Recovery Reflections: March 6, 2017
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 and listen to the experience, strength and hope shared by Corey, Brandon and myself.
We will pre-record readings 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. We thank you and hope we can inspire your recovery journey!
Narcotics Anonymous
March 6, 2017: Rationalizing Away Our Recovery
“As a result of the Twelve Steps, I’m not able to hold on to old ways of deceiving myself.” – Basic Text, pg. 176
We all rationalize. Sometimes we know we are rationalizing, admit we are rationalizing, yet continue to behave according to our rationalizations! Recovery can become very painful when we decide that, for one reason or another, the simple principals of the program don’t apply to us.
With the help of our sponsors and others in NA we can begin to look at the excuse we use for our behavior. Do we find that some principals just don’t apply to us? Do we believe that we know more that everyone else in Narcotics Anonymous, even those who have been clean for many years? What makes us think that we’re so special?
There is no doubt, we can successfully rationalize our way through part of our recovery. But, eventually, we must squarely face the truth and start acting accordingly. The principals in the Twelve Steps guide us to a new life in recovery. There is little room for rationalization there.
Just for today: I cannot work the steps and also continue deceiving myself. I will examine my thinking for rationalizations, reveal them to my sponsor, and be rid of them.
Just for Today: http://www.justfortodaymeditations.com/daily-recovery-readings-march-6/
Deceiving Ourselves
“We created such wreckage when we were out there. We deceived ourselves,” Brandon said.
When we were in active addiction, we created havoc in our life. We ended up homeless, depressed and alone. We had nothing really going for us. Yet, we still got loaded because that was what we’re used to doing. We were cheating ourselves and our lives. We had so much more to live for but we didn’t feel worth it.
“We were delusional,” Brandon said.
We knew there was a better way of life but we didn’t know how to reach it, because we felt we were worth nothing. We didn’t realize the life we had in front of us. Recovery was possible but we couldn’t reach it because we didn’t know how.
“Just because you take the drugs away doesn’t mean we are any less delusional,” Brandon said.
When we decided to get clean and sober, the delusion didn’t just go away. We still had addict tendencies such as lying, stealing and selfishness. We needed a 12-Step program to teach us a better way of life. It didn’t just come to us because we stopped getting loaded. We needed to take action.
“I’m trying to lie to myself and it’s just not working,” Corey said.
When we took action in our life and applied the 12-step principles, things were different. It was hard for us to lie, cheat and steal; we now know right from wrong. We understand that justifying our behavior is going to get us nowhere, it will just get us high.
NA and AA
The NA: Just for Today focuses on rationalizing behaviors AA: Daily reflections puts attention the idea of faith. While each reading is different, they share the same importance. They give me confidence and guide me in the right direction. Also, it reminds me of how lucky I am to be living a life of recovery.
Alcoholics Anonymous
March 6, 2017: THE IDEA OF FAITH
Do not let any prejudice you might have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. – Alcoholics Anonymous
The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me. Sometimes just the idea of doing something different, something I am not accustomed to doing, can eventually become an act of faith if I do it regularly, and do it without debating whether it’s the right thing to do. When a bad day comes along and everything is going wrong, a meeting or a talk with another drunk often distracts me just enough to persuade me that everything is not quite as impossible, as overwhelming as I had thought. In the same way, going to a meeting or talking to a fellow alcoholic are acts of faith; I believe I’m arresting my disease. These are ways I slowly move toward faith in a Higher Power.
Having Faith in a Higher Power
“I have faith everything is going to work out,” Brandon said.
When working an honest program, you put all your trust in a power greater than yourself. You have tried running on self-will but that just got you loaded. You needed something greater than yourself to keep you clean and sober. However, somedays may be tough and you will ask your Higher Power, “why me?” You just have to have faith everything will be okay. It’ll all work out for the better.
“I have grown closer to my Higher Power this past week and it is defiantly showing in my life,” I said.
When I become disconnected from my Higher Power it shows in my life. I become angry, irritated, and irrational. I don’t mean for this to happen, I just put other things above my recovery. Although I have been sober for some time, I am not perfect. But I always find my way back to my Higher Power and I can tell the change in my life by the little miracles that happen around me.
If you or a loved one want to better your life, reach out to us. Recovery is possible for all who want it. You just have to go for it and put your faith into a Higher Power. Give us a call for more information on what treatment will work best for you. Our number is: (866) 578-7471
