First Place

In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest calledthe Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides.
Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that
sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the
Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out
over the Ark’s cover, the place of atone ment. But we cannot explain
these things in detail now.~ Hebrews 9:4-5 (NLT)

Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 64

Incense altar, Ark of the Covenant,
Aaron’s staff, manna,
Ten Commandments, (second edition —
replacing smashed first set).
Last year’s must-have
Christmas gift,
the gadget ready to
storm the market —
five years back,
the new electronic masterpiece
that has them lined up
out the door.
Stuff. Just things,
though priceless or
out-of-date discardables.
When things attain preeminence
it’s time to set them all aside
without regret.

God, let me never put anything
ahead of my need for a
closer relationship with you.

Fear of Ordinary

...the fear of being found out to be ordinary... ~ Weatherhead, Leslie. The Will of God (pp. 82-83). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

Why do we fear being ordinary?
Why did we spend so many years
denying that we were?
Ordinary is merely having
no special or distinctive features; normal.
Do we wish we were abnormal? I think not!
We wish to be habitual, accustomed,
expected, wonted, everyday, regular,
routine, day-to-day, established,
settled, set, fixed, traditional.We fought our way through school
insisting we were real, traditional,
like everybody else,
even we wanted to stand out yet feared
we might.
Let us lay aside the fear,
for we are God's.
and God makes no junk!

God Can

There’s something in you that senses, as C. S. Lewis wrote, “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” ~ Brooks, David. The Second Mountain (p. 43). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

A friend asks, “Can you write a poem
with ‘do I paint the stripes on the leaves?’”
The answer? “Not yet.”
In the spirit of C. S. Lewis,
can I play the role of God
and stretch to what seems impossible?
I feel the answer in my soul,
I never could have painted so infinitesimally
and now my hands flub
and bungle…. Impossible!!But who’s to say God can’t use me.
inept as I may be?
A wise woman I knew fifty years ago
protested singing lyrics of the hymn
proclaiming, “Lord, we are able.
Our spirits are Thine.
Remold them, make us, like Thee, divine.”
God, I can’t, you can. If you wish
to use my hands, they belong to you.
Go right ahead!

After-note: Asked how the question came up my friend said, “The orange water canna come back year after year. They are a fave of mine. Their leaves have stripes. We don’t paint them. We watch them grow and the stripes are there. Nothing we do makes them happen.”

Chicken Soup Prayer

I have what I call the Chicken Soup Theory. When you go to pray, when you go to pray, it’s kind of like making chicken soup. Now if you’ve ever made chicken soup, when you get everything in the pot all of the junk comes to the top, all that stuff, all the grease and whatever comes to the top. That very often is what happens when we start to pray especially at the end of a  very busy day. All of the junk begins to come to the top. That’s how it goes. And I think what happens there, it’s okay, that all of the junk, and all the distractions come. Make it  part of your prayer and choose not to focus on it,  and to move on, to place yourself in the presence of God. ~ Fr. Anthony Ciorra Ph.D.,
The Spirituality of the Twelve Steps for Everyone. (Transcribed from Audiobook)

We listen to prayers in public,
some seeming inspired,
without a stumble, eloquent…
some labored, showy,
ostentatious, seeming sermon-like,
an effort to educate the congregation.
But private prayer is between God and us
and God knows our hearts and minds
with no words at all.
If we sit in silence. God on our mind,
in our heart, it’s prayer if we seek the contact.
Let them roam. God made us
and understands us as a parent does
a language-less child.

Peace, not Conflict

Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting—and conflict. ~ Proverbs 17:1 NLT

The quality, artfulness, appearance
of the food on the table may be plain,
in-artful, simple, but placed there
with love in the heart, with gratitude
for the simple fare, but the meal may appeal
to those who partake a great deal more
than a banquet set out with animosity
as a side dish, and few would not choose
the peaceful meal over the second.
Loving Father, thank you for food
to nourish us, body and soul!

Dare to Leap

Leap, and the net will appear. ~ John Burroughs

I ventured out of ordinary surroundings
and found myself protected, given a hand,
worried over, loved, by all around me,
those I’ve known well for many years
and complete strangers.
My computer daily tells me as I type here,
“Not Secure,” but although I take
physical challenges cautiously
knowing more danger in walking across a
a parking lot than in working on this site
the truth is glaringly unspoken in daily life.
Still, of the 15000 steps on the pedometer
in the time I’m describing, the only time I fell
was in my home, totally familiar and
a step when I know the “No tSecure”
message is very real.

“Leap, and the net will appear?”
Yes, literally (physically)
emotionally and spiritually.
the net is there,
and the name of the net is love.
Thank God for outstretched hands
and for the net of love!

Giving Away the Treasure

Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. Father feels he has struck something better than gold. For a time he may try to hug the new treasure to himself. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product. ~ World Service, Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book and A Study Guide of the 12 Steps. Anonymous Publishing. Kindle Edition.

What do we do with our treasure?
Recovery of body and soul which we find
in the rooms is the greatest possession possible.
Who would not hug it to himself?
Who would believe that might not be the ideal?
Truth be told, it's not. We keep this treasure one way only...
we have to give it away. For giving it away,
amazing, yields more in our possession,
in our cache, our storehouse, which incredibly
expands as we share it. To keep the treasure
we are compelled to share it
with all who will accept it,
to offer it to all we meet.
Mine the trove for the rest of your life
and give away freely to all you encounter.

I Can't

We surrender our lives to God and ask Him for help. When He knows that we’re ready, He gives us by His grace the free gift of sobriety. And we can’t take any credit for having stopped drinking, because we didn’t do it by our own willpower. ~ Anonymous. Twenty Four Hours A Day: Meditations (p. 37). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

The first three steps…
I can’t. God can. I think I’ll let God!
We’ve been trying all our lives
to develop the will power it seems
that everyone got but us.
Such a relief when we learn the extent
to which we’re wrong,
that millions of others are powerless!
I can’t. God can. I think I’ll let God! — thank God!

The Power of Denial

..."never underestimate the power of denial." It can indeed obscure the obvious. ~ Kenneth Wapnick, Absence from Felicity : The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles

Never understate the power of denial?
Because it can obscure the obvious?
And that's desirable why??
Perhaps as Shakespeare said,
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
But how often is it true for you?
When you most energetically deny a statement
think it through. Are you afraid you're wrong?
Never underestimate the power of your own denial.

Identify, Don't Compare

They said I needed to identify, not compare. I didn’t know what they meant. What was the difference? Identifying, they said, was trying to see how I was like the people I was with. Comparing, they told me, was looking for differences, usually seeing how I was better than others. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

I don't recall this bit of wisdom,
identify, don't compare.
obviously it's been far too long
since I read through the Big Book.
The way I would have described it,
familiar from frequent citations.
is that we don't stand on a ladder.
above most folk, lower than a few.
Identify: find the common ground
shared with another. Don't compare,
picking what feels alien, strange,
and distancing myself.
No, in program or out,
we are far better served as we identify
and eschew comparisons!
I put my hand in yours
and together we can do
what we could never do before.

Image by Katrina Edwards

A Collection of "One Days"

Today, I will do one thing I’ve been putting off. A whole collection of “one days” will lay the groundwork for the person I’m building within. ~ Casey, Karen. Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

What can I do today
I'll feel relieved to have done?
Monday I wrote."I sit here
playing a video game...
not on my phone
but on my computer
and hear Julie saying,
'When I play a game
on my phone
I'm making a choice,'
soI'm glad I'm not
playing on my phone!!!
I set it aside and cleaned
an area. I cannot say
I've played no games today
but I have worked toward
having things done
I'll be proud to awaken to
and relieved. I will tomorrow as well
and day by day I
will string together
a collection of "one days."

graphic Copyright : lightwise

How Did I Do Today?

The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few, can ignore the many, and can continue to fear or hate anybody, has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time. ~ AA World Services Inc. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (pp. 92-93). AA World Services, Inc. Kindle Edition.

The Eleventh Step suggests
we continue (regularly)
to take personal inventory
and when we've been wrong,
promptly admit it.
To consider feelings
rather than actions and words,
or to focus on the behavior
while excluding feelings
may leave us with a flawed understanding.
Let us consider both tonight
as we review our day,
doing this to delve deeper,
to understand better who we were
this day and who we might have been.

Graphic Copyright : Neculai Carmen  

GOOD MORNING!

Keep it simple.
Start it right.
It's a new day.
Start by taking dogs out,
repeating the Third Step Prayer
as the water's freshened,
then circling the yard
several times
saying the Seventh Step Prayer,
the Serenity Prayer,
then the OA Promise,
followed by prayers for abstinence,
for loved ones and family,
the prayer list sometimes shortened
as one friend says, "for everyone!"
Then inside. No need for originality.
the same breakfast virtually every day.
Well thought through, it sets the day,
the meals are for sustenance,
not for entertainment. Dogs eat first,
husband next then my oatmeal,
an egg cooked in, a serving of fruit added,
and it's time for morning readings,
food for the body and for the soul,
a true Good Morning!

The Things I Cannot Change

Defending ourselves by engaging in arguments with actively drinking or otherwise irrational people is as fruitless as donning armor to protect ourselves from a nuclear explosion. Only a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. ~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II. Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

Arguing destroys your peace,
strips you of serenity.
And if you hold in what
you want to say, never communicate
your irritation, it's a smoldering fire
ready to ignite. Claim your peace,
declare it yours, "God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference."
And, serenity claimed, pass peace on
by loving the thing, the person,
you cannot change...by loving!!

What's the Why?

Nietzsche says that he who has a “why” to live for can endure any “how.” ~ Brooks, David. The Second Mountain (p. 30). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

 An early Recovery writer said,
"The gradual elimination of
selfishness in the growth
of love for God and
your fellow human beings
is the goal of life."
Do you have a Why in your life?
The Traditions work well
using a first person singular pronoun
for each. My welfare comes first...
A loving god is my ultimate authority...
I need a desire to stop eating compulsively...
I'm autonomous when nobody else is involved...
I cannot let other concerns divert me...
I need to be self-supporting...
I can share Recovery but not as a professional...
I can over-plan, make a
Recovery too rule-based...
I need to attract people to Recovery,
not promote it...
I must always see the primary role of principles
and not consider personalities more important.
A person who has a “why” to live
for can endure any “how.”

image copyright : kchung

You Are Worthy

Ask me to name one outstanding quality about myself, and I will hem and haw, knowing deep down that my best self-appraisal is unreliable. It seems safer to be derogatory than complimentary, to criticize rather than praise. ~ Anonymous, Overeaters. For Today (Kindle Locations 1497-1498). Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

You know, I presume,
there's implied codicil
to the Golden Rule,
a supplement tougher
for we Recovery denizens
than that "love your neighbor"
mandate. Don't you find the harder
directive to be loving yourself?
Try. Name an outstanding quality
you exemplify. Too hard?
Try naming something
you've done well today!
Can you praise yourself?
Do you honestly love yourself?
Love you as much as you love others!

Troubles of Our Making

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Above all, we must be rid of selfishness!
Self- centered? Even Hugh Hefner
detects a problem there!
"It's good to be selfish.
But not so self-centered
that you never listen
to other people."
When we turn to self praise
we're too often self-will run riot.
We can't stand to live that model!
Let's discard self-will today!

At His Service

I am here only to be truly helpful.
I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.
I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.
I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal. ~ Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles. Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition.

For those who know,
yes, it's quoted out of context.
But isn't this who you want to be?
Aren't you happiest being truly
(meaningfully) helpful?
Can you find a better role
than as a representative
of your Higher Power?
...having no worries in act or deed
than following HP's directions?
...being where you're sent
knowing you'll have
further directions there?
...and having any issues healed
and learning to pass along the healing?
I choose to shadow and serve God this day!

The Present Is a Gift

Because most worry focuses on the future, if we can learn to stay in the present, living one day or one moment at a time, we take positive steps toward warding off the effects of fear. ~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II. Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

There's a reason we live one day at a time,
in the now and not wallowing in guilt from the past
or dreading the future. Only by living today
can we choose love and make miracles happen.
Otherwise we choose fear
and wallow in the life
created by the ego,
abiding in negativity,
a stranger to love.
The present in the Presence
is the life to which God calls us.

Have a Blessed Day

You can’t have a blessed day thinking about who offended you and what didn’t work out. Think on the positive things. ~ Joel Osteen

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ~ Philippians 4:8 King James Version (KJV)

How do you feel when wished s blessed day
by a stranger, often by someone in commerce?
Is it a Southern practice, or just in the Bible belt?
Do you know people who are offended by it?
Google responses and see such as,
"If I want it to annoy me,
then I would lead an annoyed life."
I think if people want to be annoyed
they can certainly attain that!
And if they want to be blessed,
that, too, comes from within!
Have a blessed day!

An Unknown God

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’.." Acts 17:22-23 New American Standard Bible - NASB

I believe we all worship the same god
whether we claim to be Methodist,
Baptist, Church of Christ, Catholic...
or Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist,
or something else! I believe God is big enough
to be Who we need, even as that changes.
Who are we to assume we understand
omnipotence?Or that we can describe God
or that someone else is wrong?
God as we understand god will meet
our every need. Thank God!

An altar dedicated to the unknown God
found in 1820 on the Palatine Hill of Rome.

Service Above Self

This column seldom speaks to topics
beyond the Rooms of Recovery
and the fact this day is observed
as Memorial Day in the United States
constitutes an outside issue
under Tradition Ten.
Yet the concept of service
so important to Recovery
is the epitome of this day.
Service above self can continue
for the serving and the served.
When the service leaves the self behind
that is love beyond, and our eternal gratitude
is far too small to acknowledge the service.

Yeah, It's Tough...for Us!

There is a general tendency of our mental apparatus…it seems to find expression in the tenacity with which we hold on to the sources of pleasure at our disposal, and in the difficulty with which we renounce them. ~ Sigmund Freud

Food was our pacifier, our comfort,
our go-to solution. It's been true
since a bottle was the solution
for protests from the crib,
since Grandmom's cookie jar
stood full of happiness on the counter.
For years we denied the truth,
feeling righteous because our remedy of choice
was legal, socially expected...
and easily enough disguised
when wandering past the treats.
But the time came to renounce the treats
and goodness, how we tried!
But we could not...not to become
who we would choose to be
until we heard the first three steps
and found the answer in the simple choice,
"I can't, God can, I think I'll let him!"

Want It for Yourself!

I was told that I must want sobriety for my own sake, and I am convinced this is true. There may be many reasons that bring one to A.A. for the first time, but the lasting one must be to want sobriety and the A.A. way of living for oneself. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

A people pleaser I may be...except that "may" is a lie...
but doing Recovery for you is a fallacy, a mistake,
misplaced emphasis. If you believe I'm powerless
and I repeat dutifully for your sake, professing
I'm powerless over food — that my life is unmanageable,
so, then, the other Eleven rest on a hollow, fragile foundation
and collapse under the weight. Recovery happens only
when at long last honesty replaces make believe
and I long for honest Recovery and the desire
for it is more important than anything else!

Regrets

I don’t want to project. But man it’s so hard. Regrets don’t get us far. Changing who you are does... Wow. This is like a shitty 4th and 5th step. ~ M.G.

Hindsight is convincing. The paradox is that the more we trip, but pick ourselves up and move ahead with determination, the more self-assured and thus loving we’ll become. ~ Casey, Karen. Worthy of Love: Meditations on Loving Ourselves and Others (Hazelden Meditations) (p. 71). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

We don't recover overnight.
We change, yes, but it's a journey,
a path winding on year after year.
We cover it not with purposeful strides
one after another but kind of with a dance step,
one forward then two not quite that far
but side by side on the path behind.
We deal with our regrets but find a new crop
we could not fathom when we first began
the Recovery Dance. Cattle guards,
streams to wade, the path is seldom easy.
but we pick ourselves up, move on,
on the path that's less than clear.
We know the way, just sometimes tarry
in less than ideal spots. Sometimes resentments
appear like tangled roots where footfalls
require mincing steps.  And we cannot march on
but must think them through, see our part
and admit it to ourself, to God, and to someone else.
It takes time but we gain self-esteem
and better like the company we keep
as we continue up the trail.

Redemption Deals With Desire

In the process of affective redemption, desire is not suppressed or destroyed, but gradually transferred, purified, transformed, set on fire. We go through the struggles and ambiguities of human desire to integration and personal wholeness. ~ Constance FitzGerald

We have addictive natures that got us here.
When we learn enough about ourselves
to get past Step One, powerless and unmanageable,
we still must deal with our urges. our compulsions.
We find a concept that will become our Higher Power
but it's not so easy that we can substitute
addiction to HP as a new obsession.
Instead we burn off the old ideas
as though they were chaff,
but more like a refiner's fire,
burning away impurities, leaving the precious,
the worthiness, so where we might before
have looked for a more worthy
though still imperfect substitute
on which to rely but find instead
the possibility of our being transfigured,
worthy, the self we used to seek
in all the wrong places.
We become an integral whole.

His Faithful Love

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
² Let all Israel repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
³ Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
⁴ Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.” ~ Psalm 118:1-4 (NLT)

Give thanks to the Lord, the epitome of Good!
As was true three thousand years ago
His love is faithful and will last millennia longer.
His faithful love endures forever.
Let all the people echo words true since Aaron lived,
"His faithful love endures in this century
as in all before and as will be true forever!
Let all the people echo words true since Aaron lived,
"His faithful love endures in this century
as in all before and as will be true forever!
How much has changed. But more important,
how much remains the same!
Let all the people echo words true since Aaron lived,
"His faithful love endures in this century
as in all before and as will be true forever!

A Life of Recovery

This latest part of my life has had a purpose, not in great things accomplished but in daily living. Courage to face each day has replaced the fears and uncertainties of earlier years. Acceptance of things as they are has replaced the old impatient champing at the bit to conquer the world. I have stopped tilting at windmills and, instead, have tried to accomplish the little daily tasks, unimportant in themselves, but tasks that are an integral part of living fully. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc. Kindle Edition.

It's a life-changing moment,
walking into a twelve-step group
with whom you were created to fit!
The world turns on it's axis
and you are home, even if you've
never before been among your tribe!
Daily living is to long for,
to settle into. Fears that obsessed you
your whole life through
fall away, unneeded. You are home at last
where you fit and never want to leave!
Welcome HOME!!

Incandescent Souls

The people who radiate a permanent joy have given themselves over to lives of deep and loving commitment. Giving has become their nature, and little by little they have made their souls incandescent. There’s always something flowing out of the interiority of our spirit. ~ Brooks, David. The Second Mountain (p. xxxi). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

If you have an interiority of your spirit...
and you do!...don't you want it to glow?
How do you get a permanent joy?
Do you have a deep and loving commitment
radiating joy?Do you know someone who does?
How did it happen? How do they act?
How do they look? Can you become like them?
I have the joy, joy, joy, joy,
Down in my heart, (where?)
Down in my heart, (where?)
Down in my heart,
I have the joy, joy, joy, joy,
Down in my heart, (where?)
Down in my heart to stay.
Let's radiate joy today!

Making Peace Peaceful

The mind can generate wondrous excuses to do something instead of just being open and present. The struggles that go on between being and doing can be awesome. Issues of control and willpower, surrender and defeat rage with all the drama of true spiritual warfare. ~ May, Gerald G. Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions (p. 89). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Kevin DeYoung tells us,
“God is not a magic 8-ball
we shake up and peer into
whenever we have a decision to make."
Yes, we look to God for guidance,
for seeing what it means to surrender,
for understanding just what happens
when we turn our will and our life over,
to examine which of my character defects
might be removed because it stands in the way
of my usefulness to God and my fellows.
We're told we hear God's directives
through sharing...that done by others
but our own as well.
What can we do? How do we get the message?
Be open and present. Love.
"Be still and know!"

Fix It, Please

Daddy was the man of the house...
not just the adult male
but the male among the six of us.
And he was a wonder. He had left
in 1942 to go overseas, a second lieutenant.
He came back and was discharged
a lieutenant colonel. As we grew up
There wasn't much
 I realized he couldn't do.
He took my first watch. a Timex, apart
and gave up getting the parts back in.
He couldn't keep a hula-hoop from falling down,
and he could not get stink bait to stay on a fish-hook.
Sure, he couldn't do EVERYTHING...just almost.
But we need not seek someone
who can do nearly everything.
We can do better. We have a Higher Power
without three tiny inabilities,
and if we mean it when we say,
"God, I offer myself to Thee –
to build with me and to do with me
as Thou wilt.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do Thy will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them
may bear witness to those I would help
of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of Life."
then we can trust, it will be fixed!

Welcome Home!

As I spoke, I looked around the room. More importantly, I looked at the faces of the people in the room and I saw it. I saw the understanding, the empathy, the love. Today I believe I saw my Higher Power for the first time in those faces. While still up at the podium, it hit me—this is what I had been looking for all my life. This was the answer, right here in front of me. Indescribable relief came over me; I knew the fight was over. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

At most Overeaters Anonymous
you're likely to hear. "If you decide
you are one of us,
we welcome you with open arms.
Whatever your circumstances,
we offer you the gift of acceptance.
You are not alone any more.
Welcome to Overeaters Anonymous.
Welcome home!" Whether or not
you had met anyone there before
that meeting, for almost everyone
that's exactly how you feel At home!
...maybe more completely than ever before!
And the same is true of other 12-step groups.
You may not share the addiction,
but you share the acceptance, the love.
Do you have a compulsion you need to address?
The path is clear. Find your way home!!

Seek and Find

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. ~ Step 11

How do you reclaim abstinence?
It's all about willingness.
But do you just decide to do it?
We have no greater willpower now
than when we walked into these rooms.
But there is a Power Who Can!
This is a situation where we may know
His will for us but we must pray without ceasing
for"the power to carry that out!"

The Right Handle

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

One day at a time.
We can't manage the one,
need not try for two!
But if we're not handling it
but trusting a Power Who Can
we stand in good stead,
holding firmly the handle of faith!

Rational?

This has nothing to do with rationality. ~ MG

Are you intelligent? Logical?
Analytical? Rational?
Do you identify with the statement,
"Your best thinking is what got you here.”?
Or do you claim the statement,
"People with above average IQs
are more prone to substance use
and addiction."?
Do you believe intelligent people
...are more curious,
...are less constrained by social norms,
...are more prone to social anxiety and isolation,
...are more prone to worry or relive bad memories,
or are more likely to feel bored or dissatisfied?
Maybe there's truth in all of it,
but there's hope. It's still true
"Rarely have we seen a person fail
who has thoroughly followed our path."
And it's true that you must choose
to completely give yourself
to this simple program,
the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
This has nothing to do with rationality!

Image copyright : arcady31

Self-Perceptive

For we had started to get perspective on ourselves, which is another way of saying that we were gaining in humility. ~ AA World Services Inc. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (p. 48). AA World Services, Inc. Kindle Edition.

Getting a perspective on ourselves?
The dimensional art idea doesn't fit.
We are left with: "a particular attitude toward
or way of regarding something;
a point of view." Are we not possessed
with a self-perspective by the time
we can define the word?
But then there's SPF, Self-perception theory
which would move from observing our own behavior
and deducing attitudes which would have caused it.
But then again, maybe the meaning
really does lie in"the art of drawing solid objects
on a two-dimensional surface
so as to give the right impression
of their height, width, depth, and position
in relation to each other
when viewed from a particular point."
When we see the 3-dimensional us
we see as other people see us,
all equal, all having
inherent value and we become right-sized
in our self-perception,
that is, humble!

Image Copyright : Natalja Cernecka 

A Mother's Love

Instructions come with all things new,
or so it seems. But babies take such time,
challenge new mothers so strongly,
instructions are laid aside, catching up with sleep
seeming the greater priority. Sleep deprivation ends
but challenges abound. Mothers make do,
remember solutions passed down,
do the best they can. And while looking back
mother as well as child may have
a negative critique, for the most part
the recollections are of love
and we know mistakes are covered over
and smothered in love.

As We Heal the World

Twelve Step practice is about all of us being healers and bringing balance back, first to ourselves and then to the world. We restore balance first in our own lives, working the Steps, healing our addictions, and restoring to balance the unmanageability of our lives. Then we move outward, “to carry the message to others” and “to practice these principles in all our affairs.” That is our healing work, and each of us does it in her own way. ~ Covington, Stephanie S. A Woman's Way through the Twelve Steps (p. 242). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Step Twelve says, "Having had
a spiritual awakening
as the result of these Steps,
we tried to carry this message
to compulsive overeaters
and to practice these principles
in all our affairs." It says nothing
about healing the world
but it does declare THE result
of working the steps is a spiritual
awakening, and as we share
with the world the joy
we have found, it follows
they, too, receive that joy,
and as we love as we first
were loved, and as
we spread the love
as we want to do
because of our spiritual awakenings
the whole world will be
filled with love,
healing the world!

Image by Katrina Edwards

Society's Delimna

...take a look at the results normal people are getting from self-sufficiency. Everywhere he sees people filled with anger and fear, society breaking up into warring fragments. Each fragment says to the others, “We are right and you are wrong.” Every such pressure group, if it is strong enough, self-righteously imposes its will upon the rest. And everywhere the same thing is being done on an individual basis. The sum of all this mighty effort is less peace and less brotherhood than before. The philosophy of self-sufficiency is not paying off. Plainly enough, it is a bone-crushing juggernaut whose final achievement is ruin. ~ AA World Services Inc. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (p. 37). AA World Services, Inc. Kindle Edition.

This was written in 1953.
Is it even more true is it today?
It may feel as though we are
more divided, more at odds
with each other than ever before.
But, no, Senator Joseph McCarthy
was in his heyday that year.
"people filled with anger and fear,
society breaking up into warring fragments"
was certainly as true then.
Fear, division, doubt, animosity...
these abounded then as they do now!
The sum of all this mighty effort
is less peace and less brotherhood
than before.How do we live in peace
as the world chooses teams
for mutual annihilation?
We choose for ourselves.
If we choose love at all times
then we can affect the world,
the small one around us
and eventually the globe...
or the universe.
We address society's dilemma
by spreading love all around!

I'm Okay - Perfect, Even!

Knowing that we are perfect as we are is knowledge that accompanies recovery. How much easier life is, how much more can be gained from each moment, when we meet each experience in the comfort of our real selves. ~ Casey, Karen. Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

The childhood song still rings true
for so many of us in recovery:
Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
I think I'll go eat worms!
Big fat juicy ones
Eensie weensy squeensy ones
See how they wiggle and squirm!Maybe we even read, eventually,
the book I'm OK – You're OKand perhaps we even kind of believed it!
But dare we go further...to the extreme
that we're perfect because God made us so?
Can you believe that God made you?
That God is perfect and won’t make junk?
Can you accept that whatever you think of yourself,
or whatever others think of you – You are NOT junk?
God, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief!

Our Unmet Needs?

We’re learning now that our unmet needs are really our unneeded desires. What we think we need and what we actually need are seldom the same. ...[A]ll we need is love. Our attempts to get love from relationships or through possessions fail, so we seek sympathy and attention for our pain and call this love. ~ Casey, Karen. Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Our "normal" relationship with God
is set out in the Big Book:
Each person is like an actor
who wants to run the whole show;
is forever trying to arrange the lights,
the ballet, the scenery
and the rest of the players
in his own way.
If his arrangements would only stay put,
if only people would do as he wished,
the show would be great.Would that we COULD direct the show!
We fall on our face miserably.
We simply MUST resign as director
of the universe. We do that when we truly
offer ourselves to God
to do with us and to do with us
as He chooses. And these self-identified
unmet needs? Just what do we really need?
How many times do you need to hear,
"Love. Love. Love. Love.
All you need is love!"
God gives love. God IS love.
But as long as we stumble along
trying to make love happen we fall on our face.
But as long as we try to supply love or get love
other than through God, we fall on our face!
All we need is love. Go to the source!

image Copyright : drekhann

Learning Humility

Part of learning humility is learning to contribute to my own well-being. Today I will do something loving for myself that I’d normally do for someone else. ~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II. Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

Treating myself as I would treat my neighbor?
Isn't that backwards? The ashes rule
rather than the Golden one?
The "do unto others as you
would have them do unto you"?
Is it wrong to treat ourselves that well?
I'm a people-pleaser, I look out for others.
not for myself...at least not naturally,
not automatically. The writer said,
"true humility is not degrading;
it doesn’t require that I neglect my own needs.
Humility, it says, "is not measured
by how much I do for other people,
but by my willingness to do my part
in my relationship with
the God of my understanding.
God teach me to accept your guidance!

The Answer

There ain't no answer. There ain't gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer. ~ Gertrude Stein
Because we strive only for perfection, we recognize nothing less; we block our awareness of the ordinary successes that are ours again and again. Thus, the serenity the program promises us eludes us. But we are succeeding. Every day that we are abstinent, we succeed. ~ Casey, Karen. Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

There really is an answer.
Many of us lived lots of years
wishing for it, hoping, longing...
And many of us found it
within the Rooms of Recovery
where we stopped looking for perfection
as the world imagines it to be,
where we blocked from our minds
the recognition of ordinary successes
we didn't realize we had had,
but when we stopped seeking perfection
and instead found serenity
and through this peace saw we really had
often, frequently, in many ways
found success. We found it
through simple approaches
including "One day at a time,"
"First things first,"
"Whatever I put before my recovery I will lose."
"We are only as sick as our secrets,"
"Principles before personalities"
and many more.
Some most helpful to me right now
include "Mindful eating," "Mindful living,"
"Accept life as it comes," and
"God's timelessness."
May you find The Answer!

image Copyright : rukanoga  

Living In Recovery

There is no more aloneness, with that awful ache, so deep in the heart of every alcoholic that nothing, before, could ever reach it. That ache is gone and never need return again.
Now there is a sense of belonging, of being wanted and needed and loved. In return for a bottle and a hangover, we have been given the Keys of the Kingdom. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Loneliness clutched most (all?)
of us in a chokehold until we found
the rooms of Recovery...that awful ache,
so deep in the heart of each of us
that nothing, before, could ever reach it.

But in these rooms are friends
whether we have met or not.
Here are kindred spirits who tell our stories
because they have lived them.
Here we are finally, fully home!

Eight Years of Recovery Daily Dose

A simple event, really, a poem first published
in OAStepper's Slender Steps to Sanity:

IN YOUR FACE
April 5, 2011

You don’t know what it’s like,
I’m a grievance to my folk,
an anathema in my job,
a worthless piece of shit
even I’ve no use for.
Let me die.
What? You can’t know that.
Look at you, peace in your face.
How could you know I feel that,
did that, think like that?
You can’t know what it’s like,
can’t conceive my pain, my shame
for I never whispered of it.
You did that too? You felt this way?
You can’t know what it’s like.
But you do.
And the copying and the publishing were
the first day! And this, eight years later
is the two thousand nine hundred
eleventh day, with that many poems
that many poems one at a time.
In Texas or New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan,
Ireland, wherever...as the saying goes,
"A tad of poetry every day, recovery on the go."
Some were from Slender Steps.Others from A Time for Verse or from
A Cloud of Witnesses. And truth be told
fewer than ten were repeated over the years.
In sickness and health no matter what.
Recovery Daily Dose began quite simply
as a marketing ploy for
A CLOUD OF WITNESSES - TWO BIG BOOKS AND US.
That was May 4, 2011, and every day since then
there has been a daily dose. It has become
much more than a marketing tool.
Rather it is the primary tool by which the authors
retain the sanity they have and increase
their serenity, willingness, surrender,

abstinence, and service.
Whether anybody else benefits,
the payback for the authors
is sufficient to sustain
the string of days,
one day at a time.
THANK YOU!!

See the archives at RecoveryDailyDose.Blogspot.com.
 or EagleWingsPress.com/Daily
or most recent at
https://www.facebook.com/pg/RecoveryDailyDose

Spiritus Contra Spiritum

Carl Jung, writing in response to a letter from Bill Wilson said, “Alcohol in Latin is spiritus and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum”—the spirit against spirits. ~ Covington, Stephanie S. A Woman's Way through the Twelve Steps (pp. 229-230). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Spiritus Contra Spiritum.
This is a neat play on words.
This is the way Recovery works.
This is a powerful eternal truth.

Image Copyright : Rob Byron 

Unconditional

Life holds so much—so much to be so happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can be felt only if you don’t set conditions. ~ Arthur Rubinstein

Set no conditions...
None of the "if I had that
I'd be happy!"
"If he would just ____
life would be great!"
Wishes don't happen
when we set limits.
The good things we long for
happen when we let go
and let God!

Humility Beats Humiliation

“...¹¹ For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ¹² Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. ¹³ Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”~ Luke 14:11-14 New Living Translation (NLT)

We come to Recovery,
many of us longing
to  end embarrassment
which we feel as humiliation.
Then we read Step Seven
"humbly asked Him to remove
our shortcomings"
and expect more humiliation
which we feel will wipe out
what good feelings we've begun to feel.
But instead when we experience the difference
humility feels good, supportive,
as we feel good and pass it on.
And all is well with us and ours,
and that expands exponentially!