Tag Archives: Fellowship

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 20th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Denial


Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to
change the world. Today I am wise, so I
am changing myself. Rumi.


Feeling that we were clever and able to get away with bad behaviour simply led us further down the slippery slope of addiction. It may seem clever to us during the bad times to change our job, our location, our doctor or even our spouse – anything in fact, except to change ourselves – the one thing we really needed to change. That is not the behaviour of a clever person but of somebody blinded by selfishness and denial. How clever am I ?


Denial is the refuge where we hide from reality, and it takes courage and humility to come out and admit we were wrong. Years of denial turn us into people ‘constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves’ that are mentioned in Chapter Five of the AA Big Book. We should not expect to turn that around easily, it may take time. If we can identify the problem and commit to doing something about it honestly, then we have made a start. Today I ask for honesty to face reality.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 19th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly


Honesty


If you tell the truth, you don’t have to
remember anything. Mark Twain.


We are victims of our own dishonesty. The tangled web we weave when we tell lies, leaves us floundering and trapped. The stress of dishonesty is enormous, that’s why lie detectors work so well. It’s also why honesty, openness and willingness to change are the three components of successful therapy; unless you are honest, you cannot be yourself and then therapy becomes pointless. Some people get into the habit of telling lies because they learn at an early age that it keeps them out of trouble. Do I understand the harm that I do to myself through my dishonesty?


Lack of self-honesty is at the root of all our emotional upheavals and troubles. If I can’t give myself the honest respect that I deserve, then I probably don’t trust myself enough to make the right judgments and choices. The danger of this is that I may adopt the standards and ideas of others instead – which may not be good. Much better to be sure of my own integrity and to choose according to my own ideals. I ask God today for the self-respect to value my principles.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 18th Read by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually


Integrity


In normal life we hardly realise how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote these words while in prison awaiting execution by the Nazis, was unusual in returning from America to Germany in 1939, at a time when others were fleeing. He saw his duty to oppose Hitler and later died as a result. A brave man who listened to his conscience and stood up for his beliefs. True integrity is surely to do just that. Am I ready to follow my conscience and stand up for my beliefs?


I can live a perfectly normal life once I accept that my life is never going to be perfectly normal. Ceasing my previous insane behaviour is a start. When I was regularly repeating the self-destructive cycle of addiction, there was no normality at all. I now attempt to make the right choices on the basis of sensible criteria, even if I don’t always get things right. I will not dwell on the past. Today I ask that I may give as much as I am able, because it is in giving that we receive.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May17th Read by Chris B

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Mindfulness – review expectations

Doing right

We never know the full effect of our actions and we each can contribute in ways that we never imagined. There is a story that the official acclamation for the building of the cathedral of Remember Santa Sophia in Constantinople was given not to the emperor Constantine, who commissioned it, but to a poor widow named Euphrasia, who took a wisp of straw from her mattress to give to the oxen who pulled the blocks of marble to the site. The butterfly effect can change history, and we are each a part of the world’s living history. Am I ready to play my part in doing what I think right, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time?  

In all things, God works for the good of those

who love him.   St Paul, Romans.


The smallest thing that I do, the smallest act of kindness can have unimagined effects. I must never think that I am insignificant or allow myself to not act, because I think it unimportant. Today I will strive to do my best in everything because, with God’s help, my actions may serve to help others in ways of which I am not aware.

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Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 16th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


Positive, affirmative action


Christ has no body now but yours. No
hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are
the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. St Teresa of Avila.


The great Christian mystic is telling us that appreciation of someone’s good works (in this case Christ’s) , is not enough. Actions, not words are required if our life is to have meaning. The same is true in addiction recovery. We must take positive affirmative action and become a part of an ongoing movement rather than just being a spectator. Am I ready to ‘walk the walk?’


The grace of God is the power that enables a human being to change from a disconnected, hopeless individual to a connected, hopeful, and grateful person. God also manifests as love for other people and serenity of character. We can have plenty of power, love, and serenity in our lives if we ask God for these things. Today, I do ask.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 15th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Serenity Prayer


Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero was a drunk, known to his mocking soldiers as Biberius Caldius Mero (bibulous drinker of unwatered wine). He never changed. His near contemporary, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus was meanwhile teaching his students a lesson in acceptance: Make the best of
what is in our power and take the rest as it naturally
happens. Its message is similar to the serenity prayer, written two thousand years later, by Reinhold Niebuhr: 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. Emperors come and go, but addiction is always with us. Am I ready to change the things I can?


The serenity prayer has great power to calm the troubled mind. The simple words lead us to trust that our Higher Power has things under control, even if we do not. Learning to say the prayer whenever we have to make a choice that worries us, is a great habit to acquire. Today I ask that I may make a habit of reciting the serenity prayer daily.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 14th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly


Three Legacies


The three parts of the AA programme – Recovery, Unity and Service are represented by the symbol of the triangle within the circle (the circle represents the world). These are known as the Three Legacies which counteract the three parts of the disease of addiction – Physical, Mental and Spiritual. Of course, AA is not based on mathematical formulas but there is a pleasing symmetry about this trinity and also the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts. Am I grateful to the insight of the founders?


The priests and seers of antiquity regarded the circle enclosing the triangle as a means of warding off spirits of evil, and AA’s circle
and triangle of Recovery, Unity, and Service
has certainly meant all of that to us and
much more. Bill W.
A triangle is only strong if all three sides are in place. Thus, I must be responsible for doing my part in each of the three. Today I thank God that I can work recovery, unity and service.

Daily Reading from Recovery days May 10th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually

Awareness

People often strive for success without really knowing what it is. They measure success through wealth or fame or social position, but these only give short-term pleasure. Everyone is equally valuable in life, and everyone is equal in death. ‘There are no pockets in a shroud.’ We should celebrate our uniqueness and understand that we are all part of a joined-up universe where we both support and depend on others. Can I celebrate my place in creation?

The brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues.

St Thérèse of Lisieux.

All flowers are exquisitely beautiful, just like humans. Desire for success is only found in humans and it causes pain and joy equally. Better to wish to be a person of integrity. Today I ask God to grant me integrity rather than success.

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Daily Reading from recovery Days May 9th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly

Personality change

The prefrontal cortex of the brain controls your personality, values, impulses, short-term memory, planning and decision-making faculties. Damage from alcohol and drugs cause this part of the brain to malfunction so that behaviour becomes erratic and unpredictable. In other words, mood-altering substances directly affect our brain’s ability to regulate our actions and our emotions. No wonder so many people get into problems. Do I understand that drugs and alcohol change my whole personality for the worse?

When my perceptions and ability to assess, plan and act have been compromised by addiction, then part of my recovery will be about redressing the balance. Working Steps One to Five is a good way to start. Meeting right-minded people will help, and mindfulness and meditation will calm my impulsiveness. It takes time, but then, I spent a lot of time getting into this damaged state. Patience and belief in my Higher Power will get me back in balance. I ask God today for perseverance in my recovery and faith in the Twelve Step programme.

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Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 8th by Chris B

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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.

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