Daily Recovery Readings - November

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November 8

Daily Reflections

AN INDIVIDUAL ADVENTURE

Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries,
either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is
essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own
way.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 101

My spiritual growth is with God as I understand Him. With Him I find my true inner self.
Daily meditation and prayer strengthen and renew my source of well-being. I receive then
the openness to accept all that He has to offer. With God I have the reassurance that my
journey will be as He wants for me, and for that I am grateful to have God in my life.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I have lost much of my inferiority complex. I was always trying to escape from life. I did
not want to face reality. I was full of self-pity. I was constantly sorry for myself. I tried to
avoid all responsibilities. I did not feel that I would handle the responsibilities for my
family or my work. Owing to my inferiority complex, I was eager to be free of all
responsibilities. I wanted to drift; I wanted to be "on the beach." A.A. showed me how to
get over my feeling of inferiority. It made me want to accept responsibility again. Have I
lost my inferiority complex?

Meditation For The Day

"One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things that are before, I press onward toward the goal." We should forget those things
which are behind us and press onward toward something better. We can believe that God
has forgiven us for all our past sins, provided we are honestly trying to live today the way
we believe He wants us to live. We can wipe clean the slate of the past. We can start
today with a clean slate and go forward with confidence toward the goal that has been set
before us.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may drop off the load of the past. I pray that I may start today with a light
heart and a new confidence.

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As Bill Sees It

Learning To Trust, p. 310

Our entire A.A. program rests upon the principle of mutual trust. We
trust God, we trust A.A., and we trust each other. Therefore, we trust
our leaders in world service. The "Right of Decision" that we offer
them is not only the practical means by which they may act and lead
effectively, but it is also the symbol of our implicit confidence.

<< << << >> >> >>

If you arrive at A.A. with no religious convictions, you can, if you wish,
make A.A. itself or even your A.A. group of people your "Higher
Power." Here's a large group of people who have solved their alcohol
problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you.
Even this minimum of faith will be enough.

Many members who have crossed the threshold just this way will tell
you that, once across, their faith broadened and deepened. Relieved
of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they
came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of
God.

1. Twelve Concepts, p. 16
2. 12 & 12, pp. 27-28

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Walk In Dry Places

Proving God's existence.
Belief.
It surprised some of us to learn that the AA big book has as chapter about agnosticism. The agnostic is one who believes the existence of God cannot be proved: and indeed, some of us liked to explain this during profound barroom discussions.
Our existence with a Higher Power does not really settle the questions about God or the purpose and meaning of life. We may still wonder why we are on Earth and what the universal system is all about.
We can prove, however, that our lives can become dramatically different as a result of our belief in God. While some people scoff that our belief in a Higher Power is merely psychological, we still know that it is far more than that. This belief seems to be something that we need just as we require physical nourishment.
It's not necessary to join the debating society that seems to prove or deny God's existence. For our purposes, it's only necessary to believe that God exists in our lives.
I'll not concern myself with an general question about the existence or nonexistence of God. What's important is to know that my Higher Power is living and working in my sphere of activities.

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Keep It Simple

Any man may make a mistake; none but a fool will persist in it.---Cicero.
The way we face life's challenges is what gives meaning to our lives. If we run from our mistakes, they follow us. If we stand up and work with them, we learn. Facing our mistakes teaches us wisdom and courage. Our self-respect grows. Spiritual growth means asking, “How would my Higher Power want me to deal with this mistake?” Then we listen for the answer and do what is needed. The better we get at facing our mistakes, the better we become at learning from them. Native American culture teaches us that all mistakes in life are gifts. The gift is that we are given a chance to learn.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me face the mistakes of life and find the lessons that lie within them.
Action for the Day: When I make a mistake, I'll stop and ask, "What does my Higher Power want me to learn from this?”

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Each Day a New Beginning

As in the physical world, so in the spiritual world, pain does not "last forever." --Katherine Mansfield
Each of us struggles with pain and its repercussions; some of us more than others. At times pain seems unending. Sometimes we hang onto the pain in our lives, maybe because we fear even more what's on the other side. The unknown so easily controls us. Right at this moment, each of us can look back on other painful times and feel thankful for what they taught us. The puzzle pieces take on a deeper meaning when we enjoy the gift of perspective. The pain at this moment fits, too, in the bigger picture of our lives. And it will pass. It is passing.
The wisdom of the past tells us that pain enriches us, prepares us to better serve others. We come to know who we are and the specialness of our gifts through the despair that at times encumbers us. An old, wise saying, is, "We are never given more than we can handle."
My pain today is bringing me closer to the woman I'm meant to be. With each breath I'll remember that.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS

Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and stumble? Does this mean we are going to get drunk. Some people tell us so. But this is only a half-truth. It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience.

p. 70

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

In the years since, however, most of us have come to agree with those doctors. We have had a much keener look at ourselves and those about us. We have seen that we were prodded by unreasonable fears or anxieties into making a life business of winning fame, money, and what we thought was leadership. So false pride became the reverse side of that ruinous coin marked "Fear." We simply had to be number one people to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities. In fitful successes we boasted of greater feats to be done; in defeat we were bitter. If we didn't have much of any worldly success we became depressed and cowed. Then people said we were of the "inferior" type. But now we see ourselves as chips off the same old block. At heart we had all been abnormally fearful. It mattered little whether we had sat on the shore of life drinking ourselves into forgetfulness or had plunged in recklessly and willfully beyond our depth and ability. The result was the same--all of us had nearly perished in a sea of alcohol.

pp. 123-124

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Every body can make it with a little help from a friend.
--Rab5178

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.
--Will Rogers

First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.
--Thomas A Kempis, 1420

Life is something like this trumpet. If you don't put anything in it you don't get anything
out. And that's the truth.
--W. C. Handy (1873-1958) Composer

Take a walk with God. He will meet you at the Steps.
--unknown

F A I T H = Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him.

"If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting
what you've always got."
--W. L. Bateman

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

THOUGHT

"There is no place in active life
on which thought is negligible."
-- T. S. Eliot

It is not a crime to think. It is not a sin to have a brain. To think is human.

However, so much of my past thinking was destructive and negative. The disease of
addiction permeated every aspect of my life particularly my thoughts. For years my best
ideas justified my addiction.

Today I am open to a change of mind. I can choose to change my ideas. I am free to think
differently.

God is alive in my willingness to change.

Lord, help my thinking to recover.

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"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you
may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And
over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in
perfect unity."
Colossians 3:12-14

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he
will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

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Daily Inspiration

We are each a huge container of talents and abilities many of which we have not yet discovered and recognized. Lord, increase my ability to believe in myself and let the wonderful me burst out.

We only have so much time and so much energy in a day. To use it grumbling leaves less time for enjoyment and accomplishment. Lord, may I focus on looking for Your blessings in every part of my life.