Daily Reflections & Daily Readings

Happy New Year Amèlie! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I hope you have a great new year as well, thanks for popping in! :hugs:

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January 2~ A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day
Before I came to The Program, I hadn’t the faintest idea of what it was to “Live In The Now.” I often became obsessed with the things that happened yesterday, last week, or even five years ago. Worse yet, many of my waking hours were spent cleaning away the “wreckage of the future.” “To me,” Walt Whitman once wrote, “every hour of the day and nightbis an unspeakably perfect miracle.” Can I truly believe that in my heart?

Today I Pray
Let me carry only the weight of 24 hours at one time, without the extra bulk of yesterday’s regrets or tomorrow’s anxieties. Let me breathe the blessings of each new day for itself, by itself, and keep my human burdens contained in daily perspective. May I learn the balance of soul that comes through keeping close to God.

Today I Will Remember
Don’t borrow from tomorrow.

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January 3~ Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When I came into A.A., I learned what an alcoholic was and then I applied this knowledge to myself to see if I was an alcoholic. When I was convinced that I was an alcoholic, I admitted it openly. Since then, have I been learning to live accordingly? Have I read the book of Alcoholics Anonymous? Have I applied the knowledge gained to myself? Have I admitted openly that I am an alcoholic? Am I ready to admit it at any time when I can be of help?

Meditation For The Day

I will be renewed. I will be remade. In this, I need God’s help. His spirit shall flow through me and, in flowing through me, it shall sweep away all the bitter past. I will take heart. The way will open for me. Each day will unfold something good, as long as I am trying to live the way I believe God wants me to live.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be taught, just as a child would be taught. I pray that I may never question God’s plans, but accept them gladly.

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Funny, what a special set of blessings we learn that we share ITR, and a common way to talk about and celebrate them. Thank you, Mandi!

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Sorry for the late reply :slight_smile:
Overall, I just really enjoy ur thread. I try to read it every day and comment when I feel the urge.
I really do like the Journal prompts as it helps me to reflect on what I could be working on in my own life. But Im open for change as well. Its ur thread and change can be good!

I do like the prayer suggestion that uv been posting recently :slight_smile: Thats a nice addition too!

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Love this reading! In early recovery, I remember other NA/AA members introducing themselves as a “grateful addict/alcoholic”. At the time, I could never understand how they could be grateful for something like that!

Now i know. I too am a grateful addict/alcoholic. I am grateful bcuz this disease brought me to me knees… to a place where I had no other choice but to surrender to a HP. A HP that I discovered thru attending AA/NA. For that I am truly thankful!

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Thank you! I found I’m already missing the journal prompts. I suspect I’ll be adding those back in lol

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January 4~Daily Reflections

BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE

We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 19

It’s usually pretty easy for me to be pleasant to the people in an A.A. setting. While I’m working to stay sober, I’m celebrating with my fellow A.A.s our common release from the hell of drinking. It’s often not so hard to spread glad tidings to my old and new friends in the program.

At home or at work, though, it can be a different story. It is in situations arising in both of those areas that the little day-to-day frustrations are most evident, and where it can be tough to smile or reach out with a kind word or an attentive ear. It’s outside of the A.A. rooms that I face the real test of the effectiveness of my walk through A.A.'s Twelve Steps.

From the book Daily Reflections.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Thats beautiful :heart:

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January 5~Daily Reflections

TOTAL ACCEPTANCE

He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 152

Only an alcoholic can understand the exact meaning of a statement like this one. The double standard that held me captive as an active alcoholic also filled me with terror and confusion: “If I don’t get a drink I’m going to die,” competed with “If I continue drinking it’s going to kill me.” Both compulsive thoughts pushed me ever closer to the bottom. That bottom produced a total acceptance of my alcoholism—with no reservations whatsoever—and one that was absolutely essential for my recovery. It was a dilemma unlike anything I had ever faced, but as I found out later on, a necessary one if I was to succeed in this program.

From the book Daily Reflections.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

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I really love these daily reflection readings the last few days.

I couldn’t imagine my life without alcohol because it’s been a huge part of my life for as long as I remember, so it was normal. But looking back, was it a GOOD part of my life? Absolutely not.

Even in my early days, it wasn’t good. I remember dumping out my dad’s alcohol, begging him to quit drinking before it killed him and being scared to death to get into a car with him. In those early days, I realized just how thin and useless those lines were on the roads.

Then when I began drinking, I didn’t want just one. I would be trying to find ways to drink more. I would be sick, oh man so sick every time I drank-and I thought it was fun.

Then, I forced it enough that I thought I had a good few years with it-but really looking back it was still dangerous and dysfunctional.

And at the end of my drinking career, I blacked out quite often with 3 kids in the house, and couldn’t remember if I drove them home or not one night because I didn’t remember getting home at all.

This sober life was hard at first. I knew everything in my life needed to change, and I resisted some of the biggest changes (like working a recovery program to really change ME) but I honestly LOVE this sober life and am SO grateful for the changes I’ve had brought into my life.

While I never imagined living this life, I’m damn glad I do now. :heart:

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Yes, love these Step 1 Daily Reflections, as the year turned, Step 1 as the sine qua non. It really is the step that had me standing at the crossroads with my sponsor, realizing that I can never go back. The steps to freedom assure me that I don’t ever have to: unconditionally. The paradox of surrender.

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January 6~ Keep It Simple

“We.”—First word of the Twelve Steps.

We. This little word says a lot about the Twelve Steps. Our addiction made us lonely. The “we” of the program makes us whole again. It makes us a member of a living, growing group of people. Our addiction isolated us from others. We couldn’t be honest. We felt a lot of shame. But all this is in the past. The “we” of the program helps us live outside ourselves. Now we tell each other about our pasts. We comfort each other. We try to help each other.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to join the WE of the program. Help me to admit and accept my illness, so the healing can begin.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll work to make the WE of the program even stronger. I’ll find someone to help.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Keeping sober is the most important thing in my life. The most important decision I ever made was my decision to give up drinking. I am convinced that my whole life depends on not taking that first drink. Nothing in the world is as important to me as my own sobriety. Everything I have, my whole life depends on that one thing. Can I afford ever to forget this, even for one minute?

Meditation For The Day

I will discipline myself. I will do this disciplining now. I will turn out all useless thoughts. I know that the goodness of my life is a necessary foundation for its usefulness. I will welcome this training, for without it God cannot give me his power. I believe that this power is a mighty power when used in the right way.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may face and accept whatever discipline is necessary. I pray that I may be fit to receive God’s power in my life.

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I love the WE aspect of the program. We check in with each other, and offer help, but also remain aware that ppl need to handle their own stuff. It feels like lovingkindness with an appropriate level of detachment.

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