Essentials Of Recovery

DOREEN S. - Recovery Speaker

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Daily Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:30:00 +0000

THE BEST FOR TODAY

The principles we have set down are guides to progress.

-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 60

Just as a sculptor will use different tools to achieve desired effects in creating a work of art, in Alcoholics Anonymous the Twelve Steps are used to bring about results in my own life. I do not overwhelm myself with life’s problems, and how much more work needs to be done. I let myself be comforted in knowing that my life is now in the hands of my Higher Power, a master craftsman who is shaping each part of my life into a unique work of art. By working my program I can be satisfied, knowing that in the doing the best that we can for today, we are doing all that God asks of us.”

Just for today

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:28:00 +0000

A simple program

“The program is simply sharing, working the Twelve Steps, attending meetings, and practicing the principles of the program.”

––––=––––

Our complicated lives can be made a lot less complicated if we concentrate on a few simple things—sharing our experience, strength, and hope with others, regular meeting attendance, and practicing the principles of the program in our daily lives.

By sharing our experience, strength, and hope with other addicts, we provide a powerful example for newcomers to follow. The effort we put into helping others also helps keep self-centeredness, the core of our disease, at bay.

Many of us pick one group, a “home group,” whose meetings we attend faithfully. This regularity gives some routine to our lives, and lets others know where they can find us if they need us.

Practicing the Twelve Steps in our daily lives makes the difference between a balanced recovery and simply not using. The steps give us some much-needed guidance in managing our everyday affairs.

Yes, we are complex people. But the NA program simplifies our lives, enabling us to live a life free from active addiction. Our lives can be filled with serenity and hope when we live by the guidance of the simple principles of our program.

––––=––––

Just for today: I will remember that, while I am a complex person, NA is the simplest way for me to make my life less complicated.

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:26:00 +0000

A.A. Thought For The Day

In following the A.A. program with its twelve steps, we have the advantage of a better understanding of our problems. Day after day our sobriety results in the formation of new habits, normal habits. As each twenty-four-hour period ends, we find that the business of staying sober is a much less trying and fearsome ordeal than it seemed in the beginning. Do I find it easier as I go along?

Meditation For The Day

Learn daily the lesson of trust and calm in the midst of the storms of life. Whatever of sorrow or difficulty the day may bring, God’s command to you is the same. Be grateful, humble, calm, and loving to all people. Leave each soul the better for having met you or heard you. For all kinds of people, this should be your attitude: a loving desire to help and an infectious spirit of calmness and trust in God. You have the answer to loneliness and fear, which is calm faith in the goodness and purpose in the universe.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be calm in the midst of storms. I pray that I may pass on this calmness to others who are lonely and full of fear.

As Bill Sees It

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:24:00 +0000

The Reality of Spiritual Experiences, p. 182

“Perhaps you raise the question of hallucination versus the divine imagery of a genuine spiritual experience. I doubt if anyone has authoritatively defined what a hallucination really is. However, it is certain that all recipients of spiritual experiences declare their reality. The best evidence of that reality is in the subsequent fruits. Those who receive these gifts of grace are very much changed people, almost invariably for the better. This can scarcely be said of those who hallucinate.

“Some might think me presumptuous when I say that my own experience is real. Nevertheless, I can surely report that in my own life and in the lives of countless others, the fruits of that experience have been real, and the benefactions beyond reckoning.

Talk, 1960

Keep It Simple

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:20:00 +0000

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
—Step Seven

In Step Six, we got ready to give up our shortcomings. In Step Seven, we ask God to remove them. There is one catch. We humbly as God to remove them.

Being humble means we remember who we are: human beings who need God’s help. Being humble means not pretending we’re God. We admit we need God’s help. Being humble means seeing ourselves as we are. We’re a small but important part of God’s plan. We can change much, but only God can change some things about us. This is why we ask. Being humble is not a weakness, but a true strength.

Prayer for the Day: God, please remove my shortcomings.

Action for the Day: Throughout the day, I’ll pray to God to remove my shortcomings.

A Day at a Time

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:16:00 +0000

Reflection for the Day

Fear may have originally brought some of us to The Program. In the beginning, fear alone may help some of us stay away from the first drink, pill, joint or whatever. But a fearful state is hardly conducive to comfort and happiness – not for long. We have to find alternatives to fear to get us through those first empty hours, days or even weeks. For most of us, the answer has been to become active in and around The Program. In no time, we feel that we truly belong; for the first time in a long time, we begin to feel a “part of” rather than “apart from.”

Am I willing to take the initiative?

Today I Pray

May God please help me find alternatives to fear – that watchdog of my earliest abstinence. I thank Him for directing me to a place where I can meet others who have experienced the same compulsions and fears. I am grateful for my feeling of belonging.

Today I Will Remember

I am “a part of,” not “apart from.”

Hazelden Foundation

Today's Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:09:00 +0000

He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.
— Abraham Lincoln

Our negative judgments of others very frequently inform us of our own shortcomings. In other words, what we dislike in others are often those things we hate about ourselves. Much better than criticizing another’s abhorrent behavior is a decision to look inwardly at our own collection of traits and attitudes. Our desire to criticize, to pass judgment, offers an excellent mirror of who we truly are. And the image we see reflected can guide our movements toward becoming healthier, happy individuals.

We can feel a bit of gladness for what our negative reactions are able to teach us – but we must be willing to learn from them. How exciting to contemplate that every hateful moment actually is offering us a positive opportunity for change.

It’s human to find fault, and we shouldn’t be overcome with shame. However, we hinder our own personal growth every time we quickly criticize another rather than rejoicing that we’ve been given an additional opportunity to move closer to the person we’re being called to become.

Today I’ll look beyond others’ faults and recognize my own.

From the book:

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg

Daily Tao / 182 - FLOW

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:04:00 +0000

If the boulders are moved,
Even a river will change its flow.

Except for occasional flooding, the mightiest river keeps to its bed. It flows where it finds openings between cliffs and rocks. If the river is dammed, if the cliff walls are moved, if the boulders are shifted, it will flow a different course. It could even be made to flow backwards if the earth moved far enough.

So it is with the flow of our lives. Once the fixed objects of our lives shift, our circumstances change. If we move to another city, life will change. If we marry one person over another, life will be different. If we situate our business in a good neighborhood, life will be prosperous. If we choose a house in a good setting, life will be healthy. If we arrange our furniture properly, life will be comfortable. If we eat correctly, life will be prolonged. In short, followers of Tao realize that the flow of life can be affected and to some degree consciously manipulated simply by altering its parameters.

Life is the flow of energy. It is the air that we breathe, the force that moves the weather, the force of all minds combined. It keeps the rivers flowing, our hearts beating, and the sky blue. This flow of energy moves constantly according to the fixed points that exist at any given moment. Therefore, by manipulating the cardinal points of our lives, we can change the flow. The freedom to choose and to change belongs to us.

Daily Zen

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:02:00 +0000

South and north, sharing
A single mountain gate,
Above and below, two temples
Both named T’ien-chu.
Dwelling therein is
An old dharma master,
Built tall and skinny
Like stork or swan.
I do not know what
Practice he engages in,
But his green eyes
Reflect the mountain valleys.
Just looking into them
Makes one feel fresh and pure,
As if all one’s baneful vexations had been cleansed.

– Su Shih (1073)

Sister Bea. Recovery Speaker

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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Anthony de Mello - Awareness pt. 8b masquerade of charity

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Emmet Fox - Be Still A Treatment against fear

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:35:00 +0000

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Here again metrical symmetry obliges the poet to close his wonderful poem with a repetition of the general theme. Spiritually, too, it is a most powerful and effective ending to our prayer. The God of power who helps weak and frail mortals in the day of trouble is working through us, and so all will be well.

Note: The word Selah is no part of the poem itself but a stage direction to the temple musicians who chanted the psalms as part of a liturgy.

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Daily Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:30:00 +0000

SACRIFICE = UNITY = SURVIVAL

The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A. A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice means unity and survival for the group and for A. A.’s entire Fellowship.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 220

I have learned that I must sacrifice some of my personality traits for the good of A. A. and, as a result, I have been rewarded with many gifts. False pride can be inflated through prestige but, by living Tradition Six, I receive the gift of humility instead. Cooperation without affiliation is often deceiving. If I remain unrelated to outside interest, I am free to keep A. A. autonomous. Then the Fellowship will be here, healthy and strong for generations to come.

Just For Today

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:28:00 +0000

Maintaining The Foundation

“Our newly found faith serves as a firm foundation for courage in the future.”

Basic Text p. 93

The foundation of our lives is what the rest of our lives is built upon. When we were using, that foundation affected everything we did. When we decided that recovery was important, that’s where we began to put our energy. As a result, our whole lives changed. In order to maintain those new lives, we must maintain the foundation of those lives: our recovery program.

As we stay clean and our lifestyles change, our priorities will also change. Work and school may become important because they improve the quality of our lives. And new relationships may bring excitement and mutual support. But we need to remember that our recovery program is the foundation upon which our new lives are built. Each day, we must renew our commitment to recovery, maintaining that as our top priority.

Just for today: I want to continue enjoying the life I’ve found in recovery. Today, I will take steps to maintain my foundation.

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:26:00 +0000

A.A. Thought For The Day

Alcoholics are unable or unwilling, during their addiction
to alcohol, to live in the present. The result is that they
live in a constant state of remorse and fear because of
their unholy past and its morbid attraction, or the uncertain
future and its vague foreboding. So the only real hope for
the alcoholic is to face the present. Now is the time. Now is
ours. The past is beyond recall. The future is as uncertain
as life itself. Only the now belongs to us. Am I living in
the now?

Meditation For The Day

I must forget the past as much as possible. The past is over
and gone forever. Nothing can be done about the past, except
to make what restitution I can. I must not carry the burden of
my past failures. I must go on in faith. The clouds will clear
and the way will lighten. The path will become less stony with
every forward step I take. God has no reproach for anything
that He has healed. I can be made whole and free, even though
I have wrecked my life in the past. Remember the saying:
“Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.”

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not carry the burden of the past. I pray that
I may cast it off and press on in faith.

As Bill Sees It

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:24:00 +0000

Imaginary Perfection, p. 181

When we early A.A.’s got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we
coined this expression: “Don’t try to be a saint by Thursday!”

That oldtime admonition may look like another of those handy alibis that can excuse us
from trying for our best. Yet a closer view reveals just the contrary. This is our A.A. way
of warning against pride-blindness, and the imaginary perfections that we do not possess.

<< << << >> >> >>

Only Step One, where we made the 100 per cent admission that we were powerless over
alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state
perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which
we estimate our progress.

1. Grapevine, June 1961
2. 12 & 12, p. 68

Walk In Dry Places

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:22:00 +0000

Making all things new
Releasing the Past

A 12 Step program should give us a new way of life, our friends often say. We should have new attitudes, new experiences, new opportunities.
If we’re to grasp this new way of life, we must let go of the old habits of the past. No alcoholic can recover, for example, by choosing to remain in the old drinking environment. We must also “recover” from other relationships and patterns that were destructive or kept us from our highest good.
“Behold, I make all things new,” is the ancient promise. As our thoughts and beliefs change, the old patterns drop away and the new life reveals itself to us.
Today I’ll drop the negative or outworn relics from the past and press on to find the things that are for my greatest good.

Keep It Simple

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:20:00 +0000

If you don’t know where you are going, You’ll probably end up somewhere else.

—Lawrence J. Peter

The Twelve Steps are our plan of living. We must have a plan. Without one, we waste our energy.

We react instead of think. This is what we did as an addict. We lived our lives as out-of-control people. This caused a lot of pain for us and those around us.

Recovery brings us the Twelve Steps, and each Step gives us direction and wisdom. Each Step builds on the progress we made from the Step before it. Sometimes we follow the plan well. Sometimes we think we can do better on our own. Do I believe the Twelve Steps are a good plan of living?

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have shown me a new way of life, a plan for living. Thank you for leading me to the Twelve Steps. Help me follow them.

Action for the Day: Today, I’ll take time out to read the Twelve Steps. Then I’ll list three reasons why the Steps are a good plan for living.

Father Leo’s

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:18:00 +0000

HUMOR

“The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken seriously.”

–Nicholas Murray Butler

For years I used to take myself too seriously. I thought that everything

depended upon my thoughts, actions and decisions. Life was a series of

agendas that had to be met; life was too serious to be joked about. I

knew that I was not God, but I took responsibility for the whole

universe. I had opinions on everything and everybody and I was, of

course, always right.

As the years passed it grew painful being so responsible — my control

produced stress, tension and loneliness. Then a friend said to me, “Let

go and let God.” I began to detach and laugh at my insane behavior. I

laughed more as I began to accept my humanness. I discovered

spirituality in the joke. God must have a sense of humor — after all,

He made me.

Help me to laugh at myself in my search for the Kingdom.

A Day At A Time

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:16:00 +0000

Reflection For The Day

I’ve learned in The Program that the trick, for me, is not stopping drinking, but staying stopped and learning how not to start again. It was always relatively easy to stop, if only by sheer incapacity alone; God knows, I stopped literally thousands of times. To stay stopped, I’ve had to develop a positive program of action. I’ve had to learn to live sober, cultivating new habit patterns, new interests and new attitudes. Am I remaining flexible in my new life? Am I exercising my freedom to abandon limited objectives?

Today I Pray

I pray that my new life will be filled with new patterns, new friends, new activities, new ways of looking at things. I need God’s help to overhaul my lifestyle to include all the newness it must hold. I also need a few ideas of my own. May my independence from chemicals or compulsive behavior help me make my choices with an open mind and a clear; appraising eye.

Today I Will Remember

Stopping is starting.

W

One Day At A Time

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:14:00 +0000

PROCRASTINATION

“How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.”

~ Fred Brooks

I have been given many talents, and I count them as gifts from my Maker. Throughout life I have discovered that there was virtually nothing that I could not make, bake, say or do with the help of my Higher Power. At the age of three years I learned to crochet and read. I learned to draw, paint, write poetry and quilt. The fact that I was not afraid of failing had a great influence on my ability to tackle any task.

Surprisingly, when I felt that I was “grown” and needed to leave home and start a life of my own, I found that finishing anything was almost impossible. I could start anything — but I seemed to complete nothing. Much to my dismay I had developed the art of procrastination. Just waiting to finish anything tomorrow puts me one day behind. Day by day, the project gets put on the back burner and forgotten. One day at a time I eventually find that I am years into finishing some things.

Thanks to this program and its wonderful steps and tools, I have found that by working “one day at a time” I can be — and am — a person who starts and finishes things. This is who God created me to be…not the person who continually puts things off. It took a lot of reading and prayer and meditating on God’s Word for me to get where I am today…a person who takes action on the tasks before me. I am far from perfect, but I am making progress.

One day at a time…

Just for today I will take action and not put off until tomorrow what I can do today.

~ Annie K.

Today’s Gift. Self-Esteem

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:10:00 +0000

Cultivate your garden. Let it take root in you until your thousand eyes open like violets to morning light.

–Nancy Paddock

In our imaginations we can mix images and ideas from all over the world–imagine the thousand eyes of a peacock growing among the purple violets, or babies that grow on trees! In our imaginations we can also nurture feelings of love, affection, self-esteem.
All of us–not just writers–can learn to see the images in our own minds. We can do this by breathing slowly, relaxing, and looking at the movie in our minds. We may see a field of wildflowers, or find ourselves wading across a stream in the mountains. We might see happiness as wildflowers and grass coming up through the sidewalk, breaking the concrete into chunks and sand, growing so slowly yet with such great power. It may help us appreciate our growth today to look at it this way.

Can I visualize my happiness right now? What does it look like?

Step by Step - Step11

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:09:00 +0000

“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 Eleven

“As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day, ‘Thy will be done.’ We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient.”

– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 6 (“Into Action”), pp 87-8.

Today, let me understand that the 11th Step is the logical extension of Step Three – “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” In handing off to my Higher Power my self-will and entire life, it is then proper that I begin each day and take on any problem by asking through prayer and meditation what His will is for me instead of plunging into the habit of doing it my way. As the Big Book accurately reflects, my way generated anger, fear, worry and self-pity, and a host of other destructive feelings. Today, I can do without them, and an “easier, softer way” is to let a Higher Power who is stronger and wiser than me call the shots. And our common journey continues.

Step by step. – Chris M.

Daily Tao / 181 – Axel

noreply@blogger.com (Essentialsofrecovery) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:04:00 +0000

The mind is in spinning wheels at the
Navel, heart, throat, head.
The connecting shaft is emptiness.
Without an unobstructed route,
Energy cannot flow.

People search for the sacred and are told it is within themselves. It is sometimes difficult to see how literally the sages mean that. They see the mind as existing in other areas of the body in addition to the brain. These centers, nominally functional in the average person, are called chakras or wheels by those who follow Tao. Through meditation, one becomes acquainted with each of them and learns how to release power so profound that one is literally divine.

The concept of void is central to many philosophies including that of Tao. However, it seems so abstract at times. Here void has a functional role. The pathway connecting the energy centers of the mind is like a long shaft beginning from the perineum and ending at the top of the head. If not for emptiness, or hollowness of this shaft, the sacred energy of the body could not be conducted.

All the diversity of our lives is merely a manifestation of our minds, expressed through the turning of the various wheels within ourselves. The more they turn, the more complex circumstances and thinking become. However, if we want simplicity and tranquility, we need only go the the center of the spinning mind where it is empty and still. Thus it is said that diversity comes from the revolving of the wheels and origins come from the central void.