Recovery
Meditations: September 18th
OVERWHELMED
“Fear is a sign –
usually a sign that
I’m doing something right.”
Erica Jong
When I first came into the Twelve Step program, I felt
overwhelmed. Life overwhelmed me. My eating disorders overwhelmed me. My
inner-pain overwhelmed me. Before I walked into my first meeting, I felt very
alone.
My Higher Power has been good to me. When I entered my first
meeting, I learned I was not alone. As I began to work the Twelve Steps, I
learned that, while I had a lot of healing and learning to do, I would not be
doing it alone. I have many friends who help me, but most of all, I have a
relationship with my Higher Power that assures me constantly that I am loved.
Today, I don't often feel overwhelmed. When I do, I turn to
my Higher Power and my friends, all of whom help me to focus on doing the best
thing for my mental, emotional and physical health.
One day at a time...
I will remember
that even when I feel
alone,
I have the love and
help of my Higher Power.
~ Rhonda H.
*******************************
Each Day A New Beginning
Grace
strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us
when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life.
—Paul Tillich
We are men who know the consequences of alcoholism, codependency, and addiction. We have walked dark valleys. We have felt meaningless and empty in our lives. Each of us has a story. The harder we worked to overcome those feelings by our individual efforts, the worse the feelings got. This program suggested we try something radically new - something we couldn't think up on our own.
Grace is the love and generosity of God, which comes through no effort of our own. Not until we felt defeated would we open ourselves to this gift of help from our Higher Power. Grace comes in many forms. It is in the hope we feel in the morning after a night of rest, and it's in the good feeling we get attending our meetings. Before this program, most of us were trying so hard to control our lives we couldn't notice any gifts that came from outside our efforts. These Twelve Steps train us for becoming receptive to the healing grace of God.
The grace of God surrounds me - even in difficult times. Returning to that message renews my strength.
—Paul Tillich
We are men who know the consequences of alcoholism, codependency, and addiction. We have walked dark valleys. We have felt meaningless and empty in our lives. Each of us has a story. The harder we worked to overcome those feelings by our individual efforts, the worse the feelings got. This program suggested we try something radically new - something we couldn't think up on our own.
Grace is the love and generosity of God, which comes through no effort of our own. Not until we felt defeated would we open ourselves to this gift of help from our Higher Power. Grace comes in many forms. It is in the hope we feel in the morning after a night of rest, and it's in the good feeling we get attending our meetings. Before this program, most of us were trying so hard to control our lives we couldn't notice any gifts that came from outside our efforts. These Twelve Steps train us for becoming receptive to the healing grace of God.
The grace of God surrounds me - even in difficult times. Returning to that message renews my strength.
From
Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden
Foundation.
Food For Thought
Bad Days
There are some days when we wake up in the morning knowing with a sixth sense that the day is going to be a hard one. These are the days when it is difficult to get out of bed, when we would prefer not to face whatever awaits us. There is no way around these days; we must get through them the best way we can.
Our most useful tool for coping with a bad day is abstinence. Nothing is impossible when we are abstaining from compulsive overeating. Often our problem lies not in the external events of the day but in recognizing a part of ourselves that has been hidden and repressed. We resist facing honestly what our Higher Power is revealing to us about our inner life.
When we are determined not to escape into food, we will come out of a bad day stronger than we were before. We reinforce our new way of living, which is to turn difficult situations over to our Higher Power and then act as He guides us, step by step.
May I be closer to You during the bad days.
There are some days when we wake up in the morning knowing with a sixth sense that the day is going to be a hard one. These are the days when it is difficult to get out of bed, when we would prefer not to face whatever awaits us. There is no way around these days; we must get through them the best way we can.
Our most useful tool for coping with a bad day is abstinence. Nothing is impossible when we are abstaining from compulsive overeating. Often our problem lies not in the external events of the day but in recognizing a part of ourselves that has been hidden and repressed. We resist facing honestly what our Higher Power is revealing to us about our inner life.
When we are determined not to escape into food, we will come out of a bad day stronger than we were before. We reinforce our new way of living, which is to turn difficult situations over to our Higher Power and then act as He guides us, step by step.
May I be closer to You during the bad days.
From Food for
Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992
by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Language of Letting Go
Letting the Good Stuff Happen
Before recovery, my relationships were lousy. I didn't do very well on my job. I was enmeshed in my dysfunctional family. But at least I knew what to expect!
—Anonymous
I want the second half of my life to be as good as the first half was miserable. Sometimes, I'm afraid it won't be. Sometimes, I'm frightened it might be.
The good stuff can scare us. Change, even good change, can be frightening. In some ways, good changes can be more frightening than the hard times.
The past, particularly before recovery, may have become comfortably familiar. We knew what to expect in our relationships. They were predictable. They were repeats of the same pattern - the same behaviors, the same pain, over and over again. They may not have been what we wanted, but we knew what was going to happen.
This is not so when we change patterns and begins recovering.
We may have been fairly good at predicting events in most areas of our life. Relationships would be painful. We'd be deprived.
Each year would be almost a repeat of the last. Sometimes it got a little worse, sometimes a little better, but the change wasn't drastic. Not until the moment when we began recovery.
Then things changed. And the further we progress in this miraculous program, the more we and or circumstances change. We begin to explore uncharted territory.
Things get good. They do get better all the time. We begin to become successful in love, in work, in life. One day at a time, the good stuff begins to happen and the misery dissipates.
We no longer want to be a victim of life. We've learned to avoid unnecessary crisis and trauma.
Life gets good.
"How do I handle the good stuff?" asked one woman. It's harder and more foreign than the pain and tragedy."
"The same way we handled the difficult and the painful experiences," I replied. "One day at a time."
Today, God, help me let go of my need to be in pain and crisis. Help me move as swiftly as possible through sad feelings and problems. Help me find my base and balance in peace, joy, and gratitude. Help me work as hard at accepting what's good, as I have worked in the past at accepting the painful and the difficult.
From The
Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Today's thoughts from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation are:
Through These Doors
Dear God,
Please get me through these doors.
A meeting is what I need.
Remind me to leave my ego and intolerance outside.
Help me to hear the strength and hope in everyone's words.
We are the same but appear so different.
I will remember that others' experiences will help my recovery just as my experience may help another.
Through These Doors
Dear God,
Please get me through these doors.
A meeting is what I need.
Remind me to leave my ego and intolerance outside.
Help me to hear the strength and hope in everyone's words.
We are the same but appear so different.
I will remember that others' experiences will help my recovery just as my experience may help another.
You are reading from the book:
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