Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:If I have freedom in my life, And in my soul am free, Angels alone that soar above Enjoy such liberty.--Richard LovelaceWhen a cow decides to stop nursing her calf, she isn't rejecting it. She knows it's time for the calf to be on its own. Although the calf might feel rejected and puzzled at first, it soon adapts to its new independence and freedom. When we feel rejected, it's useful to remember that whatever has caused us to feel this way might have nothing to do with us. It might be a reflection of what's happening with someone else, or just the end of a natural stage in life, as with the calf. When we understand that others' actions toward us come from their own feelings, and that we don't cause their feelings any more than they control ours, we can free ourselves from a little bit of fear and self-hate. We can see what seems to be rejection as an open door, with our freedom on the other side. You are reading from the book: Today's Gift by Anonymous Today's Gift © 1985, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.
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Sunday, November 20, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~*~Honesty ^*^*^ November 20
To Donate Go http://ift.tt/2brw2lg. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Honesty"I know the biggest word for me in AA is 'honesty.' I don't believe this program would work for me if I didn't get honest with myself about everything. Honesty is the easiest word for me to understand because it is the exact opposite of what I've been doing all my life. Therefore, it will be the hardest to work on. But I will never be totally honest -- that would make me perfect, and none of us can claim to be perfect. Only God is. If I work on it every day, it will be easier to be honest with myself. Then getting and staying honest with other people will come automatically. I know I will be grateful for a chance to make amends to everybody I have hurt in the past."c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 482Thought to Consider . . . Honesty is the absence of the intent to deceive.*~*AACRONYMS*~*H O P E = Honest, Open, Positive, Environment *~*^Just For Today!^*~* Structure of Service From: Concept V: Throughout our world service structure, a traditional Right of Appeal ought to prevail, thus assuring us that minority opinion will be heard and that petitions for the redress of personal grievances will be carefully considered." We believe that the spirit of democracy in our Fellowship and in our world service structure will always survive, despite the counter forces which will no doubt continue to beat upon us. Fortunately we are not obliged to maintain a government that enforces conformity by inflicting punishments. We need to maintain only a structure of service that holds aloft our Traditions, that forms and executes our policies thereunder, and so steadily carries our message to those who suffer. Hence we believe that we shall never be subjected to the tyranny of either the majority or the minority, provided we carefully define the relations between them and forthwith tread the path of world service in the spirit of our Twelve Steps, our Twelve Traditions, and our Conference Charter - in which I trust that we shall one day inscribe these traditional Rights of Appeal and Petition. 1962 AAWS Twelve Concepts of World Service, pages 24-25 *^Daily Reflections^*"THY WILL, NOT MINE". . . when making specific requests, it will be well to add to each one of them this qualification. ". . . if it be Thy will."TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 102 I ask simply that throughout the day God place in me the best understanding of His will that I can have for that day, and that I be given the grace by which I may carry it out. As the day goes on, I can pause when facing situations that must be met and decisions that must be made, and renew the simple request: "Thy will, not mine, be done." I must always keep in mind that in every situation I am responsible for the effort and God is responsible for the outcome. I can "Let Go and Let God" by humbly repeating: "Thy will, not mine, be done." Patience and persistence in seeking His will for me will free me from the pain of selfish expectations.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Spirituality and MoneySome of us still ask, "Just what is this Third Legacy business anyhow? And just how much territory does 'service' take in?" Let's begin with my own sponsor, Ebby. When Ebby heard how serious my drinking was, he resolved to visit me. He was in New York; I was in Brooklyn. His resolve was not enough; he had to take action and he had to spend money. He called me on the phone and then got into the subway; total cost, ten cents. At the level of the telephone booth and subway turnstile, spirituality and money began to mix. One without the other would have amounted to nothing at all. Right then and there, Ebby established the principle that A.A. in action calls for the sacrifice of much time and a little money.A.A. COMES OF AGE, pp. 140-141*~*^Big Book Quote^*~* "Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionMore About Alcoholism, pg. 43*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayI no longer try to escape life through alcoholism. Drinking built up an unreal world for me and I tried to live in it. But in the morning light the real life was back again and facing it was harder than ever, because I had less resources with which to meet it. Each attempt at escape weakened my personality by the very attempt. Everyone knows that alcohol, by relaxing inhibitions, permits a flight from reality. Alcohol deadens the brain cells that preside over our highest faculties and we are off to the unreal world of drunkenness. A.A. taught me not to run away, but to face reality. Have I given up trying to escape life? Meditation for the DayIn these times of quiet meditation, try more and more to set your hopes on the grace of God. Know that whatever the future may hold, it will hold more and more of good. Do not set all your hopes and desires on material things. There is weariness in an abundance of things. Set your hopes on spiritual things so that you may grow spiritually. Learn to rely on God's power more and more and in that reliance you will have an insight into the greater value of the things of the spirit. Prayer for the DayI pray that I may not be overwhelmed by material things. I pray that I may realize the higher value of spiritual things.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!
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New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 11/19/2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.--D. Elton TruebloodOur lives are enriched by the contributions of those who lived before us. Many men and women gave more than they ever took from society, and now we enjoy the rewards. Some people were fired with a spirit to beautify the world and planted trees that will live for 200 years. Others wrote music that speaks to us from another generation, and others established a government that guides our principles of justice. They gave so much because they knew they were a part of their community and the world. Most of us cannot make the great contributions that will make us famous, but we enrich our lives when we contribute freely to improving our community and the world. We do that when we simply say hello to our neighbor, when we serve on a volunteer cleanup committee for a local park, and when we do Twelfth Step work in the program. We too have beautified and contributed to the world, and that gives us a feeling of peace and self respect.Today, I will appreciate all that comes freely to me from others, and I will give what I can to make the world a better place. You are reading from the book: Touchstones by Anonymous Touchstones ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.
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Friday, November 18, 2016
New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~*~Commitment ^*^*^ November 19
Click here now to check out our list of Recovery Podcasts!~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Commitment"No matter how much one wishes to try, how can he turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is? A beginning, even the smallest, is all that is needed. Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock, and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more."c. 1967 AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 122Thought to Consider . . . If you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been.*~*AACRONYMS*~*H O W = Honest, Open, Willing *~*^Just For Today!^*~* Ingredient From: "Me An Alcoholic?" Here I found an ingredient that had been lacking in any other effort I had made to save myself. Here was - power! Here was power to live to the end of any given day, power to have the courage to face the next day, power to have friends, power to help people, power to be sane, power to stay sober. That was seven years ago - and many AA meetings ago - and I haven't had a drink during those seven years. Moreover, I am deeply convinced that so long as I continue to strive, in my bumbling way, toward the principles I first encountered in the earlier chapters of this book, this remarkable power will continue to flow through me. What is this power? With my AA friends, all I can say is that it's a Power greater than myself. If pressed, all I can do is follow the psalmist who said it long before me: "Be still, and know that I am God." 2001 AAWS Inc.Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 386-387 *^Daily Reflections^*"I WAS SLIPPING FAST"We A.A.'s are active folk enjoying the satisfactions of dealing with the realities of life, . . . So it isn't surprising that we often tend to slight serious meditation and prayer as something not really necessary. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 96 I had been slipping away from the program for some time, but it took a death threat from a terminal disease to bring me back, and particularly to the practice of the Eleventh Step of our blessed Fellowship. Although I had fifteen years of sobriety and was still very active in the program, I knew that the quality of my sobriety had slipped badly. Eighteen months later, a checkup revealed a malignant tumor and a prognosis of certain death within six months. Despair settled in when I enrolled in a rehab program, after which I suffered two small strokes which revealed two large brain tumors. As I kept hitting new bottoms I had to ask myself why this was happening to me. God allowed me to recognize my dishonesty and to become teachable again. Miracles began to happen. But primarily I relearned the whole meaning of the Eleventh Step. My physical condition has improved dramatically, but my illness is minor compared to what I almost lost completely.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Groping toward God"More than most people, I think, alcoholics want to know who they are, what this life is about, whether they have a divine origin and an appointed destiny, and whether there is a system of cosmic justice and love. "It is the experience of many of us in the early stages of drinking to feel that we have had glimpses of the Absolute and a heightened feeling of identification with the cosmos. While these glimpses and feelings doubtless have a validity, they are deformed and finally swept away in the chemical, spiritual, and emotional damage wrought by the alcohol itself. "In A.A., and in many religious approaches, alcoholics find a great deal more of what they merely glimpsed and felt while trying to grope their way toward God in alcohol."LETTER, 1960*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*"God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us." Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionA Vision For You, pg. 164 *^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayIn A.A. we do not speak much of sex. And yet putting sex in its proper place in our lives is one of the rewards that has come to us as a result of our new way of living. The Big Book says that many of us needed an overhauling there. It also says that we subjected each sex relation to this test-was it selfish or not? "We remembered always that our sex powers were God given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly, nor to be despised or loathed." We can ask God to mold our ideals and to help us to live up to them. We can act accordingly. Have I got my sex life under proper control? Meditation for the Day"I will lift up my eyes unto the heights whence cometh my help." Try to raise your thoughts from the depths of the sordid and mean and impure things of the earth to the heights of goodness and decency and beauty. Train your insight by trying to take the higher view. Train it more and more until distant heights become more familiar. The heights of the Lord, whence cometh your help, will become nearer and dearer and the false values of the earth will seem farther away. Prayer for the DayI pray that I may not keep my eyes forever downcast. I pray that I may set my sights on higher things.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!
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New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 11/18/2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is: You are reading from the book: More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie More Language of Letting Go © 2000 by Melody Beattie. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.
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Thursday, November 17, 2016
New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Thoughts For The Day~*~Prayer ^*^*^ November 18
~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~^*^*^*^*^(\ ~~ /)( \(AA)/ )(_ /AA\ _)/AA\^*^*^*^*^Prayer"As the alcoholic goes along with his process of prayer, he begins to add up the results. If he persists, he will almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He will acquire a quiet courage, the kind that doesn't strain him. He can look at so-called failure and success for what they really are. Problems and calamity will begin to mean instruction, rather than destruction. He will feel freer and saner. . .Wonderful and unaccountable things will start to happen. Twisted relations with family and on the outside will unaccountably improve."Bill W., June 1958c. 1988AAGrapevineThe Language of the Heart, p. 241Thought to Consider . . . Trying to pray is praying.*~*AACRONYMS*~*H O P E = Hang On; Pray Every day *~*^Just For Today!^*~* Disturbing Reflection Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs More realism and therefore more honesty about ourselves are the great gains we make under the influence of Step Five. As we took inventory, we began to suspect how much trouble self-delusion had been causing us. This had brought a disturbing reflection. If all our lives we had more or less fooled ourselves, how could we now be so sure that we weren't still self-deceived? How could we be certain that we had made a true catalog of our defects and had really admitted them, even to ourselves? Because we were still bothered by fear, self-pity, and hurt feelings, it was probable we couldn't appraise ourselves fairly at all. Too much guilt and remorse might cause us to dramatize and exaggerate our shortcomings. Or anger and hurt pride might be the smoke screen under which we were hiding some of our defects while we blamed others for them. Possibly, too, we were still handicapped by many liabilities, great and small, we never knew we had.1981 AAWS Inc.Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pages 58-59 *^Daily Reflections^*A SAFETY NET Occasionally. . . We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray. When these things happen we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105 Sometimes I scream, stomp my feet, and turn my back on my Higher Power. Then my disease tells me that I am a failure, and that if I stay angry I'll surely get drunk. In those moments of self-will it's as if I've slipped over a cliff and am hanging by one hand. The above passage is my safety net, in that it urges me to try some new behavior, such as being kind and patient with myself. It assures me that my Higher Power will wait until I am willing once again to risk letting go, to land in the net, and to pray.Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC. *~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*Easy Does It - but Do ItProcrastination is really sloth in five syllables.<<< >>>"My observation is that some people can get by with a certain amount of postponement, but few can live with outright rebellion."<<< >>>"We have succeeded in confronting many a problem drinker with that awful alternative, "This we A.A.'s do, or we die." Once this much is firmly in his mind, more drinking only turns the coil tighter. "As many an alcoholic has said, "I came to the place where it was either into A.A. or out the window. So here I am!"1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 672. LETTER, 1952 - 3. LETTER, 1950 *~*^Big Book Quote^*~* "Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol."Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th EditionInto Action, pg.76*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*A.A. Thought for the DayI have gotten over my procrastination. I was always putting things off till tomorrow and as a result they never got done. "There is always another day" was my motto instead of "Do it now." Under the influence of alcohol, I had grandiose plans. When I was sober I was too busy getting over my drunk to start anything. "Someday I'll do that"-but I never did it. In A.A. I have teamed that it's better to make a mistake once in a while than to never do anything at all. We learn by trial and error. But we must act now and not put it off until tomorrow. Have I learned to do it now? Meditation for the Day"Do not hide your light under a bushel. Arise and shine, for the light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen in thee." The glory of the Lord shines in the beauty of your character. It is risen in you, even though you can realize it only in part. "Now you see as in a glass darkly, but later you will see face to face." The glory of the Lord is too dazzling for mortals to see fully on earth. But some of this glory is risen in you when you try to reflect that light in your life. Prayer for the DayI pray that I may try to be a reflection of the Divine Light. I pray that some of its rays may shine in my life.Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012 You can now receiveTransitions Daily 3 ways: 1. Sign up at http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt - To subscribe now send an email to TransitionsDaily@gmail.com wit 3. Follow Transitions Daily on Twitter https://twitter.com/transdaily Devotions are posted Daily via Email, Facebook and Twitter! -- To Donate Go to: http://ift.tt/1LFEb4b For more Information about this distribution go to http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt. The members of this group are anonymous with no sale or disclosure of membership to other members or the redistribution of emails of any kind. Once you have been added, you will receive a confirmation email. Please allow 24 48 hours for entry. Feel free to share http://ift.tt/1MBbjVt in meetings, with friends, sponsors, and especially your sponsees in recovery! You can also download the Transitions Daily Flyer by clicking on this link http://ift.tt/1MBbjVv to use in your service work!
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New Post on The Official Blog of The Way Out Podcast! Today's Gift - 11/17/2016
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:If you play with a thing long enough, you will surely break it.--AnonymousSome things shouldn't be played with. Our recovery program is one of these things. When we play with our program, we're taking a risk. We play with the program by missing meetings. Or by not calling our sponsors. Or by skipping the Steps we think are too hard. It's okay to play. But it's not okay to play with our recovery program. When we play with our program, we risk our lives.Prayer for the DayHigher Power, help me know that I must work this program with care and respect.Action for the DayToday, I'll make two lists. On one list, I'll write ways I work on my program. On the other list, I'll write ways I play with my program. And I'll put my energy into working the program. You are reading from the book: Keep It Simple by Anonymous Keep It Simple © 1989 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of Hazelden. Online daily inspirationsRead a Thought for the Day from six of our most popular daily meditations books. They're posted online, every day, at hazeldenbettyford.org. Managing your email subscriptionsHave an account on hazelden.org? Sign in now to manage your preferences. Can't sign in? Send us an email to Change your email address. Unsubscribe from Today's Gift. Stop all Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation email. To send us feedback, please email todaysgift@hazeldenbettyford.org Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 15251 Pleasant Valley Rd., P.O. Box 11, RW19, Center City, MN 55012-0011, 800-257-7810 Please feel free to forward this email to a friend.Subscribe to Today's Gift emails Have our emails been recommended to you Sign up today to receive them at no charge. They're our daily gift to you.
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