Daily Recovery Readings - November

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November 13

Daily Reflections

LOOKING OUTWARD

We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no requests for
ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are
careful never to pray for our own selfish ends.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 87

As an active alcoholic, I allowed selfishness to run rampant in my life. I was so attached
to my drinking and other selfish habits that people and moral principles came second.
Now, when I pray for the good of others rather than my "own selfish ends," I practice a
discipline in letting go of selfish attachments, caring for my fellows and preparing for the
day when I will be required to let go of all earthly attachments.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Who am I to judge other people? Have I proved by my great success in life that I know
all the answers? Exactly the opposite. Until I came into A.A., my life could be called a
failure. I made all the mistakes a man could make. I took all the wrong roads there
were to take. On the basis of my record, am I a fit person to be a judge of my fellow
men? Hardly. In A.A. I have learned not to judge people. I am so often wrong. Let the
results of what they do judge them. It's not up to me. Am I less harsh in my judgment of
people?

Meditation For The Day

In our time of meditation, we again seem to hear: "Come unto me, all ye that are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Again and again we seem to hear God saying
this to us. "Come unto me" for the solution of every problem, for the overcoming of
every temptation, for the calming of every fear, for all our need, physical, mental or
spiritual, but mostly "come unto me" for the strength we need to live with peace of mind
and the power to be useful and effective.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may go to God today for those things which I need to help me live. I pray
that I may find real peace of mind.

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As Bill Sees It

Greater Than Ourselves, p. 315

If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient
to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago.
But we found that such code and philosophies did not save us, no
matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish
to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with
all our might, but the power needed for change wasn't there. Our
human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they
failed utterly.

Lack of power: That was our dilemma. We had to find a power by
which we could live--and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves.

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 44-45

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Walk In Dry Places

The Boredom battle
Acceptance and Patience.
All of us have times when we don't enjoy our sobriety as much as we feel we should. Thought we're still grateful, we sometimes feel bored and depressed.
What we have to remember at such times is our bleak history of using alcohol as a quick fix for boredom. However ruinous and false it proved to be, alcohol did temporarily bring the miraculous change we sought.
We thought of alcohol as a means of uplifting our mood. We were very surprised to learn that it's really a depressant. Maybe it lifted us up by depressing our self-doubt and self-criticism.
Whatever the nature of our drinking, we need to stay sober while fighting our battles with boredom. We can do that by accepting a bit of boredom without succumbing to it. Meanwhile, we can look for ways of easing boredom that don't get us into trouble or lead back to the bottle.
I'll not feel guilty or unworthy if boredom strikes me now and then. Today I'll help manage my long-term boredom tendencies by practicing acceptance and patience for twenty-four hours.

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Keep It Simple

Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present.
---Anonymous
We addicts often learn things the hard way. In the past, we found it very hard to take advice from anyone. It’s still hard to take advice, but it’s getting easier every day. We know now that we can’t handle everything in life by ourselves. We’ve come to believe there is help of us. And we’re learning to ask for help and advice.
Sometimes we don’t like the advice we get. We don’t have to use it. But if it comes from people who love and understand us, we can try to listen. Write it down. Think about it. It may make sense another day.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please work through people who love me. I need your advice. Help me listen to it.
Action for the Day: I will make notes to myself, writing down things that seem important. I will read them once in a while.

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Each Day a New Beginning

My Declaration of Self-Esteem:
I am me. In all the world there is no one else exactly like me. There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me. Therefore, everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it. --Virginia Satir
Feeling special, feeling worthy and unique in the contribution we make to our surroundings is perhaps not a very familiar feeling to many of us in this recovery program. We may have recognized our differences from others, but not in a positive way. We may well have figured that to be our problem. "If only I were more like her . . ." To celebrate our specialness, the unique contribution we make to every situation we experience, is one of the gifts of recovery.
It's spiritually moving to realize the truth of our authenticity. To realize that no other choice will ever be just like our choice--to realize that no other contribution will be just like our contribution. Our gift to life is ourselves. Life's gift to us is the opportunity to realize our value.
Today, I will be aware of my gifts, I will offer them and receive them thankfully.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

BILL'S STORY

War fever ran high in the New England town to which we new, young officers from Plattsburg were assigned, and we were flattered when the first citizens took us to their homes, making us feel heroic. Here was love, applause, war; moments sublime with intervals hilarious. I was part of life at last, and in the midst of the excitement I discovered liquor. I forgot the strong warnings and the prejudices of my people concerning drink. In time we sailed for "Over There." I was very lonely and again turned to alcohol.

p. 1

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Our Southern Friend

Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"

TWO rosy-cheeked children stand at the top of a long hill as the glow of the winter sunset lights up the snow covered country-side. "It's time to go home" says my sister. She is the eldest. After one more exhilarating trip on the sled, we plod homeward through the deep snow. The light from an oil lamp shines from an upstairs window of our home. We stamp the snow from our boots and rush in to the warmth of the coal stove which is supposed to heat upstairs as well. "Hello dearies," calls Mother from above, "get your wet things off."
"Where's Father?" I ask, having gotten a whiff of sausage cooking through the kitchen door and thinking of supper.
"He went down to the swamp," replies Mother. "He should be home soon."
Father is an Episcopal minister and his work takes him over long drives on bad roads. His parishioners are limited in number, but his friends are many, for to him race, creed, or social position make no difference. It is not long before he drives up in the old buggy. Both he and old Maud are glad to get home. The drive was long and cold but he was thankful for the hot bricks which some thoughtful person had given him for his feet. Soon supper is on the table. Father says grace, which delays my attack on the buckwheat cakes and sausage. What an appetite!
A big setter lies asleep near the stove. He begins to make queer sounds and his feet twitch. What is he after in his dreams? More cakes and sausage. At last I am filled. Father goes to his study to write some letters. Mother plays the piano and we sing. Father finishes his letters and we all join in several exciting games of parchesi. Then Father is persuaded to read aloud some more of "The Rose and the Ring."

p. 208

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

As we made spiritual progress, we saw through these fallacies. It became clear that if we ever were to feel emotionally secure among grown-up people, we would have to put our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all those around us. We saw that we would need to give constantly of ourselves without demands for repayment. When we persistently did this we gradually found that people were attracted to us as never before. And even if they failed us, we could be understanding and not too seriously affected.

pp. 115-116

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Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making
deposits.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES

"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two
deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes."
--Etty Hillesum

You take people as far as they will go, not as far as you would like them to go.
--Jeanette Rankin

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant,
are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're
necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."
--Richard Bach

Don't mess up an amends with an excuse.
--unknown

S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.

"Spirituality is an individual matter. I can tell you what it means to me, but it might be
different for you."
--Jake T.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MONEY

"Money doesn't always bring
happiness. People with ten million
dollars are no happier than
people with nine million dollars."
-- Hobart Brown

Today I understand that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with money. Wealth is
not good or bad in itself it is what we do with it. As a famous comedian once said, "I've
been rich and I've been poor and rich is better!"

But in what sense is rich better? I suppose in the freedom that it affords us, not only to
travel and buy comfortable "things" but also in the way we can help and contribute to
the lives and well-being of others. But to hoard money, be "stingy" with yourself and
others, make a "god" of possessions or become compulsive about the "making of
money" produces the same pain as any other addiction.

Money is to be used. It is usually one of the benefits of sobriety, part of what it means to
say "it gets better". Why? Because we are more responsible and creative as sober
people and this brings its rewards.

Help me to be a responsible steward of the possessions You entrusted to me.

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I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.
Psalm 120:1

My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life,
and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, for my Father has
given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them
from me. The Father and I are one."
John 10:27-30

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Daily Inspiration

Refuse to be one of the many who go through life never knowing the limits of their abilities. Lord, You have blessed me with all that I need, but also with the ability to achieve all that I want. Help me to continue to strive and become all that I can.

Forget the useless and unhealthy things of your past that clutter your mind so that you can live a life that is alive and vibrant. Lord, help me to discard all that clouds my day so that I am able to live the life that You intend me to live.