Daily Reflections & Daily Readings

[MandiH]

August 14~NA Just For Today

Letting Go Of Our Limitations

“We don’t have to settle for the limitations of the past. We can examine and reexamine our old ideas.”
Basic Text, p.11

Most of us come to the program with a multitude of self-imposed limitations that prevent us from
realizing our full potential, limitations that impede our attempts to find the values that lie at the core of
our being. We place limitations on our ability to be true to ourselves, limitations on our ability to function at work, limitations on the risks we’re willing to take-the list seems endless.

If our parents or teachers told us we would never succeed, and we believed them, chances are we didn’t achieve much. If our socialization taught us not to stand up for ourselves, we didn’t, even if everything inside us was screaming to do so.

In Narcotics Anonymous, we are given a process by which we can recognize these false limitations for
what they are. Through our Fourth Step, we’ll discover that we don’t want to keep all the rules we’ve been taught.

We don’t have to be the life-long victims of past experiences. We are free to discard the ideas that
inhibit our growth. We are capable of stretching our boundaries to encompass new ideas and new
experiences. We are free to laugh, to cry, and, above all, to enjoy our recovery.

Just for today: I will let go of my self-imposed limitations and open my mind to new ideas.

[MandiH]

August 14~Today’s Gift

The moment an individual can accept and forgive himself, even a little, is the moment in which he
becomes to some degree lovable. --Eugene Kennedy

If we owe a bill and pay it in full, do we return to pay that same bill over and over again? If we did,
someone would surely question what was wrong with us. Yet, how often do we ask forgiveness for the
same thing over and over again?

How wonderful to know that we do not have to condemn ourselves, even for not living up to a goal we have set for ourselves.

Once we say we are sorry, we need to be willing to forgive ourselves. After all, how else do we learn and grow except by mistakes.

When we have forgiven ourselves, we become free to take risks again without fear of unforgivable
failure, and who knows what new successes we might attain?

Is there something I can forgive myself for today?

[MandiH]

August 15~Daily Reflections

DIDN’T WE HURT ANYBODY?

Some of us, though, tripped over a very different snag. We clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 79

This Step seemed so simple. I identified several people whom I had harmed, but they were no longer available. Still, I was uneasy about the Step and avoided conversations dealing with it. In time I learned to investigate those Steps and areas of my life which made me uncomfortable. My search revealed my parents, who had been deeply hurt by my isolation from them; my employer, who worried about my absences, my memory lapses, my temper; and the friends I had shunned, without explanation. As I faced the reality of the harm I had done, Step Eight took on new meaning. I am no longer uncomfortable and I feel clean and light.

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

[MandiH]

August 15~Language Of Letting Go

Leaving Room for Feelings

We need to allow enough room for others and ourselves to have and work through our feelings.

We are people, not robots. An important part of us—who we are, how we grow, how we live—is connected to our emotional center. We have feelings, sometimes difficult ones, sometimes disruptive ones, sometimes explosive ones, that need to be worked through.

By facing and working through these feelings we and others grow. In relationships, whether it be a love relationship, a friendship, a family relationship, or a close business relationship, people need room to have and work through their feelings.

Some call it “going through the process.”

It is unreasonable to expect ourselves or others to not need time and room to work through feelings. We will be setting ourselves and our relationships up for failure if we do not allow this time and room in our life.

We need time to work through feelings. We need the space and permission to work through these feelings in the awkward, uncomfortable, sometimes messy way that people work through feelings.

This is life. This is growth. This is okay.

We can allow room for feelings. We can let people have time and permission to go through their feelings. We do not have to keep ourselves or others under such a tight rein. While we work through our feelings we do not have to expend unnecessary energy reacting to each feeling we or others have. We don’t have to take all our feelings, and others’ feelings, so seriously while we or others are in the process of working through them.

Let the feelings flow and trust where the flow is taking you.

I can set reasonable boundaries for behavior, and still leave room for a range of emotions.

[MandiH]

August 15~Walk In Dry Places

Do We Have A Larger Purpose?

Peace

The Twelve Step program came out of a movement that was attempting to save the world by establishing universal peace. Our purpose is scaled down to helping the person who still suffers.

We don’t really know the route to world peace, but we have learned that we must be at peace with
ourselves and others in order to live happily. This means releasing the old resentments, distrust, and other faults that plague so many of us.

Living the Twelve Step way might have been our first experience in getting along with others. We found
it totally different from the hate and suspicion that once poisoned our lives and kept us in bondage.

At some point, we may also find that we’re playing a part in the larger purpose of finding peace. We have, at least, removed ourselves from the raging conflicts that cause so much trouble in the world.

I’ll be at peace with everyone I meet today. I’ve forgiven others and myself, and I’ll do nothing today that gets me embroiled in conflict with others.

[MandiH]

August 15~Keep It Simple

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.—Shakespeare

We are addicts. We suffer from an illness. We go to Twelve Step meetings because we know who we are. We have a sponsor because we know who we are. We ask friends for support because we know who we are. We know why we need our Higher Power to guide us. Recovery is a spiritual journey.

In this journey, we are followers, not guides. It’s a journey that change us. We don’t know how recovery will change us, but we know it will.

Is my faith strong enough for my journey? Part of how we get strong for our journey is by knowing who we truly are: addicts.

Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember who I am, so I’ll learn to respect the power of my illness.

Action for the Day: I’ll take time to remember my past, both good and bad. I’ll also take time to think
about who I am now. How far have I come.

[MandiH]

August 15~Each Day A New Beginning

Life does not need to mutilate itself in order to be pure. --Simone Weil

How terribly complicated we choose to make life’s many questions. Should we call a friend and apologize or wait for her call? Are the children getting the kind of care they must, right now? That we “Came to believe in a power greater than ourselves” is often far from our thoughts when we most need it.

Our need to make all things perfect, to know all the answers, to control everything within our range,
creates problems where none really exist. And the more we focus on the problem we’ve created, the
bigger it becomes.

Inattention relieves the tension; last week’s problems can seldom be recalled. The one we are keeping a problem with our undivided attention can be turned loose, at this moment. And just as quickly, the turmoil we’ve been feeling will be beyond recall too.

The program offers us another way to approach life. We need not mutilate it or ourselves. We can learn to
accept the things we cannot change, and change the things we can . . . with practice.

I will pray for wisdom today. I shall expect wisdom, not problems, and the day will smoothly slip by.

[MandiH]

August 15~NA Just For Today

Over Time, Not Overnight

“We found that we do not recover physically, mentally, or spiritually overnight.” Basic Text, p.27

Have you ever approached a recovery celebration with the feeling that you should be further along in your recovery than you are? Maybe you have listened to newcomers sharing in meetings, members with much less clean time, and thought, “But I’m just barely beginning to understand what they’re talking about!”

It’s odd that we should come into recovery thinking that we will feel wonderful right away or no longer
have any difficulty handling life’s twists and turns. We expect our physical problems to correct
themselves, our thinking to become rational, and a fully developed spiritual life to manifest itself
overnight.

We forget that we spent years abusing our bodies, numbing our minds, and suppressing our
awareness of a Higher Power. We cannot undo the damage in a day.

We can, however, apply the next step, go to the next meeting, help the next newcomer. We heal and recover bit by bit-not overnight, but over time.

Just for today: My body will heal a little, my mind will become a little clearer, and my relationship with
my Higher Power will strengthen.

[MandiH]

August 15~Today’s Gift

Roots nourish, give us life and bind us safely to earth. Plant them well. --Anonymous

All trees have different root systems. The pine grows quickly, with shallow roots that spread in every
direction. A maple is a slow-growing tree, whose roots run deeper, seeking out moisture far into the earth.

Both root systems give life, but when the weather turns stormy and the wind howls through the branches, the maple, with its deeper roots, will hold fast. Though the pine grows faster and needs only surface moisture, it cannot withstand the storm as well.

We often want things immediately. We want to play the piano, but only if we can learn it fast. We want
others to love us right away, or we’ll give up on them. If something we’re doing doesn’t go just so right
from the start, we give up.

But the permanent things in life take time to develop. If we want our relationships, our skills, our
accomplishments, to resist the storms we all encounter, we must allow time for them to grow and deepen within us, and marvel, in the meantime, at how much we can learn from the world around us.

What deep roots am I setting down right now?

[MandiH]

August 16~Daily Reflections

“I HAD DROPPED OUT”

We might next ask ourselves what we mean when we say that we have “harmed” other people. What kinds of “harm” do people do one another, anyway? To define the word “harm” in a practical way, we might call it the result of instincts in collision, which cause physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual damage to people.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 80

I had been to Eighth Step meetings, always thinking, “I really haven’t harmed many people, mostly myself.” But the time came when I wrote my list out and it was not as short as I thought it would be. I either liked you, disliked you, or needed something from you—it was that simple. People hadn’t done what I wanted them to do and intimate relationships were out of hand because of my partners’ unreasonable demands. Were these “sins of omission”? Because of my drinking, I had “dropped out”—never sending cards, returning calls, being there for other people, or taking part in their lives. What a grace it has been to look at these relationships, to make my inventories in quiet, alone with the God of my understanding, and to go forth daily, with a willingness to be honest and forthright in my relationships.

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

[MandiH]

August 16~Language Of Letting Go

Rescuing Ourselves

No one likes a martyr.

How do we feel around martyrs? Guilty, angry, trapped, negative, and anxious to get away.

Somehow, many of us have developed the belief that depriving ourselves, not taking care of ourselves, being a victim, and suffering needlessly will get us what we want.

It is our job to notice our abilities, our strengths, and take care of ourselves by developing and acting on them.

It is our job to notice our pain and weariness and appropriately take care of ourselves.

It is our job to notice our deprivation, too, and begin to take steps to give ourselves abundance. It begins inside of us, by changing what we believe we deserve, by giving up our deprivation and treating ourselves the way we deserve to be treated.

Life is hard, but we don’t have to make it more difficult by neglecting ourselves. There is no glory in suffering, only suffering. Our pain will not stop when a rescuer comes, but when we take responsibility for ourselves and stop our own pain.

Today, I will be my own rescuer. I will stop waiting for someone else to work through my issues and solve my problems for me.

[MandiH]

August 16~Keep It Simple

The strongest rebellion may be expressed in quiet, undramatic behavior.—Benjamin Spock

In recovery, we each rebel against our disease. Each day we fight for the freedom to stay close to our
Higher Power, friends and family.

It’s mainly a quiet battle. It’s fought daily. We fight and win by acting in a spiritual way. We fight and win
every time we help a friend, go to meetings, or read about how to improve our lives.

We move slowly but always forward. Rushing will only tire us out. Our battle will go on for life.

We are quiet fighters, but we’re strong, for we do not fight alone. And we know what waits for us if we
lose.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stay free. When I want to give up, help me realize this is
normal. Help me to keep fighting at these times.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll be a rebel. I will go to an extra meeting, or I’ll talk with my sponsor. I’ll
find a way to help someone without the person knowing.

[MandiH]

August 16~Each Day a New Beginning

Love is a force. It is not a result; it is a cause. It is not a product; it produces. It is a power, like money, or steam or electricity. It is valueless unless you can give something else by means of it. --Anne Morrow
Lindbergh

Love and feeling loved–how often both elude us! We have taken the first step, though. Let’s be grateful
for our recovery; this is an act of love. We have chosen to love ourselves, and the program opens the way to our loving others.

Love and loving are balms for the soul sickness we experience. We are being healed.

We are healing one another.

Loving others means going beyond our own selfish concerns, for the moment, and putting others’
concerns first. The result is that others feel our love. They feel a caring that is healing. And our spiritual
natures are likewise soothed.

We find God and ourselves through touching the souls of one another. Our most special gift is being
loved and giving love. Every moment we spend with another person is gift-giving time.

Every day is a gift-giving holiday, if I will but make it so.

[MandiH]

August 16~NA Just For Today

Up Or Down

“This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day… This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer.” Basic Text, p. 35-36

Our spiritual condition is never static; if it’s not growing, it’s decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual
progress will lose its upward momentum. Gradually, our growth will slow, then halt, then reverse itself.

Our tolerance will wear thin; our willingness to serve others will wane; our minds will narrow and close.
Before long, we’ll be right back where we started: in conflict with everyone and everything around us,
unable to bear even ourselves.

Our only option is to actively participate in our program of spiritual growth. We pray, seeking knowledge greater than our own from a Power greater than ourselves. We open our minds and keep them open, becoming teachable and taking advantage of what others have to share with us. We demonstrate our willingness to try new ideas and new ways of doing things, experiencing life in a whole new way. Our spiritual progress picks up speed and momentum, driven by the Higher Power we are coming to understand better each day.

Up or down - it’s one or the other, with very little in between, where spiritual growth is concerned.
Recovery is not fueled by wishing and dreaming, we’ve discovered, but by prayer and action.

Just for today: The only constant in my spiritual condition is change. I cannot rely on yesterday’s
program. Today, I seek new spiritual growth through prayer and action.

[MandiH]

August 16~Touchstones

We did not all come over on the same ship, but we were all in the same boat. --Bernard M. Baruch

As we listen to others’ stories and tell our own, we see roads into this program are different. Some of us hit bottom. Others were spared the worst catastrophes, getting the message of recovery early.

In the final analysis, we are all in the same boat with our powerlessness. The differences are superficial.

There is no higher or lower status for anyone in our program. When it comes to the power of our addictions and co dependencies, we are equally in need of help from our Higher Power.

Perhaps there was a time when we felt totally alone with our problems. But we were alone just like
thousands of others needing recovery.

Because we all have suffered and know our need for help, we can now have a caring and supportive group. We can turn to our brothers and sisters in the program knowing that they are in the same boat, and they will understand. No one else provides that kind of healing relationship.

I am grateful for the closeness I have with others who are in the same boat with me.

[MandiH]

August 17~Daily Reflections

RIGHTING THE HARM

In many instances we shall find that though the harm done others has not been great, the emotional harm we have done ourselves has.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 79

Have you ever thought that the harm you did a business associate, or perhaps a family member, was so slight that it really didn’t deserve an apology because they probably wouldn’t remember it anyway? If that person, and the wrong done to him, keeps coming to mind, time and again, causing an uneasy or perhaps guilty feeling, then I put that person’s name at the top of my “amends list,” and become willing to make a sincere apology, knowing I will feel calm and relaxed about that person once this very important part of my recovery is accomplished.

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

[MandiH]

August 17~Language Of Letting Go

Healing Thoughts

Think healing thoughts.

When you feel anger or resentment, ask God to help you feel it, learn from it, and then release it. Ask Him to bless those who you feel anger toward.

Ask Him to bless you too.

When you feel fear, ask Him to take it from you. When you feel misery, force gratitude. When you feel deprived, know that there is enough.

When you feel ashamed, reassure yourself that who you are is okay. You are good enough.

When you doubt your timing or your present position in life, assure yourself that all is well; you are right where you’re meant to be. Reassure yourself that others are too.

When you ponder the future, tell yourself that it will be good. When you look back at the past, relinquish regrets.

When you notice problems, affirm there will be a timely solution and a gift from the problem.

When you resist feelings or thoughts, practice acceptance. When you feel discomfort, know it will pass. When you identify a want or a need, tell yourself it will be met.

When you worry about those you love, ask God to protect and care for them. When you worry about yourself, ask Him to do the same.

When you think about others, think love. When you think about yourself, think love.

Then watch your thoughts transform reality.

Today, I will think healing thoughts.

[MandiH]

August 17~Keep It Simple

Words that do not match deeds are not important.—Ernesto Ch’e Guevara

What we do can be much more important than what we say. We tend to talk about things we want to do.
We need to also be people who do things we talk about. We are not spiritual people unless our actions are spiritual.

Many of us used to be “all or nothing” people. That made us afraid to take the big projects. But now we
can get things done, if we take one step at a time.

We’re not “all or nothing” people anymore. We’re
people who are changing and growing a little every day. And each day our deeds match our words a little better.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me live fully today. Help me not to talk to much about what I
want to do. Give me the gift of patience, so I can be pleased with my progress.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list the things that I say I’d like to do. What is one thing I can do today to
make each of them happen? I’ll take one step today to match my life to my dreams.

[MandiH]

August 17~Each Day A New Beginning

Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as it is, is the only way of being
happy. --Jennie Jerome Churchill

We are generally so certain that we know what’s best for ourselves. And we are just as often certain that what we think is best will guarantee happiness. Perhaps we should reflect on all the times in the past when our wishes didn’t come true–fortunately.

Did any one of us expect to be doing today, what we each are doing? We may have expected children, a
particular kind of home, a certain career, but did we really anticipate all that life has wrought?

Addiction, and then recovery from it, was probably not in our pictures. But it does fit into the big picture.

The happiness we experience today probably doesn’t visit us in the way we anticipated a few years back. But it is measured out according to our needs. The choice to be happy with what is, is ours to make, every moment.

I can take life as it is, and trust that it is just right, just what it needs to be. The big picture guarantees me lasting happiness.

Today’s experiences will move me a step closer.

[MandiH]

August 17~NA Just For Today

Tell The Truth

“A symptom of our disease is alienation, and honest sharing will free us to recover.” Basic Text, p. 80

Truth connects us to life while fear, isolation, and dishonesty alienate us from it. As using addicts, we hid as much of the truth about ourselves from as much of the world as we possibly could.

Our fear kept us from opening ourselves up to those around us, providing protection against what others might do if we appeared vulnerable. But our fear also kept us from connecting with our world. We lived like alien beings on our own planet, always alone and getting lonelier by the minute.

The Twelve Steps and the fellowship of recovering addicts give people like us a place where we can feel
safe telling the truth about ourselves. We are able to honestly admit our frustrating, humbling
powerlessness over addiction because we meet many others who’ve been in the same situation - we’re safe among them. And we keep on telling more of the truth about ourselves as we continue to work the steps.

The more we do, the more truly connected we feel to the world around us.

Today, we need not hide from the reality of our relations with the people, places, and things in our lives.

We accept those relationships just as they are, and we own our part in them. We take time every day to ask, “Am I telling the truth about myself?”

Each time we do this, we draw that much further away from the alienation that characterizes our addiction, and that much closer to the freedom recovery can bring us.

Just for today: Truth is my connection to reality. Today, I will take time to ask myself, “Am I telling the
truth?”