Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in recoverythought's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Thursday, May 17th, 2012
7:35 am	Humility "Each of us must know in our minds and believe in our hearts that even though we are different, you are like me and I am like you." - Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA One of the definitions of humility is having an awareness of one's own character defects. To recognize and acknowledge that one has imperfections is being humble. We should never pray for ourselves unless by doing so it would help another person. To have self-importance puts self first and this is not humble. We each have strengths and we each have weaknesses. Both the strengths and weaknesses are sacred. Life is sacred. We learn sacred things from weaknesses also. Therefore, all lives are developed through trial and error, strength and weakness, ups and downs, gains and losses - all of these are part of life and life is sacred. Great Mystery, let me see and know about the sacredness of life. From: Elder’s Meditation of the Day (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
4:35 am	God is in the Gray To live in the "Black and White" areas of life - following all the rules - is often easier than living with tension. Some people hide within the rules and “shoulds” of life. But the essence of life cannot always be found by coloring within the lines. Life is not always so cut and dry, not always so easy as just following the rules. God is more often than not encountered in the gray areas of life, where things are not so clear or shiny or new or clean. Often God is in the margins and shadows and murky areas of life and relationships - right where we live. Bob Martin (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
7:12 am	Getting Lost An Alcoholic is a person who, from a single tree, creates a forest in which he immediately gets lost! - Will K. in The Grapevine (Comment on this)
Monday, May 14th, 2012
7:33 am	I Hurt So Bad Oh God, I hurt so bad. Please make it so it doesn’t hurt so bad. A patient suffering from a chronic illness An injury a while back left me dealing with varying amounts of pain each day. Thank God, I have not had to seek daily pain medicine. By the grace of God I have been able to learn to deal with the pain most of the time so I don’t have to use painkillers very often. But there are many who suffer chronic pain from injury or disease that is far greater than mine. The pain in itself can debilitate them. It can be so overwhelming that it consumes all their thoughts. Many are forced to seek the strongest narcotics. Many that I have ministered to in the hospitals have not been able to find sufficient release from the pain. I have heard them cry out to God more than once for relief. We meet people everyday that are in pain. Most of their pain is not physical but it is chronic. It continues. Divorce, broken families, heartbreak, prodigal children, addiction, abuse—you name it; the pain’s there. Their hearts cry out to God for relief from their pain. They just want it to stop. How do we as God’s children respond to other’s pain? First of all we need to realize that all pain has a cause. Just as all physical pain comes from disease, injury, etc. so emotional and spiritual pain has a cause. Sometimes it’s the individual’s actions that cause it; sometimes it’s other individuals’ actions and decisions that cause it. Sometimes it’s events outside of anyone’s control. Many times it’s a combination of more than one. Second, we must realize that the love of God is the healing agent of all emotional and spiritual pain. We can’t heal but we can be vessels of love, which involves us in the healing process. To do this our hearts need to be filled with compassion that is directed by God’s Word. God, give me passion for compassion. Help me to understand your Word in such a way that I become a vessel of your healing. Bob Moody (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
7:33 am	Happy Mother's Day To All You Mean Moms Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me: I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home. I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep. I loved you enough to make you go pay for the bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, “I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it.” I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes. I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren’t perfect. I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart. But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it. Those were the most difficult battles of all. I’m glad I won them, because in the end you won, too. And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them. Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and Twinkies for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too. Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less. We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do. She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough! Mother wouldn’t let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16. Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other’s property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was. I think that is what’s wrong with the world today. It just doesn’t have enough mean moms! (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 12th, 2012
7:02 am	Ruth's Prayer Thank You, dear God, for another day, The chance to live in a decent way, To feel again the joy of living And happiness that comes from giving. Thank You for friends who can understand And the peace that flows from Your loving hand. Help me to wake with the morning sun, With the prayer today, "Thy will be done." For with Your help I will find the way. Thank You again, dear God, for AA. Les L. (A.A.) (Comment on this)
Friday, May 11th, 2012
6:30 am	Concepts Imbedded within The 12 Steps are concepts such as acceptance, trust, hope, faith, surrender, honesty, humility, accountability, change, healthy relationships, forgiveness, growth, service, and healing. Recovery through The 12 Steps invites us to uncover all of the struggles that were covered up by our addictions – perfectionism, anger, control, loneliness, the need for escape, our own brokenness, fear, shame . . . (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
1:20 am	Recovery Recovery is made up of a lot of things. Each of us, in our own, way “works the program” differently. But it’s the same program. The two major components of the recovery program are people (community) and structured activity (The 12 Steps). Most people find that recovery is difficult, if not impossible, without developing a relationship with God, or a Higher Power. Many people find that addiction has damaged or diminished their relationship with God. Some, but not all, return to their childhood faith and find it significantly better when combined with The 12 Steps. Recovery meetings are central to both building community and working the structured activities necessary for healthy recovery. There are many kinds of meetings, and the structure of the meetings vary from place to place. Some people seem to work the program by reading the Big Book and other related material, including The Bible, some do a lot of talking about themselves, Others work the Steps in their daily lives to one degree or another. There is no perfect combination. Some people find excuses to NOT work the program – they’re “not that bad,” they’re “too busy,” they don’t like the meetings, they “have their own program of spirituality,” and so forth. Time will make it clear who is working the program and in recovery and who is not! - Bob Martin (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
6:38 am	How To Be Miserable 1. Make little things bother you. Don't just let them bother you; make them bother you. 2. Lose your perspective of things and keep it lost. Don't put first things first. 3. Find yourself a good worry; one about which you can do nothing except worry. 4. Be a perfectionist. Condemn yourself and others for not achieving perfection. 5. Be right. Always be right; perfectly right all the time. Be the only one who is right and be very rigid about your rightness. 6. Don't trust or accept people at anything other than their worst and weakest. Be suspicious. Always assume the worst in others. 7. Always compare yourself unfavorably to others. A guaranteed misery-maker! 8. Don't give yourself wholeheartedly or enthusiastically to anyone or anything. 9. Take personally, with a chip on your shoulder, everything that happens to you that you don't like or agree with. 10. Make negativity your view of life. Focus on all the things that have gone wrong rather than keeping a balanced perspective. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
5:28 am	And God Speaks... And God Speaks... I give a gift for you as a recovering woman It is the gift of courage Courage is the strength for beauty in living It is the strength behind your commitment It gives your faith substance To move mountains of doubts and indecision To allow you to rely on Me for guidance and support Humbly stepping outside the safety of self to respect differences Piety takes its reverence from Courage For it is the Courageous Soul that holds reverence for All My Creation Holding it in its gentle hands Tenderly and with awe Wisdom thrives with Courage as it bursts into bloom Unfettered by fear and narrow mindedness But, Children, it is Charity, the Breath of My Being That most rely on Courage For it takes a Courageous heart to love unconditionally Take this gift Nourish it Embrace its attributes For they are yours Have been from all eternity To be treasured and practiced in a life No longer separate But joined from My Spirit, which is your Spirit I love you children So love the world. From Roberta P. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 7th, 2012
7:00 am	I Asked The Big Man I went back to my cell… the night before my hearing, I decided to make a prayer. It had to be on my knees… I couldn’t play it cheap. So I waited until the thin kid was asleep, then I quietly climbed down from my top bunk And bent my knees… I knelt at the foot of the bed and told God what was in my heart. I made like He was there in the flesh with me. I talked to him plain.. no big words, no almighties… I talked to him like I wanted to talk to my old man so many years ago. I talked like a little kid and I told Him of my wants and lacks, of my hopes and disappointments. I asked the Big Man … to make a cool way for me… I felt like I was someone that belonged to somebody that cared. I felt like I could even cry if I wanted to, something I hadn’t been able to do for years. “God,” I concluded, “maybe I won’t be an angel, But I know I’ll try not to be a blank. So in your name, and in Cisto’s name, I ask this. Amen.” A small voice added another amen to mine. I looked up and saw the thin kid, his elbows bent, his head resting on his hands. I peered through the semi-darkness to see his face, wondering if he was sounding me. But his face was like mine, looking for help from God, There we were, he lying down, head on bended elbows, and I still on my knees. No one spoke for a long while. Then the kid whispered, “I believe in Dios also. Maybe you don’t believe it, but I used to go to church, and I had the hand of God on me. I felt always like you and I feel now, warm, quiet and peaceful, like there’s no suffering in our hearts.” “What’s it called, Chico, this…what we feel?” I asked softly. “It’s Grace by the Power of the Holy Spirit, “ the kid said. I didn’t ask any more, There in the semi-darkness, I had found a new sense of awareness… By Mark Link, SJ (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 6th, 2012
7:34 am	We Are Chosen There once was a man whose first name was Bill. He drank all the time and he practiced self-will. Then, on to Town’s Hospital, no hope in sight, He met a fine doctor named Silkworth that night. Conferred with Bill’s wife and said, "There’s no cure. If he can abstain, we’ll try to endure." A couple weeks later, in bed he did lie, He saw a bright light from up in the sky! A spiritual awakening, I must tell about it! He called for the doctor he wanted to shout it! Silkie just listened and after he heard, Confirmed that it happened and said, "Spread the word!" No one could have know what had happened that day, This spiritual awakening had started A.A. The rest is all history and easy to see, This wonderful program that saved you and me. God has chosen us who are in recovery to communicate His healing power and grace to others. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
7:16 am	1000 Marbles The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself. He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named "Tom." I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years." "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part." "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy." "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away." "I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight." "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones... "It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!" You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special," I said. " It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles." MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL AND MAY YOU HAVE MANY HAPPY YEARS AFTER YOU LOSE ALL YOUR MARBLES. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 4th, 2012
7:09 am	Self-Care "Self-care is never a selfish act -- it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others. The movements that transform us, our relations, and our world emerge from the lives of people who decide to care for their authentic selfhood. Anything one can do on behalf of true self is done ultimately in the service of others." -- Parker J. Palmer (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
6:48 am	Using the Twelve Steps In Recovery, we learn to use the 12 Steps, but not like a ladder that we climb to reach the top. It’s not like a script we memorize to graduate or to get good grades. It’s more like a dance that we use to engage ourselves and others and to enjoy life again. We get sober and sane again. It's not that we don’t struggle again. We don't expect a quote from the Big Book to solve every problem, but rather we learn how to be more centered and to grow in wisdom and learn to handle life differently. Spirituality is not a magic formula - neither are the 12 Steps. There’s a saying we use – “It works because we’re not all crazy on the same day.” We learn to be flexible. So we listen, we try not to tune others out just waiting for our turn on the dance floor. We become part of a healthy community whose membership strengthens us in life and in our other relationships. - Bob Martin (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
7:24 am	Change One of the hardest things that I have encountered is change. I have had to change playgrounds and playmates. For me, that was one of the easier areas of change. It was true on day one and it remains so today, essential for ongoing recovery. What has been the hardest is changing attitudes, ideas, patterns, and reactions. When I encounter people today who don’t agree with me, I need to try and respond to them with a spirit of love. This is quite a change from ignoring them as I did in the past. From - NA Basic Text P 167 (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
5:19 am	Dr Seuss on Recovery How do Alcoholics stay sober? Simple! We meet with others often and pray, "God protect me from drink today." And . . . We do not drink when it is dark. We do not drink while in the park. We would not drink while with a fox. And would not, could not from a box. We could not, would not in the rain. And never ever on a train. We would not drink while on a boat. Even if we wear a coat. We drink no longer in our own house. We do not drink while using a mouse. We do not drink while on a phone. And we don't drink when we're alone. We do not drink either here or there. We do not drink anywhere. It's just as simple as can be. We do not drink at all, you see! And we say "Thanks" to Whom we pray. That's how we say sober every day! Bob Martin – With respects to Dr. Seuss! (Comment on this)
Monday, April 30th, 2012
5:41 am	Shortcoings Search out shortcomings and correct them. --Anonymous One of the hardest things to do is to look at our own shortcomings when we are angry at someone. It seems impossible to believe at such times that something may be wrong with us. This is the reason we are so often instructed to count to ten. When we find ourselves so out of sorts, so internally disrupted, there is usually something wrong with us. It is our first obligation to take care of ourselves. It is out of love for ourselves that we withdraw and take a spot check inventory. The spot check inventory does not demean or humiliate us. On the contrary, the purpose is to speak with God briefly, check our vital signs, and clean out our connections. I always need my connection with God. Nothing works without a clear, clean, strong, conscious contact with my Higher Power. From – “Easy Does It” by Anonymous (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
9:10 am	You Are Not A Victim How deeply ingrained our self-image as a victim can be! How habitual our feelings of misery and helplessness! Victimization can be like a gray cloak that surrounds us, both attracting that which will victimize us and causing us to generate the feelings of victimization. Victimization can be so habitual that we may feel victimized even by the good things that happen to us! Got a new car? Yes, we sigh, but it doesn’t run as well as I expected, and after all, it cost so much … You’ve got such a nice family! Yes, but there are problems. And we’ve had such hard times … Well, your career certainly is going well! AH, we sigh but there is such a price to pay for success. All that extra paperwork … I have learned that, if we set our mind to it, we have an incredible, almost awesome ability to find misery in any situation, even the most wonderful of circumstances. Shoulders bent, head down, we shuffle through life taking our blows. Be done with it. Take off the gray cloak of despair, negativity, and victimization. Hurl it: let it blow away in the wind. We are not victims. We may have been victimized. We may have allowed ourselves to be victimized. We may have sought our, created, or re-created situations that victimized us. But we are not victims. We can stand in our power. We do not have to allow ourselves to be victimized. We do not have to let others victimize us. We do not have to seek out misery in either the most miserable or the best situations. We are free to stand in the glow of self-responsibility. Set a boundary! Deal with the anger! Tell someone no, or stop that! Walk away from a relationship! Ask for what you need! Make choices and take responsibility for them. Explore options. Give yourself what you need! Stand up straight, head up, and claim your power. Clam responsibility for yourself! And lean to enjoy what’s good. Today, I will refuse to think, talk, speak, or act like a victim. Instead, I will joyfully claim responsibility for myself and focus on what’s good and right in my life. From “The Language of Letting Go" by Melody Beattie (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 28th, 2012
6:59 am	The Parable of the Willful Stones The kingdom of God is like a house which a man began to build. He had very good blueprints of an excellent plan. He poured a foundation and started placing choice stones on the foundation where his plan called for them to be. As the house started to take shape, some of the stones became dissatisfied with the positions in which the master builder had placed them. They began to shift themselves into new positions, according to their own ideas of how the house should be built. Many of them dragged other stones with them into their new positions. Soon, instead of one perfect house, there were many smaller, unevenly spaced houses which more closely resembled mere piles of rocks. Some of the new piles were not even on the foundation at all; instead they called to the others to be more open minded about their positioning. The other piles adamantly insisted that each of them was more closely aligned with the master builder’s original plan, and that all who were not joined with them were not part of the same building. When the man saw these stones had aligned themselves differently, he took hold of them and pulled on them to move them back in line with his blue prints. Each stone he touched steadfastly refused to be moved. Though he pushed and pulled and worked very hard, those stones were convinced that they had come up with a much better design. At last, he grasped a rod of iron which he kept near by and smashed the recalcitrant stones into powder. The powder was then cleared away and mixed with the cement which was to fill in the cracks between the newer stones which the builder brought to replace them. Have to ask myself (and you …) how often am I like the stones that are sure they have a better plan than the master builder? Does God have to use an iron rod (or a 2×4!) to get my attention? Do you see yourself, who are you, in this parable? [SOURCE http://barefootpreachr.org/2012/01/the-parable-of-the-willful-stones/] From Fr Paul Wharton www.heartsonfire33.wordpress.com (Comment on this)