Essentials Of Recovery

Created to carry the message of recovery to all addicts. Whether the addiction is alcohol, drugs, food or any other addiction the program of recovery is the same. I am a recovering alcoholic of over twenty-seven years, a day at a time of course and I believe my primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve recovery. Remember seven days without a meeting makes one weak. Sign up to get emails.This Blog is NOT IN ANY WAY affiliated to either A.A. or N.A. Help to stop drinking.

Tuesday 23 April 2024

Pinned to Prayers & things Spiritual on Pinterest

Just Pinned to Prayers & things Spiritual: http://ift.tt/1teIAg2 #peace ##spiritual http://ift.tt/249ybFx

Pinned to Prayers & things Spiritual on Pinterest

Just Pinned to Prayers & things Spiritual: St.Padre Pio's Prayer After Communion - so very beautiful but beware it will bring tears to your eyes in the midst of all the congregation - sweet consolation...! http://ift.tt/1r5NHUS

Bob D. - AA Speaker - "The Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous" #essentialsofrec #Traditons #Speakers #Recovery

This is an AWESOME share by one of my favorite AA speakers, Bob D. REALLY worth listening to! Bob D. has such an enlightening and entertaining way of explaining the twelve traditions, the tape seems to fly by!

DAILY REFLECTIONS #essentialsofrec #Sobriety #AA #Cure

A.A. IS NOT A CURE-ALL

It would be a product of false pride to claim that A.A. is a cure-all,
even for alcoholism.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 285

In my early years of sobriety I was full of pride, thinking that A.A. was
the only source of treatment for a good and happy life. It certainly
was the basic ingredient for my sobriety and even today, with over
twelve years in the program, I am very involved in meetings,
sponsorship and service. During the first four years of my recovery, I
found it necessary to seek professional help, since my emotional health
was extremely poor. There are those folks too, who have found
sobriety and happiness in other organizations. A.A. taught me that I
had a choice: to go to any lengths to enhance my sobriety. A.A. may
not be a cure-all for everything, but it is the center of my sober living.

Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Addiction #NA

A God Of Our Own Understanding

“Many of us understand God to be simply whatever force keeps us clean.”
Basic Text, p. 25

Some of us enter recovery with a working understanding of a Higher Power. For a lot of us, however, “God” is a troublesome word. We may doubt the existence of any sort of Power greater than ourselves. Or we may remember uncomfortable experiences with religion and shy away from “the God stuff.”

Starting over in recovery means we can start over in our spiritual life, too. If we’re not comfortable with what we learned when we were growing up, we can try a different approach to our spirituality. We don’t have to understand everything all at once or find the answers to all our questions right away. Sometimes it’s enough just to know that other NA members believe and that their belief helps keep them clean.

Just for today: All I have to know right now about my Higher Power is that it is the Power that helps keep me clean.

Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #AA

A.A. Thought For The Day

Men and women keep coming into A.A., licked by alcohol, often given
up by doctors as hopeless cases, they themselves admitting they’re
helpless to stop drinking. When I see these men and women get sober
and stay sober over a period of months and years, I know that A.A.
works. The change I see in people who come into A.A. not only
convinces me that A.A. works, but it also convinces me that there
must be a Power greater than ourselves which helps us to make that
change. Am I convinced that a Higher Power can help me to change?

Meditation For The Day

Cooperation with God is the great necessity for our lives. All else
follows naturally. Cooperation with God is the result of our
consciousness of His presence. Guidance is bound to come to us as we
live more and more with God, as our consciousness becomes more and
more attuned to the great Consciousness of the universe. We must
have many quiet times when we not so much ask to be shown and led
by God, as to feel and realize His presence. New spiritual growth
comes naturally from cooperation with God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that God may supply me with strength and show me the
direction in which He wants me to grow. I pray that these things may
come naturally from my cooperation with Him.

As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec #Power #BillW #Recovery

p. 114
No Personal Power,

“At first, the remedy for my personal difficulties seemed so obvious
that I could not imagine any alcoholic turning the proposition down
were it properly presented to him. Believing so firmly that Christ can
do anything, I had the unconscious conceit to suppose that He would
do everything through me–right then and in the manner I chose.
After six long months, I had to admit that not a soul had surely laid
hold of the Master–not excepting myself.

“This brought me to the good healthy realization that there were
plenty of situations left in the world over which I had no personal
power–that if I was so ready to admit that to be the case with
alcohol, so I must make the same admission with respect to much
else. I would have to be still and know that He, not I, was God.”

Letter, 1940

Walk in Dry Places #essentialsofrec #Manipulation #Relations #Recovery

When am I manipulative?
Personal relations.

Without understanding our motives, we can easily lapse into behavior aimed at manipulating others. Sulking is a means of letting others know we are displeased and forcing them to attempt to win our approval. Flattery is a false expression of approval that we don’t really feel…. Giving others good strokes for our own purpose. Withholding deserved praise is a means of putting others down, something we’re likely to do because of our jealousy.

Manipulative behavior is almost always selfish behavior. IT is usually a false means of trying to get our own way. It is certainly an immature way of dealing with people and situations.

The best way to avoid being manipulative is to be ourselves at all times. We have neither the right nor the responsibility to control or regulate other people. Our best approach, in trying to influence others’ actions, is simply to state our own case with sincerity and honest. Others must be free to act, free to choose, and free to make their own decisions without manipulative interference on our part.

I will be myself at all times today. I will not assume false roles simply for the purpose of bending others to my own will. Manipulative behavior is controlling behavior, which I must avoid.

The door to the human heart can only be opened from the INSIDE.

Keep It Simple #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Listening

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

— Ernest Hemingway

It’s hard to listen in a complete way. Often we listen, but we’re still thinking about ourselves. We wonder, “How do their words relate to me? Do I have anything to add?” Often, fear is behind these questions. We fear saying the wrong thing. We fear looking stupid. Good listeners know how to let go of their fears. To listen completely, we step outside ourselves, and we’re totally there for someone else. Sometimes we listen for only a few moments. Sometimes we don’t even agree with the people we’re listening to. But we let them know that they count. What a gift we give when we listen in a complete way!

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to listen in a complete way. Teach me to step outside myself and be their for others.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll listen to what the person says.

FR. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #ESSENTIALSOFREC #GOD #DIVINITY #FRLEO

DIVINITY

“To say that a man is made up of certain chemical elements is a
satisfactory description only for those who intend to use him as a
fertilizer.”

–Herbert J. Muller

Man is more than chemicals. Man is more than an animal. Man is a
human being, carrying the image of God, the imprint of Divinity, the
power of the creative God.

As an addict I doubted myself, only adding to my “powerlessness” and
“unmanageability”. I internally said, “I can’t” before I tried. My low
self-esteem was evident long before I took a drink. I was always trying
to get my “outsides” to match what I imagined your “insides” to be
like.

When I accepted my alcoholism I was able to discover God in my life.
Today I am able to create through Him and in Him. Spirituality comes
with the awareness of our God-given divinity.

May I never cease to see You in my life.

A Day At A Time #recovery #essentialsofrec #Gratitude

Reflection For The Day

No matter what it is that seems to be our need or problem, we can find something to rejoice in, something for which to give thanks. It is not God who needs to be thanked, but we who need to be thankful. Thankfulness opens new doors to good in our life. Thankfulness creates a new heart and a new spirit in us. Do I keep myself aware of the many blessings that come to me each day and remember to be thankful for them?

Today I Pray

May God fill me with a spirit of thankfulness. When I express my thanks, however fumbling, to God or to another human being, I am not only being gracious to Him or that other person for helping me, but I am also giving myself the greatest reward of all — a thankful heart. May I not forget either the transitive “to thank,” directed at someone else, or the intransitive “giving thanks,” which fills my own great need.

Today I Will Remember

Thank and give thanks.

One Day At A Time #essentialsofrec #OA #overeaters

BIRTHRIGHT

I’ve continued to recognize the power individuals have
to change virtually anything and everything in their lives in an instant.
I’ve learned that the resources we need to turn our dreams into reality are within us,
merely waiting for the day when we decide to wake up and claim our birthright.
Anthony Robbins

I have divine origins because I am part of my Higher Power. Whether I see my Higher Power as a male, female or neither; no matter if I experience my Higher Power as a Heavenly Parent, a Divine Friend, or a Great Spirit; whether I find my Higher Power in a temple, in the mountains, or in my child’s eyes … I am connected to something greater than myself, my problems, and my fears. The who, what, where, when, and how of my Higher Power are not important. I don’t have to completely understand HP because my HP understands me.

I have been endowed with all the things I need to be successful in recovery and in life. All I have to do is step up and claim them. I have intellect, I have emotion, and I have a spirit. All of those things have a direct line to my Higher Power. What I can’t yet access is given to me as a gift when I claim my divine birthright by simply saying, “I can’t. You can. I think I’ll let You.” What greater power is there than to give our power to our Higher Power? Knowing when I can’t do it alone is a gift!

One Day at a Time . . .

I will remember I come from royalty. I will remember my divine birthright and step up to claim it. Today I will not sell my divine birthright for a mess of pottage.

~ Sandee ~

Elder’s Meditation of the Day #essentialsofrec #COWICHAN #Elders #Native

“The real meaning of life is your family, the love that you have, the respect, the traditional ways, carrying on with them.”

–Ethel Wilson, COWICHAN
The family is the seed of the future. The family is the key to the transfer of cultural information. We should really take a look at how we are looking at our families. Are we treating each family member with respect? Are we passing on the traditional ways? Are we teaching the old songs? Are we participating in the ceremonies? Are we showing the family members how to pray? Are we encouraging each family member to be spiritual? Think about these things today.

My Creator, today, let me show respect to each family member.

Today's Gift #essentialsofrec #Courage #Fear

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear not absence of fear. –Mark Twain
It is not unusual to feel afraid. It is unusual, however, to hear anyone admit to feeling afraid. Sometimes we think there are some people who are so cool and calm that they never feel afraid. This may make us think we’re not as good because we know how often we feel afraid. This is why it is important to think about what courage really is. It is not the absence of fear. Courage is not letting fear stop us from doing what we need to do.

We might have to get up in front of a group to give a speech. We could give in to our fear and not give the speech, or we could admit our fear to those who love us, and then go ahead and do the best we can. To go ahead in the face of fear is courage.

What am I afraid of?

The Eye Opener #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Nature

It would be possible for a nation, or even the world, to exist without many of the natural resources we have. But no nation could exist without men. The strength of the nation is the strength of its men.

The men who comprise the population of the nation are individuals, and the sum total of the virtues of the individuals is the character of the nation.

Our value to society is not our newfound sobriety but our new character as developed by our new and better way of living.

Hazelden Foundation

Daily Tao / 113 – Acceptance #essentialsofrec #Zen #Taoism #Tao

Drought burns basins to dust,
Light rain is a dew of mockery.
Receive without complaint,
Work with fate.

When the countryside is gripped in drought, it is useless to complain. Even when light rains fail to moisten the parched landscape, we should accept what happens. This is the way of Tao, and one who follows Tao accepts what comes.

We may have ambitions to move in one direction, but Tao will decide otherwise. We may have plans for the future, but Tao will bend time differently. T here are those who will cry out in anger and frustration, but the follower of Tao remains silent and goes about the business of preparation.

Acceptance does not mean fatalism. It does not mean capitulation to some slaughtering predestination. Those who follow Tao do not believe in being helpless. They believe in acting within the framework of circumstance. For example, in a drought, they will prepare by storing what water is available. That is sensible action. They will not plant a garden of flowers that requires a great deal of water. That is ignorance and egotism.

Acceptance is a dynamic act. It should not signal inertness, stagnation, or inactivity. One should simply ascertain what the situation requires and then implement what one thinks is best. As long as one’s deeds are in accord with the time and one leaves no sloppy traces, then the action is correct.

DAILY ZEN #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism

You fools!
What are you running after so intently?
Why are you trying to put
A head on top of your head?
Your head is already
Exactly where it needs to be.

- Lin-chi

Walk In Dry Places

Tuesday 23 April 2024