Even More Recovery Readings and Meditations - June

[bluidkiti]

June 25

Step by Step

Today, of all that I feel, gratitude is foremost - gratitude for grabbing the lifeline of AA, for the common sense to hold onto it, for the support, experience, strength and hope of all the people I have found here and, perhaps above all, for the gift of the chance to recover, to put all that pain, destruction, fear, self-pity and self-seeking behind me. And I will not reach into yesterday and bring its garbage into today but understand that my recovery is a day-to-day process regardless of how many 24 hours of sobriety I have been blessed with. And I will understand that the gratitude I feel today is the birth of humility - and it is in humility that I feel all the good there is to feel in being sober today. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Gratitude is the attitude.

~ Anonymous ~

There are many adjustments to be made in our recovery. We’re must be careful how we judge our progress. The Program provides us with a new pair of glasses to see our new world. Those glasses were uncomfortable to us at first. We saw things so differently that we sometimes questioned what we saw.

We soon discovered getting better is not about having a better car, nicer home, smarter children, better relationships, or any goal we might ever have had. Getting better is about maintaining our daily conscious contact with our Higher Power which helps us to accept the many things in our lives.

Our world is not changing, but we know we are. When we take our daily inventory, we do not count the things we have accumulated or will accumulate. We count the times we have been on the beam or off the beam. Our inventory should always end with gratitude to our Higher Power and the fellowship, for one more day of freedom from our disease.

I've learned in recovery to count my blessings and work for an attitude of gratitude.

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

Baseball teaches us; or has taught most of us, how to deal with failure. We learn at a very young age that failure is the norm in baseball and... errors [are] part of the game, part of its rigorous truth.

~ Francis T. Vincent, Jr. ~

Of course we will make mistakes. We are born with the right to make mistakes. There is no shame in that. Perfection is a false ideal for a real human being. We learn by trial and error. If we try to be perfect, we will meet dead ends and roadblocks because we will inevitably fall short.

Instead, there is wisdom in the motto, “Keep coming back.” In this instance, the motto refers to returning to our standards. Rather than to strive constantly for higher and higher perfection, our goal is to always return to the rules we live by. Of course we will veer off the path. When we do, we make repairs, pay our dues, and hold our place as full-fledged members of the human race.

Today my goal is to keep returning to my ethics for a good life.

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

Inner hunger is a divine discontent that keeps us moving forward.

~ Jacquelyn Small ~

We all want things we don’t have. Even people who don’t develop dependencies are seldom content with what life has served them. There is a remedy for this condition however: the Third Step. Coming to believe that a Higher Power is watching over us, ushering into our lives exactly what we need on schedule, relieves our obsession with wanting what we don’t have. God will give it to us, If we need it, when the time is right.

It’s not wrong to want what we don’t have. The folly is when we let our inner desires rule us, rather than trusting that we will be shown how to draw them to us if and when they become right for us.
Moving forward can be defined in many ways. Awaking each morning to the thought that God has something new and unexpected in store for us Is moving forward. Let’s relish this thought!

I will be content today if I remember that my Higher Power has my day well planned.

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

I am learning to get the help I need

Some days I wake up in the morning long before anyone else. My eyes open wide in the darkness and a bad dream flashes by again. But in a way, it doesn’t feel like a dream. These days it feels like my life.

It's not easy to feel depressed all day long and then get little relief at night. At times I feel exhausted and hopeless. This is why I need to remind myself again and again that I am not helpless and that help is available. I can use my Twelve Step and fellowship to help me face each day, one at a time, with courage.

Today I will promptly roll out of bed and begin my day.

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

Ask, and ye shall receive.

~ John 16:24 ~

Somewhere in our past life, we may have picked up the idea that it’s not all right to ask for help, that asking for help would be a sign of weakness. Recovery calls for some basic changes in our thinking, and when we feel vulnerable is the best time to reach out and ask for help from our Higher Power, from our program, and from our friends in recovery. It’s hard for us, at first. We may be afraid of rejection, or of being laughed at for not knowing all the answers. But once we’ve taken the risk and openly asked for help, we realize our fears are a part of the past, and we can leave them behind us.

In asking for help, we acknowledge that we can’t do it all by ourselves. We surrender once again to powerlessness. And we give others the joy and satisfaction of helping us.

Today if I’m feeling I’m on a “solo flight,” help me to reach out and find support just by asking.

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

Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.

~ Charles M. Schulz ~

On one of those days when it seems everything that happens is an uphill struggle, nothing happens on time or when you want it to, your boss is in a particularly foul mood, and others are making demands of you, you may want to cry out, “Will this day never end!”

The reality is, it will end. The sun will eventually set and night will fall. “Good riddance,” you might think. But saying goodbye to one bad day does not guarantee that all of the catastrophes that occurred in it may not once again rear their ugly heads.
If your struggle is uphill, you may need to face a particular challenge. If time goes awry, perhaps you need to employ greater patience. If your boss is ornery, you may need to learn how to be less reactive. And if others are making demands of you, perhaps you need to learn how to say no. It has been said that God does not give you anything that you are not ready for or incapable of handling. So too it is with everything about to unfold today. Are you ready for whatever comes your way?

Today I will greet the day with an optimistic attitude and take this attitude with me throughout the day.

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

Blame yourself if you have no branches or leaves; don't accuse the sun of partiality.

~ Chinese proverb ~

How much do we use our past to find reasons for our faults or shortcomings today? Because we may have come from alcoholic homes or impoverished households doesn't give us the license to place blame for the way we are.

We may feel we would be easier to get along with if other people didn't act the way they did. We may believe we would have so many more hours in the day if others didn’t take up so much of our valuable time.

If one tree in a forest is thirsty and starved for sunlight, it doesn't blame the other trees around it for drinking its water and basking in its sun. If the tree wants water it spreads its roots wider and deeper to seek water. If it wants sunlight it spreads its branches and reaches higher. Like that tree in the forest, so must we concentrate on the things we need to do for our nourishment and growth. Our health depends on ourselves, not upon the failings of those around us.

I can look at my growth, and do the things I need for me.

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

Analyzing

Our constant analyzing could mean we don’t work the Steps; eventually, it could cost us our lives. It’s as if we were standing in a burning building, in front of a fire escape, trying to understand the principles of oxidation.

What we need to do first is to get out of the fire; we can learn about oxidation—about ad-diction and recovery—later. It is dangerous to stand on the fringes of addiction; it can be dangerous to delay a commitment.

Have I made a clear choice?

Higher Power, help me learn to relate to you as well as to my analytical mind.

Today I will let go of analyzing and take Steps

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

Constant togetherness is fine— but only for Siamese twins.

~ VICTORIA BILLINGS ~

Newcomer

I heard someone in recovery say, "I don’t have relationships, I take hostages.” Everyone laughed, but it left me feeling insecure about how to evaluate my own relationships. How close is too close?

Sponsor

Though we may not feel comfortable with many other people when we first get here, perhaps there’s one particular person we feel we can trust—a mate, an old friend who has remained loyal, a peer in recovery, a sponsor. We may have the desire to check everything with this other person, and we find ourselves spending hours on the phone or in his or her company.

Strong, healthy relationships are vital. They’re a blessing, not a problem. Problems arise if we feel so dependent on another person’s approval that we lose touch with our feelings and preferences; if we isolate as a pair, always protected from the joys and challenges of new friendships; or if our constant togetherness creates a pressure-cooker buildup of intensity. Recovery requires thoughtful self-examination and self-challenge. Though others can offer to witness, support, and love us, our recovery work is ours alone. It takes courage to allow ourselves and others autonomy within a relationship.

Today, as I include people in my life, I leave myself and others room to be and to grow.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

The fortunes amassed by the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Fords and the Rockefellers have been largely diverted to the welfare of man generally, yet their pooled resources multiplied thousands of times would not accomplish the good that resulted from the heritage left us by the Poorest Man that ever lived.

The power of wealth as compared with the power of Love is puny to the point of being unworthy of comparison.

If your pockets are not lined with gold but your heart is, you can still be a power, not only for this generation but for those yet unborn.

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~ DAILY READINGS FROM THE AA LODGE ~ (Spiritually of Native Americans and A.A. Literature) ~

Unity is power, and power can destroy itself if unity is based on self-interest or is partial...From now on we work as one spirit.

~ Hiawatha Iroquois ~

This Tradition is a constant and practical reminder that personal ambition has no place in A.A. In it, each member becomes an active guardian of our Fellowship.

~ Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions pg. 183 ~
(Reprinted with permission A.A.W.S.)

Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die.

~ Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions pg. 189 ~
(Reprinted with permission A.A.W.S.)

AA's Declaration of Unity

This we owe to A.A.'s future; to place our common welfare first; to keep our Fellowship united. For on A.A. unity depend our lives, and the lives of those to come.

(Reprinted with permission A.A.W.S.)

Creator give us strength to walk as one.

(Published by the Native American Indian General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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~ A CHEROKEE FEAST OF DAYS ~ (Vol. I) ~

Just when we think nothing is working there is a glimmer of light. If we could believe in our hearts that what looks impossible can work out, we could bear more easily with hardships. Living is like the weather. It has its surprises, its storms, its dry spells. But if we can hold on, it all changes. The changes come the way we change our minds—unexpectedly and sometimes for no apparent reason. But the reason, the uyelvdvi, real purpose is there. Every word we speak, everything we believe, builds our consciousness and makes us who we are. If we expect nothing good, it will oblige us. We are as unlimited as we say we are, and it is in our power to make the difference.

Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn, without making an effort worthy of our race?

~ TECUMSEH ~

© Copyright, Joyce Sequichie Hifler. All Rights Reserved.

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~ A CHEROKEE FEAST OF DAYS ~ (Vol. II) ~

Every morning, liquid gold slips under the trees and pours down the slopes to puddle against the purple locusts. Shafts of sunlight caught in crystal dew light each blade of grass and splash color against the trunk of every tree. The Sioux told their white invaders that they were digging in their Black Hills for gold to get rich - but the Sioux were rich by simply watching the Black Hills. And so it is with the morning sun. It brings a wealth that no material thing could give. Joy is gold and peace of mind cannot be evaluated. These things draw long-term interest.

I am grateful the Creator made me an Indian, because it is natural for a Cherokee to pray and believe in the supernatural.

~ CHARLES SEQUICHIE – GRANDFATHER ~

© 1996 by Joyce Sequichie Hifler. All Rights Reserved.

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~ A CHEROKEE FEAST OF DAYS ~ (Vol. III) ~

Hay mowing has begun and golden bales dot the fields. Abundant rains have brought us yellow coneflowers and coreopsis across the prairies, and soon there will be many different kinds of sunflowers that love the heat of July. Not long ago we were told by those who know these things that we could expect drought, but the rains came. It seems to be a wait-and-see thing rather than a cut- and-dried fact, as it is with so many things, even in daily personal events.

When we hear negative predictions we can say, “...except for faith.” If we believe it can be different, it can—even when we are tempted to believe the experts who make these predictions. But the Creator is even more able. We must not forget.

Mortal man has not the power to draw aside the veil of unborn time.

~ POKAGON, POTAWATOMI ~

Copyright © 2002 by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

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~ ELDER MEDITATION ~

“We are called hollow bones for our people and for anyone else we can help, and we are not supposed to seek power for our personal use and honor.”

~ Fools Crow, LAKOTA ~

In order for us to use our power well, we must become a hollow bone. We must prepare ourselves to become a channel. Our channel must be clean before we can use our power well. We must be free of resentments, guilt, shame, anger, self pity and fear. If these things are in us, we cannot be hollow bones. These things block us from our power. The cleaner we are, the more power we move. We must become a hollow bone so the Creator can use us to do what he wants us to do.

My Creator, remove from me today all resentment, anger, fear, guilt and selfishness. Do not let my weaknesses stand in the way of my usefulness to You. Make me a hollow bone so Your power can flow through me.

~ http://www.whitebison.org/ ~

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~ SPIRIT WISE ~ (A Book of Reflections from Elders Spiritual Wisdom)

Onondaga, Big Mouth (1684)

Here in we follow the example of Jesuits, who stave all the kegs of rum brought to our castles, lest the drunken Indian should knock them on the head.

Onondaga, Leon Shenandoah (Wisdom Keeper)

We are made from mother earth and we go back to mother earth. We’re just visiting here. We’re the Creator’s guests. He’s invited us to stay for a while, and now look what we’ve done to His creation.

Lakota, Modern Indian

He has to remain humble and helpful to the people in order to be able to feel the flow of power through the objects and through him, to the people.

Ron Swenson (Spiritwise@cableone.net)

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

EMPTY OUT

O God, thank You for my spiritual growth and especially that gradual walk into Your light, which has seemed to be a process of breaking down‒of disorganization, of emptying out‒a matter of deflation in my own self-importance until self-approval and concern for the approval of others has shrunk to a point where I'm willing to step entirely aside and give You a chance to shine.

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

THIS WORLD IS A SCHOOL

Pass a test in Spiritual understanding, and never again throughout eternity will that particular task have to be done. Your attitude should be:

I am going to live forever; in a thousand years from now I shall still be alive and active somewhere; in a hundred thousand years still alive and active somewhere; and so the events of today have only the importance that belongs to today. I greet the unknown with a cheer, and press forward joyously, exulting in the great adventure.

Armed with this philosophy, and really understanding its power, you have nothing to fear in life or death-because God is All, and God is Good.

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus . . . make you perfect in every good. work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight . . . (Hebrews 13:20-21).

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

Will You Bless Me?

No man is so poor as to have nothing worth giving... Give what you have. To someone it may be better than you dare think.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~

Hugo and Sylvia asked me to be the best man at their wedding, which was to take place on the last day of a conference we were attending. By the end of the program, I was feeling frazzled and tired. Although my energy level was low, I went to Hugo's room to see him before the ceremony. Hugo invited me onto the balcony, took my hands, and sincerely asked, "Will you bless me?"

My initial internal response was, "l am too weary and scattered," but I could not resist his sincere request on this important occasion. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and prayed for assistance. Immediately, I felt a deep peace and a miraculous renewal of energy. I opened my eyes and spoke a powerful blessing, which Hugo appreciated.

We always have the energy we need when love calls. When life asks you to serve in a way that will bring healing, the little ego must step aside. The windfall of Spirit will enable you to do whatever is necessary to serve God's plan. We always have infinite energy and resources to magnify the voice of love.

Breathe through me today. Give me the energy to do what will truly serve.

I can do all things through God who strengthens me.