Recovery
Meditations: November 11th
Humor
Don't take yourself
too damned seriously.
Rule #62, AA's Twelve
Steps and Twelve Traditions
In the years of my existence, before I got into recovery, I
would run from one self-important crisis to another. Everything was so
important, so heavy! What laughter there was ended up directed derisively at
others. I treated my life with self-importance and pomposity.
It took sitting in the rooms, day after day and night after
night, listening to how recovering people were able to laugh at themselves. Oh,
they were deadly serious when it came to working the Steps and the traditions.
After all, if not for them, they'd be dead or crazy. But as they would share
things where they had shown the heavy-does-it attitude, they would see the
folly of their ways and start a good belly laugh that would cascade through the
room and have us all wiping our eyes.
As I work my program, I realize that there are some things
that need more prayer and meditation than others. Then there are those things
in my life that, under the light of my recovery, are just plain flat-out silly.
My Higher Power gives me the ability to cry and grieve where appropriate. My
Higher Power also has taught me that laughter, indeed, is often the best
medicine.
One day at a time
....
I learn that healthy
laughter is just as important to my recovery as are the healthy tears.
~ Mark Y.
******************************
Each Day A New Beginning
Life
has got to be lived--that's all there is to it. At 70 I would say the
advantage is that you take life more calmly. You know that, "This, too,
shall pass!"
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Wisdom comes with age, but also with maturity. It is knowing that all is well in the midst of a storm. And as our faith grows, as we trust more that there is a power greater than ourselves, which will see us through, we can relax, secure that a better time awaits us.
We will come to understand the part a difficult circumstance has played in our lives. Hindsight makes so much clear. The broken marriage, the lost job, the loneliness have all contributed to who we are becoming. The joy of the wisdom we are acquiring is that hindsight comes more quickly. We can, on occasion, begin to accept a difficult situation's contribution to our wholeness while caught in the turmoil.
How far we have come! So seldom do we stay caught, really trapped, in the fear of misunderstanding. Life must teach us all we need to know. We can make the way easier by stretching our trust--by knowing fully that the pain of the present will open the way to the serenity of the future.
I know that this too shall pass.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Wisdom comes with age, but also with maturity. It is knowing that all is well in the midst of a storm. And as our faith grows, as we trust more that there is a power greater than ourselves, which will see us through, we can relax, secure that a better time awaits us.
We will come to understand the part a difficult circumstance has played in our lives. Hindsight makes so much clear. The broken marriage, the lost job, the loneliness have all contributed to who we are becoming. The joy of the wisdom we are acquiring is that hindsight comes more quickly. We can, on occasion, begin to accept a difficult situation's contribution to our wholeness while caught in the turmoil.
How far we have come! So seldom do we stay caught, really trapped, in the fear of misunderstanding. Life must teach us all we need to know. We can make the way easier by stretching our trust--by knowing fully that the pain of the present will open the way to the serenity of the future.
I know that this too shall pass.
**********************************
Food For Thought
Asking Directions
When we do not know which way to turn, let us not be too proud to ask for directions. We have found our way to a program, which can guide us out of the confusion of compulsive overeating into an ordered, satisfying way of life. In OA, there are people who can give us the directions we need, if we will ask for help.
There is much that we can do on our own thoroughly studying the literature, planning our three meals a day, establishing firm contact with our Higher Power. When we hit a snag, however, or are unsure of how to handle a difficult situation, we need to promptly seek the assistance our group provides. In order to receive help, we usually need to ask for it.
The illusion that we knew how to manage our lives and did not have to follow anyone else's directions was one of the causes of our difficulties with food and with life in general. Admitting that by ourselves we are powerless enables us to ask for the directions we need.
I ask for Your directions. Lord.
When we do not know which way to turn, let us not be too proud to ask for directions. We have found our way to a program, which can guide us out of the confusion of compulsive overeating into an ordered, satisfying way of life. In OA, there are people who can give us the directions we need, if we will ask for help.
There is much that we can do on our own thoroughly studying the literature, planning our three meals a day, establishing firm contact with our Higher Power. When we hit a snag, however, or are unsure of how to handle a difficult situation, we need to promptly seek the assistance our group provides. In order to receive help, we usually need to ask for it.
The illusion that we knew how to manage our lives and did not have to follow anyone else's directions was one of the causes of our difficulties with food and with life in general. Admitting that by ourselves we are powerless enables us to ask for the directions we need.
I ask for Your directions. Lord.
From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation
**********************************
The Language of Letting Go
Discipline
Children need discipline to feel secure; so do adults.
Discipline means understanding there are logical consequences to our behavior. Discipline means taking responsibility for our behavior and the consequences.
Discipline means learning to wait for what we want.
Discipline means being willing to work for and toward what we want.
Discipline means learning and practicing new behaviors.
Discipline means being where we need to be, when we need to be there, despite our feelings.
Discipline is the day to day performing of tasks, whether these are recovery behaviors or washing the dishes.
Discipline involves trusting that our goals will be reached though we cannot see them.
Discipline can be grueling. We may feel afraid, confused, and uncertain. Later, we will see the purpose. But this clarity of sight usually does not come during the time of discipline. We may not even believe we're moving forward.
But we are.
The task at hand during times of discipline is simple: listen, trust, and obey.
Higher Power, help me learn to surrender to discipline. Help me be grateful that You care enough about me to allow these times of discipline and learning in my life. Help me know that as a result of discipline and learning, something important will have been worked out in me.
Children need discipline to feel secure; so do adults.
Discipline means understanding there are logical consequences to our behavior. Discipline means taking responsibility for our behavior and the consequences.
Discipline means learning to wait for what we want.
Discipline means being willing to work for and toward what we want.
Discipline means learning and practicing new behaviors.
Discipline means being where we need to be, when we need to be there, despite our feelings.
Discipline is the day to day performing of tasks, whether these are recovery behaviors or washing the dishes.
Discipline involves trusting that our goals will be reached though we cannot see them.
Discipline can be grueling. We may feel afraid, confused, and uncertain. Later, we will see the purpose. But this clarity of sight usually does not come during the time of discipline. We may not even believe we're moving forward.
But we are.
The task at hand during times of discipline is simple: listen, trust, and obey.
Higher Power, help me learn to surrender to discipline. Help me be grateful that You care enough about me to allow these times of discipline and learning in my life. Help me know that as a result of discipline and learning, something important will have been worked out in me.
From The
Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
--Anonymous
One of the biggest problems of addiction began with the initial desire to increase and continue to use an addictive substance. All of us who have gotten to the point of overdoing the consumption of a substance were basically, in some manner, filling a need to be what we thought was "normal" like other people.
We were convinced we were unworthy, inadequate, afraid, and lonely whenever we compared ourselves to others. We disconnected and isolated ourselves, not only from our peers, but also from our own real selves. We lived in a world of fantasy.
Our problem was more than a physical hunger for the things that made us dependent. It was also not dealing with crazy thinking, self-defeating behavior, and screwed-up emotions.
Today, I'll remember addiction is two-fold: one was my substance use and the other was an irrational thinking problem.
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
--Anonymous
One of the biggest problems of addiction began with the initial desire to increase and continue to use an addictive substance. All of us who have gotten to the point of overdoing the consumption of a substance were basically, in some manner, filling a need to be what we thought was "normal" like other people.
We were convinced we were unworthy, inadequate, afraid, and lonely whenever we compared ourselves to others. We disconnected and isolated ourselves, not only from our peers, but also from our own real selves. We lived in a world of fantasy.
Our problem was more than a physical hunger for the things that made us dependent. It was also not dealing with crazy thinking, self-defeating behavior, and screwed-up emotions.
Today, I'll remember addiction is two-fold: one was my substance use and the other was an irrational thinking problem.
You are reading from the book:
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