Tag Archives: connection

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 8th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably

Just for today

The AA Just for Today card gives us the right attitude for dealing with each day. It was written by a non-alcoholic in the 1920’s well before AA was conceived. Other fellowships such as NA, have similar cards. They demonstrate the importance of constant awareness that we carry within us the potential for great joy or relapse and disaster. The card  reinforces the wisdom that today is the only one that matters. For most of us, to live in the past would mean to be a different person and to live in the future is dying in slow motion. Will I remember to live just for today because today is always today?

When your goal is spiritual growth and not a specific point in time and place, then you know that your journey will last for your lifetime. The words ‘A Day at a Time’ then start to make more sense. Progress, not perfection, is the way to view our life in recovery. We will never receive a certificate of success. It is enough to be living our lives along spiritual principles. Today I ask God for the perseverance to live my new life, a day at a time.

……………………………………………………….

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 7th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – review expectations

Kindness

Today was a difficult day, said Pooh. There was a pause. Do you want to talk about it? asked Piglet. No, said Pooh after a bit. No, I don’t think I do. That’s alright, said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend. What are you doing? asked Pooh. Nothing, really, said Piglet. Only, I know what difficult days are like. I quite often don’t feel like talking about it on my difficult days either. But goodness, continued Piglet, difficult days are so much easier when you know you’ve got someone there for you.

A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh.

Am I ready to show kindness, even unasked?

We know when we have given or received kindness because of the warm feeling it brings. It lifts our spirits and strengthens us in ways that we don’t always appreciate. Everyone benefits from it. Today I will seek to offer kindness in the sure knowledge that I am helping myself by helping others.

……………………………………………………….

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 6th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

On this day in 1946 the AA Twelve Traditions were published

Twelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions were formulated by early members of AA in response to the need to clarify certain principles and attitudes, for the sake of the integrity and long-term survival of the movement. Broadly speaking, these cover issues of administration, finance, aims and relations with other groups and society at large. They have fulfilled their purpose because since that time, the basic tenets and beliefs of AA have remained unchanged. We tend to take things for granted but in truth, it’s a record that not many institutions achieve. Am I grateful to the founders of AA?
An organisation that advises its members that compromise is fatal for recovery must match its actions to its words. So much of history tells of well-intentioned people who gradually failed to measure up to their original principles. It is part of my responsibility as a grateful beneficiary of this fellowship, to do my utmost to uphold the Twelve Traditions so that future generations will enjoy the fruits of this wonderful organisation. Today I give thanks to the founding fathers of all the Twelve Step fellowships.

……………………………………………………….

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 4th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually

Unconditional love

A small pet is often an excellent companion for the sick.

Florence Nightingale.

In our sickness and recovery from addiction, pets provide a focus of attention outside of ourselves. They give unconditional love, are non-judgmental and honest in showing their emotions. They are loyal and forgiving. The power of example shines bright on most pets, inspiring us to be better people. To feel trusted and loved by a pet can be an important moment in recovery. They say that the newly sober should learn relationships by first tending a plant, then a pet and then another human being. Will I strive to be the person that my pet thinks I am?   

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.                                                                          St Paul, Corinthians.

Perhaps I need to learn how to love. If so, I could do no better than to reflect on these words of St Paul which are as fresh as when they were written, nearly two thousand years ago. Today I ask God to grow in love, because nothing else matters.

Today I Will……………………………………………………………………………

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 2nd by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment

Head to heart

Think of the worst experience that you can remember, perhaps something that made you angry or ashamed. If you could have it cancelled, but on condition that everything that happened as a result would also be cancelled – would you do it? How much did you learn from that negative experience? The worst experience is often the greatest opportunity for growth. Change does not happen through the passing of information alone, but through the way things make us feel. Willingness to change means learning from the bad as well as the good. Am I truly willing to change?

The beauty of the Twelve Step programme is that you can keep growing in it for the rest of your life. When you hear someone speaking at a meeting and you think: That’s what I want, then you are feeling something as well as hearing it. The message goes from the head to the heart and that is how spiritual growth comes about. Today I am grateful to grow in the Twelve Step programme that never stops giving.

Today I Will……..……………………………………………

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 26th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually

Learning life’s lessons

Anyone in recovery who reads Alice in Wonderland would be likely to see it as an allegory about addiction. A solitary young girl disappears down a rabbit hole into a sometimes- frightening fantasy world where she discovers mind and body- altering substances. It is also a story about self-discovery: Who in the world am I? she asks. She learns too about growing up and making the right choices. By the end of the book, Alice is behaving like an adult: It’s no use going back to yesterday, she says, because I was a different person then. The book can help us understand how to deal with the challenges of growing up, although there is no evidence that the author Lewis Carroll had addiction in mind. Am I open to learning some simple lessons in life from all kinds of sources?

We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad. How do you know I’m mad? said Alice.

You must be, said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here. But let me tell you something. The best people usually are.  Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.

Such wise words of acceptance. I’ve heard very similar things at AA meetings. Today I ask God for the wisdom to know that I have an illness that is mental, physical, and spiritual, but I can live with it.

Today I Will…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 22nd by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly

Progress, not perfection

Active addiction leads to a form of soul sickness. People become a poor imitation of the person they once were. But on sobering up, they come to themselves, as they come to their senses. The addicted self is not the real self. To some extent we are dual personalities who need to become whole again. That means to regain our integrity. It will require courage, honesty and realism but with the help of our Higher Power, it can be done. Carl Jung said in his letter to Bill W: Alcoholism is a spiritual disease the basis of which is man’s yearning for wholeness. Am I ready to regain my true integrity?

Many of us sought for completeness and wholeness in our addiction, but no addictive behaviour can provide such a thing. We can only find meaning and purpose in life through a belief in a Higher Power and the knowledge that we are doing what is right. Perfection is not required, only steady progress. Today I ask that I will do my best in everything I attempt and that every choice that I make today will be the best for the recovery of others and of myself.

Today I Will……………………………………………………………………………..

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 21st by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts

Respect for others

Ordinary people don’t make a fuss about life – kids, work, school, stress, relationships, tiredness, kindness. The humdrum realities of life’s daily struggle require a special kind of dedication and commitment. Without belittling the amazing deeds of say, soldiers in combat, the single person raising a family on benefit while perhaps recovering from addiction will never receive a medal or a long service pension. Perhaps they will never be thanked or remembered except by the few whose lives they touched and made better, with an unsolicited act of kindness. Do I respect my fellow men and women and help them whenever I can?

Selfishness and a rampant ego make it extremely hard to perform unsolicited acts of kindness. They probably make it extremely hard as well, to really love someone. But if we cannot give love, how can we expect to receive it? Christianity teaches that to love is to suffer because the sublime feeling of love is inevitably going to make us unhappy, if only one day, by its absence. When a loved one suffers, we suffer too. And when a loved one recovers, we rejoice in that recovery. But to suffer in silence can be to offend a loved one. Love and suffering are connected. That is no bad thing. Today I will remember that love and suffering are connected.

Today I Will………………………………………………………………………………………….

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 19th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – review expectations

Power of example

The story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible is a story of courage, compassion, and hope. It takes courage to recognise injustice, to take a different view from others and most of all, to act when others do not. What motivated this brave person? It can’t have been a selfish desire for fame, although he is famous

– we do not even know his name. All his actions were of giving. This totally unselfish and anonymous act of kindness has affected more people over the centuries than other gifts in history though some involved great generosity too. The power of example could not be better demonstrated. Do I understand the power of example, so that I can be an example to others?

The great Christian theologian St Augustine said: Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are. Righteous anger is a strong motivator if properly controlled. Courage to stand out and behave differently from the crowd is a special kind of courage. When the crowd is against you, they show a very negative power of example that requires a special kind of help to overcome – Higher Power. Today I ask God for courage when I need to take a stand for what is right.

Today I Will

Daily Reading from Recovery Days April 18th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at https://www.tiktok.com/@recoverydays?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=p

Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually

Self-improvement

When we think about self-improvement, it’s difficult not to recall Lisa Simpson saying: It’s a long, arduous journey of personal and spiritual discovery. Very few of us are fine the way we are and some of us know it. The paradox is that we have to first accept ourselves the way we are before we can make any changes. Self- improvement is a very legitimate goal for most of us. The Twelve Steps are all about it. If you think that you can achieve happy sobriety without doing any work on yourself, perhaps by taking some ‘miracle pill’, then by all means try. But for those of us who struggle with dishonesty, selfishness, self-pity, and other character defects, it may not work. Do I have a realistic view of myself?

I must try not to take myself too seriously. Addiction is a life-or-death disease, but it can be successfully managed. Normal life is not all about doom and gloom. We use comedy to get perspective and sometimes to help us accept difficult truths. I must keep an open mind always and remind myself that often laughter is the best medicine. Today I ask God to preserve my sense of humour so that I may improve my insight into life’s problems.

Today I Will……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….