Addiction Recovery Readings New Year
| Please post any of January’s 12 step addiction recovery readings you connect with, do this below in the 12 step recovery comment section. |
| Please post any of January’s 12 step addiction recovery readings you connect with, do this below in the 12 step recovery comment section. |
DJ Davey
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When I came into A.A., I learned what an alcoholic was and then I
applied this knowledge to myself to see if I was an alcoholic. When I
was convinced that I was an alcoholic, I admitted it openly. Since then,
have I been learning to live accordingly? Have I read the book
Alcoholics Anonymous? Have I applied the knowledge gained to
myself? Have I admitted openly that I am an alcoholic? Am I ready to
admit it at any time when I can be of help?
Meditation For The Day
I will be renewed. I will be remade. In this, I need God’s help. His spirit
shall flow through me and, in flowing through me, it shall sweep away
all the bitter past. I will take heart. The way will open for me. Each day
will unfold something good, as long as I am trying to live the way I
believe God wants me to live.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be taught, just as a child would be taught. I pray that
I may never question God’s plans, but accept them gladly.
California Colin :)
NA Just For Today
Our Greatest Need
“We eventually redefine our beliefs and understanding to the point where we see that our greatest need is for
knowledge of God’s will for us and the strength to carry that out”
Basic Text p. 46
When we first arrived in NA, we had all kinds of ideas of what we needed. Some of us set our sights on amassing
personal possessions. We thought recovery equaled outward success. But recovery does not equal success. Today,
we believe that our greatest need is for spiritual guidance and strength.
The greatest damage done to us by our addiction was the damage done to our spirituality. Our primary motivation was
dictated by our disease: to get, to use, and to find ways and means to get more. Enslaved by our overwhelming need
for drugs, our lives lacked purpose and connection. We were spiritually bankrupt.
Sooner or later, we realize that our greatest need in recovery is “for knowledge of God’s will for us and the strength to
carry that out” There, we find the direction and sense of purpose our addiction had hidden from us. In our God’s will we
find freedom from self-will. No longer driven only by our own needs, we are free to live with others on an equal footing.
There’s nothing wrong with outward success. But without the spiritual connection offered by the NA program, our
greatest need in recovery goes unmet, regardless of how “successful” we may be.
Just for today: I will seek the fulfillment of my greatest need: a vital, guiding connection with the God of my
understanding.
Terence
January 5
Daily Reflections
TOTAL ACCEPTANCE
He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will
be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without
it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will
be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.152
Only an alcoholic can understand the exact meaning of a
statement like this one. The double standard that held
me captive as an active alcoholic also filled me with
terror and confusion: “If I don’t get a drink I’m going
to die,” competed with “If I continue drinking it’s
going to kill me.” Both compulsive thoughts pushed me
ever closer to the bottom. That bottom produced a total
acceptance of my alcoholism – with no reservations
whatsoever – and one that was absolutely essential for
my recovery. It was a dilemma unlike anything I had
ever faced, but as I found out later on, a necessary
one if I was to succeed in this program.
DJ Davey
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When temptation comes, as it does sometimes to all of us, I will say to
myself: “No, my whole life depends on not taking that drink and
nothing in the world can make me do it.” Besides, I have promised
that Higher Power that I wouldn’t do it. I know that God doesn’t
want me to drink and I won’t break my promise to God. I’ve given up
my right to drink and it’s not my decision any longer. Have I made
the choice once and for all, so that there’s no going back on it?
Meditation For The Day
In silence comes God’s meaning to the heart. I cannot judge when it
enters the heart. I can only judge by results. God’s word is spoken to
the secret places of my heart and, in some hour of temptation, I find
that word and realize its value for the first time. when I need it, I find
it there. “Thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see God’s meaning in my life. I pray that I may
gladly accept what God has to teach me.
Suzy :) Just For Today xx
NA Just For Today
Gratitude
“I’m very grateful to have come to believe.”
IP No. 21, “The Loner”
Belief in a Higher Power can make all the difference when the going gets tough! When things don’t go our way in recovery, our sponsor may direct us to make a “gratitude list.” When we do, we should include our faith in a Power greater than ourselves on the list. One of the greatest gifts we receive from the Twelve Steps is our belief in a God of our own understanding.
The Twelve Steps gently lead us toward a spiritual awakening. Just as our addiction progressed, so does our spiritual life develop in the course of working the program of Narcotics Anonymous. The steps are our path to a relationship with a God of our understanding. This Higher Power gives us strength when our road gets rough.
Are we grateful for our deepening relationship with a Higher Power? Do we remember to thank God for each day clean, no matter what has happened that day? Do we remember that, no matter how deep our despair or how great our joy, the God of our understanding is with us?
Our recovery is a gift, a gift that we sometimes take for granted. Each day we stay clean, we can rejoice in our Higher Power’s care.
Just for today: I am grateful for my relationship with a Higher Power that cares for me.
Chandler :)
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The longer we’re in A.A., the more natural this way of
life seems. Our old drinking lives were a very unnatural
way of living. Our present sober lives are the most
natural way we could possibly live. During the early
years of our drinking, our lives weren’t so different from
the lives of a lot of other people. But as we gradually
became problem drinkers, our lives became more and more
unnatural. Do I realize now that the things I did were far
from natural?
Meditation For The Day
I will say thank you to God for everything, even the
seeming trials and worries. I will strive to be grateful
and humble. My whole attitude toward the Higher Power
will be one of gratitude. I will be glad for the things
I have received. I will pass on what God reveals to me.
I believe that more truths will flow in, as I go along
in the new way of life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be grateful for the things I have
received and do not deserve. I pray that this attitude
will make me truly humble.
California Colin :)
NA Just For Today
Surrender To Win
” Help for addicts begins only when we are able to admit complete defeat.”
Basic Text, p. 22
Complete defeat-what a concept! That must mean surrender. Surrender-to give up absolutely. To quit with no reservations. To put up our hands and quit fighting. Maybe to put up our hand at our first meeting and admit we’re addicts.
How do we know we’ve taken a First Step that will allow us to live drug-free? We know because, once we have taken that gigantic step, we never have to use again-just for today. That’s it. It’s not easy, but it’s very simple.
We work the First Step. We accept that, yes, we are addicts. “One is too many, and a thousand never enough.” We’ve proven that to ourselves enough times. We admit that we cannot handle drugs in any form. We admit it; we say it out loud, if necessary.
We take the First Step at the beginning of our day. For one day. This admission frees us, just for today, from the need to live out our addiction all over again. We’ve surrendered to this disease. We give up. We quit. But in quitting, we win. And that’s the paradox of the First Step: We surrender to win, and by surrendering we gain a far greater power than we ever imagined possible.
Just for today: I admit that I am powerless over my addiction. I will surrender to win.
Sheila xxx
January 15
Daily Reflections
AN UNSUSPECTED INNER RESOURCE
With few exceptions our members find that they have
tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they
presently identify with their own conception of a
Power greater than themselves.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 569-70
From my first days in A.A., as I struggled for sobriety,
I found hope in these words from our founders. I often
pondered the phrase: “they have tapped an unsuspected
inner resource.” How, I asked myself, can I find the
Power within myself, since I am so powerless? In time,
as the founders promised, it came to me: I have always
had the choice between goodness and evil, between
unselfishness and selfishness, between serenity and
fear. That Power greater than myself is an original
gift that I did not recognize until I achieved daily
sobriety through living A.A.’s Twelve Steps.
Suzy :) Just For Today xx
NA Just For Today
Fear
” We grow to feel comfortable with our Higher Power as a source of strength. As we learn to trust this Power, we begin to overcome our fear of life.”
Basic Text, p. 24
Powerless as we are, living on self-will is a frightening, unmanageable experience. In recovery, we have turned our will and our lives safely over to the care of the God of our understanding. When we lapse in our program, when we lose conscious contact with our Higher Power, we begin to take control of our own lives again, refusing the care of the God of our understanding. If we do not make a daily decision to surrender our lives to the care of our Higher Power, we may become overwhelmed with our fear of life.
Through working the Twelve Steps, we’ve found that faith in a Power greater than ourselves helps relieve our fear. As we draw closer to a loving God, we become more conscious of our Higher Power. And the more conscious we are of God’s care for us, the less our fears.
When we feel afraid, we ask ourselves, “Is this fear an indication of a lack of faith in my life? Have I taken control again, only to find my life still unmanageable?” If we answer yes to these questions, we can overcome our fear by turning our will and our lives back over to care of the God of our understanding.
Just for today: I will rely on the care of my Higher Power to relieve my fear of life.
Bobbie
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. program is more a way of building a new life
than just a way of getting over drinking, because in A.A.
we don’t just stop drinking. We did that plenty of times
in the old days when we went “on the wagon.” And, of
course, we always started to drink again, because we were
only waiting for the time when we could fall off. Once
we’ve gotten sober through the A.A. program, we start
going uphill. In our drinking days, we were going downhill,
getting worse and worse. We either go down or up. Am I
going uphill, getting better and better?
Meditation For The Day
I will try to obey God’s will day in and day out, in the
wilderness plains as well as on the mountaintops of
experience. It is in the daily strivings that perseverance
counts. I believe that God is Lord of little things, the
Divine Controller of little happenings. I will persevere
in this new way of life. I know that nothing in the day
is too small to be a part of God’s scheme.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that the little stones which I put into the mosaic
of my life may make a worthwhile pattern. I pray that I
may persevere and so find harmony and beauty.
Sheila xxx
January 17
Daily Reflections
HAPPINESS COMES QUIETLY
“The trouble with us alcoholics was this: We demanded
that the world give us happiness and peace of mind in
just the particular order we wanted to get it – by the
alcohol route. And we weren’t successful. But when we
take time to find out some of the spiritual laws, and
familiarize ourselves with them, and put them into
practice, then we do get happiness and peace of mind. . .
There seem to be some rules that we have to follow, but
happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and
free to anyone.”
DR. BOB AND THE GOOD OLDTIMERS, p. 308
The simplicity of the A.A. program teaches me that
happiness isn’t something I can “demand.” It comes upon
me quietly, while I serve others. In offering my hand
to the newcomer or to someone who has relapsed, I find
that my own sobriety has been recharged with
indescribable gratitude and happiness.
Terence
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Eight – “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
Whenever our pencil falters, we can fortify and cheer ourselves by remembering what A.A. experience in this Step has meant to others. It is the beginning of the end of isolation from our fellows and from God.
p. 82
Chandler :)
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Nine – “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”
Most of us begin making certain kinds of direct amends from the day we join Alcoholics Anonymous. The moment we tell our families that we are really going to try the program, the process has begun. In this area there are seldom any questions of timing or caution. We want to come in the door shouting the good news. After coming from our first meeting, or perhaps after we have finished reading the book “Alcoholics Anonymous,” we usually want to sit down with some member of the family and readily admit the damage we have done by our drinking. Almost always we want to go further and admit other defects that have made us hard to live with. This will be a very different occasion, and in sharp contrast with those hangover mornings when we alternated between reviling ourselves and blaming the family (and everyone else) for our troubles. At this first sitting, it is necessary only that we make a general admission of our defects. It may be unwise at this stage to rehash certain harrowing episodes. Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.
pp. 83-84
Suzy :) Just For Today xx
NA Just For Today
From Isolation To Connection
” Our disease isolated us… Hostile, resentful, self-centered, and self-seeking, we cut ourselves off from the outside world.”
Basic Text p. 3-4
Addiction is an isolating disease, closing us off from society, family, and self. We hid. We lied. We scorned the lives we saw others living, surely beyond our grasp. Worst of all, we told ourselves there was nothing wrong with us, even though we knew we were desperately ill. Our connection with the world, and with reality itself, was severed. Our lives lost meaning, and we withdrew further and further from reality.
The NA program is designed especially for people like us. It helps reconnect us to the life we were meant to live, drawing us out of our isolation. We stop lying to ourselves about our condition; we admit our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives. We develop faith that our lives can improve, that recovery is possible, and that happiness is not permanently beyond our grasp. We get honest; we stop hiding; we “show up and tell the truth no matter what. And as we do, we establish the ties that connect our individual lives to the larger life around us.
We addicts need not live lives of isolation. The Twelve Steps can restore our connection to life and living-if we work them.
Just for today: I am a part of the life around me. I will practice my program to strengthen my connection to my world.
Bobbie
January 25
Daily Reflections
WHAT WE NEED – EACH OTHER
. . . . A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker,
“You are an A.A. member if you say so . . . nobody can
keep you out.”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139
For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three
(“The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire
to stop drinking”), I thought it valuable only to
newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar
them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the
spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. I
don’t seek out people obviously different from myself.
Tradition Three, concentrating on the one way I am
similar to others, brought me to know and help every
kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped me.
Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of
ethics and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me
patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into
true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at
meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back.
Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need
– each other.