Eagles' Nest Recovery House

6 April A LIFETIME PROCESS We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn't control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other people. . . .... ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 52 These words remind me that I have more problems than alcohol, that alcohol is only a symptom of a more pervasive disease. When I stopped drinking I began a lifetime process of recovery from unruly emotions, painful relationships, and unmanageable situations. This process is too much for most of us without help from a Higher Power and our friends in the Fellowship. When I began working the Steps of the A.A. program, many of these tangled threads unraveled but, little by little, the most broken places of my life straightened out. One day at a time, almost imperceptibly, I healed. Like a thermostat being turned down, my fears diminished. I began to experience moments of contentment. My emotions became less volatile. I am now once again a part of the human family. From the book Daily Reflections Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Thought for the Day Hazelden Betty Ford's Thought for the Day offers daily meditations for people in recovery or affected by addiction to alcohol or other drugs. Browse daily passages from our most popular meditation books to find your inspiration today. Monday, March 29 Thought for the Day... Before I met A.A., I was very dishonest. I lied to my spouse constantly about where I had been and what I'd been doing. I took time off from my work and pretended I'd been sick or gave some other dishonest excuse. I was dishonest with myself, as well as with other people. I would never face myself as I really was or admit when I was wrong. I pretended to myself that I was as good as the next person, although I suspected I wasn't. Am I now really honest? Meditation for the Day I must live in the world and yet live apart with God. I can go forth from my secret times of communion with God to the work of the world. To get the spiritual strength I need, my inner life must be lived apart from the world. I must wear the world as a loose garment. Nothing in the world should seriously upset me, as long as my inner life is lived with God. All successful living arises from this inner life. Prayer for the Day I pray that I may live my inner life with God. I pray that nothing shall invade or destroy that secret place of peace. From Twenty-Four Hours a Day 1975 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. Share this Thought

29 MARCH TRUSTED SERVANTS They are servants. Theirs is the sometimes thankless privilege of doing the group’s chores. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 134... In Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis describes an encounter between his principal character and an old man busily at work planting a tree. What is it you are doing? Zorba asks. The old man replies: You can see very well what I’m doing, my son, I’m planting a tree. But why plant a tree, Zorba asks, if you won’t be able to see it bear fruit? And the old man answers: I, my son, live as though I were never going to die. The response brings a faint smile to Zorba’s lips and, as he walks away, he exclaims with a note of irony: How strangeI live as though I were going to die tomorrow! As a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have found that the Third Legacy is a fertile soil in which to plant the tree of my sobriety. The fruits I harvest are wonderful: peace, security, understanding and twenty-four hours of eternal fulfillment; and with the soundness of mind to listen to the voice of my conscience when, in silence, it gently speaks to me, saying: You must let go in service. There are others who must plant and harvest. From the book Daily Reflections Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

22 MARCH NO MORE STRUGGLE. . . And we have ceased fighting anything or anyoneeven alcohol.... ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 When A.A. found me, I thought I was in for a struggle, and that A.A. might provide the strength I needed to beat alcohol. Victorious in that fight, who knows what other battles I could win. I would need to be strong, though. All my previous experience with life proved that. Today I do not have to struggle or exert my will. If I take those Twelve Steps and let my Higher Power do the real work, my alcohol problem disappears all by itself. My living problems also cease to be struggles. I just have to ask whether acceptanceor changeis required. It is not my will, but His, that needs doing. From the book Daily Reflections Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.