Author Archives: ccburn

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 6th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – listen to the silence


Change through example of others


Change happens not through words but through
example. Opinions and advice do not sway many
people, but actions are powerful. If we isolate
ourselves, we risk never exposing ourselves to this
kind of power directly. Just as when you learn to ride
a bicycle, reading about it in a book or having
someone tell you how is not as effective as seeing it
done. If we see a person, especially someone we
know, actually doing something, we tell ourselves: I
could do that too. Recovery is like that, provided I
interact with others in recovery. Am I involved with
other recovering people in the fellowships?

There is strength in numbers and inspiration in the
example of others. We in recovery are blessed that
we have access to the vast resource of positive help
that the Twelve Step fellowships offer. Our spiritual,
mental and physical needs are all catered for by this
worldwide fellowship of like-minded people. There
are few organisations that compare, and we should
indeed be grateful. I give thanks today for the great
blessing of the Twelve Step fellowships which are a
force for good in the world.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 5th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – breathe deeply

Day at a time

It is a fine aspiration to be able to take each day as it
comes, to face down misfortune or disapproval or
disease and simply live in the day. But it requires
courage and the help of our Higher Power. It also
requires a clear conscience because we cannot fully
devote ourselves to the business of living in the right
way, if we know that deep down, there is something
within us that is wrong. We do not have to be
perfect; we simply need to be doing our best to
make progress and grow spiritually on a daily basis.
Am I ready to take each day as it comes?

Sometimes when we approach the time of
meditation and reflection, our head is so full of
worries and concerns that we feel it impossible to
find peace and calm. Don’t despair. Take a few
deep breaths and close your eyes. Imagine yourself
floating in a peaceful lake surrounded by hills and
trees. Everything is quiet, except for a few birds
twittering in the background. Let nature hold you a
while. Feel that you belong. Be grateful for
belonging and put aside for now all thoughts of
wanting. Feel the moment and be thankful for that.
Today I ask God for peace, for me and for all.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 4th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably

Higher Power

Step Three is partly about surrendering to win. It is
a moment of hope, not despair. It is about
regeneration: we must surrender our old life in order
to be given a new and better one. When some of us
discover that we have made addiction our Higher
Power and felt its malign influence, we must act
quickly to replace it with a power that cares for us.
Am I ready to recognise my new Higher Power?

When we surrender our old life in favour of a better
model we are reaching out for help. When we say
Thy will be done, we are handing over our lives to
the care of our Higher Power. We are really seeking
to experience our basic human aspects in the
optimum manner: honesty, discipline, involvement,
belonging, intelligence and love. We all have these
somewhere inside us, but we need to experience
fulfilment in order to find true happiness. Today I
ask God for the best possible understanding of his
will for me.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 3rd by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Step Three

In Step Two we have found hope and comfort in the
idea that help is available and in Step Three we
commit ourselves to asking for this. Finally, it is
time to act. Our response to situations is what
matters. When our lives are spiralling out of control,
the one power left to us is the ability to choose our
response. Do I fully understand that my response to
any situation is what matters?

‘Let go and let God’ is a well-known fellowship
slogan. It does not mean that we can sit back and
receive a miracle. By turning our will and our lives
over to the care of God, we first hope for a sense of
direction in our lives. God will supply the strength,
but it is then up to us to make the effort. Most of us
ask for things and expect quick fixes but recovery is
about changing attitudes and taking positive action.
US statesman Frederick Douglass said:
I prayed for twenty years and received no answer
until I prayed with my legs.
Today I ask God for the courage to commit myself
to surrender my ego and ask for help

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 2nd by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – listen to your breathing

Failure is opportunity

Smooth seas don’t make good sailors. The
fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous was born out of
failure. But failure is a fact of life. It is almost
impossible to live without failing at something, yet
the more you fail the more you learn. Failure opens
our minds to new ideas. Some of the most creative
people got their best ideas when failure was
staring them in the face.


If necessity is the mother of invention, then failure
must be the father of creativity. When we are at
our most desperate is when we are at our most
creative. It’s often struggling artists who paint
the most dramatic pictures. Alcoholics
Anonymous can be seen as a fellowship of once despairing
people who made a virtue of their
misfortune:
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will.
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Alfred Lord Tennyson.
May I never allow myself to be defeated by
adversity. May I continue to be inspired by the
example of others, especially those who
successfully recover from addiction.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 1st by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – feel your body from feet to your scalp

Paradox of recovery

I know one thing, said Socrates, father of ancient
philosophy, that I know nothing. If only others had
been so honest. Paradoxes raise questions that
encourage us to think. Here are some recovery
paradoxes: ‘No Gain Without Pain’, ‘Give it Away to
Keep it’, ‘Perfectionists Underperform’, ‘Learn from
Your Enemies’. And it seemed quite a paradox when
two hopeless drunks met in a hotel room in Akron,
Ohio and discovered that talking together kept them
sober. From that meeting, millions of people have
been helped thanks to the fellowships of the Twelve
Steps. Am I grateful for the Twelve Step fellowships?

One of the most damaging aspects of addiction is
that it interferes with our normal development into
adults – mental, social, moral and spiritual. Perhaps
when we sober up, we need to go back to college for
a while. The fellowships provide us with a way of
growing up and educating ourselves besides the
more obvious benefits on offer. May I never take the
Twelve Step fellowships for granted. May I be
humbly grateful for all the support that they offer.

Daily reading from Recovery Days February 28th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Awareness


We are what we think. All that we are
arises with our thoughts. With our
thoughts, we make our world.
The Buddha.
If we are angry at something said by someone, that
is a choice we have made because we think we have
been hurt or insulted in some way. Another person
in that situation might not be angry at all because
their perception of the event is different. People do
not make us angry; we allow people to make us
decide to be angry. Why should we allow a stranger
to spoil our day? Maturity comes when we can view
a situation and our responses objectively. Can I
meet life’s challenges with mindful awareness?

You make me angry is something that children say
because they’re not aware how their responses are
triggered. As adults, we can do better. Blaming
someone else for our anger is immature and self-defeating.
As we grow spiritually, we must recognise
our feelings. Anger is a choice. Today I ask God for
maturity to be responsible for my feelings.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days February 27th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably

Acceptance, not avoidance


The ability to ‘feel one’s feelings’ is not given to
everyone. Some of us have to work hard to get near
to that state. Sometimes just tolerating your feelings
without being able to identify them, is as close as
you will get. Emotional sobriety in other words, is
not residing on a pink cloud but accepting the
presence of a fog of potentially unstable feelings that
may or may not be clearing. It’s also about staying
sober no matter what you might be feeling.
Maintaining emotional sobriety allows no
compromise. It means accepting, not avoiding and
facing, not fleeing. Where we are not yet up to the
task, we can rely on our Higher Power for strength,
as always. Am I ready to accept and not avoid?

Whenever we talk about feelings, we should
remember that mind, body and spirit are all
connected. Therefore, if we want to regulate our
feelings, we should first regulate our thoughts. Our
behaviour will change accordingly. Today I ask to
remember that feelings are a response to thoughts

Daily Reading of Recovery Days February 26th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – close your eyes

Serenity

Some of us sought serenity for years. We tried all
kinds of ways to get peace and serenity. Substance
abuse was probably one. Our lives remained full of
pain and unhappiness. Drink and drugs sometimes
seemed the only solution. The vicious cycle of selfharm
went on for years. Then the drugs stopped
working and even that escape route was closed. All
that was left of our lives was the pain. It is said that
people only change when the pain of not changing is
worse than the pain of changing. So, under great
duress we changed. Now we wonder why it took so
long. Do I understand what true serenity means?


In recovery, we can face reality without fear. We who
have known a life of fear understand that it is not
reality that is to be feared, but unreality. By turning
our wills and lives over to a Higher Power we can
know freedom from fear and the serenity that comes
from inner peace and strength. Today I give thanks
to God for the freedom from fear that comes from working my recovery to the best of my ability.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days February 25th by Chris B

Posted on by
Reply

View VIDEO on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=A100094027278120

Follow on TikTok Videos at Tiktok.com/@recoverydays

Remember Mindfulness – breathe deeply


Empowerment

Whether you are in recovery or not, taking
responsibility for your future wellbeing is a moment
of empowerment. It can be exhausting when you try
to run your life according to what the world expects
– financial success, material possessions and a
flamboyant social image. Mindfulness and
meditation show us a different way. Instead of
results, trophies, and achievements we are offered
peace, understanding and appreciation of the world
in which we live. Instead of stress, fear and anxiety,
we find relaxation, friendship and awareness. Am I
ready to put my emotional wellbeing before material
success?

In active addiction we were trying to control people
and events, asserting our own points of view, and
making demands. Now, we are more often asking
for help or expressing thanks. That is no bad thing,
but perhaps we should spend more time listening.
Our Higher Power will not ignore us, but we run the
risk of missing messages that are sent because we
are too busy. Meditation is listening. We should
meditate daily and feel the difference. Today I pray
to listen to my Higher Power.