THE IDEA OF FAITH

Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47

The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me. Sometimes just the idea of doing something different, something I am not accustomed to doing, can eventually become an act of faith if I do it regularly,

Easy Does It

All of us are faced with the troubles and problems of daily living, whether we've been in the Program two days or twenty years. We’d sometimes like to believe we could take care of all our problems right now, but it rarely works that way. If we remember the slogan “Easy Does It” when we are ready to panic, we may come to know that the very best way to handle all things is “Easy.” We put one foot in front of the other, doing the best we are capable of doing. We say “Easy Does It,” and we do it. Are the Program’s slogans growing with me as I grow with the Program?

Our own recovery

“The steps are our solution.  They are our survival kit.  They are our defense against addiction, a deadly disease.  Our steps are the principles that make our recovery possible.”

Basic Text, p. 19

 

There’s lots to like in recovery.  The meetings, for one, are great.  We get to see our friends, hear some inspiring stories, share some practical experience, maybe even hook up with our sponsor.  The camp outs, the conventions, the dances are all wonderful, clean fun in the company of other recovering addicts.  But the heart of our recovery program is the Twelve Steps—in fact, they are the program!

We’ve heard it said that we can’t stay clean by osmosis—in other words, we can’t just attend meetings, no matter how many, and expect to breathe recovery in through the pores of our skin.  Recovery, as another saying goes, is an inside job.  And the tools we use in working that “inside job” are the Twelve Steps.  Hearing endlessly about acceptance is one thing; working the First Step for ourselves is something very different.  Stories about making amends may be inspiring, yet nothing will give us the freedom from remorse that taking the Ninth Step ourselves will give.  The same applies to all Twelve Steps.

There’s much to appreciate about recovery, but to get the most from our recovery we must work the Twelve Steps for ourselves.

Just for today:  I want everything my personal program has to offer.  I will work the steps for myself.

http://www.jftna.org/jft

Rationalizing away our recovery

 

As a result of the Twelve Steps, I’m not able to hold on to old ways of deceiving myself.”

 

We all rationalize.  Sometimes we know we are rationalizing, admit we are rationalizing, yet continue to behave according to our rationalizations!  Recovery can become very painful when we decide that, for one reason or another, the simple principles of the program don’t apply to us.

With the help of our sponsor and others in NA, AA, SH,OA we can begin to look at the excuses we use for our behavior.  Do we find that some principles just don’t apply to us?  Do we believe that we know more than everyone else in recovery, even those who have been clean for many years?  What makes us think that we’re so special?

There is no doubt, we can successfully rationalize our way through part of our recovery.  But, eventually, we must squarely face the truth and start acting accordingly.  The principles in the Twelve Steps guide us to a new life in recovery.  There is little room for rationalization there.

Just for today:  I cannot work the steps and also continue deceiving myself.  I will examine my thinking for rationalizations, reveal them to my sponsor, and be rid of them.

A.A. Thought for the Day

Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His hands doesn't mean that we'll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As the days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and quiet happiness. Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live? Meditation for the Day

The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God's help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us, or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives. Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure, and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day.

G.O.D. = Good Orderly Direction

When we decided to turn our will and lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him, we made a declaration of independence. We declared our freedom from the chains of our self-centered ego and the unrelenting demands of our self-will. When we decided that God was God and we were not, we began to receive the wonderful future that had been planned for us.

That decision was our claim to a new life. The prison that was our home has been destroyed. We decide to let go and let God on a daily basis. Our wills are always free to decide. We must decide to keep ourselves conscious at all times and listen to the voices that speak to us. We must decide to guard against our ego once again begging to run the show.

My will power will only be helpful to me when it is acting in accordance with my decision to let my Higher Power instruct me in the way to go.

What is it like to be a recovering addict

 

A woman was asked by someone, "What is it like to be a recovering addict?"  She replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, self loathing, etc. and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see." 

This was passed on to you from another pumpkin. Now it is your turn to pass it to a pumpkin. I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch.       

                                          Anonymous