Hello everyone! My name is Bianka. I would like to give you another warm welcome to Detox to Rehab’s Recovery Reflections. Please join us each Monday at noon on our Facebook page to listen to the experience, strength, and hope shared by Reisto, Connor, Corey and myself.
We will live stream a reading from Narcotics Anonymous: Just for Today and Alcoholics Anonymous: Daily Reflections. We express how this reading has helped our recovery or how it has impacted us. Please join us, engage as an audience member, post questions and or leave feedback for us at noon. We thank you and hope we can inspire your recovery journey!
Narcotics Anonymous
November 7th, 2016: Feeling God’s Will
“I sincerely believed that a Higher Power could restore my sanity and that I would stop trying to figure out what God’s will was, just accept things for what they were, and be grateful.”
Basic Text p. 198
The longer we stay clean, the less surely we “know” what our Higher Power’s will for us is—and the less it matters. Knowledge of our Higher Power’s will becomes less a “knowing” thing and more a “feeling” thing. We still practice the Eleventh Step faithfully. But rather than look for “signs” from our Higher Power, we begin to rely more on our intuition, trusting our feelings about what will make us comfortable.
After staying clean a few years, what we do seem to know is when we are acting against God’s will for us. When we are going against God’s will, we get that old uncomfortable feeling in our gut. That queasiness is a warning that, if we continue in this direction, ahead lie many sleepless nights. We need to pay attention to such feelings, for they are often signals that we are acting contrary to our Higher Power’s will for us.
Our Eleventh Step clearly states the true goal of prayer and meditation: improvement of our conscious contact with the God of our understanding, bringing us clearer knowledge of our Higher Power’s will for us and the power to carry it out. We know God’s will most clearly by how it feels, not by “signs” or words—and it feels right.
Just for today: I will pray for the knowledge of my Higher Power’s will for me and the power to carry it out. I will pay attention to my feelings and act when they feel right.
Just for Today: http://www.justfortodaymeditations.com/daily-recovery-readings-november-7/
Thy Will Be Done
There is no way to tell if you are living in God’s will. No sign is going to pop up in your head and tell you, “you need to change the way you are acting.” You ought to be able to feel it and those intuitive feelings will come with time. You just need to be patient and practice the 11th step.
In Corey’s early recovery he was determined to find out what his higher power’s will was.
“I was really hung up on trying to understand what God’s will was,” Corey said.
It is important not to spend too much time thinking if what you are doing is God’s will. You must put your faith in your higher power and trust that if you are doing the right thing you are most likely headed in the right direction.
“I have gotten better at it, [trusting in his higher power] but there is still room to grow,” Corey said.
There is always room to grow, and with time in the program you start to rely on your own intuition. You need to put trust in your higher power and to do that you need experience.
“At the beginning you don’t have the experience to rely on that you get over time,” Connor said.
It is your experiences that teaches you more than anything in your life. You can’t live someone else’s life, so make your recovery experience count and learn from it.
It is okay if you make mistakes along the way. How are you going to learn if you don’t have an experience to learn from? So, do not be too hard on yourself. If you are running on God’s will, all will be well.
NA and AA
The NA: Just for today focus on feeling Gods will and the AA: Daily reflections puts attention on how to “let go and let God.”. While each reading is slightly different, they share the same importance. They give you hope and guide you in the right direction. Also, it should remind you of how blessed you are to be living a life clean and sober.
Alcoholics Anonymous
November 7th, 2016: Let Go and Let god
. . . praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
— Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 96
When I “Let Go and Let God,” I think more clearly and wisely. Without having to think about it, I quickly let go of things that cause me immediate pain and discomfort. Because I find it hard to let go of the kind of worrisome thoughts and attitudes that cause me immense anguish, all I need do during those times is allow God, as I understand Him, to release them for me, and then and there, I let go of the thoughts, memories and attitudes that are troubling me.
When I receive help from God, as I understand Him, I can live my life one day at a time and handle whatever challenges come my way. Only then can I live a life of victory over alcohol, in comfortable sobriety.
Daily Reflection: http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/daily-reflection?y=2016&m=11&d=7
Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth is with a God as you understand Him and with Him you will find your true inner self. By practicing the 11th step daily, praying and mediating, you will be able to receive and accept all your God has to offer. With God in your life you have the reassurance that your journey will be what He wants for you. You should be grateful to have such a loving Higher Power in your life.
“I rely on a power greater than myself to keep me sober,” I said.
When I got sober, I didn’t do it alone. I tried that and it didn’t work. I decided one day that I was done with drugs in alcohol when I was in jail and I prayed. I prayed to something greater than myself to restore me to sanity. I now have 15 months sober and it is all thanks to the Higher Power I prayed to 15 months ago.
“When I move away from my Higher Power and the 12-step program we know what happens, I go and get high,” I said.
Even though I pray to my Higher Power religiously, there is still action that needs to be put into place.
Although it is vital to pray to a Higher Power, it is also important to still do other things such as meetings, meditation, and working with others to maintain your recovery and whatever happens, happens for a reason.
“God’s will is whatever is going on,” Corey said.
If you are doing what you are supposed to be doing and doing the next right thing, you are living on God’s will and your life will be just how it is supposed to be.
You Survived
“My life has unfolded the way it should,” Connor said.
Regard all the bad things that have happened in your life and think of the good. It is a miracle you have survived everything you went through. Even though you would have rather not lived some experiences you encountered, it has made you who you are today.
“I live a good life and it is because of the experiences I have had,” Connor said.
You live and you learn. No matter how bumpy the road may have been it has still formed the beautiful, sober life you are living today.
