Tag Archives: Addiction recovery

Daily Reading from Recovery Days June 4th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts

Step Six


I have looked at which behaviours don’t work. That
is the simplified version of Step Six. This is about
willingness to change. Most people don’t like
giving up old habits and attitudes, simply
because they have become a familiar part of their
lives. The Step is quite unequivocal. No half
measures here! But help is at hand. We have
already opened a dialogue with our Higher
Power and we need to keep the lines of
communication open. Being entirely ready means
marshalling our strengths and preparing
ourselves for the task ahead. Am I entirely ready
to have God remove all my defects of
character?


If I am entirely ready for this task, I must be
physically, mentally and spiritually fit. I will
complete honesty and humility to assess
the situation correctly and courage,
determination and wisdom to carry it out.
Reassurance comes from the knowledge that
thousands of other people have trodden this path
successfully. There is no reason why I should not do
so too. I ask for God’s help today as I work this vital
Step.

Daily Reading from Recovery days June 3rd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly


Awareness

By putting our awareness into the present moment,
we remove our minds from everyday matters and
focus on what we are feeling and thinking in the
here and now. We recognise and accept our
body’s sensations at this instant, in the calm
knowledge that this experience in time is all that
we really have. Mindfulness is about keeping
things simple, listening to our body and not
wanting anything else. When we stay in the
moment, we are freeing ourselves from all
illusions – those strange ideas and attitudes that
lead us into so much trouble. Can I close my eyes
and enjoy this moment of peace?

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more
untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
Marcus Aurelius.
This Roman Emperor and philosopher tells us how
peace and acceptance can be achieved, even in the
midst of a highly demanding lifestyle. We can be
distracted far too easily by events that in
retrospect appear meaningless. Balance is vital for a
contented lifestyle and contemplation is like balm to
the troubled soul. Today I ask God for the wisdom
to be mindful

Daily Reading from Recovery Days June 2nd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


Self-care

Self-care is akin to self-respect, and it is desirable to
have both. By reaching out to others, we validate our
own sense of purpose and belonging in the world.
Addiction makes us very selfish people but also very
lonely people. Building defensive walls around
ourselves produces isolation. We need to find the
strength to remove these barriers and show ourselves
as we really are. Am I ready to remove my defences?


Fear takes us back into our primitive state where the
choices are fight, freeze or flight. That might have
helped primitive man escape from a dinosaur but
it’s not much help to me, in recovery today. Today I
have a wealth of experience and knowledge that was
not available to primitive man, yet in times of
crisis, I can sometimes do no better. I should reflect
on the example of others, who have learned
appropriate responses to all kinds of situations.
Today I will remember that self-care is about
learning from others.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days June 1st by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – review expectations


Spiritual growth

In peace, there’s nothing so becomes a man
as modest stillness and humility.
W. Shakespeare, King Henry V.
Humility is the virtue that brings us closest to
reality. That makes it very important in addiction
recovery. True humility does not allow false pride.
It enables us to learn from others and it allows us to
ask for help without feeling ashamed. It allows us
to understand our weaknesses and to admit
our mistakes. It is hard to imagine spiritual
growth without humility. Do I understand
that I need humility if I am to grow spiritually?

Humility is a difficult virtue to attain because it
involves mastery of the ego. It is quite natural that I
should care how other people regard me, because I
am a social animal. But if I make myself seem better
than I am, I live a lie. Much better to be
honest. Today I will meditate on the words of the
apostle, James:
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will
lift you up.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 31st by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


Al-Anon


In May 1951, forty-eight family groups in the USA
which were connected to AA members voted to join
together, forming Al-Anon. As early as 1936, Lois W
and Anne S (the wives of AA’s co-founders) had
been talking with the families of AA members and
generally helping groups in various parts of the
country but there was no overall official organisation
until 1951. Today there are over twenty-four
thousand Al-Anon groups worldwide. We should
acknowledge the effective work they do in helping
countless family members who might otherwise
struggle to understand the disease of addiction. Am
I grateful for the work of Al-Anon?


Don’t talk, don’t trust and don’t feel are the three
main rules in dysfunctional families. And rules can
get passed down over the generations. Where
families understand what’s going on and the
reasons why, there is more family recovery. The
addicted person usually gets the main attention and
other family members are side-lined, often at great
emotional cost. Al-Anon not only educates but
supports such people. Today I give thanks and pray
for the wellbeing of all its members.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 30th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually


Reaching out


Loneliness is on the increase. So is communication.
How can that be? It seems there are too many
messages and not enough real connection. How
satisfying can it really be to have a ‘friend’ on social
media whom you have never met in the flesh?
Meeting strangers face to face often makes us feel
good, so why don’t we do it more? Perhaps out of
laziness, or fear, or low self-esteem. Yet, giving of
ourselves is one of the most basic ways of reaching
out to another human being. If we are going to grow
spiritually, then we have to start trying new ways of
defining who we are. Will I reach out to help a
stranger in need or will I hide in my comfort zone?


We are defined by what we do, not by words or
intentions. Ask yourself what people will say about
you at your funeral. Instead of thinking that the
world owes us a living, we should all be asking what
we can do to make the world a better place. Today I
ask God that I will not shirk my responsibility to
others in the world.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 28th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts

Better than well

People sometimes remark that those in addiction
recovery are strangely joyful and wonder how that
can be possible, especially when in a sober state.
The fact is that there is such relief in setting down
the great burden of our past misdemeanours that we
are bound to feel happy. Add to that the feeling of
belonging and the sense of purpose that we find in
Twelve Step fellowships, and our joyous appearance
is not surprising at all. Life is said to be what
happens when you are making other plans, but a
chance of a second life only happens when you have
scrapped your first plans in favour of much better
ones. Am I grateful for the chance of a second life?

All we really need to make us happy is something to
be enthusiastic about. In recovery, we are turning
our lives around, beyond our wildest dreams. No
wonder we are happy. Our feelings influence our
actions, but our actions also influence our feelings.
As the philosopher William James put it: I don’t
sing because I’m happy. I’m happy because I
sing.
I thank God today that happiness is not a state of
mind but an activity too.

Daily Readings from Recovery Days May 26th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


How important is it?


King Midas of Phrygia was granted by the Gods the
power to turn everything he touched into gold.
Unfortunately, this meant his food, his wine and
even his daughter became gold within a short time.
Luckily the Gods relented before he died of
starvation, but he had learnt a valuable lesson:
there are more important things in life than gold. A
lot of people nowadays don’t seem to have
noticed. They pursue wealth as if it is the answer to
everything. Do I understand that money is not the
answer to all my problems?


American Billionaire Chuck Feeney gave away all
his eight-billion-dollar fortune, living his last days in
a rented apartment, owning just one pair of shoes.
He was influenced by early twentieth century
benefactor Andrew Carnegie’s dictum: To die rich is
to die disgraced. His message to other billionaires
thinking of giving while living was: Try it, you’ll like
it. Today I ask to remember that by giving, I will
receive.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 25th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually


Silence

The ancient Greeks had nine muses. The early
Roman king, Numa Pompilius, wisely added one
more – Tacita, the muse of silence. For silence can
be as powerful as the loudest of noises. Anyone
observing two minutes of silence on Remembrance
Day would agree. The value of communal silence is
not appreciated as it used to be. Mediaeval monks
valued silence greatly:
Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity.
Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx.
Do I recognise the power of silence?


The Prophet Elijah in his cave, listening for the
sound of God’s voice, said:
It was not heard in wind, earthquake or
fire, but in the sound of sheer silence.
Silence isn’t empty, it’s often full of answers. Just a
few minutes of silent meditation each day gives our
brain and more importantly, our soul, a chance to
rest and regenerate. Today I will find time for
silence and I will appreciate the peace it brings.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days May 24th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly

Choices

I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. For I do not do the
good that I want to do, but the evil I do
not want to do, I keep on doing.
St Paul, Romans.
Like St Paul, the good intentions of addicted people
are usually not enough. Somehow, we have to
motivate ourselves to take action. Often, we are
motivated by expectations – of pleasure or fear of
pain. In addiction, we find constant conflict between
expected pleasure and negative aftermath. Usually
we choose the former, but the struggle is highly
stressful. When the pain of stopping is finally viewed
as less than the pain of continuing, we ask for help.
In recovery, we mature enough to choose what we
need over what we want. Am I making choices on
the basis of meeting my long-term needs?


In active addiction, my life was an obsessive quest
for what I wanted, ignoring the real needs of my
loved ones and myself. Understanding this self-defeating
cycle was a turning point and the start of
recovery. Today I ask God to help me choose