Recovery
Meditations: February 15th
SETTING EXAMPLES
"Don't worry that children never
listen to you;
worry that they are always watching
you.
Robert Fulgham
How many overweight people blame
their size on genes? My whole family had weight problems. Everywhere I turn I
see obese families. In my house we were taught that it is a sin to waste food.
After all, there are starving people in the world. As if my cleaning my plate
would really help a starving child. How many times was I rewarded with a sweet
treat instead of a hug and a "Gee you did good - I'm really proud of
you." A scraped knee always felt better if you put a candy on it. I could
eat the treat after the pain was gone, so of course eating made you feel better
fast. My parents didn't actually teach me that food would give me instant
gratification in so many words, but I learned those lessons from observation.
Food helped me get through some very difficult years. I never realized that
there were tools that could help through them. Unfortunately, I only found OA
after my children were grown up and had watched their coe mother make the same
mistakes that her parents taught her. I am trying to set a better example now.
I no longer have a pantry full of junk food and when I give my grandchildren
treats, it's books, stickers, hairclips, toys, anything non-edible.
God, I realize that my parents
unintentionally taught me bad eating habits and I forgive them. Please let my
children forgive me for making the same mistakes. Help me to set a better
example for the next generation. Please be with me when I buy groceries and let
me bring only healthy food into my house. Help me to be satisfied with my
abstinent meals so that I won't be tempted to binge and graze with little eyes
upon me. I am so grateful for Your presence in my life, because I can't do this
alone.
One day at a time . . .
Please remind me that there are
tools I can use instead of slipping into my old eating habits and let me be an
example of the miracles that come with abstinence.
Jeanette
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Each Day a New Beginning
Fortuitous circumstances constitute the moulds that shape the majority of human lives.
—Augusta Evans
Being in the right place at the right time is how we generally explain our good fortune or the good fortune of a friend. But it's to our advantage to understand how we managed to be in the right place at just the right moment.
We have probably heard many times at meetings that God's timetable is not necessarily the same as our timetable - that events will happen as scheduled to fit a picture bigger than the picture encompassed by our egos. And frequently our patience wears thin because we aren't privy to God's timetable. But we can trust, today and always, that doors open on time. Opportunities are offered when we are ready for them. Nary a moment passes that doesn't invite us to both give and receive a special message - a particular lesson. We are always in God's care, and every circumstance of our lives is helping to mold the women we are meant to be.
I will take a long look at where I am today and be grateful for my place. It's right for me, now, and is preparing me for the adventure ahead.
—Augusta Evans
Being in the right place at the right time is how we generally explain our good fortune or the good fortune of a friend. But it's to our advantage to understand how we managed to be in the right place at just the right moment.
We have probably heard many times at meetings that God's timetable is not necessarily the same as our timetable - that events will happen as scheduled to fit a picture bigger than the picture encompassed by our egos. And frequently our patience wears thin because we aren't privy to God's timetable. But we can trust, today and always, that doors open on time. Opportunities are offered when we are ready for them. Nary a moment passes that doesn't invite us to both give and receive a special message - a particular lesson. We are always in God's care, and every circumstance of our lives is helping to mold the women we are meant to be.
I will take a long look at where I am today and be grateful for my place. It's right for me, now, and is preparing me for the adventure ahead.
From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey
© 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.
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Food for Thought
Beginnings
Each day is a new start. Each moment is a beginning.
We do not have to wait until Monday to get back on the program or clean a closet or tackle a difficult report. We do not have to wait until tomorrow morning, either. Now is the moment to stop eating, to make a phone call, to begin whatever project we have been putting off.
There is no way we can change what we did five minutes ago, nor can we predict what will happen half an hour from now. We can only deal with now.
By doing what needs to be done right now, we make the most of each present moment. As long as we are alive, we are always free to begin again. Instead of following an old, worn out habit, make a fresh start this moment on the rest of your life.
Give me grace, Lord, to begin again.
Each day is a new start. Each moment is a beginning.
We do not have to wait until Monday to get back on the program or clean a closet or tackle a difficult report. We do not have to wait until tomorrow morning, either. Now is the moment to stop eating, to make a phone call, to begin whatever project we have been putting off.
There is no way we can change what we did five minutes ago, nor can we predict what will happen half an hour from now. We can only deal with now.
By doing what needs to be done right now, we make the most of each present moment. As long as we are alive, we are always free to begin again. Instead of following an old, worn out habit, make a fresh start this moment on the rest of your life.
Give me grace, Lord, to begin again.
From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L.
©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation
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The Language of Letting Go
Control
Sometimes, the gray days scare us. Those are the days when the old feelings come rushing back. We may feel needy, scared, ashamed, and unable to care for ourselves.
When this happens, it's hard to trust ourselves, others, the goodness of life, and the good intentions of our Higher Power. Problems seem overwhelming. The past seems senseless; the future, bleak. We feel certain the things we want in life will never happen.
In those moments, we may become convinced that things and people outside of ourselves hold the key to our happiness. That's when we may try to control people and situations to mask our pain. When these "codependent crazies" strike, others often begin to react negatively to our controlling.
When we're in a frenzied state, searching for happiness outside ourselves and looking to others to provide our peace and stability, remember this: Even if we could control things and people, even if we got what we wanted, we would still be ourselves. Our emotional state would still be in turmoil.
People and things don't stop our pain or heal us. In recovery, we learn that this is our job, and we can do it by using our resources: our Higher Power, our support systems, our recovery program, and ourselves.
Often, after we've become peaceful, trusting, and accepting, what we want comes to us - with ease and naturalness.
The sun begins to shine again. Isn't it funny, and isn't it true, how all change really does begin with us?
I can let go of things and people and my need to control today. I can deal with my feelings. I can get peaceful. I can get calm. I can get back on track and find the true key to happiness - myself. I will remember that a gray day is just that - one gray day.
Sometimes, the gray days scare us. Those are the days when the old feelings come rushing back. We may feel needy, scared, ashamed, and unable to care for ourselves.
When this happens, it's hard to trust ourselves, others, the goodness of life, and the good intentions of our Higher Power. Problems seem overwhelming. The past seems senseless; the future, bleak. We feel certain the things we want in life will never happen.
In those moments, we may become convinced that things and people outside of ourselves hold the key to our happiness. That's when we may try to control people and situations to mask our pain. When these "codependent crazies" strike, others often begin to react negatively to our controlling.
When we're in a frenzied state, searching for happiness outside ourselves and looking to others to provide our peace and stability, remember this: Even if we could control things and people, even if we got what we wanted, we would still be ourselves. Our emotional state would still be in turmoil.
People and things don't stop our pain or heal us. In recovery, we learn that this is our job, and we can do it by using our resources: our Higher Power, our support systems, our recovery program, and ourselves.
Often, after we've become peaceful, trusting, and accepting, what we want comes to us - with ease and naturalness.
The sun begins to shine again. Isn't it funny, and isn't it true, how all change really does begin with us?
I can let go of things and people and my need to control today. I can deal with my feelings. I can get peaceful. I can get calm. I can get back on track and find the true key to happiness - myself. I will remember that a gray day is just that - one gray day.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie
©1990, Hazelden Foundation
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An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.
--Orlando A. Battista
In our lives, we have always been drawn to extremes. If it isn't white, it must be black. If a little bit feels good, we take a lot. If we are going to do something, only perfection is good enough. So if we don't win, we lose, and if we can't do it perfectly, we feel like a failure.
In this program we learn to seek progress, not perfection. And we can only make progress by trial and error. We learn nothing if we don't try new things and sobriety the moment we decide to enter this program of recovery. When we surrender to our powerlessness over our addictions and codependency, we have to begin to learn how to live in a new way. It doesn't just happen all at once. So when we take our errors and our slips and agree to learn from them, we become stronger in our sobriety.
Today I accept my imperfection as a permanent condition, and I will keep coming back to the program of recovery.
You are reading from the book:
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