Recovery
Meditations: July 21st
GROWING OLDER
“I think, therefore I
am.”
Rene Descartes
Before beginning my recovery process with our online groups,
I used to look in the mirror and want to cry. I'm not a young, lovely creature
anymore. I'm showing my age. Inside I'm still a young girl, but now I have a
grandma's face.
The Twelve Steps to recovery have opened up a whole new
world to me ~ and it is a world that is ageless. Its principles are timeless:
honesty, hope, faith, courage, integrity, willingness, humility, love,
forgiveness, self-discipline, perseverance, spiritual awareness and service.
Maturing without benefit of these principles would be choosing to simply get
old.
Through my program of recovery, I have been inspired to keep
my body strong and well -- the way my Higher Power made it. I am encouraged to
stay as attractive as possible for as long as possible, out of concern for
myself and for others. By the time I reached the 9th Step, the worry lines in
my face began to soften … now they look like smile lines. It seems that
participating in our program of recovery has reversed my age.
One day at a time...
I will grow older,
but also much wiser.
~ SAG
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Each Day a New Beginning
I wake each morning with the thrill of expectation and the joy of being truly alive. And I'm thankful for this day.
—Angela L. Wozniak
Being open to the day's offering, all of it, and looking for the positive experiences therein, becomes habit only after a firm commitment and dedicated practice. Today is special for each of us.
These next twenty-four hours will be unlike all others. And we are not the persons we were, even as recently as yesterday. Looking forward to all of the day's events, with the knowledge that we are in the care of our higher power, in every detail, frees us to make the most of everything that happens.
We have been given the gift of life. We are survivors. The odds against survival in our past make clear we have yet a job to do and are being given the help to do it. Confidence wavers in all of us, but the strength we need will be given to each of us.
In this day that stands before me, I can be certain that I'll have many chances for growth, for kindness to others, for developing confidence in myself. I will be thoughtful in my actions today. They are special and will be repeated no more.
—Angela L. Wozniak
Being open to the day's offering, all of it, and looking for the positive experiences therein, becomes habit only after a firm commitment and dedicated practice. Today is special for each of us.
These next twenty-four hours will be unlike all others. And we are not the persons we were, even as recently as yesterday. Looking forward to all of the day's events, with the knowledge that we are in the care of our higher power, in every detail, frees us to make the most of everything that happens.
We have been given the gift of life. We are survivors. The odds against survival in our past make clear we have yet a job to do and are being given the help to do it. Confidence wavers in all of us, but the strength we need will be given to each of us.
In this day that stands before me, I can be certain that I'll have many chances for growth, for kindness to others, for developing confidence in myself. I will be thoughtful in my actions today. They are special and will be repeated no more.
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
Following the Rules
When we were eating compulsively, we thought we could make up our own rules as we went along. We thought we were entitled to eat what we wanted when we wanted it. The result was chaos. We found that living according to self-will did not work.
Commitment to the OA program involves the willingness to accept a set of rules, which we did not make. Following the abstinence guidelines is what enables us to control our disease. When we ignore the discipline, which has worked for others and insist on doing it our way, our chances for recovery diminish.
The rules of abstinence - three measured meals a day with nothing in between, no binge foods, a definite plan, etc. - are the means to freedom. To rebel against them is to delay or prevent our liberation from compulsive overeating.
I pray for the honesty to follow the rules.
When we were eating compulsively, we thought we could make up our own rules as we went along. We thought we were entitled to eat what we wanted when we wanted it. The result was chaos. We found that living according to self-will did not work.
Commitment to the OA program involves the willingness to accept a set of rules, which we did not make. Following the abstinence guidelines is what enables us to control our disease. When we ignore the discipline, which has worked for others and insist on doing it our way, our chances for recovery diminish.
The rules of abstinence - three measured meals a day with nothing in between, no binge foods, a definite plan, etc. - are the means to freedom. To rebel against them is to delay or prevent our liberation from compulsive overeating.
I pray for the honesty to follow the rules.
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
Being Is Enough
We are not always clear about what we are experiencing, or why.
In the midst of grief, transition, transformation, learning, healing, or discipline - it's difficult to have perspective.
That's because we have not learned the lesson yet. We are in the midst of it. The gift of clarity has not yet arrived.
Our need to control can manifest itself as a need to know exactly what's going on. We cannot always know. Sometimes, we need to let ourselves be and trust that clarity will come later, in retrospect.
If we are confused, that is what we are supposed to be. The confusion is temporary. We shall see. The lesson, the purpose, shall reveal itself - in time, in its own time.
It will all make perfect sense - later.
Today, I will stop straining to know what I don't know, to see what I can't see, to understand what I don't yet understand. I will trust that being is sufficient, and let go of my need to figure things out.
We are not always clear about what we are experiencing, or why.
In the midst of grief, transition, transformation, learning, healing, or discipline - it's difficult to have perspective.
That's because we have not learned the lesson yet. We are in the midst of it. The gift of clarity has not yet arrived.
Our need to control can manifest itself as a need to know exactly what's going on. We cannot always know. Sometimes, we need to let ourselves be and trust that clarity will come later, in retrospect.
If we are confused, that is what we are supposed to be. The confusion is temporary. We shall see. The lesson, the purpose, shall reveal itself - in time, in its own time.
It will all make perfect sense - later.
Today, I will stop straining to know what I don't know, to see what I can't see, to understand what I don't yet understand. I will trust that being is sufficient, and let go of my need to figure things out.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie
©1990, Hazelden Foundation
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Today's thought from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
--William James
Many of us learned as children that rejection and abandonment are part and parcel of being alive. We are so used to feeling as though things won't work out, that fear - like a shadow - is always lurking behind us. Usually there's something specific to be afraid of - that we won't have enough money to pay our bills, someone we love will die, or our children won't do well in school. And always there's the generalized fear that events will overwhelm us in spite of our best efforts.
We need to be careful about creating what we look for. Regardless of the frightening experiences of the past, we need to believe that other results are possible: All loved ones don't leave, all risks don't end in devastation, and all efforts aren't dashed on the rocks of defeat.
New consequences are possible when we believe they're possible. The brave new world that each of us seeks stands on the shoulders of that belief.
I am sick and tired of being fearful. Today, I am confident that positive efforts will yield positive results.
Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
--William James
Many of us learned as children that rejection and abandonment are part and parcel of being alive. We are so used to feeling as though things won't work out, that fear - like a shadow - is always lurking behind us. Usually there's something specific to be afraid of - that we won't have enough money to pay our bills, someone we love will die, or our children won't do well in school. And always there's the generalized fear that events will overwhelm us in spite of our best efforts.
We need to be careful about creating what we look for. Regardless of the frightening experiences of the past, we need to believe that other results are possible: All loved ones don't leave, all risks don't end in devastation, and all efforts aren't dashed on the rocks of defeat.
New consequences are possible when we believe they're possible. The brave new world that each of us seeks stands on the shoulders of that belief.
I am sick and tired of being fearful. Today, I am confident that positive efforts will yield positive results.
You are reading from the book:
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