Author Archives: ccburn

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 20th 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

Willingness to change

The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the
better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder
whatever responsibility this entails.
Bill W.
Personal change always has two parts – the
willingness and the action. But in between comes a
third part – commitment. Commitment turns theory
into practice. When we are motivated to do
something, it is not always because we have a sense
of commitment. Motivation can have a short life, but
commitment lasts until the job is done. A bad
hangover can motivate you to give up booze – until
cravings appear. Am I fully committed to change?

Just as surrender has to be total and not just a
ceasefire, so commitment has to be total and not just
a dalliance. In recovery, surrender can be seen as
letting others help us and commitment can be seen
as letting us help ourselves. Neither will work unless
done wholeheartedly. I ask God today for the honesty
to commit myself fully to the process of change
because half measures will not help me.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 19th 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 – review expectations

Responsibility for change

Newcomers to Twelve Step fellowships are often
advised to stop focusing on why they are addicted
and instead think on what they can do about it.
Discovering a reason for your addiction might seem
like a way of resolving a problem easily, but in truth
there may be no reason, except that you’re an
addicted person. Seeking a reason may well be a
device to avoid the pain of having to make some
life-changing decisions. Far better to focus on
positive action and take responsibility for change.
Am I prepared to face the reality of my addiction
and take responsibility for change?

When we embark upon a searching and fearless
personal inventory at Step Four, it may help us to
reflect that a life of total dedication to the truth is a
reasonable aspiration for anyone. It is likely to
result in true peace of mind, but it will not be easy.
It does require continuous self-appraisal as
recommended in Step Ten. Yet the feeling of relief
when we have completed Steps Four and Five will
be enormous. Today I ask for the strength to be fearless and thorough in taking personal inventory.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 18th 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

Response to challenge


Life is not easy. For a lot of people, it is just one
challenge after another. Yet many seem to expect it
to be smooth going and complain when it is not.
Others try to avoid the challenges and seek the
softer easier way, but life usually finds them out in
the end. Some become addicted. We have all seen
people who seem to stroll through life without
difficulty as if possessed with magic powers. In fact,
they are people who have a clear vision of the world
and what they need to do about living in it with
peace of mind. They have taken the necessary
action. The concept is simple, but hard to achieve
without rigorous honesty, determination and high
principles. Can I reject the softer, easier way?

People who truly live life well are always respected.
They trigger in us a desire to be like them because
we have a longing to live a good life and to do what
is right. We may forget words, but we remember
how people make us feel. That is why the power of
example matters. Today I ask God that I may live
my life in the very best way that I can.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days 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 eyes


Facing reality


Reality is truth. Facing reality is critically important
to living a life that is meaningful, principled and
worthwhile. If we cannot face reality, then any
decisions we make or courses of action we decide in
life are unsound because the factors we considered
may have been unreal. Reality is the road map we
follow through our life. If the map is incorrect, we
will probably get lost and the pain of doing so will be
considerable. Much better to have faced up to reality
before we started life’s journey. Am I ready to face
reality in all my affairs?


It is never too late to change:
I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.
John Newton.
Newton’s famous hymn Amazing Grace says it all.
He was in his fifties when he gave up slave trading
to become a cleric and abolitionist. Most addicted
people who sober up face the painful reality that
their lives are unmanageable. Without doing so,
they will struggle to stay sober. Today I ask to
understand the realities of addiction and sobriety.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 16th 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

Power of example

When other people in recovery share their
experience, strength and hope, then we can identify
with their struggles and be inspired to succeed in
the same way. The power of their example
empowers us, but we should never make
comparisons or judgements about what we hear.
People recovering from addiction share their
innermost pain in the sure knowledge that they will
not be criticised and that their anonymity is secure.
Absolute honesty from those who share is
fundamental to the process of recovery, but integrity
on the part of the listener is essential too. Am I ready
to experience the power of example without being
judgemental or critical?

Today, I live. Today, I have self-worth. Today, I am
happy and healthy. My mental health is good. I
have changed physically, spiritually and mentally. I
am right to feel happy, but I cannot be complacent.
It may seem as if I no longer need to do very much
for my recovery in terms of action, but I must
conserve the right attitudes of honesty, gratitude,
humility and helping others and to do this, I go to
meetings. Today I ask God for the will to practice
recovery principles in my daily life.


Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 15th 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

Fellowship meetings

If we surrender our lives to a Higher Power, that
does not make us prisoners. We should not attend
Twelve Step meetings as unwilling hostages,
somehow compelled to be there through fear and
the thought of disaster, because we have not paid
our proper dues to the system. Instead, we should
attend because this new way sober life fulfils our
need for meaning and belonging. With gratitude in
our hearts and an eagerness to improve, we go to
meetings to learn from the words and example of
other recovering people. Am I glad to learn and to
share the same way of life that I find there?


When I feel the power of example and the serenity that
is present in the fellowship meetings, any thought
that my attendance is a ransom that I pay for my
sobriety vanishes. I no longer have the desire to
drink and use because I am happy and healthy –
physically, mentally and spiritually. I no longer
struggle with desire for my old addictive behaviour
and for that I am grateful. Today I give thanks for
my recovery as a blessing not a restriction.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 14th 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

Potential for good


The skills you need to dig a hole for yourself are
quite different from the skills you need to get out of
it. NA and AA offer us an exciting chance to
explore new talents and new interests with which we
can eventually discover ourselves as unique and
effective individuals, able to cope and love and live
life to the full. These things do not come overnight.
They come gradually as the mists clear, and we
listen and talk and meditate and seek. Am I ready to
explore my potential through embracing the
fellowships of NA and AA?

If I think of myself as part of creation which has
been conceived by a Higher Power, then viewing
myself negatively seems like a criticism of creation
itself. What right have I to do that? I should accept
myself with my shortcomings, as part of a great
universal plan. The same goes for criticising other
people. It is far better to accept and to try to
understand. I give thanks today for all of creation
and commit myself to playing my rightful part
therein.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 13th 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


Gratitude and humility

Gratitude is partly the sense that we have benefited
from the actions of another person. Humility is
partly an increased respect for others. You can say
that gratitude and humility therefore reinforce each
other, and this combination is a powerful motivator
for change. Suddenly we see that the help of others
is what we need, and we open ourselves to receive it.
Such a powerful combination is exactly the tool
which we require in order to address the longrunning
problem of our ego. The usefulness of
humility is not about being humble and selfabasing,
but about regulating our ego, so that we
become open to new learning opportunities. Can I
use my gratitude and humility to control my ego?

Gratitude and humility tend to be undervalued in
the twenty- first century. People tend to associate
them with weakness and passivity – a dangerous
state in an increasingly cruel world. Yet many of the
greatest leaders in history have shown these very
qualities – Lincoln, Gandhi and of course, Jesus
Christ. Today I ask that pride will not

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 12th 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 top to toes

Faith

Faith is to believe what you do not see.
The reward of faith is to see what you believe.
St Thomas Aquinas.
Everybody doubts their faith at some time or other.
But the strong will carry on and find ways to
overcome anything. For the rest of us, we will get
through today if we simply do our best and let God
take care of the rest. It’s when we try to do things by
ourselves that we become overwhelmed. Am I
prepared to ‘Let go and let God?’

I must always try to be part of the solution, not part
of the problem. It is so easy to see the negative side
of things. To be part of the solution is to act
responsibly. I must have an open mind, not
complain, praise rather than criticise, listen to
others, participate actively, help others and avoid
jealousy and resentments. These are all things that
are covered when I work the Twelve Steps to the
best of my ability. There is always something
meaningful that I can accomplish every day if I give
my mind to it. Today I ask to do my best in
everything that I attempt because that is part of my
mission in life.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days March 11th 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

Gratitude

Old-timers in AA talk about the ‘Attitude of
Gratitude’, saying that if you fill your mind and soul
with gratitude, there will be no room left for
resentments or any of those other nasty feelings that
are so dangerous for people in recovery. They have a
point. One of the best ways of clearing resentful
thoughts from your head is to make a list of all the
things that you are grateful for. Why allow ourselves
to entertain such negativity when we can fill our
head with pleasant things? Am I grateful to my
Higher Power for doing for me what I could not do
for myself?


Gratitude is sometimes said to be both a feeling and
a behaviour. This means that as well as being an
emotional response to the good things that are
happening to us, it is also an act of responsibility to
live a life of gratitude that involves the power of
example. We should feel grateful, but we should also
demonstrate our gratitude through our behaviour.
Today I give thanks to God for all the blessings that
I have received in recovery.