Tag Archives: Addiction treatment

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 14th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts

Potential for good


The skills you need to dig a hole for yourself are
quite different from the skills you need to get out of
it. NA and AA offer us an exciting chance to
explore new talents and new interests with which we
can eventually discover ourselves as unique and
effective individuals, able to cope and love and live
life to the full. These things do not come overnight.
They come gradually as the mists clear, and we
listen and talk and meditate and seek. Am I ready to
explore my potential through embracing the
fellowships of NA and AA?

If I think of myself as part of creation which has
been conceived by a Higher Power, then viewing
myself negatively seems like a criticism of creation
itself. What right have I to do that? I should accept
myself with my shortcomings, as part of a great
universal plan. The same goes for criticising other
people. It is far better to accept and to try to
understand. I give thanks today for all of creation
and commit myself to playing my rightful part
therein.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 12th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – feel your body from top to toes

Faith

Faith is to believe what you do not see.
The reward of faith is to see what you believe.
St Thomas Aquinas.
Everybody doubts their faith at some time or other.
But the strong will carry on and find ways to
overcome anything. For the rest of us, we will get
through today if we simply do our best and let God
take care of the rest. It’s when we try to do things by
ourselves that we become overwhelmed. Am I
prepared to ‘Let go and let God?’

I must always try to be part of the solution, not part
of the problem. It is so easy to see the negative side
of things. To be part of the solution is to act
responsibly. I must have an open mind, not
complain, praise rather than criticise, listen to
others, participate actively, help others and avoid
jealousy and resentments. These are all things that
are covered when I work the Twelve Steps to the
best of my ability. There is always something
meaningful that I can accomplish every day if I give
my mind to it. Today I ask to do my best in
everything that I attempt because that is part of my
mission in life.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 10th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – listen to your breathing


Fellowship

We live for human connection. It motivates us to
learn social skills so that we can build friendships.
Relationships increase our confidence and self-esteem.
We feel important, worthy and validated. We
also feel that we belong – another human need that
goes back to the earliest man. The absence of
connection and belonging makes most people
profoundly unhappy. When you have felt excluded
by your addiction from many things, it can come as
a pleasant shock to be made welcome at your first
Twelve Step meeting. Don’t react negatively, be
grateful for the attention. Everyone there has had a
‘first time’ experience too. Can I accept the simple
act of reaching out to another human being?

Our Higher Power works through other people. So,
when another person welcomes you with the hand of
friendship, recognise this as the work of your Higher
Power and accept graciously. It is all a part of
handing over. May I be grateful today for the help of
God, working through other people to bring
connection and belonging back into my life.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 9th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – review expectations

Opportunity of recovery

When we first experience the Twelve Step way of
recovery, a lot of the ideas seem quite alien: admit
that you’re powerless, hand it over, explore
character defects, a day at a time – it’s as if we’re
being asked to reveal our inadequacies for no good
reason. As always, our response is crucial – do we
choose to see the positive or the negative in all this?
What could be seen as a major stumble along life’s
pathway can also be seen as the perfect opportunity
to reinvent ourselves. Am I willing to see the great
opportunity offered by recovery?

Confronting a problem and exercising choice in
what to do about it, will not solve the problem. We
still have to do something about it. Accept
powerlessness and unmanageability, change our
attitudes and behaviour, seek help, follow the Steps
until healthy habits are established. It may seem a
lot, but thousands have lived happy lives by doing
just that. I ask today for the courage to take positive
action and for the understanding of my values,
principles and needs that will lead me to the right
course.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 6th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – listen to the silence


Change through example of others


Change happens not through words but through
example. Opinions and advice do not sway many
people, but actions are powerful. If we isolate
ourselves, we risk never exposing ourselves to this
kind of power directly. Just as when you learn to ride
a bicycle, reading about it in a book or having
someone tell you how is not as effective as seeing it
done. If we see a person, especially someone we
know, actually doing something, we tell ourselves: I
could do that too. Recovery is like that, provided I
interact with others in recovery. Am I involved with
other recovering people in the fellowships?

There is strength in numbers and inspiration in the
example of others. We in recovery are blessed that
we have access to the vast resource of positive help
that the Twelve Step fellowships offer. Our spiritual,
mental and physical needs are all catered for by this
worldwide fellowship of like-minded people. There
are few organisations that compare, and we should
indeed be grateful. I give thanks today for the great
blessing of the Twelve Step fellowships which are a
force for good in the world.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 5th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – breathe deeply

Day at a time

It is a fine aspiration to be able to take each day as it
comes, to face down misfortune or disapproval or
disease and simply live in the day. But it requires
courage and the help of our Higher Power. It also
requires a clear conscience because we cannot fully
devote ourselves to the business of living in the right
way, if we know that deep down, there is something
within us that is wrong. We do not have to be
perfect; we simply need to be doing our best to
make progress and grow spiritually on a daily basis.
Am I ready to take each day as it comes?

Sometimes when we approach the time of
meditation and reflection, our head is so full of
worries and concerns that we feel it impossible to
find peace and calm. Don’t despair. Take a few
deep breaths and close your eyes. Imagine yourself
floating in a peaceful lake surrounded by hills and
trees. Everything is quiet, except for a few birds
twittering in the background. Let nature hold you a
while. Feel that you belong. Be grateful for
belonging and put aside for now all thoughts of
wanting. Feel the moment and be thankful for that.
Today I ask God for peace, for me and for all.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 4th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably

Higher Power

Step Three is partly about surrendering to win. It is
a moment of hope, not despair. It is about
regeneration: we must surrender our old life in order
to be given a new and better one. When some of us
discover that we have made addiction our Higher
Power and felt its malign influence, we must act
quickly to replace it with a power that cares for us.
Am I ready to recognise my new Higher Power?

When we surrender our old life in favour of a better
model we are reaching out for help. When we say
Thy will be done, we are handing over our lives to
the care of our Higher Power. We are really seeking
to experience our basic human aspects in the
optimum manner: honesty, discipline, involvement,
belonging, intelligence and love. We all have these
somewhere inside us, but we need to experience
fulfilment in order to find true happiness. Today I
ask God for the best possible understanding of his
will for me.

Daily reading from Recovery Days February 28th by Chris B

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Awareness


We are what we think. All that we are
arises with our thoughts. With our
thoughts, we make our world.
The Buddha.
If we are angry at something said by someone, that
is a choice we have made because we think we have
been hurt or insulted in some way. Another person
in that situation might not be angry at all because
their perception of the event is different. People do
not make us angry; we allow people to make us
decide to be angry. Why should we allow a stranger
to spoil our day? Maturity comes when we can view
a situation and our responses objectively. Can I
meet life’s challenges with mindful awareness?

You make me angry is something that children say
because they’re not aware how their responses are
triggered. As adults, we can do better. Blaming
someone else for our anger is immature and self-defeating.
As we grow spiritually, we must recognise
our feelings. Anger is a choice. Today I ask God for
maturity to be responsible for my feelings.

Daily Reading of Recovery Days February 26th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close your eyes

Serenity

Some of us sought serenity for years. We tried all
kinds of ways to get peace and serenity. Substance
abuse was probably one. Our lives remained full of
pain and unhappiness. Drink and drugs sometimes
seemed the only solution. The vicious cycle of selfharm
went on for years. Then the drugs stopped
working and even that escape route was closed. All
that was left of our lives was the pain. It is said that
people only change when the pain of not changing is
worse than the pain of changing. So, under great
duress we changed. Now we wonder why it took so
long. Do I understand what true serenity means?


In recovery, we can face reality without fear. We who
have known a life of fear understand that it is not
reality that is to be feared, but unreality. By turning
our wills and lives over to a Higher Power we can
know freedom from fear and the serenity that comes
from inner peace and strength. Today I give thanks
to God for the freedom from fear that comes from working my recovery to the best of my ability.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days February 24th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – listen to the silence

Emotional wellbeing

Is there a difference between emotional sobriety and
emotional wellbeing? I think it is the difference
between containing the torrent of our emotions
within robust channels, so they do not overflow and
cause disastrous flooding, and the tranquillity of a
peaceful lake, where birds alight on the water and
children come to play. Establishing emotional
sobriety is an important task that for most people, is
undertaken in early recovery, when our emotions are
often rampant. Emotional wellbeing comes later.
There is quite a big difference. Do I understand
that my ultimate goal is emotional wellbeing?

Learning to control my emotions requires help from
my Higher Power. I have faith that the help will be
given. I have only to ask, but I must be sure that all
obstacles have been removed – my pride, my ego
and my stubbornness. If I humbly ask for help, I
will soon know real peace and serenity. God grant
me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot
change, courage to change the things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.