Tag Archives: Fellowship

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 30th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your body from head to toes


Enquiring mind


Poets are ‘God’s spies’ said the poet Shelley,
meaning – go out into the world and see things
differently:
In today’s world, an enquiring mind is increasingly
in demand because Artificial Intelligence can do so
much where ordinary skills and information are all
that is needed. Addicted people are usually great
problem solvers – the sheer necessity to obtain the
substances we crave, for example, makes us so. And
necessity of course, is the mother of invention. In
recovery, this can be put to good use. The late Steve
Jobs of Apple once said: ‘the next great innovation
will be made by a poet’. Am I open to the idea that
creativity and an enquiring mind will help to
recover?

A creative and enquiring mind is a luxury that I can
use in recovery, to take me ‘beyond my wildest
dreams.’ Today I ask to keep my mind open to new
ideas

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 29th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – feel the silence
Disappointment
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is a play where
nothing happens or, as one critic said: As it is in two
acts, nothing happens twice. It is an example of the
‘theatre of the absurd’. The play deals with
disappointment and unrealised expectations, as the
title implies. Godot never comes. The actors and
audience find themselves united in a vacuum of
frustrated desire. Real life is often the same: our
extravagant hopes and expectations come to
nothing, and we wonder if there’s any point in going
on. In the play, the two main actors decide to hang
themselves but can’t find a rope, so they continue
waiting. Nobody knows what Beckett was really
saying because he wisely didn’t tell. Not
surprisingly, the play was often popular in prisons
where inmates related to the pain of just waiting.
Perhaps the message is that life is often
meaningless, but you must get on with it and don’t
give up hope. Am I learning to deal with
disappointment?
Feeling entitled is the pathway to resentments. Like
the characters in the play, I must learn to deal with
days when nothing happens. Today I will seek to
manage my expectations.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 27th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably


Risk


Addiction is a loaded gun and Russian roulette is a
dangerous pastime but addicted people play that
game most days. How many of us really knew the
strength of the powders and weeds we consumed?
Were we sure our bodies were free of alcohol before
we drove? Around one hundred thousand people are
convicted of drink-driving in the UK each year.
Have I finished playing Russian roulette with my
life and the lives of others?


In addiction, we’re all risk takers and sobriety can
seem like a joyless alternative at first. How wrong
that is. There are so many things that I never tried or
was too mentally numb to bother about when I was
using. I can now try new experiences and see which
ones I like:
All experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.
Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Today I ask not to fear trying new things.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 26th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly


Trust


In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name
was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he
feared God and shunned evil.
Book of Job.
The Bible tells that, in spite of all this, God allowed
Job to suffer, as a test of his piety. But when Job
remained steadfast, God rewarded him with great
blessings, more than he had previously. The story
of Job teaches us to trust God under all
circumstances. We must trust not only when we do
not understand, but because we do not understand.
God has reasons are beyond our comprehension.


In my daily life there may be disasters and losses –
great and small. I may be tempted to ask why. God
allows suffering because he allows free will. If God
did not allow suffering, there would be no free will.
How we deal with this world where suffering
happens is through faith, hope and love. Before I
stopped using drugs, I did not trust anyone. It
required a huge effort to hand my life over to a
Power greater than myself but now that I have done
it, my anxiety has decreased dramatically. Today I
will trust my Higher Power to show me the way.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 24th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – review expectations
Victim
For addicted people, the victim role is often their
comfort zone. A victim is never a happy person and
the term itself is not one that you would choose to
be associated with, unless you’re some kind of
crazy, self-pitying masochist. That’s probably why
we like it so much. It’s not a happy role, but it’s a
familiar one. Victims blame others for their
predicament; they will blame circumstances,
individuals or just some kind of ‘force majeure’, in
fact they’ll blame anything at all, except themselves.
By doing so, they avoid criticism and are not
expected to change. But recovery is about change.
People who make a success of their recovery take to
heart the words of psychologist Carl Jung: I am
not what happened to me, I am what I choose
to become. Am I ready to stop being a victim?
Once I come out of the safe though unhappy,
comfort zone of being the victim, I can start living
life on life’s terms. It takes courage but I have the
wonderful support system of the Twelve Step
fellowships to guide me and for that I am grateful.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 22nd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Religion


The Crusades, Terrorism, the Inquisition. So much
that is brutal and bad is done in the name of religion.
But it is done by men believing they are doing God’s
will. God must be horrified. Religions bring a lot of
good to the world too, but their complexity and
hierarchical structures often put people off. In
recovery, all we are looking for is help from a Power
greater than ourselves. We are certainly not trying to
promote religion of any kind. Do I accept that I need
help from a Power greater than myself?


To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the Palm of your Hand
And Eternity in an Hour. William Blake.
The poet seems to be saying we over-complicate our
lives in our search for meaning. Too much time is
spent trying to become well-informed and clever.
True wisdom is usually found in simplicity and
knowing when not to do things. The Twelve Step
fellowships tell us to ‘Keep it Simple’. When we
consciously try to do so, we can feel the benefit.
Today I will strive to keep things simple.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 21st by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


Opiate addiction


The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on this
day in 1772. Addicted to opium as a young man, he
never managed to free himself from its clutches. His
great works Kubla Khan and the Rime of the
Ancient Mariner, were written under the influence of
opiates but his creativity declined markedly soon
afterwards. He spent the last 18 years of his life
living quite isolated, in the house of his doctor in
London. His creativity had withered. Do I
remember that drugs are never a solution for my
inner conflict?

Non est vivere, sed valere vita est. Martial.
(Life is not just living, but living as if life
matters.)
The worst thing about taking drugs is that
they control you. Drug dependence stops us living
life to the best of our ability. Any idea that
drugs could help creatively, so that we become
a success in our career, is hopelessly
unrealistic. Instead, we simply exist. In
sobriety, creativity returns, along with a zest for
life. For that, I am grateful.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 20th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – open your mind


Unselfishness


Truly unselfish people are often overlooked, but
they expect no praise. Take that wonderful example
– Jane Eyre the eponymous heroine of Charlotte
Bronte’s great novel. Self-effacing but quietly
determined, she finds fulfilment in the end: I am no
bird; and no net ensnares me. I am a free human
being with an independent will. She proves the
saying that, if you are not afraid to show yourself as
you really are, then others will respond positively.
Her unselfish devotion to the damaged though
sincere Mr Rochester ends happily: Reader, I
married him! Do I believe that in giving, I will
receive?

We live in a world that is designed to provide us with
what we want, provided we pay for it. We often rush
to gratify our desires without a thought for the true
cost – the work of others, the damage to the
environment, the effect on our health. Delaying
gratification is difficult, partly because it involves
using imagination to visualise a future benefit. But
delaying gratification also means we are not giving
our selfish desires top priority and that is progress indeed. For that insight I am grateful,

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 19th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly


Slips


In Twelve Step circles, they say a slip happens
when ‘Sobriety Lost Its Priority’. A slip of any
kind is a relapse and must be taken seriously.
Looking at our thoughts and behaviour before
the slip happened can give us insights into what
needs putting right. Had we cut down on
meetings? Were we harbouring resentments? We
must not minimise what has happened. Going
to a meeting and telling our story may require
courage but we will find strength in doing so
and nobody will judge us. Addiction is a disease
that is characterised by relapse and the best
solution is to get back into the programme as
soon as possible. Do I fully understand how slips
can happen?


If I go to my home group and share about my
relapse, I may help others as well as myself. When a
person speaks about their relapse, I will feel
great empathy and a desire to help. Today I am
grateful to belong to a fellowship where mistakes
that are honestly shared are treated with compassion
and understanding.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 18th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your body from head to toes


But for the grace of God


Many of us can thank the Twelve Steps for lasting
and contented sobriety, but they are not the only
way. They are not always successful either.
Thinking of this, we feel grateful that we ourselves
have been able to hear and successfully apply the
message to our daily lives. Some of us consider this
a miracle, especially when we consider our past
behaviour and attitudes. Am I grateful for the
miracle of sobriety?

I should give thought to those still struggling with
addiction, with whom I feel great empathy. I must
never take my recovery for granted. I have failed
myself in the past and there have been many false
starts and disappointments. I must do all I can to
help those who are still struggling. Not only must I
be an example to others, but I must also reach out
in friendship whenever anyone asks for help. Today
I understand that gratitude is more meaningful
when it is linked to action.