for free. A vast library of knowledge is available at the touch of a finger. Significantly, no institution or government can restrict or inhibit this communication. I asked a computer expert, "Is there some central office for the Internet? If someone pulled out the plug in St. Louis, would the whole system fall apart?"

"No," she answered, "and that's the beauty of the net. If any one nexus goes down, any communication will find its way through another path. The net has a life of its own, beyond the control of any person or organization. It's as if the planet has just grown its own electronic nervous system."

The Internet was originally designed by the military. The Defense Department wanted a communication system that would be impervious to destruction by a nuclear attack in one central headquarters. So they developed this system that is now bringing billions of people closer together through unlimited communication.

The way we keep prejudice, ignorance, and fear alive is by not looking at our enemies. The moment we begin to communicate, we realize that our interests are joined. The more we see and know about one another around the planet, the closer we are to wisdom and peace.
The Holy Spirit can use anything for healing. An elaborate defense system can be transformed into a sophisticated healing tool. This is divine alchemy, taking the lead of life and turning it into gold. Nothing is beyond God's ability to use for healing.

Take the lead of my life and turn it into gold. Take my pain and turn it into strength. Let my tears become a cleansing stream. Replace my fear with faith. Let me find Your hand everywhere.

Heaven comes alive with the master's touch.