[bluidkiti]

March 2

Step by Step

Today, I will remember gratitude if I take undue credit for the sobriety I have found through AA. While it is justified to take pride in being sober the last 24 Hours, that pride must be within the boundaries of the program and cannot be stretched to egoism or seeking praise from others. For when pride extends beyond the boundaries to egoism, I risk taking back the surrender to the power that carried me when I passed out or stumbled in my drinking days and even in some difficult sober days. Yes, I was the one who grabbed the lifeline of AA, but someone or something else had to toss it to me first. Gratitude. And our common journey continues. Step by Step. – Chris M.

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

GRATITUDE

We have no right to ask, when sorrow comes, “why did this happen to me?” unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.

~ Philip S. Bernstein ~

Self-pity used to overwhelm us. We bitterly asked why fate had burdened us with the obsession that brought us to a 12 Step Group. Now that recovery fills our lives, we are grateful for the good fortune that we have been shown a way out.

Gratitude brings humility for our progress and compassion for all those who still suffer. We are not only grateful for what we have received. We are grateful for the opportunity to give. We want to always do more than feel grateful. We need to express that gratitude.

My reply to every complaint I have is “compared to what?” No matter how badly I think I hurt today, every day with my old problems was worse.

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

I visualize the course nine or ten times every night as I’m going to sleep. By race day, I’ve run the course a hundred times in my head.

~ A. J. Kitt, Olympic skier ~

A world-class athlete reaches the pinnacle of performance by intense work and dedication. No one doubts his priorities. He practices for hours every day, endures the pain of pushing his body to the limit, and develops his mind psychologically to be ready to respond in a split second. We can use that same model for our healing recovery program. We need to put our recovery above all else—because without that, we have nothing. We need to accept the pain that comes with facing ourselves and our truth, because on the other side of the pain is peace of mind. And we can develop our self- image as recovering men in the care of our Higher Power, succeeding as we meet the challenges of our days.

A very helpful daily practice is to visualize ourselves in a quiet place, feeling well, content, and safe. Staying with this image for fifteen minutes or so, just enjoying its peace, creates a sense of strength and serenity for the next few hours or for the rest of the day.

Today I know my first priority is recovery and I can picture myself feeling content in a quiet setting.

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

As I recover, I am learning to detach with love and mind my own business with dignity.

~ Kathy Kendall ~

Very few situations actually need our input. On most occasions we can contribute most by observing or listening. Although controlling how others live and think may still appeal to us, we are learning from our friends and sponsors the wisdom of detachment and the necessity for boundaries between ourselves and others.

Our desire to “help” friends make decisions may be rooted in love: we don’t want to see our friends get hurt by making wrong choices. But the wisdom of the program tells us that we hurt our friends more by doing for them what they need to do for themselves. While this may be hard to believe at first, we can learn to trust that it is true.

It is enough to live our own lives thoughtfully. We have been given a second chance through getting clean and sober. Now it’s time to give our lives all of our attention. Let’s free other people to do the same.

I have enough to do just to live my life today. I can show my love for others best if I let them live their lives too.

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

I wonder about quitting my medication

I write squiggly because my hand shakes. I feel edgy most of the time. Even my digestion is out of sync. I don’t feel like keeping up with my medication schedule with these side effects.

On the other hand I know I need the medication. I felt horrible, helpless, and hopeless before it started working. If I stop taking it now, I might get seriously ill again. I want to stay stable. I want to keep working my recovery program. I just may have to cope with these secondary problems for now.

I will call my psychiatrist to report any problems with my medication and ask for reassurance and support.

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

Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the fire that fuels lasting love.

~ Tom Hannah ~

Love is a healer of hearts and a forgiver of pasts. Love waits until we are ready to share and never threatens to leave if we aren’t “good enough.” Love encourages our growth, wanting us to be all we have in us to be. Love is a resting place and safe haven at the end of a stormy day.

Love protects solitude, and in solitude we find God. Love doesn’t demand time, words, or promises, but is delighted at being together and sharing space. Love is kind in all things, especially in honesty. Love freely speaks its mind, not to hurt and control, but to share, inform, and connect.

We can live today by giving this kind of love to each person we encounter. Our reward for this giving is the growth of our own honesty, kindness, and willingness to forgive. And the love we give may return to us.

Today let me trust that love comes to those who act lovingly.

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

Dawn is a shimmering of the horizon.
Dusk is a settling of the sky.

~ Tao ~

Sunrise and sunset represent the measure of a day. When the sun rises and daylight comes, the moon sets; when the sun sets and darkness comes, the moon rises. Without such alteration, a day would not have a beginning nor an end.

So too are there cycles in your life: endings as well as beginnings. You may view the loss of a loved one as an ending. But you can also consider that your life after such a loss can be a beginning. Similarly, you may view the loss of your habit as an ending. But you can also consider that your life without the habit can be a beginning.

One way to ease the pain of loss is to write about it. Putting your feelings into words may make it easier to let go and transition into a new frame of mind or new way of doing things. You can compose a letter to a past habit you have let go, a departed loved one, or anything you have lost. Write those things you always wanted to say, but did not. Write about regret over conflicts left unresolved. Let your words flow freely.

Even though I may grieve today over a loss, expressing my feelings will help me work through this grief.

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

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

~ Galations 5:14 ~

Happy and harmonious relationships are essential. If we treat people with uncaring concern and indifference, they will think there are no paths to our hearts. If we meet people with the expectation that they will do more for us than we will do for them, they will turn away from us.

How did we treat people today? Were we short with co-workers or customers; impatient with students, patients, or children; unloving toward friends or relatives? Were we so wrapped up in ourselves that we weren’t aware when people around us needed a bit of attention?

We can repair the roads to our hearts so the paths are straight and true. We can rebuild relationships with those around us. If we can help others feel safe, comfortable, and at ease in our presence, we will encourage positive feelings. Then people will feel safe and will turn to us in friendliness and in safety.

What are the messages on the road to my heart? Help me firm the road’s foundation with love, peace, and safety.

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

Trusting my Higher Power

We know that other people, jobs, and new places could not relieve us of our addiction. Then where does our hope lie?

The God of our understanding can give us freedom from addiction if only we will admit our problems and accept help.

Am I trusting my Higher Power?

Higher Power, let nothing from the past stop me from trusting you.

I will deepen my trust in God today by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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

Anyone can get sober….
The trick is to stay and to live sober.

~ LIVING SOBER ~

Newcomer

At one meeting someone mentioned having had a slip. He had been back in recovery for three days. No one criticized him; in fact, everyone applauded. To be honest, it makes me think about seeing what it would be like to have a few drinks or a drug again, just for a day or a weekend.

Sponsor

Over the years, I’ve watched people come and go in recovery. I’ve been grateful to the people who relapsed and were lucky enough to come back and share their experience. They taught me a lot by talking about how their disease had continued progressing even when they weren’t active in it, and about how much more quickly their misery had returned this time. I’m grateful to them for having had the slip for me; now I don’t have to risk it. There’s a danger in going back out to experiment with controlled using; few who leave ever make it back. This is a life-threatening disease. People like us, who depend on using an addictive substance, can die from it. We understand the seriousness of our addictions and have no need to test recovery by trying to use “safely.”

Today, I want life—all of it. I embrace my recovery; I stick close to those who know how to stay stopped.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

Life is too short even if we live the whole of it to its fullest, but we alcoholics have wasted so many years of our lives that we must now double our efforts if we hope to do any living at all. Truly, for us, it is later than we think.

There is one consolation, however, and that is, that it is possible to use a single moment to produce an eternity of benefits for humanity. Much time has been frittered away but there is still ample time to do good.

Life is not measured by its length but by its width and its depth.

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~ WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG BOOK ~ (Official & Unofficial Sloganeering From the 12 Step Programs) ~

1) Nobody ‘gives’ you a bad day without your permission.

2) Depression: when you’re taking more than you’re giving.

3) If you can’t make a list of all you are grateful you have, make a list of all you are grateful you don’t have.

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

All That We Ought

All that we ought to have thought and have not thought,
All that we ought to have said and have not said,
All that we ought to have done and have not done;
All that we ought not to have thought and yet have thought,
All that we ought not to have spoken and yet have spoken,
All that we ought not to have done and yet have done;
For thoughts, words, and works, pray we, O God,
for forgiveness,
And repent with penance.

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

CONFUSION OF DUTIES

It cannot be your duty to do anything that is beyond your reach or your strength at the moment.

It cannot be your duty to do anything that sacrifices your own integrity of your own spiritual development.

It cannot be right to be hurried, or sad, or discouraged, or angry, or resentful, or antagonistic, under any circumstances.

If you have no time for prayer and meditation, you will have lots of time for sickness and trouble.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandment: for this is the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

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

Take the Best and Leave the Rest

Love is the way I walk ingratitude.

~ A Course in Miracles ~

My dog Munchie is quite discerning. He eats only what he likes and rejects everything else. If I offer Munchie a piece of plain bread, he walks away from it. If I give him a slice with peanut butter on it, however, he licks off the peanut butter and leaves the bread.

Take what belongs to you by right of your joy and consciousness, and let the rest go. We are not required to put up with situations we cannot digest. We are required to do what expands and heals us and reject what causes us to contract.

The awakened mind functions as a “blessing extractor.” Like a vegetable juicer that grinds up a carrot and spits the pulp out of one chute and sends juice out of another, the blessing extractor takes any experience and draws forth the good from it. It shows you how you can enjoy, learn, or grow from all events and relationships. All else is chaff, which goes back into the field to grow next year’s crops.

When looking back on past relationships, we must take the best and leave the rest. Bless the other person, yourself, and the relationship for the gifts you gained and the experience through which you grew. Hold on to your appreciation, and release the regret. It does not belong to you. Recycled properly, the relationship will become fertilizer to grow on.

Similarly, every teacher will offer you wisdom you can use, as well as ideas you do not understand, agree with, or wish to employ. Take the best and leave the rest. There is a nugget of good in every experience. Receive what God wants you to have, and let Spirit take care of the rest.

Show me what is mine, and give me the wisdom and strength to put aside all else.

I open myself to be fed by love in the forms that speak to my heart, and I release everything that does not belong to me.