Daily Reading from Recovery days January 17th by Chris B

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On this day in 1919 Prohibition became law in U SA


Comfort zones

I wouldn’t want to join a club that would have me as a
member is more than just a funny quip from Groucho
Marx. It also sounds like the sad cry of a
person stuck in self-pity and self-dislike. That’s
probably why it resonates with many who
struggle with addiction. Recovery is about
coming out of our comfort zones, something
many desperate people are reluctant to do,
because their familiar unhappiness is less
challenging than the idea of change. Even if we
have problems with our self-image, we should dig
deep to risk doing something new. Am I ready to
come out of my comfort zone?


Today I reflect on the difference between being a fully
established member of a team or club, and being an
outsider, a mere spectator. To feel myself part of a team
is inspiring. I recognise the example we give. We will
not let each other down. To the spectator, our band
of brothers is enviable. When I was a spectator, I
knew I was missing something, but I didn’t know
how to get it. I should have asked, but my denial
held me back. Today, I know better. Today I
give thanks for a fellowship that welcomes me as
a member.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 16th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – breathe calmly

Belonging

Belonging may seem like a very comfortable state, but it should not be just a passive thing. Belonging starts with self-acceptance, the feeling that at base, you are a good person whatever your faults. Without this, you will not have the motivation to reveal your true self to others and that is something you must do, if you are to grow in recovery. To truly belong, you must give of yourself if you are to receive the affirmation that all humans need. Am I ready to show myself openly and honestly to other people, knowing that in return, I will receive a sense of belonging?

I celebrate myself and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me
As good belongs to you. (Walt Whitman).
How fine it would be to feel so much a part of mankind as American poet Walt Whitman. Yet when we share in recovery our experience, strength, and hope with others, that is exactly how it is. We are among a group of people who perfectly understand the troubles we have endured and share the joy of recovery. A new life is indeed to be celebrated, and shared. Today I ask for the courage to share my character defects openly and honestly so that I allow others to identify with me.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 15th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your body

Belonging

One of the major requirements for a contented life is
said to be a sense of belonging. The desire to belong
is a human need that goes back to the earliest tribes
in history. The opposite state – isolation – is for
many people almost unbearable. Yet, being
surrounded by other human beings doesn’t
guarantee a sense of belonging. For that, we need
identification and interaction too. So, if you attend
an AA meeting, but you secretly think you are
somehow different, you are unlikely to identify with
people there and will feel an outsider, however
crowded the room. Am I ready to look for
similarities in others, rather than differences?

How very much alike all of us
alcoholics are, when we admit that
the chips are finally down. Bill W.
All of us in recovery are travelling the same road. No
wonder we feel a strong sense of kinship and
understanding. But to experience this to the full, we
must share our experiences with complete candour.
Steps Four and Five help us. Today I ask for the
courage to share my character defects openly and
honestly so that I allow others to identify with me.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 14th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positivity


Positive action


Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers, once
said that there is a remarkable power in the simple
act of asking for help but that most people miss out,
because they never ask. How sad it would be for
anyone to not achieve their potential in life, simply
because they could not persuade themselves to
communicate their needs to another human being.
Am I prepared to make the act of asking for help a
central part of my plan for taking positive action to
grow my recovery?

Accepting our powerlessness and asking for help are
our starting point in recovery. They are the essence
of the first three Steps. The feeling of relief that
results from completing these Steps can best be
summed up in the words of mediaeval saint Julian of
Norwich: All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner
of things shall be well (St Julian)
Today I ask that I will not be too proud, too
fearful or too uninterested to take the positive
action of asking for help when I need to do so.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 13th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – observe new thoughts

Connection


Perhaps fear of rejection, fear of losing control or
feeling that you’re just not worth the effort have
stopped you reaching out in the past. Are there
times when you wish you had asked for help, but
didn’t? Fear is just one example of the negative
powers that we have to challenge in recovery. Fear is
not easy to overcome on your own but with help it
will seem easier. Connection is such an obvious
response to make, once we engage in the process of
change, that we will wonder why we didn’t start
earlier. Am I ready to reach out and make
connections?


The whole point of recovery is that life is going to
get better. As I grow in the programme, the quality
of my life increases. My perspectives become
certainties, my understanding becomes truth and
my goals become achievements. Soon I am
experiencing a comfortable relationship with my
Higher Power that may be beyond my capacity to
quantify, yet it will be sufficient simply to exist. The
idea of becoming ‘better than well’ starts to make
sense. Today I ask God for the courage to help me
reach out for help without delay.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 12th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – review expectations

First three Steps

So much of recovery is about leaving our comfort zone
of negativity and taking positive action. At first this
may seem a daunting prospect but, once we have
tried it, we will start to feel good about ourselves. And
once we start asking for help, we will begin to feel
the power for good that exists in the world. After the
reality of the First Step, Steps Two and Three bring us
hope and comfort and we can feel that we are part of a
benign process. Do I feel the benefit of asking for
help?


Today let us contemplate the Third Step Prayer, and
leave aside our egos to simply seek help:
God, I offer myself to you, to build with me and to
do with me as you will. Relieve me of the bondage
of self, that I may better do your will. Take away
my difficulties, that victory over them may bear
witness to those I would help, of your Power, your
love and your way of life. May I do your will
always. AA Big Book.
Today I ask God for the courage to let go of my ego
and ask for help.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 11th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – breathe calmly


Fellowship


The bonds of fellowships and support tend to
be at their strongest in times of great stress
and crisis. As human beings, our natural state
is one of need, whether we think so or not. It is
usually our arrogant ego that tells us we have
no needs. It’s not surprising therefore that we
are susceptible to temptation because
temptation plays to our needs: – for money,
that tempts us to cheat, for love that tempts us
to abase ourselves, for happiness, that tempts
us to use drugs. Such things meet our
fundamental needs. Twelve Step fellowships aim
to do this also. Am I ready to join in fellowship
with others?

Never fear temptation, it is useful and necessary
to us. St Bernadette of Lourdes.
Temptation plays to our baser nature and offers us
shortcuts to what we desire. Thus, by examining
what tempts us and our responses, we can learn a
lot about ourselves and our character defects and
grow spiritually, when we ask for help. Today I
ask to grow spiritually by learning from my
temptations.

Daily Reading of Recovery Days January 10th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close your eyes

Reaching out


Asking for help also has a wider significance,
because it is part of the process of re-connecting with
others, which is essential to the recovery process. If
we do not ask for help, we are saying that we are
going to do this alone and very few can manage that.
The Responsibility Statement, often read out at AA
Meetings, tells us that it is members’ responsibility
to offer support whenever anyone, anywhere, asks –
just as they themselves have been helped. Am I ready
to reach out for help when I need it?

Just as fellowship members take responsibility for
extending the hand of help to others, so must I take
personal responsibility for my recovery by asking for
help when I need it. Doing nothing should not be an
option, because that seems like old behaviour and
the victim role. Recovery is about doing things
differently. May I fully take responsibility for my new
life and recognise when I must take action to assert
my legitimate needs rather than doing nothing.

Daily Reading of Recovery Days January 9th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – breathe calmly

Alcoholics Anonymous

What better connection can there be than an AA
meeting? The wisdom of the old-timers is that in
early sobriety, you should never be hungry, angry,
lonely, or tired. If you are heading towards any or
even all those states, an AA meeting will probably
get your emotions back in balance and provide
some tea and biscuits too. Just knowing that to be
the case can have a calming effect. The AA
programme comes with no guarantees, but few
people with a desire to stop drinking, attend an AA
meeting without feeling better at the end. Do I
appreciate that AA provides the answer to most of
my everyday problems?

My Higher Power will help me when I ask. Usually,
the help will come through other people – their
kindness, support, and the power of their example.
But connection is basically a two-way arrangement.
I must be there for others in their time of need, to
show the same kindness and compassion that they
give to me. Today I will remember the words of St
Teresa of Avila:
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. St Teresa.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days January 8th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your body

Asking for help

Help, I’ve got a problem! The simplified version of
Step One begins like that, with good reason.
Learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, you
would probably ask for help without shame or
hesitation. Yet something stops us asking for help to
learn sobriety. Once again, our pride is to blame.
People in recovery know that it does them good to
help others and clearly, they are the people to ask
because they are demonstrably getting it right. Step
Two is about asking for help because we cannot do
this alone. Do I see the sense in asking for help?

If I am rigorously honest, I will recognise the need
for outside help. When I am dealing with something
as powerful as addiction, I need to find the most
powerful help available – my Higher Power, which
works not by a flash of light, but through other
people. There is no easy way – I must swallow my
pride and ask for help when I am struggling.
Perhaps a phone call. It could be the most important
call I ever make. May I have the honesty to
recognise when I am struggling, so that I may
overcome my pride and reach out to ask for help.