Daily Recovery Readings - April

[bluidkiti]

April 3

Daily Reflections

ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS

We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not
the other man's. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and
became willing to set these matters straight.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222

Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept
responsibility? I used to drink because of the things
that other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was
told to look at where I had been wrong. What did I have
to do with all these different matters? When I simply
accepted that I had a part in them, I was able to put
it on paper and see it for what it was - humanness. I
am not expected to be perfect! I have made errors before
and I will make them again. To be honest about them
allows me to accept them - and myself - and those with whom
I had the differences; from there, recovery is just a
short distance ahead.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When I was drinking, I was absolutely selfish, I thought
of myself first, last, and always. The universe revolved
around me at the center. When I woke up in the morning
with a hangover, my only thought was how terrible I felt
and about what I could do to make myself feel better. And
the only thing I could think of was more liquor. To quit
was impossible. I couldn't see beyond myself and my own
need for another drink. Can I now look out and beyond my
own selfishness?

Meditation For The Day

Remember that the first quality of greatness is service.
In a way, God is the greatest servant of all, because He
is always waiting for us to call on Him to help us in all
good endeavors. His strength is always available to us,
but we must ask it of Him through our own free will. It
is a free gift, but we must sincerely seek for it. A
life of service is the finest life we can live. We are
here on earth to serve others. That is the beginning and
the end of our real worth.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may cooperate with God in all good things.
I pray that I may serve God and others and so lead a
useful and happy life.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

Atmosphere Of Grace, p. 93

Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it
than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse
air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer,
we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.

As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the
light of God's reality, the nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace.
To an amazing extent the facts of A.A. life confirm this ageless truth.

12 & 12, pp. 97-98

************************************************** *********

Walk in Dry Places

More will be revealed
Spiritual Growth
There's an old saying, "To him that hath, more shall be given." That saying applies to our growth in AA. If we dedicate ourselves to the program, new information and understanding will continue to flow in our direction.
This is not because God is singling us out for special favors. It's simply a law of life. When we are interested in a subject, we find more knowledge coming to us almost "Out of the blue" as we continue to seek it. It's almost as if hidden forces were gathering up ideas and pushing them in our direction.
What's happened is that we have put ourselves in line for such growth. We have our antennae out, and we become conditioned to recognize useful ideas as they come to us. We are Open-Minded to our good.
This same process has also led to more general knowledge about alcoholism. When the early AA's attained sobriety, most of the information about alcoholism was summed up in a handful of books. Now there are hundreds of books, symposia, and speeches dealing with the subject. More was revealed, and we can hope that even more will be revealed as we continue to focus on recovery.
I can expect useful information to come to me from a number of sources. My interest in my recovery and self-improvement helps attract the information and understanding I need.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

Rest is the guardian of health.---Melba Colgrave
Now that we are sober, we're feeling better than we have in years. We're busy too. We attend meetings and visit friends. We have work,
school, families, and homes to keep up with.
It's easy to forget to rest. We forgot that our bodies and minds need time off. We need plenty of sleep each night. And we need a lazy weekend now and than to let our bodies recover from to go,
go, go of daily life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me listen to my body. Remind me to slow down and rest now and then.
Action for the Day: How much have I rested lately? Have I gotten enough sleep each night? What can I do in the next two days to rest my body, mind, and spirit?

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either. --Golda Meir
We all know people who live on the fringes of life. They seem uninvolved with the activity in their midst, as though a pane of glass separated them from us. And there are times when we join the persons standing alone away from the vibrancy of life. Fears keep people apart, particularly the fear of letting go of the vulnerable self and joining in the feelings of the moment.
To fully reap the benefits of life, we have to risk full exposure to one another and to the experience of the moment. Full involvement in the ebb and flow of life will bring the weeping that accompanies both the pain and the joy of life. It will also bring the fruits of laughter.
Both laughter and weeping cleanse us. They bring closure to an experience. They make possible our letting go. And we must let go of pain, as well as joy, to ready ourselves for the next blessing life offers us.
When we keep ourselves apart, when we hold off the tears or the laughter, we cheat ourselves of the richness of life. We have to go through an experience fully in order to learn all it can teach us and then be free of it.
Past experiences never let me go until I fully grieve those that need to be grieved or laugh over those that deserve the light touch. The present is distorted when the past shadows it.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 8 - TO WIVES

Still another difficulty is that you may become jealous of the attention he bestows on other people, especially alcoholics. You have been starving for his companionship, yet he spends long hours helping other men and their families. You feel he should now be yours. It will do little good if you point that out and urge more attention for yourself. We find it a real mistake to dampen his enthusiasm for alcoholic work. You should join in his efforts as much as you possibly can. We suggest that you direct some of your thought to the wives of his new alcoholic friends. They need the counsel and love of a woman who has gone through what you have.

p. 119

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step One - "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable."

Who cares to admit complete defeat? Practically no one, of course. Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness. It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us.

p. 21

************************************************** *********

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what
direction we are moving."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even
as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or
Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all
the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great
streetsweeper who did his job well."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
--Anon.

A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice.
--Unknown

God, help me accept all the twists and turns along my path. Help me to
say whatever to the good and the unfortunate incidents that come my
way.
--Melody Beattie

************************************************** *********

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

WONDER

"Men love to wonder, and that is
the seed of science"
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

In my sobriety the world is a wonderful place. I often sit back and am
amazed at the splendor of life, at the simple happenings that give such
joy, at the nobility that is revealed in man, at the creative adventure and
mystery of life. I meditate in wonder.

Now I see how drugs kept me blind from so much. Alcohol kept me a
prisoner of mediocrity and much of the wonder of life passed me by. As a
drinking alcoholic I existed in life, rather than lived life. I was a bored
spectator rather than a participant. I reacted to things, rather than
initiated events Alcoholism equals dullness. Recovery symbolized energy.

Today I can dream dreams and rest in the wonder of it all. God is Good.

O Lord, let me see the wonderful mystery of life even in the ordinary.

************************************************** *********

"Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you."
I Peter 5:7

"I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will
glorify Your name forevermore."
Psalm 86:12

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

We are extremely precious to God and are never left alone not even for one second. Lord, Thank You for Your promise to protect and care for me always.

It is important to remember that different can be better. Lord, as I resist change and cling to the familiar, help me to remember that Your plan is perfect and will truly make me happy.