![]() ![]() Daily Recovery Readings – March 2. Just For Today Meditations.
Just For Today March 27 Looking For The Assets “In accordance with the principles of recovery we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other”. Just For Today. March 2. Looking For The Assets“In accordance with the principles of recovery we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other”Basic Text p. How many times in our recovery have we misunderstood the behavior of another, immediately formed a judgment, applied a label, and neatly tucked the individual into a pigeonhole? Perhaps they had developed a different understanding of a Power greater than themselves than we had, so we concluded their beliefs were unspiritual. Or maybe we saw a couple having an argument; we assumed their relationship was sick, only to find out later that their marriage had prospered for many years. Thoughtlessly tossing our fellows into categories saves us the effort of finding out anything about them. Every time we judge the behavior of another, we cease to see them as potential friends and fellow travelers on the road to recovery. If we happened to ask those we are judging if they appreciate being stereotyped, we would receive a resounding “no” in response. Would we feel slighted if this were done to us? Yes, indeed. Our best qualities are what we want others to notice. In the same way, our fellow recovering addicts want to be well thought of. Our program of recovery asks us to look positively at life. The more we concentrate on the positive qualities in others, the more we’ll notice them in ourselves. Just for today: I will set aside my negative judgments of others, and concentrate instead on appreciating the favorable qualities in all.******************************************Daily Reflections. March 2. 7 A. A.’s FREEDOMSWe trust that we already know what our several freedoms truly are; that no future generation of AAs will ever feel compelled to limit them. Our AA freedoms create the soil in which genuine love can grow. LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. I craved freedom. First, freedom to drink; later, freedom from drink. The A. A. program of recovery rests on a foundation of free choice. There are no mandates, laws or commandments. A. A.’s spiritual program, as outlined in the Twelve Steps, and by which I am offered even greater freedoms, is only suggested. I can take it or leave it. Sponsorship is offered, not forced, and I come and go as I will. It is these and other freedoms that allow me to recapture the dignity that was crushed by the burden of drink, and which is so dearly needed to support an enduring sobriety.************************************************** *********Twenty- Four Hours A Day. March 2. 7 A. A. Thought For The Day. You get the power to overcome drinking through the fellowship of other alcoholics who have found the way out. You get power by honestly sharing your past experience by a personal witness. You get power by coming to believe in a Higher Power, the Divine Principle in the universe which can help you. You get power by working with other alcoholics. In these four ways, thousands of alcoholics have found all the power they needed to overcome drinking. Am I ready and willing to accept this power and work for it? Meditation For The Day. The power of God’s spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Our conquest of each other, the great kings and conquerors, the conquest of wealth, the leaders of the money society, all amount to very little in the end. But one that conquers oneself is greater than one who conquers a city. Material things have no permanence. But God’s spirit is eternal. Everything really worth while in the world is the result of the power of God’s spirit. Prayer For The Day. I pray that I may open myself to the power of God’s spirit. I pray that my relationships with others may be improved by this spirit.************************************************** *********As Bill Sees It. March 2. 7 Room For Improvement, p. We have come to believe that A. A.’s recovery Steps and Traditions represent the approximate truths which we need for our particular purpose. The more we practice them, the more we like them. So there is little doubt that A. A. principles will continue to be advocated in the form they stand now. If our basics are so firmly fixed as all this, then what is there left to change or to improve? The answer will immediately occur to us. While we need not alter our truths, we can surely improve their applications to ourselves, to A. A. as a whole, and to our relation with the world around us. We can constantly step up the practice of “these principles in all our affairs.”Grapevine, February 1. Walk in Dry Places. March 2. 7 If it works, don’t fix it. Accepting life. A lot of things in life are all right just as they are. This is hard to understand in a world that puts high value on improvement and progress, but since there are so many things that do need fixing, it’s best not to tamper with things that are working. Sometimes we think something should be changed in another person’s life. Two AA members decided, for example, that a mutual AA friend deserved higher status employment than what he was doing. They seized upon an unusual profession that seemed to fit his talents and interests, and were disappointed and even a bit offended when he decided he wasn’t interested. He continued to follow his regular trade until his retirement thirty years later. In truth, there had really been nothing that needed “fixing” in his choice of a vocation. He had been earning a living doing very honest but difficult work. It was somewhat presumptuous of his friends to outline a new career for him, and it could have led to considerable harm. Let’s leave people and things alone unless our help is requested and something really does need fixing. I’ll look around today and notice the things in my life that are working well and really don’t need changing. Then I’ll focus my attention on the things that really should be fixed.************************************************** *********Keep It Simple. March 2. 7 The secret success is constancy of purpose.— Benjamin Disraeli. In Twelve Step meetings, we don’t talk about counseling, treatment centers, or non- program reading. Many of us have been helped in these ways, but we shouldn’t confuse them with Twelve Step programs. We must keep our Twelve Step programs pure, no matter what is in style among counselors or at treatment centers, or what the latest books say. Certainly, we should use these sources if they help us, but not in our program meetings. There, we must stick to the basics that have helped addicts recover all over the world for many years. Steps, traditions, meetings, sponsorship—these things work, no matter what is in style. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let me be there to help an addict in need, by sharing my Twelve Step program. Action for the Day: I will help out today be being a sponsor or by calling a new member, just to say hello.************************************************** *********Each Day a New Beginning. March 2. 7 It takes time, love, and support to find peace with the restless one.–Deidra Sarault. Restlessness is born of frustration. Perhaps we want to move ahead with our lives more quickly. Does a job have us trapped? Do past troubles haunt us still? Maybe perfectionism tarnishes every attempt to achieve. We can learn from our restlessness, if we let it guide us to our inner reservoir of peace and spiritual support. The search for serenity often takes us farther from it. We mistakenly think a different job or home or relationship will answer all our needs. But we find that our restlessness has accompanied us to our new surroundings. Peace has its home within. And prayer opens the door to it. In the stillness of our patience, we are privy to its blessing. Restlessness indicates our distance from our higher power. It may be time for a change in our lives. Change is good; however, our relationship with God will vouchsafe any needed changes. Restlessness is self- centered and will only hamper the steps we may need to take. Restlessness is a barometer that reveals my spiritual health. Perhaps prayer is called for today.************************************************** *********Alcoholics Anonymous. March 2. 7 SAFE HAVEN– This A. A. found that the process of discovering who he really was began with knowing who he didn’t want to be. I had experienced run- ins with the law several times–for not paying fines, public intoxication, fighting, and driving while intoxicated. But nothing could compare with the time the police asked me to come downtown for questioning concerning a murder.
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