Tag Archives: Addiction treatment

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 16th by Chris B

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On this day in 1879, St Bernadette of Lourdes died, aged 35


Courage

Courage is found in unlikely places. St Bernadette of
Lourdes suffered pain from tuberculosis for most of
her short life. She also endured extreme poverty as a
child. Her miraculous visions at Lourdes were not
believed at first, but she was steadfast and brave
when people ridiculed her. She said great suffering
and great love are connected and give meaning to
life. She never ceased to be grateful and humble and
spent her last years as a nun helping others. She
displayed all the qualities that recovering addicted
people need. Do I recognise the need for love,
courage, gratitude, humility and helping others?

If one dream should fall and break into a
thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick
one of those pieces up and begin again.
That’s the beauty of being alive. We can
always start all over again and enjoy God’s
amazing opportunities bestowed on us.
Have faith in him always.
St Bernadette.
Today I ask God that I may live according to the
example of St Bernadette.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 15th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes
Unity
For a Twelve Step group to be successful, there are
said to be six essentials:

  • Fellowship
  • Faith in a Higher Power
  • Service
  • Welcome
  • Humility
  • Gratitude.

  • Where members can regularly demonstrate all these
    things, the group is likely to thrive and the outcome
    for newcomers will be good. Am I ready to make
    every effort to ensure the success of my group?

  • Learning to live unselfishly takes practice. The need
    to prioritise my addiction made me a highly selfish
    person. Only a conscious effort to do things
    differently, on a daily basis, will enable me
    to change. I need help from my Higher
    Power. Reading some of the stories of
    unselfishness and helping others, either of the
    founding fathers of AA and NA or in the lives of
    the Saints, gives me daily inspiration. Today I ask
    freedom from the bondage of selfishness.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 13th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually

Responsibility

Responsibility has several meanings – duty, care,
protection, control and blame. For us, it is a positive
word meaning positive action. People in recovery
are among the most responsible people you can
find, because they know from bitter experience the
negative consequences of irresponsible behaviour.
Am I ready to act responsibly today?

When I act responsibly by extending the helping
hand of fellowship to a struggling person, I am also
showing compassion, empathy, humility, gratitude
and the power of example. It is a form of prayer:
Inasmuch as you have done unto the least
of these my brethren, you have done it
unto me. St Matthew.
No wonder then, that doing so makes me feel good.
Today I will remember the words of St Paul in his
letter to the Corinthians: Three things will last
forever: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of
these is love.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 12th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably
Honesty and integrity
Honesty and integrity are important in any walk of
life. People need to believe that what they see is
what they get, and that there is no disconnect
between what is said and what is done.
Relationships then become rewarding and
meaningful. Living a life of integrity includes doing
the following:

  • Keeping your word, delivering on promises
  • Keeping commitments in actions and
    appointments
  • Keeping yourself and surroundings neat and clean
  • Staying focused on a task up to completion
  • Keeping honest company – being judged by the
    friends we have
  • Taking responsibility for actions and mistakes
  • Showing respect and concern for others.
    Am I living a life of honesty and integrity?

  • I ask God for integrity in all my affairs today.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 10th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually

Integrity

Personal integrity is part of my mission in recovery. I
should also be aware of the need to preserve the
integrity of the Twelve Step programme. We who
follow this path are the custodians of a tradition that
goes back many decades. It is strong and successful
because it has integrity. We too must not compromise
with our Steps or our Traditions. The urge to adapt
and improve things has led to trouble in many areas of
life. If we want to improve something, then it should
be ourselves, not the programme. Am I prepared to
accept the programme without compromise?

The Twelve Step fellowships are strong, but we must
constantly be checking their health, as well as our
own. Many great institutions are destroyed not by
outside enemies, but from inside. It is the crooked
timber of our own humanity that puts the stress on
the edifice. Our own prejudices and ignorance are
the threat. Today I ask God for the strength and
integrity to keep the message of recovery constant,
without compromise.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 9th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably

Step Four

We think of integrity as being true to ourselves, but
what does this really mean? We expect to act in
accordance with our beliefs, values, and principles
but sometimes our thinking gets in the way, so we
act ‘out of character’. Perhaps we want to influence
somebody, perhaps out of fear or just sheer
confusion. Sometimes, newly-sober people are so
damaged by their addiction that they don’t know
themselves at all and need to explore their
personality. Here, Step Four is useful. For many in
recovery, the chances of being true to themselves
are slim until they tackle this Step. Am I ready for
a searching and fearless personal inventory?

If I have integrity, it will be recognised by others.
Many people pretend to be what they are not, but
others see this in their lack of calm and consistency.
Integrity gives us a quiet confidence and authority that
comes with peace of mind. With integrity, we will be
at ease with our Higher Power, secure in the
knowledge that we have been managing our affairs
in the right manner. Today I will seek to act
according to my beliefs and values in all my affairs.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 8th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – feel your body from top to toes

Gambling and cross-addiction

Pauline’s (not her real name) gambling problem led
her to steal thousands from her employer. She also
abused alcohol. She attempted suicide
unsuccessfully and then found Gamblers
Anonymous. With their support, she handed
finances over to her husband, self-excluded from
casinos and entered a debt management
programme. She attended GA and AA meetings
regularly. Gambling is often associated with heavy
drinking. Quitting behavioural addictions often
requires practical action. The need for courage and
honesty is there, whatever the addiction. Am I aware
of the dangers of cross-addiction?

Much addictive behaviour is progressive – it gets
gradually worse. Tolerance to drugs increases and
gambling stakes get bigger. Once we stop, we
should not expect everything to suddenly come right.
Recovery will be progressive, gradually getting better,
just as our disease used to get worse. Cross-addiction
may make the process even slower, but we must be
patient. I ask God today for the patience to understand progress, not perfection, in recovery

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 7th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment

Disease of addiction

Our active addiction traps us in a kind of ‘Stockholm
Syndrome’ where the captive becomes emotionally
attached to the captor, despite the latter’s malicious
intent. For some, giving up their addiction of
choice can seem like a bereavement, similar to the
loss of a loved one. We must recognise this
condition however illogical it may seem. Long term
addiction distorts our ability to see things as they
really are. We are complex people and addiction is a
very complex disease, but the underlying message is
very simple: it will kill us if we allow it to. Do I fully
understand that I have a disease that can kill me?

It is almost unbelievable that intelligent people
would continue self-destructive behaviour to the
point of death when fully aware of the consequences.
Yet addicted people do it all the time. Fear of death
may seem less than fear of losing our drug or
behaviour of choice, but it is more complicated
than that. Emotional pain, self- deception and ego
are such toxic ingredients that only the most powerful
thing can defeat them – Higher Power. Today I ask
that I never forget the power of God’s help.

Daily reading from Recovery Days April 6th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts

Giving it away to keep it


To paraphrase US President JF Kennedy: Ask not
what your recovery can do for you but what you
can do for your recovery. Happy recovery is not
possible if we are driven by our egos. We must give
recovery away in order to keep it. Another President
(Roosevelt) announced a ‘New Deal’ to end the Great
Depression in the 1930’s. Recovery is our New Deal,
and we must make it work. Fortunately, in the
Twelve Steps, we have the means, so that recovery of,
by and for addicted people, is entirely possible. It is
our blessing and our salvation. Enough paraphrasing.
Will I work to keep my recovery by giving it away?


Give and it will be given to you. With the blessing of
recovery comes responsibility to pass it on to the less
fortunate. We must never allow ourselves to be
simply takers because selfishness inevitably causes
alienation and leads back to isolation and selfprotective
attitudes. Before we know it, we are back
in the vicious cycle of meeting our own selfish needs
before everything else. Today I ask God for the gift
of altruism so I may help myself by helping others.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 5th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – review expectations


Step Four


Step Four involves taking a thorough and searching
personal inventory. An important aspect of this Step
is to examine our personal values – what we
respect, hold precious and protect. This goes to the
heart of our beliefs, especially our view of ourselves
and of the world. Our own values dictate how we
interact with others. Do we respect them, disdain
them, or feel the need to rescue? We would do well
to remember that we are not responsible for other
people and to ask ourselves honestly: do I protect
what I value, and do I respect what others value?

Sometimes it is hard to recognise that a problem is
not mine and refuse accordingly to take on the
difficulties of others. Being a compulsive helper
does not resolve the other’s problem because they
need to take responsibility for their own lives. I can
only change myself, and that’s work enough. There
are many paradoxes in recovery: surrender in order
to win is one, and another is this: recovery is about
making connections but also about setting proper
boundaries. I ask today to know the difference
between when to protect and when to respect.