Hello and hugs (((((((((((family))))))))), tonight makes it exactly 7 years and 364 days since i hit my final bottom and surrended to a new of life...I am  sure i have shared this here before with you all, thought that beings as tomorrow (Sunday) is my NA Birthday.....I would reshare this in hopes that maybe a newcomer can read that there is some hope once you hit that bottom and make your way up out of the pit of active addiction......I love you all very much and thank you for being a huge part of my life and my recovery.....just for today!!!! (((((((hugs)))))))))),Judy O

 

 

 

Hugs family....I couldn't get and stay clean untill I had gotten sick and tired of being sick and tired of Judy and my deathstyle of living and hit bottom so hard that it almost killed me..I had already lost everything in my first year of smoking crack,the insanity went on for 17 years untill I hit my final  bottom.I had a warrant out for me for 4 felony drug charges that I had been on the run from:The US Marshals came and shook my mom's house down looking for me twice in one week:My mom finally stopped her enabling and told me unless I sought help that I would be dead to her , told me to never call her again and that she would have me put in jail if I came back around:The cops were contacting SSI to have my check cut off:I decided that I just didn't want to live anymore, life has gotten unbearable and I hated myself ...so I took an OD and a razor blade....and a miracle happened, My HP allowed me to wake up,I had finally surrended and I called a friend and she came and took me to the jail where I turned myself in.....see if I hadn't had all this happen just like it happened, I may have either kept running and went on to those 3 years in prison or just died .I spent my first 30 days clean in a jail cell and wound up going through drug court.That awesome judge gave me the first choice in my entire addict life..I had a choice!!!! I took the house arrest and IOP treatment and 2 years drug offenders probation compared to going to prison for 3 years.For the first time since I have been in the dept of corrections, I was actually willing to do as they told me too.....see, they had already tried all this with me and i would get high and go and report in and tell my officer that no need to waste their drug test, that i had smoked before I got there....that was my start....I was sent to AA meetings my first 6 months, and I was so scared of it all...but that set my foundation up.....I arrived at the NA doors when I was 7 months clean and I haven't ever had to pick back up...I had become willing and I had the desire to stop using........sorry this is so long, hugs,Judy O

 

 

"Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy"

 

Welcome Suzi!!

 

This is an awesome group.  We can relate to the physical side of addiction.  The pain will go away if we leave the drug/alcohol alone.  I was diagnosed w/pre cervical cancer in 2004.  I decided that I was not going to endure the pain and tried to drink myself to death with the pain meds.  My mind and my body disconnected but the effects from that disconnection was tough.

 

Once I accepted that I had a problem w/alcohol and began to work the steps.  My body worked on the process of healing.  Surgery was necessary, however, I'm now free from the cancer and I'm almost 2 yrs clean/sober.  I owe God and the rooms of AA for my sobriety and willingness to do what it takes to stay that way.

 

Prescilla

mspjpatterson@...

Suzi <ssuza75@...> wrote:

Hi again!
I have never been here on this Yahoo group, only that first time on
monday...
I'm not from USA, actually I'm from Europe, never mind where from
actually...
I'm having a hard time with this addiction of mine... can cope for day
or two without, witholding, having pain in bones and muscles, and then
I give up, and use it again, since it is so good "pain killer"...
I would like to stop using it, but it is this psychical moment in
addiction which is bothering me!!!
I know that the pain will stop aventually, but my mind and thoughts
are the ones that I'm worried about!
Donno what to do, and it makes me sad and want to die cause of it!
Damn

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Great Spirit, You are my peace and you dwell within me. Let me look for You within myself.

---

Relax. Yahoo! Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses!

Mens Rap
www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/men'srap.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Each month we will share on a step and
spiritual principles of the step.
Since it is February, PLEASE share on the 2nd step
Or if you haven't done the 2nd step please share on
the spiritual principles of open-mindedness and hope....

This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
participate otherwise your emails will bounce

Yahoo! Clubs Twelve Step Soul Food 4 the Spirit
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and click
the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
messages to read what others have shared and click on the post link,
now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would like.
There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as well
as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by.
Thanks for your participation and support :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

February 5
Today I dare to walk on a new path
where comfort and security are not my goals.
I dare to reach out to my fellow human beings and
become part of society whose aim
is peace and love and joy and recovery.
written by ~ Ruth Fishel
"Time for Joy"
Check out Ruth's collection of
light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
& some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
www.spirithaven.com
for inspirational messages email
spirithaven@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eager

I want a new life, I'm tired of the old.
One that is pleasant, not dismal and cold.

A life that is tranquil, quiet and serene.
Not one that's repulsive, evil and obscene.

I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
It's going to be work, but my life is at stake.

I'm convinced that I'm not alone and unique.
That my life doesn't have to be gloomy and bleak.

I'm eager to begin this new way of life.
I'm willing to try without any strife.

I'm willing to do what's suggested of me.
To be open and listen as the dying can be.

Tanya H.
huntersmom69@...
12/22/05 ©

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and contributions.
What I can't do alone, We do together.
In loving service, Scott ~  YOUnMEnHP@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Authors of the Stories from the Book,
A L C O H O L I C S    A N O N Y M O U S
www.silkworth.net/aabiography/storyauthors.html

Bill W. and Other A.A. Speakers tapes
www.aaprimarypurpose.org/speakers.htm

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just For Today
February 5                 Keep coming back!

"We are grateful that we were made so welcome at meetings that we
felt comfortable."        Basic Text p. 80

Remember how scared we were when we walked into our first NA
meeting? Even if we walked in with a friend, most of us recall how
difficult it was to attend that first meeting. What was it that kept
us coming back? Most of us have grateful memories of the welcome we
were given and how comfortable that made us feel. When we raised our
hand as a newcomer, we opened the door for other members to approach
us and welcome us.

Sometimes the difference between those addicts who walk back out the
door of their first meeting, never to return to NA, and the addicts who
stay to seek recovery is the simple hug of an NA member. When we have
been clean awhile, it's easy to step back from the procession of
newcomers‹after all, we've seen so many people come and go. But
members with some clean time can make the difference between the
addict who doesn't return and the addict who keeps coming back. By
offering our phone numbers, a hug, or just a warm welcome, we extend
the hand of Narcotics Anonymous to the addict who still suffers.

Just for today: I remember the welcome I was given when I first came to
NA. Today, 1 will express my gratitude by offering a hug to a newcomer.

Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics Anonymous ©
1991 by World Service Office Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online friends,
"We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
If you have received this as a forward
and  would like to subscribe please email
me at YOUnMEnHP@...
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meditation of the Day
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts

Daily Meditation for ALL 12 Steppers
www.open-mind.org/Daily/

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html

NEED HELP Pick a topic Daily Meditation
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts/search.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

RIGOROUS HONESTY

Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant?  Who wants to confess his
faults to another and make restitution for harm done?  Who cares anything
about a Higher Power, let alone meditation and prayer?  Who wants to
sacrifice time and energy in trying to carry A.A.'s message to the next
sufferer?  No, the average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't
care for this prospect -- unless he has to do these things in order to stay
alive himself.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  24

I am an alcoholic.  If I drink I will die.  My, what power, energy, and
emotion this simple statement generates in me!  But it's really all I need
to know for today.  Am I willing to stay alive today?  Am I willing to stay
sober today?  Am I willing to ask for help and am I willing to be a help to
another suffering alcoholic today?  Have I discovered the fatal nature of
my situation?  What must I do, today, to stay sober?

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / February 5th

A.A. Thought for the Day

One thing we learn in A.A. is to take a long view of
drinking instead of a short view.  When we were
drinking we thought more about the pleasure or
release that a drink would give us than we did about
the consequences that would result from our taking
that drink.  Liquor looks good from the short view.
When we look in a package store window, we see
liquor dressed up in its best wrappings, with fancy
labels and decorations.  They look swell.  But have I
learned that what's inside those beautiful bottles is
just plain poison to me?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that life is a school in which I must learn
spiritual things.  I must trust in God and He will
teach me.  I must listen to God and He will speak
through my mind.  I must commune with Him in spite
of all opposition and every obstacle.  There will be
days when I will hear no voice in my mind and when
there will come no intimate heart-to-heart communion.
But if I persist, and make a life habit of schooling
myself in spiritual things, God will reveal Himself to
me in many ways.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may regularly go to school in things of
the spirit.  I pray that I may grow spiritually by making
a practice of these things.

"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
Hazelden Foundation.  No portion of this publication may
be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of Hazelden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today's Thought
FEBRUARY 05

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie ©

Financial Responsibility

We are responsible for ourselves financially.

What a frightening, grown up thought that is for many of us - taking
responsibility for money and our financial affairs. For many of us, handing
over responsibility for our financial affairs has been part of a codependent
trade off in our relationships.

Some of our emotional dependency on others, on this tight tie that binds us
to others, not in love, but in need and desperation, is directly related to
financial dependency. Our fears and reluctance to take responsibility for
our financial affairs can be a barrier to the freedom we're seeking in
recovery.

Financial responsibility is an attitude. Money goes out to pay for
necessities and luxuries. Money must come in, in order to go out. How much
needs to come in to equal that which is going out?

Taxes... savings plans...appropriate spending habits that demonstrate an
attitude of financial responsibility.... Part of being alive means learning
to handle money. Even if we have a healthy contract with someone that allows
us to depend on him or her for money, we still need to understand how money
works. We still need to adopt an attitude of financial responsibility for
ourselves. Even if we have a contract with someone else to provide for our
financial needs, we need to understand the workings of the money earned and
spent in our life.

Self-esteem will increase when we increase our sense of being financially
responsible for ourselves. We can start where we are, with what we have
today.

God, help me become willing to let go of my fears and reluctance to face the
necessary parts of handling money responsibly in my life. Shaw me the
lessons I need to learn about money.

©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission
of the publisher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Giving Your Own Unique Gift
www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2000/June/600-08.htm

The Ego Strikes Back Alan Cohen
www.inlightimes.com/archives/2001/03/alan-cohen.htm

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Boundaries
by Marie T. Russell

Boundaries... barriers... walls... All these words have similar meanings.
They indicate a place where one must stop and go no further. In some cases
boundaries and walls are wonderful. They stop us from falling over the edge
of a cliff, they prevent us from "overstepping" into someone's "space", but
as with all good things, too much of a "good thing" becomes its opposite...
bad.

Many of us, especially women, have read about and been told to put up
boundaries to protect ourselves from abuse. In some cases, this does indeed
afford protection, but in some cases all it does is put up a wall between us
and someone else, between us and our good, between us and discovering
something new.

I called someone the other day on their beeper. They did not recognize my
number, so they called me back not knowing who they were calling... When I
answered "hello" we both hemmed and hawed not wanting to be the first to
divulge our identity. She didn't feel "safe" in being the first to say "this
is so-and-so, you paged me?" and until I knew who it was I didn't feel safe
in saying "This Marie". Her comment was that it was sad that neither of us
felt safe to divulge our identity.

This made me think. How many times do we hold back from revealing our "true
identity" or our "true beliefs" before we feel safe that the other person
will agree with those beliefs, or be on the "same wavelength". This is
especially true in the area of personal beliefs that we are in the process
of changing. We do not feel secure in our new beliefs, so we hold back from
expressing them in case someone will disagree with them, or ridicule us for
them.

While in some cases, that might be wise, in other cases it keeps us from
growing, from discovering other people who also are searching. In 1985, when
I started InnerSelf Magazine as a local magazine in South Florida, many
people said to me that there were not enough people in South Florida that
were interested in personal growth and holistic health to have a viable
advertiser base. I disagreed with them. I knew, and was later proved right,
that there were many people living in the "closet" for fear of "exposing"
themselves. They felt alone in their beliefs -- they believed that they were
the only ones changing and becoming more attuned to their inner self. When
these people discovered the magazine InnerSelf (or any other publication in
the same vein), they realized that they weren't the "only ones" and that
gave them permission to "come out of the closet" and be up front about
themselves... about their beliefs and their dreams.

Are you living in the closet of your mind, of your fears, of your beliefs?
Have you put up walls between yourself and the people around you believing
they wouldn't understand? Are you hiding your truth from the people you work
with, from your family, from the people you meet believing that they
wouldn't accept you if they knew what you "really believed"... that you
believe, perhaps, in such "strange concepts" as communicating with angelic
beings, reincarnation, fasting, healing with the power of thought...
whatever.

The main problem with our hiding behind our walls of safety is that the
people around us do not get to benefit from our experience, from our newly
acquired knowledge. Now, I'm not talking here about becoming a "preacher"
trying to convert anyone and everyone to your new beliefs... whether it be a
new diet, a new belief, or a new way of behaving. Sharing our truth with
others is not about trying to convince them... it is about being honest with
ourselves and with others. And yes, sometimes it can be scary.

Yet, if all the previous people who had new ideas and concepts had refused
to share them with the world, we'd still be living without electricity,
thinking the world is flat, and walking everywhere instead of flying or
driving. While your new beliefs and knowledge may not be as "earth
shattering" as inventing the airplane, it may be very important to the
person you share it with. We never know when sharing with someone from our
heart will make a huge difference in their life. Sometimes they may have
been waiting for a "clue" to guide them in a new direction, and your words
help support their decision. While that is a weighty "responsibility", we
are not responsible for what people do with our sharing. We simply share
because of an inner need to express what we feel is "our truth", and the
other person then takes that information and applies it to their life... or
they don't. That is not our responsibility, it is not our choice. But if we
hold back and don't speak up, we are robbing the other person of the
opportunity of making that choice.

So many times, people say to me that the articles I write speak directly to
them... That is perhaps because I am not writing to convince anyone... I am
simply sharing the "newest" thought that's become clear to me... It's not a
"new thought" at all... but to me it is newly "clear"... and perhaps to
someone else it is new, or perhaps they simply needed reminding. We never
know when our truth is exactly what is needed at the time. Yet is we remain
behind our boundary of safety, then everyone misses out. We miss out on
sharing and giving light and love, and the other person misses out on
receiving.

Now of course, one must respect other people's boundaries, but, we also must
trust that sometimes those boundaries needs a little stretching. We all tend
to be very attached to our "comfort zone". Yet, many times growth comes to
us when we have been shaken from that comfort zone. Sometimes we are the
ones being shaken, and sometimes we are the ones shaking others... gently of
course. We do not need to convince or convert anyone, we simply need to be
honest about our truth. If someone says something that you disagree with, or
that you have a "higher perspective" on that "truth", then perhaps it is
your duty to share it... to let your light shine on that truth.

How else do we learn except by being exposed to a different perspective, to
information we were not familiar with? We are all teachers and students. I
learn from you and you learn from me. In the same vein, you learn
(hopefully) from the people in your life, and they have the opportunity to
learn from you as well. Sometimes we learn from people's mistakes, sometimes
from their examples, but always we have the opportunity to look around us
and see "little mirrors" of ourselves. We are all "in the same boat" and if
we start learning from each other and sharing what we have learned with
others, perhaps we can get to where we're going faster.

If everyone lives isolated behind their boundary, then each and every one of
us has to reinvent the wheel... rather than benefiting from the fact that
someone else discovered the concept and we get to apply it to our lives.

I encourage all of us to start peeking out from behind our boundaries... We
may find that we all have been living lonely existences behind those walls,
and that when we "come out" we have a whole group of people who also are
waiting to "come out" when they see they're not alone. A good anthem for all
of us may be the old song that goes "This little light of mine, I'm going to
let it shine. This little light of mine...".

According to the book "Cultural Creatives" we are over 50 million strong
wanting to create change in the world... We can do it... Let your light
shine and help bring those changes about sooner... Your light can help
"enlighten up" someone else, and so on and so forth...

We can do it! All together now: "This little light of mine, I'm going to let
it shine..."

About The Author
Marie T. Russell is the publisher of InnerSelf Magazine (first published in
1985 originally as Mighty Natural Magazine) and The Natural Yellow Pages
(1987-2002). She produced a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner
Power, from 1991-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal
growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and
reconnecting with our inner source of joy and creativity. Marie can be
reached at marie@... with personal comments and feedback, or to be
placed on a mailing list to be advised when her book becomes available.
http://www.innerself.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Changes

The changes that are coming, that are here Now,
Are within.
All that 'seems' without, is in reality
A reflection of what is within,
And the changes that are upon each of us,
Are those that we expect.
For each, those changes will be of perception,
The perception that we are ready for and
Have waited for, for eons.
What have you imagined, that is what you
May expect to see manifest in your life...
NOW!
Open to these changes, all will be
Life transforming,
All will be what is for our highest purpose.
Be grateful that it is so.

©Copyright John McIntosh and Jo Ann "Ananda" Polito

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In real love you want the other person's good. In romantic love, you
want the other person.    -- Margaret Anderson

The expression of real love is so easy between grandparents and
children - and between good friends it passes effortlessly. But why is it
so hard to share real love with a spouse or lover? Why, instead, do we
want to possess them? And from them we dream of selfless devotion.
Yet neither possession nor devotion guarantees the security we long
for.

Real love is not selfish; it frees both the giver and the receiver.
Knowing we're loved sustains our hearts and diminishes our
difficulties. It doesn't bind us, yet paradoxically it bonds our hearts.
These encouragements to grow, to change, to dare to depart if it's for
our own good, are expressions of real love. Real love is never
ownership, only stewardship of this moment's experiences.

Let's be gentle with one another, and love fully with trust, as a child
loves a grandmother.

From the book, Worthy of Love by Karen Casey

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Came to Believe

I cried a tear that came from my soul,
Please set me free, I said,
The doctor had already told the news,
That, soon I would be dead!
Why me, I screamed, this just can't be,
You know how hard I tried!
It must be someone else's fault,
When, to myself, I lied.
Just this one drink and not anymore,
I often was heard to say.
It worked a thousand times before,
So why not on this day?
My soul lay naked, I looked at myself
To see what I had done.
It started out so innocently,
It really looked like fun.
Reliving it now, as I look back,
I see it all was me.
I didn't like the person at all
That I had come to be.
The change came slowly, one day at a time,
For this I had to pray,
The steps gave me a way of life,
I practice everyday !
    
Sharlett Hunt @ 2002
Sharlette863@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We Need Help from Above

If I believe in the all mighty,
You tell me it'll all be cool.

If I believe in God,
I needn't play by your rules.

Who's to say then in whom I should believe,
Believing in anything will give a reprieve.

It's in a believe in one greater than you,
That will break me loose from this boiling stew.

The ingredients are nasty,
They neither meld nor conjoin.

The trick is to cause them
To slip to a boil,
And become all as one,
With minimal toil.

We need to trust something,
Someone greater than us.

To get us out of this wasteland,
And cause us to trust.

God help us we need your infinite love,
We need for our sake,
You to appear from above.

Brad Benjaminson
January 4, 2002
Bradbriverside@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The most influential person who will talk to you all day is you,
so you should be very careful about what you say to you!
Zig Ziglar

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Learn as if you were going to live forever.
Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
Anononymous

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
Helen Keller

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  People are the way they are, and your need to dominate or
change them in any way is the edict of your false self.
Your ego is, as usual, trying to convince you of your separateness.
It also doesn't want you to catch on to how it is controlling your life,
so it convinces you that if you don't dominate others,
they will get the best of you.
Wayne Dyer

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As we receive God's love and impart it to others,
we are given the power to repair the world.
Marianne Williamson

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Don't let the fellowship,
get in the way of your program.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you give this disease an inch,
it will take your life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The only one who plays with my disease is me,
ain't nobody gonna get me high but me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you take care of yourself,
Everything else benefits.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Put Gratitude In Your Attitude*~*~*~*~*~*~*

12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit does not endorse any of the
advertisements that may appear in this daily mailing.
Advertising is the price that we pay for a free list server
that yahoo groups provides.

Putting together these Daily Recovery Emails has been such
a blessing for me, Thanks for your support and contributions,
"What I can't do alone we can do together." If you have any
original poetry or submissions that you would like to send to
me you can email me at
YOUnMEnHP@...

"12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit" is intended to give readers ,
inspiring and thoughtful messages. To help fulfill our primary
purpose which is to carry the message to the alcoholic/addict
who still suffers. A spiritual adventure, a journey inwards this
has a vision of opening and touching, each and everyone,
with the Loving Power and Presence of the Spirit within."
We invite you to share the writings by forwarding today's
message to others. Share "12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit"
with friends and loved ones: Please keep passing this along to
online recovery friends  "We can only keep what we have by
giving it away."

Anyone can subscribe to this free daily  e-zine by sending an
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www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Promise, Many Gifts*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adult Children of Alcoholics
www.AdultChildren.org/

Al-Anon/Alateen
www.al-anon.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing
www.dhh12s.com/access.htm

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps
www.artsanonymous.org/

Clutterer¹s Anonymous
www.clutterersanonymous.net

Cocaine Anonymous World Services
www.ca.org/

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page
www.codependents.org/

Crystal Meth Anonymous
www.crystalmeth.org/

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous
www.angelfire.com/id/CGAnonymous/

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship forŠ
www.debtorsanonymous.org/

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program
www.draonline.org/

Eating Disorders Anonymous
www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org/

Emotions Anonymous
www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Families Anonymous
www.familiesanonymous.org/

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page
www.gamblersanonymous.org/

Hepatitis C Anonymous
www.hcvanonymous.com/

HIV Anonymous
www.hivanonymous.com/

The Marijuana Anonymous
www.marijuana-anonymous.org/

Methadone Anonymous
www.afirmfwc.org/methanon.htm

Narcotics Anonymous Official  Homepage
www.na.org/

Earth Group N.A. online meetings
www.earthgroupna.org/

Nar-Anon is a family support group
www.naranon.com/

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page
www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Overeaters Anonymous
www.oa.org/

Parents Anonymous
www.parentsanonymous.org/paIndex1.htm

Rape Survivors Anonymous
www.rsaws.org/

Recovering Couples Anonymous
www.recovering-couples.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous
www.saa-recovery.org/

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
www.slaafws.org/

Shoplifters Anonymous
www.shopliftersanonymous.org/

Suicide Anonymous
www.geocities.com/samemphis/

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous
www.siawso.org/

Workaholics Anonymous
www.workaholics-anonymous.org/
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the grace of God and through your efforts of passing on this
email, we are reaching many recovering people in different areas of
the world. If you are receiving this, from a country outside of the
USA please send me an email and tell me where you are receiving this.
So far we reaching over 6000 recovering people in 66 countries
including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada , Columbia, Costa Rica, China ,
Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Guatemala,
Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Korea,
Lithuania, Mali West Africa, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia , Saudi Arabia,
Scotland, Singapore, South Africa , Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
U.S.A., Venezuela, Wales, West Indies, Zimbabwe.
Even if your country is listed
please email me, and let me know where you are from.
12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit-owner@yahoogroups.com
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ clean date 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...

     (\o/\o/)   we are each of us angels  with only one wing  (\o/\o/)
      /_\/_\    and can only fly     by embracing each other   /_\/_\

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/

For the weekly topic meeting please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

Hi again!
I have never been here on this Yahoo group, only that first time on
monday...
I'm not from USA, actually I'm from Europe, never mind where from
actually...
I'm having a hard time with this addiction of mine... can cope for day
or two without, witholding, having pain in bones and muscles, and then
I give up, and use it again, since it is so good "pain killer"...
I would like to stop using it, but it is this psychical moment in
addiction which is bothering me!!!
I know that the pain will stop aventually, but my mind and thoughts
are the ones that I'm worried about!
Donno what to do, and it makes me sad and want to die cause of it!
Damn

----- Original Message -----

From: Judy O

To: twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 11:25 PM

Subject: [TwelveStepSoulFood4 theSpirit] I surrendered/////////

Hello and hugs (((((((((((family))))))))), tonight makes it exactly
7 years and 364 days since i hit my final bottom and surrended to a
new of life...I am  sure i have shared this here before with you
all, thought that beings as tomorrow (Sunday) is my NA
Birthday.....I would reshare this in hopes that maybe a newcomer can
read that there is some hope once you hit that bottom and make your
way up out of the pit of active addiction......I love you all very
much and thank you for being a huge part of my life and my
recovery.....just for today!!!! (((((((hugs)))))))))),Judy O

 

Hello and hugs (((((((((((family))))))))), tonight makes it exactly
7 years and 364 days since i hit my final bottom and surrended to a
new of life...I am  sure i have shared this here before with you
all, thought that beings as tomorrow (Sunday) is my NA
Birthday.....I would reshare this in hopes that maybe a newcomer can
read that there is some hope once you hit that bottom and make your
way up out of the pit of active addiction......I love you all very
much and thank you for being a huge part of my life and my
recovery.....just for today!!!! (((((((hugs)))))))))),Judy O







Hugs family....I couldn't get and stay clean untill I had gotten
sick and tired of being sick and tired of Judy and my deathstyle of
living and hit bottom so hard that it almost killed me..I had
already lost everything in my first year of smoking crack,the
insanity went on for 17 years untill I hit my final  bottom.I had a
warrant out for me for 4 felony drug charges that I had been on the
run from:The US Marshals came and shook my mom's house down looking
for me twice in one week:My mom finally stopped her enabling and
told me unless I sought help that I would be dead to her , told me
to never call her again and that she would have me put in jail if I
came back around:The cops were contacting SSI to have my check cut
off:I decided that I just didn't want to live anymore, life has
gotten unbearable and I hated myself ...so I took an OD and a razor
blade....and a miracle happened, My HP allowed me to wake up,I had
finally surrended and I called a friend and she came and took me to
the jail where I turned myself in.....see if I hadn't had all this
happen just like it happened, I may have either kept running and
went on to those 3 years in prison or just died .I spent my first 30
days clean in a jail cell and wound up going through drug court.That
awesome judge gave me the first choice in my entire addict life..I
had a choice!!!! I took the house arrest and IOP treatment and 2
years drug offenders probation compared to going to prison for 3
years.For the first time since I have been in the dept of
corrections, I was actually willing to do as they told me
too.....see, they had already tried all this with me and i would get
high and go and report in and tell my officer that no need to waste
their drug test, that i had smoked before I got there....that was my
start....I was sent to AA meetings my first 6 months, and I was so
scared of it all...but that set my foundation up.....I arrived at
the NA doors when I was 7 months clean and I haven't ever had to
pick back up...I had become willing and I had the desire to stop
using........sorry this is so long, hugs,Judy O

Hi again!
I have never been here on this Yahoo group, only that first time on
monday...
I'm not from USA, actually I'm from Europe, never mind where from
actually...
I'm having a hard time with this addiction of mine... can cope for day
or two without, witholding, having pain in bones and muscles, and then
I give up, and use it again, since it is so good "pain killer"...
I would like to stop using it, but it is this psychical moment in
addiction which is bothering me!!!
I know that the pain will stop aventually, but my mind and thoughts
are the ones that I'm worried about!
Donno what to do, and it makes me sad and want to die cause of it!
Damn

Detox
www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/detox.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Each month we will share on a step and
spiritual principles of the step.
Since it is February, PLEASE share on the 2nd step
Or if you haven't done the 2nd step please share on
the spiritual principles of open-mindedness and hope....

This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
participate otherwise your emails will bounce

Yahoo! Clubs Twelve Step Soul Food 4 the Spirit
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and click
the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
messages to read what others have shared and click on the post link,
now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would like.
There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as well
as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by.
Thanks for your participation and support :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

February 4
Today I look within to see what is keeping me stuck.
I know I cannot change unless I know what there is to change.
I feel energized and empowered to move forward.
written by ~ Ruth Fishel
"Time for Joy"
Check out Ruth's collection of
light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
& some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
www.spirithaven.com
for inspirational messages email
spirithaven@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If only I ask ....

The last twenty years I've been living a lie.
If I don't change it now, I will probably die.

I've followed a path not created for me.
It's one that I chose, Why couldn't I see.

God's given me signs day after day.
He's right here beside me to show me the way.

If only I look, listen and hear.
I believe I will have nothing to fear.

As I walk through the valleys and over the hills.
Relying on Him and doing His will.

If I tear down the walls and get rid of my mask.
He will dwell deep inside me, If only I ask.

Tanya H.
huntersmom69@...
12/19/05 ©

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and contributions.
What I can't do alone, We do together.
In loving service, Scott ~  YOUnMEnHP@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alcoholics Anonymous An Interpretation of the Twelve Steps
THE DETROIT PAMPHLET
The Admission
www.hindsfoot.org/Detr1.html

Alcoholic Cartoons
www.cartoonstock.com/search.asp?Boolean=Or&Category=Not+Selected&Artist=Not+
Selected&x=a&keyword=alcoholic

A Conversation with Wayne Dyer
www.inlightimes.com/archives/Wayne-Dyer.htm

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just For Today
February 4                          Feeling good isn't the point

"For us, recovery is more than just pleasure."  Basic Text p. 42

In our active addiction, most of us knew exactly how we were going to
feel from one day to the next. All we had to do was read the label on the
bottle or know what was in the bag. We planned our feelings, and our goal
for each day was to feel good.

In recovery, we're liable to feel anything from one day to the next, even
from one minute to the next. We may feel energetic and happy in the
morning, then strangely let down and sad in the afternoon. Because we no
longer plan our feelings for the day each morning, we could end up having
feelings that are somewhat inconvenient, like feeling tired in the morning
and wide-awake at bedtime.

Of course, there's always the possibility we could feel good, but that
isn't the point. Today, our main concern is not feeling good but learning
to understand and deal with our feelings, no matter what they are. We
do this by working the steps and sharing our feelings with others.

Just for today: I will accept my feelings, whatever they may be,
just as they are. I will practice the program and learn to live with
my feelings.

Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics Anonymous ©
1991 by World Service Office Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online friends,
"We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
If you have received this as a forward
and  would like to subscribe please email
me at YOUnMEnHP@...
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meditation of the Day
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts

Daily Meditation for ALL 12 Steppers
www.open-mind.org/Daily/

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html

NEED HELP Pick a topic Daily Meditation
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts/search.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

WHAT WE NEED -- EACH OTHER

     . . .  A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, "You are an
A.A. member if you say so .  .  .  nobody can keep you out."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  139

For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three ("The only
requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking"), I
thought it valuable only to newcomers.  It was their guarantee that
no one could bar them from A.A.  Today I feel enduring gratitude
for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me.  I
don't seek out people obviously different from myself.  Tradition
Three, concentrating on the one way I am similar to others, brought
me to know and help every kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped
me.  Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics
and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who
is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says
that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming
back.  Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need --
each other.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / February 4th

A.A. Thought for the Day

Treating others to drinks gave us a kind of satisfaction.
We liked to say, "Have a drink on me."  But we were not
really doing the other people a favor.  We were only
helping them to get drunk, especially if they happened
to be alcoholic.  In A.A. we really try to help other
alcoholics.  We build them up instead of tearing them
down.  Drinking created a sort of fellowship.  But it really
was a false fellowship, because it was based on
selfishness.  We used our drinking companions for our
own pleasure.  In A.A. we have real fellowship, based on
unselfishness and a desire to help each other.  And we
make real friends, not fair-weather friends.  With
sobriety, have I got everything that drinking's got,
without the headaches?

Meditation for the Day

I know that God cannot teach anyone who is trusting in
a crutch.  I will throw away the crutch of alcohol and
walk in God's power and spirit.  God's power will so
invigorate me that I shall indeed walk on to victory.
There is never any limit to God's power.  I will go step
by step, one day at a time.  God's will shall be revealed
to me as I go forward.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have more and more dependence on God.
I pray that I may throw away my alcoholic crutch and let
God's power take its place.

"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
Hazelden Foundation.  No portion of this publication may
be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of Hazelden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today's Thought
FEBRUARY 04

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie ©

Enjoying Recovery

What a journey!

This process of growth and change takes us along an ever-changing road.
Sometimes the way is hard and craggy. Sometimes we climb mountains.
Sometimes we slide down the other side on a toboggan.

Sometimes we rest.

Sometimes we grope through the darkness. Sometimes we're blinded by
sunlight.

At times many may walk with us on the road; sometimes we feel nearly alone.

Ever changing, always interesting, always leading someplace better,
someplace good.

What a journey!

Today, God, help me relax and enjoy the scenery. Help me know I'm right
where I need to be on my journey.

©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission
of the publisher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

How to Goof Off ,  Alan Cohen
www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2000/June/600-07.htm

Happily Even After, Alan Cohen
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part21.shtml

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Getting Out of Our Way
by Chandra Alexander

Sometimes, things just go our way. We get the job we have been dreaming of,
an unexpected check comes in the mail, or things just seem to effortlessly
fall into place for no apparent reason. We call it luck or attribute it to
simply having a good day, but in truth, we have been given a glimpse of the
actual nature of the universe.

We tend to think the timing was right, never realizing that we are an innate
part of the process. We are not random recipients of bounty. If only for the
moment, our state of being pulls to us this divine experience of
synchronicity. There is rhyme and reason to the way the universe unfolds.
When we are "in the flow," we have released the illusion that we can protect
ourselves by being in control. We have gotten out of the way long enough to
experience how effortlessly this process takes place. We must be willing to
stop pushing and allow the universe to send us the things we truly need
rather than what we keep asking for.

When a bird looks for food, it makes an implicit assumption that it will
find the worm and all will be okay. It does not get up and start thinking
"What if I can't find food? What will happen to me?" It does not anticipate
that there will be a problem. There is an ease with which it moves through
its day, an underlying instinct that is minutely in keeping with life's
basic nature. It does not think anything. Its being trusts that all will be
provided for, and it does not question how.

To be in that state is to observe the precise timing in which all things
fall into place and to simultaneously marvel at the exquisite manifestations
of an ever-changing universe. When we are fortunate enough to have an
experience of this wholeness, we are filled with humility and compassion. We
never know when we will be the recipients of such grace -- that is part of
the wonder.

I never thought a trip to the corner drugstore would deliver such an
experience. I had gone there for the sole purpose of buying mascara and
found myself wheeling the cart up and down each aisle looking for what else
I could buy. On a top shelf, I spotted a box with a picture of a green
birdfeeder. I liked the green color, but knew the last thing I needed was
another birdfeeder. One had been hanging on my balcony for the past year. It
had taken the doves close to three months to find it, but now they came
every day. I looked at the box again and put it into my cart. I started to
think about why I was purchasing it, and stopped myself. I was just going to
buy it, and that was that.

Purchases in hand, I walked through my front door and headed out toward the
balcony. There, lying on the ground, was the birdfeeder. My heart stopped.
It looked like the wire that had been holding it had snapped. All I could do
was stare at the broken feeder. A sense of wonder and wholeness filled my
being. I felt disoriented, out of time and space, and yet at the same time I
knew exactly where I was. I was 100 percent present. I could feel the
intricacy of the process, every tiny little piece falling into place.
Feeling it work, I intuitively knew that the birdfeeder had fallen the
moment I had opened the door!

The universe operates with speed and efficiency in direct relation to our
degree of trust. When we feel stuck, we need to get out of our own way. This
does not mean that we simply sit back and do nothing, but rather that we
know when to let go, when we have done enough. When we move through the
world knowing that we will be provided for, magic happens.

Outside In & Inside Out
We are taught that spiritual life requires an inward turning. In doing so,
we neglect another part of life that has equal power to transform us --
life's outer manifestations. We are so focused on our inner life that we
often become immobilized as we wait for a new feeling to overtake us before
we make a change. We are looking for that inner green light. Sometimes, we
wait forever and the feeling never comes.

To concentrate solely on one way of changing is to deny the complexity of
how the universe works. Energy is constantly moving, and nothing stays the
same. If we are to remain vigilant and make good choices, we need to
maximize all our options.

If energy creates form, form also creates energy. That is, if what we feel
inside is capable of creating certain events in our life, aren't certain
things we do also able to alter the way we feel? For example, some of us
meditate every day. It's difficult to get up an hour earlier each day and
sit, hoping the mind will become quiet. It doesn't feel natural, but we
remain disciplined and do it anyway. And then one day our mind stops
churning, and we are filled with a sense of equanimity and contentment.
Simply the act of placing our body in the same spot every day, regardless of
how we feel, has a power all its own. It sends a message of longing to the
Inner Self and sets the stage by creating a new form for energy to fill.
This newly created vehicle will again connect us to our feelings and take us
back to our core.

It is never easy to embrace a new way of doing things even when we know it
is in our best interest. Initially, we feel immobilized, and forcing
ourselves to do something new feels unnatural. But if we understand how
energy works, we realize that it is precisely this feeling that is heralding
a change for the better. We are stuck. We have gone as far as we can go
without doing something different. Unless we are willing to stretch
ourselves and reach out into the world, we will never be able to create new
forms to express who we are. We cannot use our inner life as a weapon,
retreating from a world that won't let us hide. When we do, we cut ourselves
off from a lifeline of possibilities, fresh and different ways to experience
the world.

Life is organic. All the pieces fit together with no one part being any more
spiritual than any other. Our inner life feeds the outer, and the outer life
nourishes the inner. This symbiotic relationship permeates all of life and,
until we tap in to that rhythm, our life remains disjointed. No one can tell
us when to stay quiet and wait for insight, or when to move out into the
world with a sense of purpose and discipline. At each moment, only we can
decide how to become more, and what we need to do to get there.

This article is excerpted from, Reality Works - Let It Happen, ©2002, by
Chandra Alexander. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Red Wheel /
Weiser. http://www.redwheelweiser.com

About the Author
Chandra Alexander is a life coach and motivational speaker. She spent ten
years in India studying with Swami Muktananda.She currently coaches clients
all over the world. Visit Chandra at her site http://www.artofbeingreal.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Abuse

SOME OF US were abused or neglected
when we were children.
Our parents' attitudes may be the reason that we
first became unhappy, but once we've grown up,
it's no excuse for us to go on complaining.
Our own attitudes sustain that needless suffering
and it is ourselves that we must learn to forgive.
Our parents did whatever harm (and/or good) to us
they may have done.
There's no changing that.
If we go on trying to be what we believe they wanted us to be,
our nostalgia becomes a form of revenge.
It is our way of showing them that they should have given us
another chance and that we are preoccupied
with how things might have been.

Acting as though we deserved their past mistreatment only makes
us miss opportunities for happiness in the present.
It may allow us to feel that we were loved when we were children,
no matter how badly our parents may have treated us, but to maintain
that illusion, we must go on feeling bad about ourselves.

We must learn to lose interest in our unhappy
childhoods and forgive ourselves for having stayed
stuck for so long.

Blues Ain't Nothing But A Good Soul Feeling Bad-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Resentments

"When I stab me will you die?"

RESENTMENTS ARE NOT PLEASANT,
THEY¹RE EVEN HARD TO HOLD,
YET MANY PEOPLE KEEP THEM,
AS IF THEY¹RE PRECIOUS GOLD.

THEY POLISH THEM WITH SCORN
AND BUFF THEM WITH PRIDE,
THEN WITHIN THEIR PRECIOUS BODY,
THEY TUCK THEM DEEP INSIDE.

THEY CHOOSE TO BURY THEM DEEP,
INSTEAD OF THROWING THEM OUT
SO WHEN THE OCCASION ARISES,
THEY HAVE A CAUSE TO POUT.

THEY LOCK THEM AWAY
SO THAT OTHERS CANNOT SEE,
BUT NO ONE EVER SEEKS A
RESENTMENT KEY.

RESENTMENTS SERVE NO PURPOSE,
THEY DEVASTATE THE HEART.
THEY¹RE ROTTEN TO THE BONE,
AND TEAR A SOUL APART.

MANY JUSTIFY THEM WITH ANGER
THEN WRAP THEM IN THEIR PAIN.
IGNORE THE PART THEY PLAY,
AND SHIFT ALL THE BLAME.

AND EVEN WHEN APOLOGIES COME,
THEY SEEM TO COME,
TOO LATE.
FOR RESENTMENTS ARE NURTURED
BY DROPS OF BITTER HATE.

RESENTMENTS CAN WEIGH HEAVY,
LIKE A TON OF GOLD.
BUT THEY ARE WORTHLESS
AND DETRIMENTAL,
AND MUCH TOO HARD TO HOLD.

LYNN B.
mlccblue@...
copyrighted 1998

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thinking of You

i wake in the morning dew
my mind thinks of you
as i kneel down to say hello
before i rush to go
so i know
you will be there throughout my day
for my God you have never stayed away
you lift me from my dismal mood
have always made sure i have food
you brighten my day
in the sunshine i play
my Higher Power
today you make me flower
and i feel when you look at me you smile
for i know i am your child
i am blessed
to have a father of forgiveness
thank you my God for all that i am
all that i will ever be
for i know you have always believed in me

By: Angela Moore  WHFL
AMOORE530@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When the grass looks greener on the other side of my fence,
I need to start watering my own lawn.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I forgive myself for having believed for so long that...
I was never good enough to have, get, be what I wanted.
Ceanne DeRohan

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A relationship is more of an assignment than a choice.
We can walk away from the assignment,
but we cannot walk away from the lesson it presents.
We stay with a relationship until a lesson is learned,
or we simply learn it another way.
Marianne Williamson

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On awakening in the morning, and at night, going to sleep,
or at any moment during the day, pause to pray.
Say the particular prayer that you know helps to put you in
conscious contact with our Source, the Power that created your universe.
That Presence, that Power, is available in every moment.
Make contact again and again today.
Mary Manin Morrissey

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars
or sailed to an uncharted land
or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.
Helen Keller

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This universe that we live in
operates according to set laws of nature
and unfolds according to orderly principles.
Because of this, one does not have to assume
that choices are forced on us.
There is also the possibility of simple being,
of letting the flow of life take care of us.
Deepak Chopra

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Keep the blame and the focus on you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It begins and ends with you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you point a finger at someone,
you have 3 fingers pointing at yourself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You spot it,
You got it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Put Gratitude In Your Attitude*~*~*~*~*~*~*

12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit does not endorse any of the
advertisements that may appear in this daily mailing.
Advertising is the price that we pay for a free list server
that yahoo groups provides.

Putting together these Daily Recovery Emails has been such
a blessing for me, Thanks for your support and contributions,
"What I can't do alone we can do together." If you have any
original poetry or submissions that you would like to send to
me you can email me at
YOUnMEnHP@...

"12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit" is intended to give readers ,
inspiring and thoughtful messages. To help fulfill our primary
purpose which is to carry the message to the alcoholic/addict
who still suffers. A spiritual adventure, a journey inwards this
has a vision of opening and touching, each and everyone,
with the Loving Power and Presence of the Spirit within."
We invite you to share the writings by forwarding today's
message to others. Share "12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit"
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Anyone can subscribe to this free daily  e-zine by sending an
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Promise, Many Gifts*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adult Children of Alcoholics
www.AdultChildren.org/

Al-Anon/Alateen
www.al-anon.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing
www.dhh12s.com/access.htm

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps
www.artsanonymous.org/

Clutterer¹s Anonymous
www.clutterersanonymous.net

Cocaine Anonymous World Services
www.ca.org/

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page
www.codependents.org/

Crystal Meth Anonymous
www.crystalmeth.org/

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous
www.angelfire.com/id/CGAnonymous/

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship forŠ
www.debtorsanonymous.org/

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program
www.draonline.org/

Eating Disorders Anonymous
www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org/

Emotions Anonymous
www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Families Anonymous
www.familiesanonymous.org/

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page
www.gamblersanonymous.org/

Hepatitis C Anonymous
www.hcvanonymous.com/

HIV Anonymous
www.hivanonymous.com/

The Marijuana Anonymous
www.marijuana-anonymous.org/

Methadone Anonymous
www.afirmfwc.org/methanon.htm

Narcotics Anonymous Official  Homepage
www.na.org/

Earth Group N.A. online meetings
www.earthgroupna.org/

Nar-Anon is a family support group
www.naranon.com/

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page
www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Overeaters Anonymous
www.oa.org/

Parents Anonymous
www.parentsanonymous.org/paIndex1.htm

Rape Survivors Anonymous
www.rsaws.org/

Recovering Couples Anonymous
www.recovering-couples.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous
www.saa-recovery.org/

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
www.slaafws.org/

Shoplifters Anonymous
www.shopliftersanonymous.org/

Suicide Anonymous
www.geocities.com/samemphis/

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous
www.siawso.org/

Workaholics Anonymous
www.workaholics-anonymous.org/
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the grace of God and through your efforts of passing on this
email, we are reaching many recovering people in different areas of
the world. If you are receiving this, from a country outside of the
USA please send me an email and tell me where you are receiving this.
So far we reaching over 6000 recovering people in 66 countries
including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada , Columbia, Costa Rica, China ,
Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Guatemala,
Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Korea,
Lithuania, Mali West Africa, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia , Saudi Arabia,
Scotland, Singapore, South Africa , Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
U.S.A., Venezuela, Wales, West Indies, Zimbabwe.
Even if your country is listed
please email me, and let me know where you are from.
12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit-owner@yahoogroups.com
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ clean date 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...

     (\o/\o/)   we are each of us angels  with only one wing  (\o/\o/)
      /_\/_\    and can only fly     by embracing each other   /_\/_\

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Thanks for using Yahoo! Greetings with AmericanGreetings.com.

Hi again!
I have never been here on this Yahoo group, only that first time on
monday...
I'm not from USA, actually I'm from Europe, never mind where from
actually...
I'm having a hard time with this addiction of mine... can cope for day
or two without, witholding, having pain in bones and muscles, and then
I give up, and use it again, since it is so good "pain killer"...
I would like to stop using it, but it is this psychical moment in
addiction which is bothering me!!!
I know that the pain will stop aventually, but my mind and thoughts
are the ones that I'm worried about!
Donno what to do, and it makes me sad and want to die cause of it!
Damn

I have been on the road in Las Vegas
I understand some of you havent received the email in days,
Unfortunately the HOTELS ISP's keep screwing up.
When you don't receive the email PLEASE go the the websites
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit :
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit
Because I send out the email EVERY day and it is posted here.
Thanks for your understanding
Scott

Service Rep
<http://www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/servicerep.html>

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Each month we will share on a step and
spiritual principles of the step.
Since it is February, PLEASE share on the 2nd step
Or if you haven't done the 2nd step please share on
the spiritual principles of open-mindedness and hope....

This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
participate otherwise your emails will bounce

Yahoo! Clubs Twelve Step Soul Food 4 the Spirit
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and click
the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
messages to read what others have shared and click on the post link,
now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would like.
There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as well
as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by.
Thanks for your participation and support :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

February 3
I am no longer a victim of my past.
I am free to move in new directions today.
I am at choice in my life.
written by ~ Ruth Fishel
"Time for Joy"
Check out Ruth's collection of
light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
& some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
www.spirithaven.com
for inspirational messages email
spirithaven@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Forty-Eight 'Musts' in N.A.
as found in the N.A. Basic Text

1. "Everything that occurs in the course of N.A. service MUST
   be motivated by the desire to more successfully carry the
   message of recovery to the addict who. still suffers. - pg. XVI

2. "We MUST always remember that as individual members, groups,
   and service committees we are not and should never be in
   competition with each other." pg. XVI

3. "We MUST face our problems and our feelings." - pg. 15

4. "We are people with the disease of addiction who MUST abstain
   from all drugs in order to recover." - pg. 18

5. "A second admission MUST be made before our foundation is
   complete." pg. 21 Explanation: It is not enough to admit that we
   are powerless over drugs, we MUST also admit that our lives
   had become unmanageable.

6. "We MUST be done with the past and not cling to it." - pg. 28'

7. "Assets MUST also be considered, if we are to get an accurate
   and complete picture of ourselves." - pg. 28

8. "Although He already knows, the admission MUST come from
   our own lips to be truly effective. Step five is not simply a
   reading of step four." - pg. 31

9. & 10. "We MUST carefully choose the person who is to hear our
   fifth step.' We MUST make sure that they know what we are
   doing and why we are doing it." - pg. 31

11. "We MUST be exact." - pg. 32

12. "We MUST realize that we are not perfect." - pg. 3 5

13. "Our experience tells us that we MUST become willing this step
   will have any effect." - pg. 36 (step eight)

14. "We MUST separate what was done to us from what we did to
   others." - pg. 37

15. "As with each step we MUST, be thorough." - pg. 38

16. "We MUST remember the pain that they have known." - pg. 40

17. " It is said that for meditation to be of value, the results MUST
   show in our daily lives." - pg. 46

18. "We MUST give freely and gratefully that which has been freely
   and gratefully given to us." - pg. 47

19. "Our disease involved much more than just using drugs, so our
   recovery MUST involve much more than simple abstinence." - pg. 53

20. "We MUST give up this old concept and face the fact that reality
   and life go on, whether we choose to accept them or not." - pg. 53

21. & 22. "When we are prepared, we MUST try out our newly found
   way of life. We learn -the program won't work when we try to adapt
   it to our life. We MUST learn to adapt our life to the program." - pg. 55

23. "Unity is a MUST in Narcotics Anonymous." - pg. 60

24. "We MUST live and work together as a group to ensure that
   in a storm our ship does not sink and our members do not perish." - pg. 60

25. "We MUST be constantly on guard that our decisions are truly
   an expression of God's will." - pg. 61

26. "An atmosphere of recovery in our groups is one of the most valued
   assets, and we MUST guard it carefully, lest we lose it to politics
   and personalities." - pg. 61

27. "We MUST remember that officers have been Placed in trust that
   we are trusted servants, and that at no time do any of us govern." - pg.61

28. "Our Sixth Tradition tells us some of the things we MUST do to
   preserve and protect our primary purpose." - pg. 66

29. "We MUST first understand what N.A. is. Narcotics Anonymous is
   addicts who have the desire to stop using, and have joined together
   to do so." - pg. 70

30. "In order to achieve our spiritual aim, Narcotics Anonymous MUST
   be known and respected." - pg. 71

31. "To improve ourselves takes effort and since there is no way in the
   world to graft a new idea on a closed mind, an opening MUST be
   made somehow." - pg. 75

32. "We MUST relearn many things that we have forgotten and develop
   a new approach to life if we are to survive." - pg. 77

33. "We realize we MUST do something." - pg. 78 (read the prior sentences)

34. "When we feel the old urges come over us, we think there MUST
   be something wrong with us, and that other people in Narcotics
   Anonymous couldn't possibly understand." - pg. 79

35. "We come here powerless and the power that we seek comes to
   us through other people in Narcotics Anonymous, but we MUST
   reach out for it." - pg. 79

36. "Recovery found in Narcotics Anonymous MUST come from within,
   and no one stays clean for anyone but themselves." - pg. 80

37. "if we have relapsed it is important to keep in mind that we MUST
   get back to meetings as soon as possible." - pg. 80

38. "We MUST totally surrender ourselves to the program." - pg. 81

39. "We MUST use what we learn or we will lose it in a relapse." - pg. 81

40. "We MUST, use what we learn or we will lose it, no matter how
   long we have been clean." - pg. 82

41. "Eventually we are shown that we MUST get honest or we will
   use again." - pg. 82

42. "We MUST smash the illusion that we can do it alone." - pg. 82

43. "Staying clean MUST always come first." - pg. 82

44. "Some things we MUST accept, others we can change." - pg. 92

45. "We MUST be willing to do whatever is necessary to recover." - pg. 93

46. "We never know when the time will come when we MUST put forth
   all the effort and strength we have just to stay clean." - pg. 93

47. "No matter how painful life's tragedies can be for us, one thing
   is clear we MUST not use no matter what!" - pg. 98

48. "In order to receive we MUST be willing to give." - pg. 102

the property of Narcotics Anonymous © by World Service Office Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and contributions.
What I can't do alone, We do together.
In loving service, Scott ~  YOUnMEnHP@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A Journey to Self
www.lighteye.freeserve.co.uk/part1.htm
This is an uplifting visual experience-takes a couple minutes.
Once it starts, keep clicking on the proceed link on the right.

Affirmations
open-mind.org/Tools/Affirm.htm

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just For Today
February 3                           We need each other

"Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity creed,
religion, or lack of religion."     Basic Text p. 9

  Addiction closed our minds to anything new or different. We didn't need
anyone or anything, we thought. There was nothing of value to be found in
anyone from a different neighborhood, a different racial or ethnic
background, or a different social or economic class. We may have thought
that if it was different, it was bad.

  In recovery, we can't afford such attitudes. We came to NA because
our very best thinking had gotten us nowhere. We must open our minds
to experience that works, no matter where it comes from, if we hope to
grow in our recovery.

  Regardless of our personal backgrounds, we all have two things in
common with one another in NA that we share with no one else: our
disease, and our recovery. We depend on one another for our shared
experience ‹ and the broader that experience, the better. We need
every bit of experience, every different angle on our program we can
find to meet the many challenges of living clean.

  Recovery often isn't easy. The strength we need to recover, we draw
from our fellow NA members. Today, we are grateful for the diversity
of our group's membership, for in that diversity we find our strength.

Just for today: I know that the more diverse my groups experience is,
the better able my group will be to offer me support in the different
circumstances I find myself facing. Today, I welcome addicts from all
backgrounds to my home group.

Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics Anonymous ©
1991 by World Service Office Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online friends,
"We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
If you have received this as a forward
and  would like to subscribe please email
me at YOUnMEnHP@...
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meditation of the Day
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts

Daily Meditation for ALL 12 Steppers
www.open-mind.org/Daily/

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html

NEED HELP Pick a topic Daily Meditation
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts/search.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

GETTING INVOLVED

There is action and more action.  "Faith without works is dead" . . .
To be helpful is our only aim.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp.  88-89

I understand that service is a vital part of recovery but I often
wonder, "What can I do?"  Simply start with what I have today!
I look around to see where there is a need.  Are the ashtrays full?
Do I have hands and feet to empty them?  Suddenly I'm involved!
The best speaker may make the worst coffee; the member who's best
with newcomers may be unable to read; the one willing to clean up may
make a mess of the bank account -- yet every one of these people and
jobs is essential to an active group.  The miracle of service is this:
when I use what I have, I find there is more available to me than I
realized before.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / February 3rd

A.A. Thought for the Day

By drinking, we escaped from boredom for a while.
We almost forgot our troubles.  But when we sobered
up, our troubles were twice as bad.  Drinking had only
made them worse.  In A.A. we really escape boredom.
Nobody's bored at an A.A. meeting.  We stick around
after it's over and we hate to leave.  Drinking gave
us a temporary feeling of importance.  When we're
drinking, we kid ourselves into thinking we are
somebody.  We tell tall stories to build ourselves up.
In A.A. we don't want that kind of self-importance.
We have real self-respect and honesty and humility.
Have I found something much better and more
satisfactory than drinking?

Meditation for the Day

I believe that my faith and God's power can accomplish
anything in human relationships.  There is no limit to
what these two things can do in this field.  Only believe,
and anything can happen.  Saint Paul said, "I can do all
things through Him who strengtheneth me."  All Walls
that divide you from other human beings can fall by your
faith and God's power.  These are the two essentials.
Everyone can be moved by these.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may try to strengthen my faith day by day.
I pray that I may rely more and more on God's power.

"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
Hazelden Foundation.  No portion of this publication may
be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of Hazelden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today's Thought
FEBRUARY 03

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie ©

Rejecting Shame

Shame can be a powerful force in our life. It is the trademark of
dysfunctional families.

Authentic, legitimate guilt is the feeling or thought that what we did is
not okay. It indicates that our behavior needs to be corrected or altered,
or an amend needs to be made.

Shame is an overwhelming negative sense that who we are isn't okay. Shame is
a no win situation. We can change our behaviors, but we can't change who we
are. Shame can propel us deeper into self-defeating and sometimes
self-destructive behaviors.

What are the things that can cause us to feel shame? We may feel ashamed
when we have a problem or someone we love has a problem. We may feel ashamed
for making mistakes or for succeeding. We may feel ashamed about certain
feelings or thoughts. We may feel ashamed when we have fun, feel good, or
are vulnerable enough to show ourselves to others. Some of us feel ashamed
just for being.

Shame is a spell others put on us to control us, to keep us playing our part
in dysfunctional systems. It is a spell many of us have learned to put on
ourselves.

Learning to reject shame can change the quality of our life. It's okay to be
who we are. We are good enough. Our feelings are okay. Our past is okay.
It's okay to have problems, make mistakes, and struggle to find our path.
It's okay to be human and cherish our humanness.

Accepting ourselves is the first step toward recovery. Letting go of shame
about who we are is the next important step.

Today, I will watch for signs that I have fallen into shame's trap. If I get
hooked into shame, I will get myself out by accepting myself and affirming
that it's okay to be who I am.

©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission
of the publisher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Every Day Matters What I Fear The Most
www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2006/January/Everyday%20Matters.html

Why Your Life Sucks, Alan Cohen
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part25.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part26.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part27.shtml

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Being True to Your Self
by Marie T. Russell

Somehow I always know when I am not being true to myself. It's a bit like
when you know someone is hiding something from you because they avoid
meeting your eyes. Well, in the same way, there are times when I seem to
shift my eyes away from my own Self or from others. My mind may have even
justified what seems a perfectly "reasonable" explanation of why I need to
step away from being 100% truthful. The rationale it uses may be, "If you
say the truth you'll hurt that person", "That's the way it's always been
done", "Nobody will know", or "I don't want to upset them".

Yet in all those cases, I have set aside my own inner wisdom, I have
betrayed the trust I have in myself, and followed the tune of the Pied
Piper. I have allowed it to lead me astray...

I remember my behavior at the beginning of my relationship with the man who
has since become my ex-husband. In those days, I was still very caught up in
"pleasing others". Let me give you an example: He would suggest we go
somewhere, i.e. the movies. Now there were times when I really wanted to
stay home or do something else, yet, in order to please him I would go.
Those outings always turned out badly. We would end up having an argument,
getting into some kind of unpleasant situation (traffic jam, etc.), or I
hated the movie. On the other hand, on those occasions that I decided to be
true to myself and respect my desire to stay at home, things always worked
out for the best. Being true to my Self has always proved to be the highest
possible course of action.

If everyone was being true to Self, there would be no war, no hatred, no
problems on Earth. Now that may sound like a pretty far-fetched statement,
yet stop for a minute and think about it. Would there be wars and killings
if the people involved were true to their Higher Self - their own 'higher'
nature? Of course not! Even on a smaller scale - such as "warring" with the
people around you - following your Truth is always the path of growth,
harmony, and inner peace. On those occasions where you have followed your
truth, even when it seemed like it would hurt someone or disappoint them,
did it not, in the long run, turn out for the best for both you and the
other person involved?

There are times when we thought we 'should' choose a particular course of
action in order to avoid hurting someone. Yet, how do we know what the
greater scheme of things needs for its accomplishment? The only thing we can
do is be true to our inner guidance, and trust that it will always lead us
to greater good. Sometimes, it is necessary for someone to hear the truth we
need to share. Yes, it may seem to hurt them at the time. Yet if we choose
our words so that we are not attacking them but sharing our perspective and
feelings about the situation, the person can then accept what we have to say
as our truth instead of as a judgment on them. Our non-judgmental
presentation of how we feel will make it easier for them to look at
themselves, and the situation, for whatever truth is in it for them.

I must admit that I still sometimes have a struggle with this one. The ethic
of always putting others first, being polite (nice), not being "selfish",
and of at all costs not hurting others has been a strong one in my Catholic
upbringing. Somehow I took it as the gospel truth. Yet, looking back at that
very gospel, I see that Jesus Christ himself was unafraid of expressing his
Self and following his truth.

So often we have been told "don't be selfish". Does that mean we need to be
Self-less? Does it entail losing our Self, betraying the trust that the
child within has for our Higher wisdom? You may think that you are letting
someone down by telling them the truth, but in the long run and sometimes
even in the short run, the truth shall always set us free.

We are strange creatures. We commit what we judge as crimes to our Truth,
and then we turn around and manifest situations in which we punish ourselves
for our previous behavior. Being true to ourselves makes life much easier
and pleasant. You will no longer need to create all kinds of situations in
which you punish yourself for having been untruthful.

The easiest way out of that rigid dance is to follow our truth and to trust
that it will lead us onward to greater good. Go for it! Make the tune that
you sing be "I've got to be me, I've got to be free..." Be true to your
Higher Self. You'll love yourself for it, and so will those others whom your
being truthful will assist in moving forward on their path in life.

About The Author
Marie T. Russell is the publisher of InnerSelf Magazine (first published in
1985 originally as Mighty Natural Magazine) and The Natural Yellow Pages
(1987-2002). She produced a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner
Power, from 1991-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal
growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and
reconnecting with our inner source of joy and creativity. Marie can be
reached at marie@... with personal comments and feedback, or to be
placed on a mailing list to be advised when her book becomes available.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Everyone wants to be able to trust their relationships.
We want to trust our partners, children, friends - those we're close to.
But the funny thing about trust is that even a small breach can
cause separation between family members, friends,
or business partners that often lasts for years-or forever.
Trust is loaded when we put others in a box made of our expectations.
It sets us up for disappointment and hurt.
Trust is really an inside job.
As we build trust in our own heart discrimination and choices,
we become secure in ourselves.
Then we can enjoy people without being so desperate about trusting them.
Doc Childre

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

THE POWER OF A SINGLE MOMENT

There is in each of us, no matter how humble, a capacity for love. Even if
our lives have not taken the course we had envisioned, even if we are less
than the shape of our dreams, we are part of the human family. Somewhere,
in the most inconsequential corners of our lives, is the opportunity for
love.

If I am blind, I can run my hand across the back of a shell and celebrate
beauty. If I have no legs, I can sit in quiet wonder before the restless
murmurs of the sea. If I am wounded in spirit, I can reach out my hand to
those who are hurting. If I am lonely, I can go among those who are
desperate for love. There is no tragedy or injustice so great, no life so
small and inconsequential, that we cannot bear witness to the light in the
quiet acts and hidden moments of our days.

And who can say which of these acts and moments will make a difference? The
universe is a vast and magical membrane of meaning, stretching across time
and space, and it is not given to us to know her secrets and her ways.
Perhaps we were placed here to meet the challenge of a single moment;
perhaps the touch we give will cause the touch that will change the world

Author Unknown

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ritual of the Morn

Poised on the opening edge of the  day
Like a kid sitting on a rock by the river bank
dangling my  feet in moist free air
I watch the river rush by

Images flash  reflections to capture
The first meal is to scoop up a bit of the  river
with my pen-line, the flow as bait:
writing is like feeding  myself
the ink life-serum for my soul
the page, the ever-hungry,  always-thirsty, receptacle blotter leafs
that line my pantry  shelves

I am always hungry in the early morning
my dreams have  tantalized my imagination
with apéritifs that pique a curious  appetite

So I nibble, listening to messages the birds bring on  their wings
hearing the wind whisper about the night
gazing at  what the trees are wearing
never exhausted by the rushing gushing  river
never satisfied, never satiated

A ritual to open wide my  hours
A spiritual reconnaissance
A hearty feast to start the  day

©2003 Stella Raymonde Savoie Johnson

With Love &  Blessings
Stella

stellaraymonde@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nothing's Right

My best friend went out last night
I was so upset and full of fright
I thought he had it all together you see
He was the one holding me
Now what will I do
God he took all of the money
When I asked him about it
The started to laugh
He thought it was funny
I really thought he was heaven sent
This is a story as it went
My job fired me
Because I was not there
God I feel so very lost
Do you God really care
They play with sobriety
When they are new
We all see this story
As a reality come true
Ninety days wonders
They feel free
As sponsors we wait
Patiently to see
We offer them the hand of the program
We tell them what's best to do
But they must learn
Yes it's true
God keep them in your eye
Help them when they fall
Hear their cry
Something's we must
Learn on our own
If we are to make recovery
Our new home
We just carry the message
Offer the hand
We pray a lot and try
To teach them to understand
We must remember less we fall
God is the one who helps them all
We just plant seeds of hope
Share with them
How we cope
This is what will
Keep us free
Carry the message
Soon you will see
God is the one whom
Helps new comers
Break free

Daniel M Corkery
6/26/2002
DMCDREAMER1@...
DMCDREAMER's Page of Poetry
<http://www.geocities.com/dmcdreamer/>

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer;
it sings because it has a song.
Maya Angelou

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You can't think your way into acting positively,
but you can act your way into thinking positively.
Nido Qubein

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself.
It means you think of yourself less.
Ken Blanchard

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When you meet anyone,
remember
it is a holy encounter.
As you treat them
you will treat yourself.
As you think of them
you will think of yourself.
Never forget this,
for in them
you will find yourself
or lose your Self.
A Course in Miracles

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Recovery is a path, not a sudden landing.
Sandra Bierig

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Life is fragile,
handle with care.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you could be anyone in the world,
you should want to be yourself,
because you're the only on equipped to do the job.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When you act spiritual,
you will be spiritual.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Growth takes more than love and sunshine.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Put Gratitude In Your Attitude*~*~*~*~*~*~*

12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit does not endorse any of the
advertisements that may appear in this daily mailing.
Advertising is the price that we pay for a free list server
that yahoo groups provides.

Putting together these Daily Recovery Emails has been such
a blessing for me, Thanks for your support and contributions,
"What I can't do alone we can do together." If you have any
original poetry or submissions that you would like to send to
me you can email me at
YOUnMEnHP@...

"12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit" is intended to give readers ,
inspiring and thoughtful messages. To help fulfill our primary
purpose which is to carry the message to the alcoholic/addict
who still suffers. A spiritual adventure, a journey inwards this
has a vision of opening and touching, each and everyone,
with the Loving Power and Presence of the Spirit within."
We invite you to share the writings by forwarding today's
message to others. Share "12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit"
with friends and loved ones: Please keep passing this along to
online recovery friends  "We can only keep what we have by
giving it away."

Anyone can subscribe to this free daily  e-zine by sending an
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Promise, Many Gifts*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adult Children of Alcoholics
www.AdultChildren.org/

Al-Anon/Alateen
www.al-anon.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing
www.dhh12s.com/access.htm

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps
www.artsanonymous.org/

Clutterer¹s Anonymous
www.clutterersanonymous.net

Cocaine Anonymous World Services
www.ca.org/

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page
www.codependents.org/

Crystal Meth Anonymous
www.crystalmeth.org/

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous
www.angelfire.com/id/CGAnonymous/

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship forŠ
www.debtorsanonymous.org/

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program
www.draonline.org/

Eating Disorders Anonymous
www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org/

Emotions Anonymous
www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Families Anonymous
www.familiesanonymous.org/

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page
www.gamblersanonymous.org/

Hepatitis C Anonymous
www.hcvanonymous.com/

HIV Anonymous
www.hivanonymous.com/

The Marijuana Anonymous
www.marijuana-anonymous.org/

Methadone Anonymous
www.afirmfwc.org/methanon.htm

Narcotics Anonymous Official  Homepage
www.na.org/

Earth Group N.A. online meetings
www.earthgroupna.org/

Nar-Anon is a family support group
www.naranon.com/

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page
www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Overeaters Anonymous
www.oa.org/

Parents Anonymous
www.parentsanonymous.org/paIndex1.htm

Rape Survivors Anonymous
www.rsaws.org/

Recovering Couples Anonymous
www.recovering-couples.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous
www.saa-recovery.org/

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
www.slaafws.org/

Shoplifters Anonymous
www.shopliftersanonymous.org/

Suicide Anonymous
www.geocities.com/samemphis/

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous
www.siawso.org/

Workaholics Anonymous
www.workaholics-anonymous.org/
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the grace of God and through your efforts of passing on this
email, we are reaching many recovering people in different areas of
the world. If you are receiving this, from a country outside of the
USA please send me an email and tell me where you are receiving this.
So far we reaching over 6000 recovering people in 66 countries
including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada , Columbia, Costa Rica, China ,
Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Guatemala,
Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Korea,
Lithuania, Mali West Africa, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia , Saudi Arabia,
Scotland, Singapore, South Africa , Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
U.S.A., Venezuela, Wales, West Indies, Zimbabwe.
Even if your country is listed
please email me, and let me know where you are from.
12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit-owner@yahoogroups.com
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ clean date 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...

     (\o/\o/)   we are each of us angels  with only one wing  (\o/\o/)
      /_\/_\    and can only fly     by embracing each other   /_\/_\

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/

For the weekly topic meeting please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

Family:

 

I have not really written in a long time but I get really busy with working over 40 hours a week, doing my service committment to AA and then just basically being a woman and all the extras that entails like dinner, dishes, cleaning etc.  All of you women know what I mean...

 

Anyway the reason I am writing tonight is to welcome all the new people to this group, congratulate anyone with clean time and to say how much empathy you have from me concerning any sorrows or trials and tribulations you may be having.  Also good job on all of you who have quit smoking recently.  I have not found it in me yet to try.  Yes I still have a lot of powerlessness over this addiction but the thought process of quitting is there which I guess is a good thing.

 

I just wanted to write and let you know of a trial of my own recently.  I work in a skilled nursing facility with a lot of elderly people as residents although we have had some young ones come in as of late.  Anyone knows that with working in this environment, I get to experience the death of residents on a regular basis.  I manage the therapy department so I get the joy of watching some of these residents begin to walk again with therapy so most of the time, there is a joy coming from my department and we really get a lot of satisfaction out of helping some of our people.  Naturally we cannot heal everyone so there are some disappointments but most of the time we aid our residents in ambulating again when they thought they never would again.

 

Rose was one our sucess stories.  She came to us with arthritis in her knees and hands and was in a wheelchair for quite a few years.  She just wanted to get a little stronger so she could help transfer herself from her wheelchair to the toilet.  With three months of hard work, and the grace of God she was up and walking in a roll walker and doing really well.  I loved Rose because she was real.  She owned a bar in the area ( yes I drank at her bar before-many times before sobriety) and she had a realness about her that made her one of the ones I let into my heart.  She passed away today and I am sad.  Very sad.  God allowed us to help her get up from her wheelchair after years of not being able to and walk with the help of roll walker,somthing she thought she would never do again and then He took her to heaven.  Of course I am quetioning why but I know I will come to terms with it soon. 

 

Rose was the fourth person to die this week and she was the one I was closest to at my place or work.  I am asking the questions of God but then I know I should not.  He has a plan and I know it and maybe instead of questioning why Rose is gone, I should just be grateful I knew her and could help her in some way while she was alive.  I am struggling with this but I know I will be okay with it and of course Rose would not want me to go back to any bar to drink over it because she knew me when I was a drunk and personally kicked me out of her bar on two seperate occasions until she banned me from the premises for life.  Or course I told her I knew her when and she remembered me when I told her what I had done in her establishment and we laughed over it because she knew and I knew it was the alcoholism rearing its ugly head and not who I am inside.  She was so thrilled I have been sober going on seven years.

 

Well enough of this sob story but I just had to share what Rose meant to me and tell all of you what a wonderful person she was.

 

Lori

I have been on the road in Las Vegas
I understand some of you havent received the email in days,
Unfortunately the HOTELS ISP's keep screwing up.
When you don't receive the email PLEASE go the the websites
For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit :
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit
Because I send out the email EVERY day
Thanks for your understanding
Scott


Alanon
www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/alanon.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Each month we will share on a step and
spiritual principles of the step.
Since it is February, PLEASE share on the 2nd step
Or if you haven't done the 2nd step please share on
the spiritual principles of open-mindedness and hope....

This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
participate otherwise your emails will bounce

Yahoo! Clubs Twelve Step Soul Food 4 the Spirit
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and click
the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
messages to read what others have shared and click on the post link,
now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would like.
There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as well
as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by.
Thanks for your participation and support :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

February 2
As I gently pull back each layer that has been blocking me
from being the best of who I am,
I dare look a bit further and then a bit further yet.
I know that I am not alone on this path and
God is guiding me every inch of the way.
written by ~ Ruth Fishel
"Time for Joy"
Check out Ruth's collection of
light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
& some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
www.spirithaven.com
for inspirational messages email
spirithaven@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

God's Will

I've done many things, I can't change my past.
God's given me chances, this could be my last.

I've had many experiences, some good and some bad.
It's made me who I am today and for that I am glad.

I ask everyday to do God's will.
Asking for the willingness to climb up that hill.

Trudging the path's God has chosen for me.
In search of that road to happy destiny.

If I do the right thing and am willing to grow.
I could excel past my dreams and this I do know.

One day I will find peace and be free.
But it's all up to Him and not up to me.

Tanya H.
huntersmom69@...
12/17/05 ©

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and contributions.
What I can't do alone, We do together.
In loving service, Scott ~  YOUnMEnHP@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Groundhog Day 2/2/2006
www.groundhog.org

Alcoholism and Addictions
Information - Support Groups ­ Resources
www.soberrecovery.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just For Today
February 2                                       Goodwill

"Goodwill is best exemplified in service; proper service is doing the
right thing for the right reason."  Basic Text p. ix

The spiritual core of our disease is self-centeredness. In dealing with
others, the only motive our addiction taught us was selfishness - we
wanted what we wanted when we wanted it. Obsession with self was
rooted in the very ground of our lives. In recovery, how do we root self-
obsession out?

We reverse the effects of our disease by applying a few very simple
spiritual principles. To counteract the self-centeredness of our
addiction, we learn to apply the principle of goodwill. Rather than seeking
to serve only ourselves, we begin serving others. Rather than thinking
only about what we can get out of a situation, we learn to think first of
the welfare of others. When faced with a moral choice, we learn to stop,
recall spiritual principles, and act appropriately.

As we begin "doing the right thing for the right reason;' we can detect a
change in ourselves. Where once we were ruled by self-will, now we are
guided by our goodwill for others. The chronic self-centeredness of
addiction is losing its hold on us. We are learning to "practice these
principles in all our affairs"; we are living in our recovery, not in our
disease.

Just for today: Wherever I am, whatever I do, I will seek to serve
others, not just myself. When faced with a dilemma, I will try to do
the right thing for the right reason.

Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics Anonymous ©
1991 by World Service Office Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online friends,
"We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
If you have received this as a forward
and  would like to subscribe please email
me at YOUnMEnHP@...
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meditation of the Day
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts

Daily Meditation for ALL 12 Steppers
www.open-mind.org/Daily/

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html

NEED HELP Pick a topic Daily Meditation
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts/search.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

HAVING FUN YET?

.  .  .  we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our
existence, they wouldn't want it.  We absolutely insist on enjoying
life.  We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor
do we carry the world's troubles on our shoulders.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.  132

When my own house is in order, I find the different parts of my life are
more manageable.  Stripped from the guilt and remorse that cloaked my
drinking years, I am free to assume my proper role in the universe, but
this condition requires maintenance.  I should stop and ask myself, Am I
having fun yet?  If I find answering that question difficult or painful,
perhaps I'm taking myself too seriously -- and finding it difficult to
admit that I've strayed from my practice of working the program to keep my
house in order.  I think the pain I experience is one way my Higher Power
has to get my attention, coaxing me to take stock of my performance.  The
slight time and effort it takes to work the program --  spot-check
inventory, for example, or the making of amends, whatever is
appropriate-are well worth the effort.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / February 2nd

A.A. Thought for the Day

We got a kick out of the first few drinks, before
we got stupefied by alcohol.  For a while, the world
seemed to look brighter.  But how about the
letdown, the terrible depression that comes the
morning after?  In A.A., we get a real kick: not a
false feeling of exhilaration, but a real feeling of
satisfaction with ourselves, self respect, and a
feeling of friendliness toward the world.  We got
a sort of pleasure from drinking.  For a while we
thought we were happy.  But it's only an illusion.
The hangover the next day is the opposite of
pleasure.  In AA., am I getting real pleasure and
serenity and peace?

Meditation for the Day

I will practice love, because lack of love will block
the way.  I will try to see good in all people, those I
like and also those who fret me and go against the
grain.  They are all children of God.  I will try to give
love; otherwise, how can I dwell in God's spirit whence
nothing unloving can come?  I will try to get along with
all people, because the more love I give away, the
more I will have.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may do all I can to love others, in spite
of their many faults.  I pray that as I love, so will I
be loved.

"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
Hazelden Foundation.  No portion of this publication may
be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of Hazelden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today's Thought
FEBRUARY 02

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie ©

Trusting Our Higher Power

     Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God,
as we understood him.
     --Step Three of A-Anon

So much talk about a Higher Power, God, as we understand God. So much joy as
we come to understand Him. Spirituality and spiritual growth are the
foundations of change. Recovery from codependency is not a do it yourself
task.

Is God a relentless taskmaster? A hardhearted, shaming wizard with tricks up
the sleeve? Is God deaf? Uncaring? Haphazard? Unforgiving?

No.

A loving God, a caring God. That is the God of our recovery No more pain
than is necessary for usefulness, healing, and cleansing. As much goodness
and joy as our heart can hold, as soon as our heart is healed, open, and
ready to receive God: approving, accepting, instantly forgiving.

God has planned little gifts along the way to brighten our day/and sometimes
big, delightful surprises perfectly timed, perfect for us.

A Master Artist, God will weave together all our joy, sadness and experience
to create a portrait of our life with depth, beauty, sensitivity, color,
humor, and feeling.

God as we understand Him: A loving God. The God of our recovery.

Today, I will open myself to the care of a loving God. Then, I will let God
show me love.

©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission
of the publisher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ramp Up The New Year, Alan Cohen
www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2006/January/Cohen.html

Handle With Prayer, Alan Cohen
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part17.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part18.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part19.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part20.shtml

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

5 FEARS THAT HOLD US BACK

Forget the bogeyman and Dracula. What really scares us is the discouraging
voice in our head that chips away at our confidence. Lisa McLeod of Lifetime
Television, tells us of Thomas J. Leonard, a coaching guru who believed that
there are five universal human fears that keep people awake at night. His
advice on overcoming these anxieties in order to live life to the fullest
are his legacy to the world. You'll probably take comfort in the knowledge
that those crazy thoughts rattling around in your head are a normal part of
the human condition. Lisa adds that you may also find solace by following
some of this inspiring advice.

Fear # 1: There isn't enough.
Whether it's time, money, opportunity or love, the fear of scarcity keeps us
living in the uneasy shadow of the green-eyed monster. "Maybe it's because
I'm from a big family, where you had to grab if you wanted the last biscuit,
that I get jealous when others do well at work," says Susan, a 26-year-old
environmental consultant. "It's as if their success is somehow going to
infringe on mine."

Better living strategy: It's hard to swallow when another person gets
something you want for yourself, but keep in mind the Good-Karma Law -
good things come to those who adopt an abundance mentality. It has been
scientifically proven that the simple act of being kind and giving can
actually boost your immune system. So let the spirit of generosity be your
guide, and think about how you can create more pie for everyone instead of
trying to get a bigger piece for yourself. Bring in doughnuts for your
coworkers, praise someone publicly, or help a working mom in a pinch - it
will all come back to you in spades.

Fear # 2: They won't like me anymore.
The shrill voice that stops us from pushing for the big promotion, tackling
a challenging project or opening up to a new relationship is rooted in a
fear of rejection. Unfortunately, it can keep us from getting what we desire
most. "I used to be afraid to speak up in meetings, but then I had a boss
take me aside and tell me he hired me because he valued my opinions," says
John, a 33-year-old marketing manager. "He added that if I wanted to move
up, I'd better start sharing my ideas."

Better living strategy: Next time you're afraid to go for it, ask yourself,
"What's the worst-case scenario here?" The truth is that revealing your real
self - aspirations, struggles and all - usually makes others like you MORE,
not less; people want to be around individuals who aren't afraid to reveal
their flaws, because it gives them permission to do the same. Also, remember
that most people are so wrapped up in their own insecurities that they
aren't spending a whole lot of time worrying about you. ~ Lisa Earle McLeod

Fear # 3: It's too good to last.
Why is it that we believe happiness is fleeting? "My husband will do
something really sweet for me and I'll find myself waiting for him to tell
me he didn't mean it," says Amy, a 25-year-old newlywed. "I'm always waiting
for the other shoe to drop." This deep-seated fear is usually rooted in past
experiences that can skew our perspective of the world. One example is
growing up listening to your parents fight about unpaid bills and then
believing that you weren't built to be financially secure. Sometimes you
sabotage your own happiness just to prove yourself right, like when you pick
a fight with an adoring partner.

Better living strategy: Before you decide that a good situation is
temporary, ask yourself whether your assumption is based on the past or
the present. If voices from your past keep telling you that you don't
deserve to be happy, create a new mantra for yourself. My personal favorite
is "Everything always works out great for me." Tack up your "I deserve
happiness" message above your desk or mirror; it's bound to have some
effect. Give yourself permission to enjoy good moments by focusing your
attention on the here and now and on all the things for which you are
grateful.

Fear # 4: I'll be found out.
We all secretly believe that we're just faking it in the grown-up world and
pulling the wool over everyone else's eyes. Take me, for example. I'm always
afraid people are going to find out that I'm not actually a real writer, the
kind with profound thoughts who speaks in prose. In my own mind, I'm just a
funny woman who reads a lot. Imagine my relief when my friend told me that
despite the huge success of her book and her syndicated relationship column,
she often feels that she isn't a real writer either.

Better living strategy: That little voice in your head doesn't always know
what it's talking about. After all, your admirers are smart people, right?
Next time somebody sends a compliment your way, document the evidence.
Write it down, save the e-mail, engrave it on your head if you have to -
just have it available the next time you need an ego boost. I've created a
folder on my computer desktop labeled Positive Reinforcement, so I'm never
more than a few clicks away from glowing praise.

Fear # 5: My life doesn't matter.
If the everyday chaos of life, e-mail and car trouble has you questioning
the point of it all, you're not alone. We often get so mired in daily
details that we fail to see how all our small victories and happy
interactions add up to something special and unique over the course of a
lifetime. "Over the years I've conquered most of my fears, and I've helped
my clients do the same," says Kristi Lucariello, a personal coach. "But I'm
still figuring out how I can create a legacy for myself." Even self-help
gurus want to know their lives count for something in the grand scheme of
things.

Better living strategy: Take a step back and look at the big picture. What
gives your life value are the deep, true connections you've forged with
others. Whether it's your family, friends or coworkers, your relationships
are the legacy you leave to the world. Focus on enriching your bonds and
you'll find yourself moving beyond your fears to a life filled with joy and
meaning.

Lisa Earle McLeod

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he
may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual
lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away
and gives place to other circumstances."  -- James Allen

It has taken me a long time to be able to look at a problem I'm
having as a necessary spiritual lesson.  To be frank, I'm still
not always real excited to be enduring the pain and frustration
that negative circumstances usually cause.  Some days I'd like
to "play hookey" and skip the lesson :-)

But as I look back at my life, it is easy to see that the times
when my wisdom and understanding grew to new levels; those times
when I approached becoming the person I long to be; it was
always the times that followed negative circumstances.  The
greatest growth you're going to have is going to come from the
negative circumstance you have today that sometimes seems too
overwhelming, too big to scale.

Writing in "Byways of Blessedness," James Allen is strong in his
call for us to embrace our circumstances.  "Let a person rejoice
when he is confronted with obstacles, for it means that he has
reached the end of some particular line of indifference or
folly, and is now called upon to summon up all his energy and
intelligence in order to extricate himself, and to find a better
way; that the powers within him are crying out for greater
freedom, for enlarged exercise and scope.

"No situation can be difficult of itself; it is the lack of
insight into its intricacies, and the want of wisdom in dealing
with it, which give rise to the difficulty. Immeasurable,
therefore, is the gain of a difficulty transcended."

Maybe that explains why it sometimes seems that I can't shake a
particular problem, or I have one that keeps rearing its ugly
head.  Instead of fighting it, I need to jump in and gain the
insight and wisdom to handle it.  Then it would be gone, and I
would be ready for the next lesson -- only stronger, both in
spirit and in wisdom!

My long-time hero, Emmet Fox, wrote, "It is the Law that any
difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what
they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to
enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The
only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we
suffer without learning the lesson."

And that's worth thinking about.

Vic Johnson
http://asamanthinketh.net

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After awhile you learn...

After awhile you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn't mean possession
and company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises and you begin to accept
your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads today
because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine
burns if you get too much so you plant your
own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn...

Veronica A. Shoffstall © Copyright 1971

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Here I am...

Here I am at the end of today
Thankful for being here, ready for prayer
Grateful for pains in the world where I live
Sighnposting days showing me ways
To serve and love like never before
'cos I'm addicted to being the person inside
Don't care how frightened, how much I used to hide,
My pride is beaten, my egos a mask
Gotta have recovery.
Is it too much to ask?
Laughter and tears,
share and shed our fears.
Strengthen our hopes and dreams start to live
Nightmares crumble, hurt falls to dust,
Our hearts are united, if god we trust.
Handing it over.
Can't use no more,
Looking for something but sometimes not sure,
Onionskin feelings complex and vast
Prayer aids me find myself whole at last.

22/1/03 davidododo-doh
subhuti69@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Resources of Wonder

We are each responsible
for our own motivating passion
For making our life full of inspiring resources
Be passionate for the realm you inhabit
Be absorbed and enchanted with nature
Revere the Creator of all
Outwardly direct your flow of gratitude
Express love and connections as they arise
Embrace, hold near, cherish, appreciate
Validate and congratulate
You will soon discover
More fully will your awareness grow
More readily will your wonder
give birth to original ideas
Anticipation will come up
to the surface to inspire
What you seek will be at your disposal
~ an inspiration resource file
Fill up on attention, store up on amazement
Who you are, what you love, what you see
Let it all be your passion
Allow yourself to make commitments
to what matters for you
Accumulate data from daily trips into imagery
Construct your treasure house of sacredness
You will therefore always be wealthy
in spiritual muses on which to rely
for relief of dull moments
Your days will thus be full of Life
from soul excitement

Love
Stella
© 2002 Stella Raymonde Savoie Johnson
stellaraymonde@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When we are not aware of God's constant love and blessing,
it simply means that we are "off" in how we are viewing life.
What may be required is something referred to as "altitude."
That means we must lift our consciousness
to see situations from a more elevated perspective.
John Morton

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It's better to be hated for who you are
than to be loved for who you are not.
Anonymous

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"We are responsible for our behaviors,
but we do not have to control our feelings.
We can let them happen.
We can learn to embrace and enjoy the emotional part of ourselves."
Melody Beattie

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Unconditional love...is the acknowledgement and acceptance
of the presence of God.
Selfless giving. Openness to receiving.
Iyalna Vanzant

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Treat the earth well it was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.
Ancient Indian Proverb

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

People are the way they are,
not the way I want them to be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The grass may be greener on the other side of the hill,
but it's just as hard to mow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You will never be satisfied with what you have,
until you come to terms with who you are.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was an Oak,
now I am a Willow, I can bend.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Put Gratitude In Your Attitude*~*~*~*~*~*~*

12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit does not endorse any of the
advertisements that may appear in this daily mailing.
Advertising is the price that we pay for a free list server
that yahoo groups provides.

Putting together these Daily Recovery Emails has been such
a blessing for me, Thanks for your support and contributions,
"What I can't do alone we can do together." If you have any
original poetry or submissions that you would like to send to
me you can email me at
YOUnMEnHP@...

"12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit" is intended to give readers ,
inspiring and thoughtful messages. To help fulfill our primary
purpose which is to carry the message to the alcoholic/addict
who still suffers. A spiritual adventure, a journey inwards this
has a vision of opening and touching, each and everyone,
with the Loving Power and Presence of the Spirit within."
We invite you to share the writings by forwarding today's
message to others. Share "12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit"
with friends and loved ones: Please keep passing this along to
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Anyone can subscribe to this free daily  e-zine by sending an
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Promise, Many Gifts*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adult Children of Alcoholics
www.AdultChildren.org/

Al-Anon/Alateen
www.al-anon.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing
www.dhh12s.com/access.htm

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps
www.artsanonymous.org/

Clutterer¹s Anonymous
www.clutterersanonymous.net

Cocaine Anonymous World Services
www.ca.org/

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page
www.codependents.org/

Crystal Meth Anonymous
www.crystalmeth.org/

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous
www.angelfire.com/id/CGAnonymous/

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship forŠ
www.debtorsanonymous.org/

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program
www.draonline.org/

Eating Disorders Anonymous
www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org/

Emotions Anonymous
www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Families Anonymous
www.familiesanonymous.org/

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page
www.gamblersanonymous.org/

Hepatitis C Anonymous
www.hcvanonymous.com/

HIV Anonymous
www.hivanonymous.com/

The Marijuana Anonymous
www.marijuana-anonymous.org/

Methadone Anonymous
www.afirmfwc.org/methanon.htm

Narcotics Anonymous Official  Homepage
www.na.org/

Earth Group N.A. online meetings
www.earthgroupna.org/

Nar-Anon is a family support group
www.naranon.com/

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page
www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Overeaters Anonymous
www.oa.org/

Parents Anonymous
www.parentsanonymous.org/paIndex1.htm

Rape Survivors Anonymous
www.rsaws.org/

Recovering Couples Anonymous
www.recovering-couples.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous
www.saa-recovery.org/

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
www.slaafws.org/

Shoplifters Anonymous
www.shopliftersanonymous.org/

Suicide Anonymous
www.geocities.com/samemphis/

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous
www.siawso.org/

Workaholics Anonymous
www.workaholics-anonymous.org/
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the grace of God and through your efforts of passing on this
email, we are reaching many recovering people in different areas of
the world. If you are receiving this, from a country outside of the
USA please send me an email and tell me where you are receiving this.
So far we reaching over 6000 recovering people in 66 countries
including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada , Columbia, Costa Rica, China ,
Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Guatemala,
Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Korea,
Lithuania, Mali West Africa, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia , Saudi Arabia,
Scotland, Singapore, South Africa , Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, United Arab Emirates,
U.S.A., Venezuela, Wales, West Indies, Zimbabwe.
Even if your country is listed
please email me, and let me know where you are from.
12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit-owner@yahoogroups.com
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ clean date 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...

     (\o/\o/)   we are each of us angels  with only one wing  (\o/\o/)
      /_\/_\    and can only fly     by embracing each other   /_\/_\

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/

For the weekly topic meeting please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

Connie,

My sincere condolences over the loss of your Mom.
My prayers are with you and your family.

Lei

Came to believe that a power greater than my self could restore me to
sainity.

Well, I dont know if I am sain or not, I do know I do not live inside
my head anymore , thinking and finding ways and means to obtain and
use whatever chemical to change the way I think and feel.

I do know that I have spent a life time, looking high and looking low
looking in bars, stores and other places both socially exceptable and
not for happiness, what I have learned is the secret to love and
happyiness in within me, .
My higher power challanged me to find peace of mind, it was part of
my lifes lesson. tha peace of mind was inside of me the whole time.
NO matter what I did Where I went or whom I was with, No one thing No
one person could give me the forfillment I was so desprately looking
for, It took what it took, I commetted to myself, I worked hard on me
to find the missing elimate and come to find out is was right there
the whole time, I dont have to go outside of myself to be still in my
heart,I dont need a drug to put my mind at rest. I am Loved and
Cherished when I am everywhere including alone, My higher paower
walks with me threw my days, rest with me throughout the night. I
have an inner peace I never thought possible, and I achieved this
feeling of calm, by simply applying the suggestions found in the
rooms and in the literature. Once I got to the point of defeat and
completed surrender the change was almost immediate.
I never new life could be as beautiful as I find it today.
Lift a stone I am there, god is in the air, god is in my heart, I
need not to hide behind four walls anymore. My higher power leads me
wherever I must go, I am Never alone.

Lisa G
  --- In twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com, "Scott H."
<YOUnMEnHP@...> wrote:
>
> History
> www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/history.html
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Each month we will share on a step and
> spiritual principles of the step.
> Since it is February, PLEASE share on the 2nd step
> Or if you haven't done the 2nd step please share on
> the spiritual principles of open-mindedness and hope....
>
> This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
> participate otherwise your emails will bounce
>
> Yahoo! Clubs Twelve Step Soul Food 4 the Spirit
> www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/
>
> A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
> This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
> a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
> This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
> weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
> username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and
click
> the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
> messages to read what others have shared and click on the post
link,
> now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would
like.
> There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as
well
> as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by.
> Thanks for your participation and support :)
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The
Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> February 1
> I know that one step at a time
> I am making progress today.
> I am grateful for all my growth,
> even though it is not always very obvious.
> written by ~ Ruth Fishel
> "Time for Joy"
> Check out Ruth's collection of
> light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
> & some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
> www.spirithaven.com
> for inspirational messages email
> spirithaven@...
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> 12 Qualities of Sponsorship
>
> 1.   I will not help you to stay and wallow in limbo.
>
> 2.   I will help you to grow, to become more productive, by your
> definition.
>
> 3.   I will help you become more autonomous, more loving of
yourself,
> more
>       excited, less sensitive, more free to become the authority
for your
>       own living.
>
> 4.   I can not give you dreams or "fix you up" simply because I can
not.
>
> 5.   I can not give you growth, or grow for you.  You must grow for
>        yourself by facing reality, grim as it may be at times.
>
> 6.   I can not take away your loneliness or your pain.
>
> 7.   I can not sense your world for you, evaluate your goals for
you,
> tell
>        you what is best for your world;  because you have your own
> world in
>        which you must live.
>
> 8.   I can not convince you of the necessity to make the vital
> decision of
>        choosing the frightening uncertainty of growing over the
safe
>        misery of remaining static.
>
> 9.   I want to be with you and know you as a rich and growing
friend;
>  yet
>       I can not get close to you when you choose not to grow.
>
> 10.  When I begin to care for you out of pity or when I begin to
lose
> faith
>       in you, then I am inhibiting both for you and for me.
>
> 11.   You must know and understand my help is conditional.  I will
be
> with
>        you and "hang in there" with you so long as I continue to get
> even the
>        slightest hint that you are still trying to grow.
>
> 12.   If you can accept this, then perhaps we can help each other
to
>        become what God meant us to be, mature adults, leaving
> childishness
>        forever to the little children of the world.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
> would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
> of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and
contributions.
> What I can't do alone, We do together.
> In loving service, Scott ~  YOUnMEnHP@...
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> A.A. History
> www.dickb.com/index.shtml
>
> N.A. History
> www.na-history.org
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Just For Today
> February 1                                   Hardships
>
> "We felt different... Only after surrender are we able to overcome
> the alienation of addiction."  Basic Text p. 22
>
>  "But you don't understand!" we spluttered, trying to cover up. "I'm
> different! I've really got it rough!" We used these lines over and
over
> in our active addiction, either trying to escape the consequences
of our
> actions or avoid following the rules that applied to everyone else.
We
> may have cried them at our first meeting. Perhaps we've even caught
> ourselves whining them recently.
>
>  So many of us feel different or unique. As addicts, we can use
almost
> anything to alienate ourselves. But there's no excuse for missing
out on
> recovery, nothing that can make us ineligible for the program—not a
> life-threatening illness, not poverty, not anything. There are
thousands
> of addicts who have found recovery despite the real hardships
they've
> faced. Through working the program, their spiritual awareness has
grown,
> in spite of—or perhaps in response to—those hardships.
>
>  Our individual circumstances and differences are irrelevant when
it
> comes to recovery. By letting go of our uniqueness and surrendering
to
> this simple way of life, we're bound to find that we feel a part of
> something. And feeling a part of something gives us the strength to
walk
> through life, hardships and all.
>
> Just for today: I will let go of my uniqueness and embrace the
> principles of recovery I have in common with so many others. My
> hardships do not exclude me from recovery; rather, they draw me
> into it.
>
> Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics
Anonymous ©
> 1991 by World Service Office Inc.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
> Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online
friends,
> "We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
> If you have received this as a forward
> and  would like to subscribe please email
> me at YOUnMEnHP@...
> Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Meditation of the Day
> www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts
>
> Daily Meditation for ALL 12 Steppers
> www.open-mind.org/Daily/
>
> Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
> www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html
>
> NEED HELP Pick a topic Daily Meditation
> www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts/search.html
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> "LET'S KEEP IT SIMPLE"
>
> A few hours later I took my leave of Dr.  Bob...  The wonderful,
old,
> broad smile was on his face as he said almost jokingly, "Remember,
> Bill, let's not louse this thing up.  Let's keep it simple!'' I
turned
> away, unable to say a word.  That was the last time I ever saw him.
> ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p.  214
>
> After years of sobriety I occasionally ask myself  "Can it be this
> simple?"  Then, at meetings, I see former cynics and skeptics who
> have walked the A.A.  path out of hell by packaging their lives,
without
> alcohol, into twenty-four hour segments, during which they practice
> a few principles to the best of their individual abilities.  And
then I
> know again that, while it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple,
it
> works.
>
> Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
> Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / February 1st
>
> A.A. Thought for the Day
>
> When we think about having a drink, we're thinking
> of the kick we get out of drinking, the pleasure, the
> escape from boredom, the feeling of self-importance,
> and the companionship of other drinkers.  What we
> don't think of is the letdown, the hangover, the
> remorse, the waste of money, and the facing of
> another day.  In other words, when we think about
> that first drink, we're thinking of all the assets of
> drinking and none of the liabilities.  What has drinking
> really got that we haven't got in A.A.?  Do I believe
> that the liabilities of drinking outweigh the assets?
>
> Meditation for the Day
>
> I will start a new life each day.  I will put the old
> mistakes away and start anew each day.  God always
> offers me a fresh start.  I will not be burdened or
> anxious.  If God's forgiveness were only for the
> righteous and those who had not sinned, where would
> be its need?  I believe that God forgives us all of our
> sins, if we are honestly trying to live today the way
> He wants us to live.  God forgives us much and we
> should be very grateful.
>
> Prayer for the Day
>
> I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and
> fear and selfishness.  I pray that I may have a glad,
> thankful, and humble heart.
>
> "Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
> Hazelden Foundation.  No portion of this publication may
> be reproduced in any manner without the written
> permission of Hazelden.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Today's Thought
> FEBRUARY 01
>
> You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
> Melody Beattie ©
>
> Step Two
>
>     Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could
restore
> us to sanity.
>     -- Step Two of Al-Anon
>
> We come to believe in a better life through the powerful gift of
other
> people - hearing them, seeing them, and watching the gift of
recovery
> at work in their lives.
>
> There is a Power greater than us. There is real hope now that things
> can and will be different and better for our life and us.
>
> We are not in a "do it ourselves" program. We do not have to exert
> willpower to change. We do not have to force our recovery to happen.
> We do not have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps just so we
> believe that there is a Power greater than ourselves - one who will
> get the job done in our life. This Power will do for us what your
> greatest and most diligent efforts could not accomplish.
>
> Our Higher Power will restore us to a sane and beneficial life. All
we
> do is believe.
>
> Look. Watch. See the people around you. See the healing they have
> found. Then discover your own faith, your own belief, your own
healing.
>
> Today, regardless of my circumstances, I will believe to the best of
> my ability that a Power greater than myself can and will restore me
to
> a peaceful, sane way of living. Then I will relax and let Him do
that.
>
> ©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
> publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written
> permission of the publisher.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> On the Nature of Faith
> www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2006/January/feature2.html
>
> A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen
> www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part10.shtml
> www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part11.shtml
> www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part12.shtml
> www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part13.shtml
> www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part14.shtml
> www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part15.shtml
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Secrets and Lies
> by Susan Campbell, Ph.D.
>
> A good way to let go of unconscious beliefs and to see yourself more
> honestly is to examine the secrets you keep from others. I have
never met
> anyone who doesn't have secrets. But consider this: the fact that
you have
> secrets is the same thing as affirming, "If people really knew me,
they
> wouldn't accept me" (translation: "I'm not acceptable as I am"). We
knock
> ourselves out to appear acceptable by doing things that reinforce
the
> feeling that we are not.
>
> What secrets do you have? What things have you done (or thought)
that you
> wouldn't want anyone to know about? If you can let yourself look at
your
> secrets, you can learn from them. In some of my workshops I do a
Secrets
> Exercise, in which I pass out blank three-by-five cards and ask
people to
> anonymously write one of their secrets on a card. Then I collect the
> cards,
> shuffle them, and pass them out again. All the participants read
aloud
> their
> new card (probably not their own secret) as if it were theirs. They
> attempt
> to feel what it might feel like if this secret belonged to them.
They then
> talk about what it feels like to have this secret, to have done,
said, or
> thought whatever had been reported on the card.
>
> This exercise provides a healing experience for everyone in the
room.
> As you
> hear your secret read aloud and discussed by someone else in such a
> tender,
> intimate way, you see your secret in a fresh light. Your secret,
the thing
> you thought too terrible to reveal, starts to seem more normal. In
> fact, the
> depth of self-disclosure in this exercise sometimes amazes the
> participants.
> It's as if people are actually dying to unburden their darkest
secrets.
> Perhaps they know intuitively that if others could hear and possibly
> accept
> their secrets, they would be provided with some measure of
reassurance or
> healing.
>
> In one of my groups, a man of about fifty shared a very painful
secret,
> first anonymously on the card, and then openly by claiming the
secret
> as his
> after it had been read and discussed. His secret was that he felt
> responsible for killing his best friend when they were in the
seventh
> grade.
>
> Smitty, the man in my group, and his two friends, John and Brian,
his very
> best friends since kindergarten, had taken Smitty's dad's handgun
to the
> golf course one day to play around. Hoping to impress his friends
with his
> bravery, Smitty got the idea of playing Russian roulette. The
others,
> especially Brian, protested, saying it was a stupid idea. But Smitty
> persisted and somehow got his friends to agree. Smitty loaded one
> chamber of
> the pistol and volunteered to go first. He spun the barrel, put the
gun to
> his temple, closed his eyes tightly, and pulled the trigger. Click.
> Nothing
> happened. He was lucky. Feeling a bit more confident, Brian took
his turn
> next. But this time, when he pulled the trigger, it went off,
killing him
> instantly.
>
> All these details were not written on the card. All Smitty had
written on
> the card was, "I am responsible for someone's death." But after he
> heard the
> person read the card with such heartfelt remorse and with such
compassion,
> Smitty decided to speak up. He told the entire story with tears
streaming
> down his face. When he finished, a hush went over the group.
Several other
> group members were crying with him. As Smitty looked around, his
sobs got
> deeper. He cried out to his dear friend's memory, asking for
> forgiveness. In
> subsequent group sessions, we learned that this confession was a
> life-changing healing experience for Smitty. He had allowed his most
> shameful secret to be seen and had experienced love instead of the
> contempt
> he expected.
>
> Being Transparent Exercise
> Here is an exercise you can do alone to help you become more
> transparent. On
> four different cards, write the names of four people you respect.
Now
> shuffle the cards and turn them over. On the other side of each of
the
> cards, write your top four secrets. Shuffle the cards again. Read
each
> card
> in turn, starting with the person's name, then turning the card
over and
> reading the secret. If the secret belonged to this person, how
would that
> change your opinion of him or her? If you're saying to yourself
that it
> wouldn't change your opinion at all, notice that. If it would,
notice that
> too. Can you accept other peoples' dark secrets more easily than
your own?
> Or is it the other way around?
>
> Now pick one of the secrets you have written and feel your feelings
> associated with it. If it's a memory of something you have done,
feel the
> feelings you have about having done it. As you go into the feeling,
notice
> any tendency you may have to run away from it. Notice any judgments
or
> imaginings, then come back to the feelings. If they take you into a
> memory,
> stay with this memory. If not, simply feel what you feel. Either
way, by
> experiencing what is, you allow light to shine on one of the dark
> places in
> your psyche, allowing this dark place to be integrated into the
whole of
> your being. Once integrated, it won't have any hidden power over
you.
>
> Favorite Fears
> Everyone lies, everyone has secrets, and everyone has fears, so
there's no
> point in admonishing people to stop it. What works better, what
helps
> us to
> become more transparent, is to admit our fears and to name them.
Most
> people
> have one or two "favorite fears." Some of us tend to fear being
ignored;
> others fear being singled out for attention. Some of us fear
abandonment;
> others fear being smothered. Some fear being overwhelmed or
> overstimulated,
> others avoid emptiness or having nothing to do. Frequently your
favorite
> fear only emerges in certain types of situations.
>
> To help you get perspective on your fears and take them more
lightly, look
> at the following list of situations and put a 0, 1, 2, or 3 next to
each
> one, 0 meaning you're confident and self-trusting in this
situation, 1
> meaning you'd be moderately shaky or unsure of yourself in this
> situation, 2
> meaning you'd prefer to avoid it, and 3 meaning you hope never to
be faced
> with this situation. Then, after you have given each situation a
> rating, go
> down the list again and wherever you have put a 1, 2, or 3 ask
yourself,
> What do I imagine would happen to me if I were in this situation?
What
> specifically am I afraid of?
>
>   1. Telling a lover I don't like what they are doing to pleasure
me.
>
>   2. Being told my lover isn't happy with something I'm doing during
> lovemaking.
>
>   3. Telling an employee or coworker that I'm not satisfied with
something
> they have done.
>
>   4. Being told by a boss, coworker, or customer that they are
unhappy
> with
> my work.
>
>   5. Starting a conversation with someone I'm attracted to.
>
>   6. Having someone whom I'm not attracted to ask me to accompany
them
> to a
> party.
>
>   7. Walking into a gathering full of people and doing something
unusual,
> unexpected, or foolish that makes everyone notice me.
>
>   8. Walking into a gathering full of people and having no one
notice me.
>
>   9. Being asked to do an assignment at work that I think is beyond
my
> capabilities.
>
>   10. Having to give a performance review to someone I detest or
don't
> respect.
>
>   11. Being caught in a lie.
>
>   12. Being blamed for something I didn't do.
>
>   13. Expressing a tender feeling and being misunderstood.
>
>   14. Being told that I'm not good at something that I want to be
good at.
>
>   15. Having my boss tell me she is angry with me.
>
>   16. Having a customer tell me he is angry with me.
>
>   17. Having someone tell me I have done something that hurt her
feelings.
>
>   18. Telling someone he has done something that I feel hurt about.
>
>   19. Telling someone he has done something that angers me.
>
>   20. Telling someone "it's over between us."
>
>   21. Negotiating for what I want with someone who is behaving in a
> dominating, threatening manner.
>
>   22. Telling someone she has to leave my home or office.
>
>   23. Being told by someone that he wants me to leave.
>
>   24. Shedding tears in a group meeting.
>
>   25. Having a temporary physical condition that makes it necessary
for me
> to ask for help.
>
>   26. Being asked for help with some physical task.
>
>   27. Being asked for nurturance.
>
>   28. Being told to calm down or to not be emotional.
>
>   29. Being told to shut up.
>
>   30. Hearing a negative judgment about myself.
>
>   31. Letting someone know my judgments about her.
>
>   32. Being told by someone I like that he doesn't like something
about my
> personality.
>
>   33. Telling a friend or mate that I want to be treated a certain
way and
> having her refuse.
>
>   34. Wanting my friend or mate to pay attention to me and being
ignored.
>
>   35. Being told to do something that I don't want to do by someone
whose
> approval I seek.
>
>   36. Being told I'm wrong about something I feel strongly about.
>
> Know Fear
> Getting familiar with your fears can help you to take them more
lightly.
> Many people suffer unnecessarily because they try to hide what
they're
> afraid of. If you accept your fears, they won't rule your behavior
as much
> as if you try to pretend they don't exist. The exercise you just did
> was to
> help you identify the things you imagine could happen to you in
certain
> situations that may be fear provoking to you. Being specific about
> what you
> fear helps to eliminate the kind of generalized anxiety that many
people
> live with every day. Often, when you attempt to name what you
specifically
> fear, you realize that your fear is without substance. You discover
that
> your fear is an imagining -- probably related to a false belief that
> originated when you were at a much more vulnerable stage of life.
>
> If you do have a specific fear that feels powerful and real, take
the time
> to acknowledge it so you can feel it fully, get down to the false
belief
> that may lie beneath it, and clear it out of your system. Perhaps
you will
> discover a desire underneath the fear. Since expressing a desire
takes
> more
> emotional strength and courage than expressing a fear, many people
tend to
> express their fears as a "sideways" method of asking for what they
> want. For
> example, Jean tells her co-worker Tara that she is afraid to ask for
> Tara's
> help with her project. She imagines that Tara is too busy. When Jean
> checks
> in with herself to discover what she specifically fears, she finds
it's
> about being told no. Once she admits this, she is able to see the
want
> underneath the fear. Now she can say to Tara, "I'd like your input
on this
> project." After acknowledging the fear of being told no, she
realized that
> hearing no is not so scary after all. It was more frightening when
it
> was a
> vague sense of dread. Now that Jean has named the fear, it doesn't
seem so
> serious and she can let go of it and simply express what she wants.
>
> Remember, when you try to ignore your fear and push it into the
> background,
> it won't go away. Instead, it will either create confusion in your
> perception of what's true or it will lead to a lack of authenticity
in the
> way you express yourself. So if authenticity is your goal,
acknowledge
> your
> fear, clarify what it's about, and let it fade away.
>
> This article was excerpted from Getting Real, by Susan Campbell,
Ph.D.
> ©2001. Reprinted with permission of H J Kramer/New World Library,
Novato,
> CA. Toll free 800-972-6657, ext. 52. www.newworldlibrary.com
>
> About The Author:
> Susan Campbell, Ph.D. has worked for many years as a relationship
> coach and
> a teamwork consultant to Fortune 500 companies. She is the author
of five
> previous books, including The Couples' Journey, and Beyond the Power
> Struggle. She can be reached at drsusan@... Visit her
> website
> at www.susancampbell.com
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Always The Same Lesson?
>  Chérie Carter-Scott, Ph.D.
>
> Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have
learned
> them. When you have learned them, you can then go on to the next
lesson.
>
> Have you ever noticed that lessons tend to repeat themselves? Does
it seem
> as if you married or dated the same person several times in
different
> bodies
> with different names? Have you run into the same type of boss over
and
> over
> again? Do you find yourself having the same problem with many
different
> coworkers?
>
> Several years ago, Bill Murray starred in a movie called Groundhog
Day, in
> which he woke up in the same day over and over until he learned all
the
> lessons he needed to in that one day. The same events kept repeating
> themselves until he finally "got" what it was he was supposed to do
in
> each
> one. Does this strike a funny but familiar chord with you?
>
> Lessons will be repeated until learned. When I taught high school, I
> always
> told my students, "If you don't deal well with authority figures at
home,
> then you will have an opportunity to deal with them out in the
world. You
> will continually draw into your life people who need to enforce
authority,
> and you will struggle with them until you learn the lesson of
obedience."
> Teenagers often perceive their parents as overly strict. At the age
of
> fourteen, one of my former students went away to boarding school.
Much to
> her surprise, she found teachers and staff with the same rules that
her
> mother had laid down at home and that I had at school. She finally
> understood.
>
> In couples' counseling it is often noted that people who divorce and
> remarry
> nearly always marry the same type of person they just left.
Similarly, a
> friend of mine named Cassidy who was a compulsive perfectionist had
a
> knack
> for attracting inappropriate men. It was no coincidence that
Cassidy, to
> whom mismatched socks were a horror and a torn shirt a federal
offense,
> repeatedly drew men into her life who dressed like slobs. She was a
> stickler
> for manners, yet her most recent boyfriend held his spoon like Fred
> Flintstone wields a drumstick. Only recently did Cassidy begin to
> acknowledge that perhaps these men were appearing in her life as
teachers
> and opportunities to work out her perfectionist issue.
>
> You will continually attract the same lesson into your life. You
will also
> draw to you teachers to teach you that lesson until you get it
right. The
> only way you can free yourself of difficult patterns and issues you
> tend to
> repeat, is by shifting your perspective so that you can recognize
the
> patterns and learn the lessons that they offer. You may try to
avoid the
> situations, but they will eventually catch up with you.
>
> To face these challenges means you need to accept the fact that
something
> within you keeps drawing you to the same kind of person or issue,
painful
> though that situation or relationship may be. In the words of Carl
Jung,
> "There is no coming to consciousness without pain." And come to
> consciousness you must if you are ever to stop repeating the same
lessons
> and be able to move on to new ones.
>
> The challenge of Rule Four is to identify and release the patterns
> that you
> are repeating. As any good facilitator or therapist will tell you,
this is
> no easy task, since it means you have to change, and change is not
always
> easy. Staying just as you are may not help you advance spiritually,
but it
> certainly is comfortable in its familiarity. You grooved your
patterns a
> long time ago as a way of protecting yourself. Moving into
unfamiliar new
> behavior can be uncomfortable not to mention at times frightening.
>
> Rising to the challenge of identifying and releasing your patterns
forces
> you to admit that the way you have been doing things isn't working.
> The good
> news is that by identifying and releasing the pattern, you actually
learn
> how to change.
>
> In my seminars, I teach that there are six basic steps to executing
any
> change in your life. They are:
>
> awareness -- becoming conscious of the pattern or issue
> acknowledgment -- admitting that you need to release the pattern
> choice -- actively selecting to release the pattern
> strategy -- creating a realistic plan
> commitment -- taking action, aided by external accountability
> celebration -- rewarding yourself for succeeding
>
> No lasting change can be made, nor any pattern released permanently,
> without
> going through each one of these steps. In order to facilitate your
process
> of change, you will need to learn the lessons of awareness,
willingness,
> causality, and patience. Once you master these, you will most
likely find
> the challenge of identifying and releasing your patterns far less
> intimidating.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> The Cookie Thief
>
> A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
> With several long hours before her flight.
> She hunted for a book in the airport shop,
> Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.
>
> She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,
> That the man beside her, as bold as could be,
> Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
> Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.
>
> She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,
> As the gutsy "cookie thief" diminished her stock.
> She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
> Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!"
>
> With each cookie she took, he took one too.
> When only one was left, she wondered what he'd do.
> With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
> He took the last cookie and broke it in half.
>
> He offered her half, as he ate the other.
> She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother,
> This guy has some nerve, and he's also rude,
> Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"
>
> She had never known when she has been so galled,
> And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
> She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,
> Refusing to look back at the "thieving ingrate."
>
> She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
> Then sought her book, which was almost complete.
> As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise:
> There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!
>
> "If mine are here," she moaned with despair,
> "Then the others were his and he tried to share!"
> Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
> That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!
>
> By Valerie Cox from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul
> Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> You Are a Marvel
>
> Each second we live is a new and
> unique moment of the universe, a
> moment that will never be again...
> And what do we teach our children?
> We teach them that two and two
> make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.
> When will we also teach them what they are?
> We should say to each of them:
> Do you know what you are? You are a
> marvel. You are unique. In all the years
> that have passed, there has never been
> another child like you. Your legs, your arms,
> your clever fingers, the way you move.
> You may become a Shakespeare, a
> Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have
> the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a
> marvel. And when you grow up, can you
> then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
> You must work - we must all work - to make
> the world worthy of its children.
>
> Pablo Casals
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> God Hear My Thoughts
>
> Am I going? Why and Where?
> Will someone tell me when I get there?
> I'm so confused, in a state of depression.
> I'm just not willing for it to become regression.
> So many things to do all at once.
> In this world I feel like a dunce.
> One minute I'm cheerful, the next I'm blue.
> Sometimes I think I know and I haven't a clue.
> I just want to sit and cry.
> I couldn't begin to tell you why.
> My life is so filled to the brim.
> I feel like I'm losing my connection with HIM.
> He's given me so much, I mustn't forget.
> Without HIM on my sobriety I wouldn't bet.
> I'm sorry to stray so far away from the fold.
> Please guide me back to be of YOUR creative mold.
>
> Michelle C. 1/08/01 107 days
> toocute_19082@...
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> "If God
>  Invited you to a party
>  And said,
>
>  'Everyone
>  In the ballroom tonight
>  Will be my special
>  Guest,'
>
>  How would you then treat them
>  When you
>  Arrived?
>
>  Indeed, indeed!"
>
>  Hafiz, 1319-1389
>  Beloved Persian Poet
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> If you dig a grave for others,
> you might fall into it yourself.
> Irish Proverb
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Regardless of what has happened or whether we understand,
> we can open ourselves to God's protection and grace.
> - John Morton
> (From: The Blessings Already Are)
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Life, at its best, is a flowing, changing process
> in which nothing is fixed.
> I find I am at my best when
> I can let the flow of my experience carry me,
> in a direction which appears to be forward,
> toward a goal of which I am but dimly aware.
> In thus floating with the complex stream of my experiencing
> and in trying to understand its ever-changing complexity,
> it should be evident that there are no fixed points.
> When I am thus able to be in the process,
> it is clear that there can be no closed system of beliefs,
> no unchanging set of principles that I hold.
> Life is guide by a changing of and interpretation of my experience.
> It is always in process of becoming.
> Carl Rogers
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.
> Who looks outside, dreams.
> Who looks inside, awakens.
> Carl Jung
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> My name is Scott and I am tri-addicted,
> I am addicted to everything that I try.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> I had no problem admitting that I am an addict,
> but I need the help of God and others
> to accept this, one day at a time.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> When you start being good to yourself,
> You start feeling good about yourself.
>
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
>
> Once you become a pickle,
> You can never be a cucumber again.
>
> *~*~*~*~*~*~*Put Gratitude In Your Attitude*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>
> 12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit does not endorse any of the
> advertisements that may appear in this daily mailing.
> Advertising is the price that we pay for a free list server
> that yahoo groups provides.
>
> Putting together these Daily Recovery Emails has been such
> a blessing for me, Thanks for your support and contributions,
> "What I can't do alone we can do together." If you have any
> original poetry or submissions that you would like to send to
> me you can email me at
> YOUnMEnHP@...
>
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>

Beckie...thank you and yes I know I can't save him or anyone else for that matter. It brakes my heart though. You know almost the same unfortunate experiences I had experienced at his age 20, he seems to be as well and it is soooo hard sitting  back and watching. For today he has the willingness but the longer he stays on the outside waiting for a bed the more he is begining to think he may not need treatment. Thank you for your support. Love in recovery, Kelly from Cape Cod 06-05-05

--- In twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com, b dalton <beckid42@y...> wrote:
>
> Kelly, I wish you all the best in this endeavor to try and help your son but you have to remember that we can't "save" anyone. I know how hard it is to sit back and watch our loved ones in these places. It is wonderful that you have the connections that you have and that you can get in there and fight for him, but we can't fight their battles. They have to have the willingness to do what is needed. I wish him the best but remember if things don't work out for him, he has to take the consequences of his behavior and you have to accept what is and get out of God's plan for him and let things go the way they are suppose to. My suggestion would be to get yourself to an alanon/naranon meeting and continue with your program and keep praying for him. I will keep you and him in my prayers. Nobody was going to make me get better until I was ready to get better. As much as you may not want to hear that, it was a reality that I had to hear myself about my child. Today my child is back
> living with me and is about to deliver her first child and is doing great today. But it was because of decisions SHE made, not because of the things I did for her. I had to step back and let her go through what she went through. As painful as it was, it worked, and she knew where to come when she was ready.
>
> Love in recovery
> Becki
>
> viequessoon viequessoon@y... wrote:
> Hi Everyone....it has been so long and I apologize for that. I just came back this week from Vieques, PR and it was absolutely wonderful and a well needed vacation. Welcome to all the new members of the group. Good luck Beckie on the race. Anna....I'm back, give me a call if you still have my number or drop me an email. Haven't heard from you since I dropped you an email. Hope your well...Before I left I basically 12 stepped my 20 year old son. Thank God I asked for him to be admitted to where I work, a detox/treatment facility. That was pretty difficult....asking for help and I had to plead my case but he was accepted. He stayed there for 3 days then went to TSS which is basically a holding facility for men to get into the mens 90 day treatment facility and the woman's 90 day treatment facility. Yesterday he was told to leave for he was horseplaying with other young kids and it got out of hand....I completely lost it. All I could do was pray. The new director at my facility, the
> men's facility where my son was waiting to get in and was accepted fought to have him still come because he still needs help, treatment. In other words, you can't just throw him out without helping him. This guy has a heart and really cares. I have never been so touched. Unfortunately he has to wait on the outside 5 to 10 days before a bed is available but he is getting another chance. So please I am asking for prayers that he continues to stay clean and sober while on the outside waiting. This has been such an emotional time for me but through it all I KNOW I have a higher power and my prayers DO get answered. 3 months ago these words would have never came out of my mouth....Amazing huh??? take care all of you and thank you for being here...Love in recovery, Kelly from Cape Cod 06-05-05
>
>
> As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of emails each day. I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to unsubscribe.
>
> To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are options for your group mail.
>
> 1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to your email program, you simply login to yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the left.
>
> 2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'. With this option, you get one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group, you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also there are no graphics or pictures.
>
> To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can choose:
>
> individual emails
>
> daily digest
>
> special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your inbox.
>
> no email - read on the site only.
>
> Its as simple as that.
>
> Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and you can exit.
>
> If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you set up your mail delivery settings.
>
>
> In loving service,
> Scott
> YOUnMEnHP@o...
>
>
>
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Michelle C.,

 

Thank you for writing this poem.  I've gone through several changes in these past few months and I've felt so alone, lonely, and overwhelmed.

 

The words in this poem describe exactly what is going on in my head (the bad place) almost 24/7.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

~Prescilla

mspjpatterson@...

 

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

God Hear My Thoughts

Am I going? Why and Where?
Will someone tell me when I get there?
I'm so confused, in a state of depression.
I'm just not willing for it to become regression.
So many things to do all at once.
In this world I feel like a dunce.
One minute I'm cheerful, the next I'm blue.
Sometimes I think I know and I haven't a clue.
I just want to sit and cry.
I couldn't begin to tell you why.
My life is so filled to the brim.
I feel like I'm losing my connection with HIM.
He's given me so much, I mustn't forget.
Without HIM on my sobriety I wouldn't bet.
I'm sorry to stray so far away from the fold.
Please guide me back to be of YOUR creative mold.

Michelle C. 1/08/01 107 days 
toocute_19082@...

 

It's been me and God since I made this move. It is DEFINITELY not something I would recommend to anyone.  Because I'm a bundle of fear, I'm too afraid to disconnect from AA.  I remember where I came from and thanks to good people like yourself, I can finally see growth.  I go to as many physical meetings as I can get to and look diligently for strength and hope.  I used the group for a long time for a higher power before I finally understood the spiritual principles and how they applied to my life.  So far, the willingness to follow direction from God has kept me out of trouble. (Let me tell you that's not an easy task...trust me.  I'm always in trouble for something. )

I have loved reading your post Prescilla even though you have 'a hiccup in your self confidence and self esteem'. I like that description! Is there any meetings that your sponsor usually goes to so you could see her face to face? Scott is right if your sponsor is not available time to plug into someone else.

P Patterson <mspjpatterson@...> wrote:

Scott,

 

I've grown to love this group so much over the last few weeks since I joined.  You are not the first to advised me that since my sponsor has not returned my last 5 phone calls, both to her home and her cell phone, it's time to move on.  I have no explaination as to what I could have said or done, but it may not be about me.

 

For now, I'm using the group for my strength and hope; just like I did early in my sobriety.  God always finds me strong members to encourage me and give me what He knows I need.  I asked God to send me a sponsor because I will always need someone to help me through recovery I can't do it alone.  To be honest, I miss the companionship of a sponsor.  I find that I can't confide everything with just anyone.  I take my tears, fears, and pain to God and he works them out for me. 

 

You read my share, I'm still emotionally sore about everything.  Doing the right thing has caused me   I believe there is a higher purpose for my life, or God would not have saved this silly girl from her last drunk where I was trying to kill myself.  I'm just stubborn enough to stay here to find out the reason.  I just don't want to be alone in the process.  If I wanted to isolate in sobriety, I could have just stayed drunk.  Not to get really esoteric about all of this, however, I believe that when I meditate and truly be honest with myself and my feelings that's when God let's me know it's OK and he has my back on alot of my issues.  I'm just a small grain compared to all the other people on the planet or the universe for that matter. 

 

I really thank you for being here.  I hope that I can continue to share here because it really does help.

 

Love you loads, Scott

 

~Prescilla

mspjpatterson@...

 

 

 

YOUnMEnHP <YOUnMEnHP@...> wrote:

(((Prescilla))) a BIG hug to you
I would make an effort to reach back to your sponsor again,
If you leave a message say to her
It is VERY important that you here back from me
I know for me when I was getting drugs if the spot was closed
I found a spot that was open.
If I was drinking and a bar was closed
I found a bar that was opened.
If things with your sponsor are not working because
she is not available and not responding to you
Then she is not being responsible
Then it is time to move your recovery along
and find a new sponsor.
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ cleandate 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...     

       ==  ==      "we are each of us angels
     <^\()/\()/^>       with but one wing,  
      \/  \/  \/       and can only fly by
       /  \/  \        embracing each other"
       `""``""`

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
<http://groups-beta.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit>

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
<http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/>

For the weekly topic meeting please visit me at:
<http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/>

---

From: P Patterson <mspjpatterson@...>
Reply-To: <twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:49:13 -0800 (PST)
To: <twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TwelveStepSoulFood4 theSpirit] Re: Prescilla

Thanks Becky.
  
 
  
I did the right thing by letting him know I wanted and needed to work a spiritual program.  That meant stepping away as a romantic friend and just being a friend.  However, there has been damage done already.  I can't tell if he's bitter about the situation or if it's my own emotions stuck on guilt, but he doesn't even treat or talk to  me the same prior to all this happening.
  
 
  
Then tonight I reached out to talk with someone in my former home group back in Oxnard, CA and I got the brush off there as well.  I already shared that I've had no response from my sponsor, or should I now say former sponsor?  
  
 
  
Anyway, this weekend is sucking so badly it's not even funny any more.  I want more than anything to hide but my old hiding place is not an option.  I'm an emotional train wreck right now and I'm feeling more lost and alone than when I first started this journey towards sobriety.  
  
 
  
Thank you for your kind words.
  
 
  
Prescilla
  
mspjpatterson@...

b dalton <beckid42@...> wrote:
  

Prescilla thanks for sharing this most intimate issue with us, I personally know how much I can get attracted to that stuff of being wanted by someone.  I sometimes sit and think I just want to be loved.  And when someone loves me that way, I get attracted to the notion - and it could be coming from anyone.  I get in denial about the situation.  It is always wise to review the facts and look at the reality.  The facts are - I am married, and I had to get that kind of relationship with myself first.  I had to take care of me and I had to become responsible.  The next fact is, people will get hurt, this is not about me, this is about what is right and what is wrong.  It can't always be about what I want.  
  
 
  
Thank you Scott for your wonderful insight into this.  I just love what you shared.
  
 
  
Becki

YOUnMEnHP <YOUnMEnHP@...> wrote:
  

(((Prescilla))) a BIG hug to you
This is a very delicate and sensitive situation.
What I am going to say is shooting for the principle not the personality.
He is married, If you cross the line, the relationship will change.
and so will you, you might be compromising your values and beliefs.
Having sex in a relationship, changes the whole relationship.
Just because you are sick and tired of being ALONE ,
doesn’t mean you have to act out on a feeling.
I have females in my life that I am emotionally available to,
and I mean emotionally available, without and motives.
I don’t know this person, but I can tell you about me before I hit
my bottom with relationships 9 years ago with 8 years clean.
You might think I was emotionally available, responsive, kind,
giving, caring, understanding, compassionate.
In truth it was ALL manipulation.
Your question, “But am I held responsible for his actions??”
No you aren’t but you are responsible and accountable for your own actions.
Sometime we need to work some traditions in our lives.
Our (family) common welfare comes first, our personal well-being depends on our unity.
If he’s not happy, let him get separated, then divorced and then embark  upon another relationship.
It is difficult enough being in one relationship, let alone being in two.
Don’t get sucked in by his kindness to your daughter,
You should only be hanging out with people who are kind to your daughter.
This is recovery, life does get better.
Being alone and Being lonely is not bad or good,
it just is....
Its what you do with being alone or lonely that counts.
Take one step towards your higher power
and they will take one step towards you.
Please don’t take this that I am sitting in judgment, I am speaking from experience in a relationship with someone that was unhappily married.
I have been there and done that, and it was even more painful then being alone and lonely.
Thanks for your courage and honesty.
Please stay in touch
Prescilla I love YOU !!!!!
Ask God for guidance,
Hang out with people that encourage you to be courageous enough to take the next step
and God will put the path beneath your feet
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ cleandate 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...     

      ==  ==      "we are each of us angels
     <^\()/\()/^>       with but one wing,  
      \/  \/  \/       and can only fly by
       /  \/  \        embracing each other"
       `""``""`

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
<http://groups-beta.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit>

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
<http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/>

For the weekly topic meeting please visit me at:
<http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/>



  

---

 From: P Patterson <mspjpatterson@...>
Reply-To: <twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 17:16:08 -0800 (PST)
To: <twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [TwelveStepSoulFood4 theSpirit] Re: This weeks topic.

  
  

The weeklymeeting topic is:
The ONE THING that I NEED to
work on the most is...
  
 
  
Emotional security.  I'm falling in love with someone that is absolutely everything I want and need in my life but there is ONE HUGE roadblock; he's married.
  
 
  
We started out as good friends in the rooms of AA.  He always encouraged me when I was down with myself and ready to give up.  We didn't realize this was something that either of us wanted.  But he's not in a relationship that he's happy with and I'm just sick and tired of being ALONE.  I haven't shared this or any other information about my loneliness with him.  I've been dealing with it so far, but now...I'm happy but hurt because I don't know what to do.
  
 
  
My sponsor is unresponsive to my phone calls so I feel even more alone.  I don't believe I need to drink over this but I'm very confused, depressed sometimes, and anxious.  I know what's morally right...and what's morally wrong.  But am I held responsible for his actions??  I'm a single/divorced woman.  I don't have a person to be accountable to except my daughter and she's 8.  
  
 
  
I'm in a situation where I'm addicted to his kindness, his responsiveness to me and my daughter, his devotion to AA (16yrs sober), and his friendship (period).  I'm afraid that if we cross the line, the dynamics of our relationship will change and I will loose a very good friend.  
  
 
  
I better stop sharing.  I'm starting to cry about this yet again.  Thanks for letting me share.  I do feel better now that I've finally been able to get this off my chest, but it doesn't stop the fear or the pain.
 
 
  

 

 

---

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As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of emails each day.  I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to unsubscribe.

To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are options for your group mail.

1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to your email program, you simply login to yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the left.

2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'.  With this option, you get one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group, you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also there are no graphics or pictures.

To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can choose:

individual emails

daily digest

special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your inbox.

no email - read on the site only.

Its as simple as that.

Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and you can exit.

If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you set up your mail delivery settings.


In loving service,
Scott
YOUnMEnHP@...

  

 
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  Addiction recovery center <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Addiction+recovery+center&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=PUghFhDA6IK5> <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&amp;k=Addiction+recovery+center&amp;w1=Drug+addiction&amp;w2=Addiction+recovery+program&amp;w3=Recovery+from+addiction&amp;w4=Addiction+recovery+center&amp;w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&amp;w6=Christian+addiction+recovery>     Symptoms of drug addiction <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=t9IuH0tK0UI> <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&amp;k=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&amp;w1=Drug+addiction&amp;w2=Addiction+recovery+program&amp;w3=Recovery+from+addiction&amp;w4=Addiction+recovery+center&amp;w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&amp;w6=Christian+addiction+recover>     Christian addiction recovery <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Christian+addiction+recovery&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=Qz91Qw_q1> <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&amp;k=Christian+addiction+recovery&amp;w1=Drug+addiction&amp;w2=Addiction+recovery+program&amp;w3=Recovery+from+addiction&amp;w4=Addiction+recovery+center&amp;w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&amp;w6=Christian+addiction+recov>            
 
 
  

---

 YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

  

• Visit your group "twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit> " on the web.   
•    
• To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:   
• twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <mailto:twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>   
•    
• Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
  

 
  

---

 

 



Love in recovery
Becki  
  

---

 Yahoo! Photos – Showcase holiday pictures in hardcover
Photo Books <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/photobooks/*http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/photos/evt=38088/*http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//page?.file=photobook_splash.html> . You design it and we’ll bind it!

 



 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
- Great Spirit, You are my peace and you dwell within me. Let me look for You within myself.

---

Yahoo! Autos <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=38381/ ylc=X3oDMTEzcGlrdGY5BF9TAzk3MTA3MDc2BHNlYwNtYWlsdGFncwRzbGsDMWF1dG9z/*http://autos.yahoo.com/index.html > . Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews,  more on new and used cars.

As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of emails each day.  I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to unsubscribe.

To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are options for your group mail.

1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to your email program, you simply login to yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the left.

2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'.  With this option, you get one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group, you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also there are no graphics or pictures.

To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can choose:

individual emails

daily digest

special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your inbox.

no email - read on the site only.

Its as simple as that.

Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and you can exit.

If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you set up your mail delivery settings.


In loving service,
Scott
YOUnMEnHP@...

  

 
 SPONSORED LINKS
          
  Drug addiction <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Drug+addiction&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=NxxhFbme7lLSiMN20vgZQA>    Addiction recovery program <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Addiction+recovery+program&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=6ws3a5_HhZ6>    Recovery from addiction <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Recovery+from+addiction&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=YbOaFbTVtR7n7z>    
  Addiction recovery center <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Addiction+recovery+center&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=PUghFhDA6IK5>    Symptoms of drug addiction <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=t9IuH0tK0UI>    Christian addiction recovery <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Christian+addiction+recovery&w1=Drug+addiction&w2=Addiction+recovery+program&w3=Recovery+from+addiction&w4=Addiction+recovery+center&w5=Symptoms+of+drug+addiction&w6=Christian+addiction+recovery&c=6&s=178&.sig=Qz91Qw_q1>           
 
 

---

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

• Visit your group "twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit> " on the web.
•  
• To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
• twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <mailto:twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
•  
• Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
  

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Great Spirit, You are my peace and you dwell within me. Let me look for You within myself.

---

Yahoo! Photos – Showcase holiday pictures in hardcover
Photo Books. You design it and we’ll bind it!

As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of emails each day.  I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to unsubscribe.

To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are options for your group mail.

1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to your email program, you simply login to yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the left.

2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'.  With this option, you get one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group, you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also there are no graphics or pictures.

To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can choose:

individual emails

daily digest

special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your inbox.

no email - read on the site only.

Its as simple as that.

Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and you can exit.

If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you set up your mail delivery settings.


In loving service,
Scott
YOUnMEnHP@...

---

Do you Yahoo!?
With a free 1 GB, there's more in store with Yahoo! Mail.

As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of emails each day.  I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to unsubscribe.

To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are options for your group mail.

1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to your email program, you simply login to yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the left.

2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'.  With this option, you get one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group, you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also there are no graphics or pictures.

To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can choose:

individual emails

daily digest

special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your inbox.

no email - read on the site only.

Its as simple as that.

Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and you can exit.

If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you set up your mail delivery settings.


In loving service,
Scott
YOUnMEnHP@...

History
www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/history.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Each month we will share on a step and
spiritual principles of the step.
Since it is February, PLEASE share on the 2nd step
Or if you haven't done the 2nd step please share on
the spiritual principles of open-mindedness and hope....

This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
participate otherwise your emails will bounce

Yahoo! Clubs Twelve Step Soul Food 4 the Spirit
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and click
the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
messages to read what others have shared and click on the post link,
now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would like.
There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as well
as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by.
Thanks for your participation and support :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

February 1
I know that one step at a time
I am making progress today.
I am grateful for all my growth,
even though it is not always very obvious.
written by ~ Ruth Fishel
"Time for Joy"
Check out Ruth's collection of
light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
& some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
www.spirithaven.com
for inspirational messages email
spirithaven@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

12 Qualities of Sponsorship

1.   I will not help you to stay and wallow in limbo.

2.   I will help you to grow, to become more productive, by your
definition.

3.   I will help you become more autonomous, more loving of yourself,
more
       excited, less sensitive, more free to become the authority for your
       own living.

4.   I can not give you dreams or "fix you up" simply because I can not.

5.   I can not give you growth, or grow for you.  You must grow for
        yourself by facing reality, grim as it may be at times.

6.   I can not take away your loneliness or your pain.

7.   I can not sense your world for you, evaluate your goals for you,
tell
        you what is best for your world;  because you have your own
world in
        which you must live.

8.   I can not convince you of the necessity to make the vital
decision of
        choosing the frightening uncertainty of growing over the safe
        misery of remaining static.

9.   I want to be with you and know you as a rich and growing friend;
  yet
       I can not get close to you when you choose not to grow.

10.  When I begin to care for you out of pity or when I begin to lose
faith
       in you, then I am inhibiting both for you and for me.

11.   You must know and understand my help is conditional.  I will be
with
        you and "hang in there" with you so long as I continue to get
even the
        slightest hint that you are still trying to grow.

12.   If you can accept this, then perhaps we can help each other to
        become what God meant us to be, mature adults, leaving
childishness
        forever to the little children of the world.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and contributions.
What I can't do alone, We do together.
In loving service, Scott ~  YOUnMEnHP@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A.A. History
www.dickb.com/index.shtml

N.A. History
www.na-history.org

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just For Today
February 1                                   Hardships

"We felt different... Only after surrender are we able to overcome
the alienation of addiction."  Basic Text p. 22

  "But you don't understand!" we spluttered, trying to cover up. "I'm
different! I've really got it rough!" We used these lines over and over
in our active addiction, either trying to escape the consequences of our
actions or avoid following the rules that applied to everyone else. We
may have cried them at our first meeting. Perhaps we've even caught
ourselves whining them recently.

  So many of us feel different or unique. As addicts, we can use almost
anything to alienate ourselves. But there's no excuse for missing out on
recovery, nothing that can make us ineligible for the program—not a
life-threatening illness, not poverty, not anything. There are thousands
of addicts who have found recovery despite the real hardships they've
faced. Through working the program, their spiritual awareness has grown,
in spite of—or perhaps in response to—those hardships.

  Our individual circumstances and differences are irrelevant when it
comes to recovery. By letting go of our uniqueness and surrendering to
this simple way of life, we're bound to find that we feel a part of
something. And feeling a part of something gives us the strength to walk
through life, hardships and all.

Just for today: I will let go of my uniqueness and embrace the
principles of recovery I have in common with so many others. My
hardships do not exclude me from recovery; rather, they draw me
into it.

Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics Anonymous ©
1991 by World Service Office Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online friends,
"We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
If you have received this as a forward
and  would like to subscribe please email
me at YOUnMEnHP@...
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meditation of the Day
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts

Daily Meditation for ALL 12 Steppers
www.open-mind.org/Daily/

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html

NEED HELP Pick a topic Daily Meditation
www.hazelden.org/servlet/hazelden/thoughts/search.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"LET'S KEEP IT SIMPLE"

A few hours later I took my leave of Dr.  Bob...  The wonderful, old,
broad smile was on his face as he said almost jokingly, "Remember,
Bill, let's not louse this thing up.  Let's keep it simple!'' I turned
away, unable to say a word.  That was the last time I ever saw him.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p.  214

After years of sobriety I occasionally ask myself  "Can it be this
simple?"  Then, at meetings, I see former cynics and skeptics who
have walked the A.A.  path out of hell by packaging their lives, without
alcohol, into twenty-four hour segments, during which they practice
a few principles to the best of their individual abilities.  And then I
know again that, while it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it
works.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden / February 1st

A.A. Thought for the Day

When we think about having a drink, we're thinking
of the kick we get out of drinking, the pleasure, the
escape from boredom, the feeling of self-importance,
and the companionship of other drinkers.  What we
don't think of is the letdown, the hangover, the
remorse, the waste of money, and the facing of
another day.  In other words, when we think about
that first drink, we're thinking of all the assets of
drinking and none of the liabilities.  What has drinking
really got that we haven't got in A.A.?  Do I believe
that the liabilities of drinking outweigh the assets?

Meditation for the Day

I will start a new life each day.  I will put the old
mistakes away and start anew each day.  God always
offers me a fresh start.  I will not be burdened or
anxious.  If God's forgiveness were only for the
righteous and those who had not sinned, where would
be its need?  I believe that God forgives us all of our
sins, if we are honestly trying to live today the way
He wants us to live.  God forgives us much and we
should be very grateful.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and
fear and selfishness.  I pray that I may have a glad,
thankful, and humble heart.

"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
Hazelden Foundation.  No portion of this publication may
be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of Hazelden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today's Thought
FEBRUARY 01

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie ©

Step Two

     Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore
us to sanity.
     -- Step Two of Al-Anon

We come to believe in a better life through the powerful gift of other
people - hearing them, seeing them, and watching the gift of recovery
at work in their lives.

There is a Power greater than us. There is real hope now that things
can and will be different and better for our life and us.

We are not in a "do it ourselves" program. We do not have to exert
willpower to change. We do not have to force our recovery to happen.
We do not have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps just so we
believe that there is a Power greater than ourselves - one who will
get the job done in our life. This Power will do for us what your
greatest and most diligent efforts could not accomplish.

Our Higher Power will restore us to a sane and beneficial life. All we
do is believe.

Look. Watch. See the people around you. See the healing they have
found. Then discover your own faith, your own belief, your own healing.

Today, regardless of my circumstances, I will believe to the best of
my ability that a Power greater than myself can and will restore me to
a peaceful, sane way of living. Then I will relax and let Him do that.

©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of the publisher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On the Nature of Faith
www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2006/January/feature2.html

A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part10.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part11.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part12.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part13.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part14.shtml
www.spiritsite.com/writing/alacoh/part15.shtml

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Secrets and Lies
by Susan Campbell, Ph.D.

A good way to let go of unconscious beliefs and to see yourself more
honestly is to examine the secrets you keep from others. I have never met
anyone who doesn't have secrets. But consider this: the fact that you have
secrets is the same thing as affirming, "If people really knew me, they
wouldn't accept me" (translation: "I'm not acceptable as I am"). We knock
ourselves out to appear acceptable by doing things that reinforce the
feeling that we are not.

What secrets do you have? What things have you done (or thought) that you
wouldn't want anyone to know about? If you can let yourself look at your
secrets, you can learn from them. In some of my workshops I do a Secrets
Exercise, in which I pass out blank three-by-five cards and ask people to
anonymously write one of their secrets on a card. Then I collect the
cards,
shuffle them, and pass them out again. All the participants read aloud
their
new card (probably not their own secret) as if it were theirs. They
attempt
to feel what it might feel like if this secret belonged to them. They then
talk about what it feels like to have this secret, to have done, said, or
thought whatever had been reported on the card.

This exercise provides a healing experience for everyone in the room.
As you
hear your secret read aloud and discussed by someone else in such a
tender,
intimate way, you see your secret in a fresh light. Your secret, the thing
you thought too terrible to reveal, starts to seem more normal. In
fact, the
depth of self-disclosure in this exercise sometimes amazes the
participants.
It's as if people are actually dying to unburden their darkest secrets.
Perhaps they know intuitively that if others could hear and possibly
accept
their secrets, they would be provided with some measure of reassurance or
healing.

In one of my groups, a man of about fifty shared a very painful secret,
first anonymously on the card, and then openly by claiming the secret
as his
after it had been read and discussed. His secret was that he felt
responsible for killing his best friend when they were in the seventh
grade.

Smitty, the man in my group, and his two friends, John and Brian, his very
best friends since kindergarten, had taken Smitty's dad's handgun to the
golf course one day to play around. Hoping to impress his friends with his
bravery, Smitty got the idea of playing Russian roulette. The others,
especially Brian, protested, saying it was a stupid idea. But Smitty
persisted and somehow got his friends to agree. Smitty loaded one
chamber of
the pistol and volunteered to go first. He spun the barrel, put the gun to
his temple, closed his eyes tightly, and pulled the trigger. Click.
Nothing
happened. He was lucky. Feeling a bit more confident, Brian took his turn
next. But this time, when he pulled the trigger, it went off, killing him
instantly.

All these details were not written on the card. All Smitty had written on
the card was, "I am responsible for someone's death." But after he
heard the
person read the card with such heartfelt remorse and with such compassion,
Smitty decided to speak up. He told the entire story with tears streaming
down his face. When he finished, a hush went over the group. Several other
group members were crying with him. As Smitty looked around, his sobs got
deeper. He cried out to his dear friend's memory, asking for
forgiveness. In
subsequent group sessions, we learned that this confession was a
life-changing healing experience for Smitty. He had allowed his most
shameful secret to be seen and had experienced love instead of the
contempt
he expected.

Being Transparent Exercise
Here is an exercise you can do alone to help you become more
transparent. On
four different cards, write the names of four people you respect. Now
shuffle the cards and turn them over. On the other side of each of the
cards, write your top four secrets. Shuffle the cards again. Read each
card
in turn, starting with the person's name, then turning the card over and
reading the secret. If the secret belonged to this person, how would that
change your opinion of him or her? If you're saying to yourself that it
wouldn't change your opinion at all, notice that. If it would, notice that
too. Can you accept other peoples' dark secrets more easily than your own?
Or is it the other way around?

Now pick one of the secrets you have written and feel your feelings
associated with it. If it's a memory of something you have done, feel the
feelings you have about having done it. As you go into the feeling, notice
any tendency you may have to run away from it. Notice any judgments or
imaginings, then come back to the feelings. If they take you into a
memory,
stay with this memory. If not, simply feel what you feel. Either way, by
experiencing what is, you allow light to shine on one of the dark
places in
your psyche, allowing this dark place to be integrated into the whole of
your being. Once integrated, it won't have any hidden power over you.

Favorite Fears
Everyone lies, everyone has secrets, and everyone has fears, so there's no
point in admonishing people to stop it. What works better, what helps
us to
become more transparent, is to admit our fears and to name them. Most
people
have one or two "favorite fears." Some of us tend to fear being ignored;
others fear being singled out for attention. Some of us fear abandonment;
others fear being smothered. Some fear being overwhelmed or
overstimulated,
others avoid emptiness or having nothing to do. Frequently your favorite
fear only emerges in certain types of situations.

To help you get perspective on your fears and take them more lightly, look
at the following list of situations and put a 0, 1, 2, or 3 next to each
one, 0 meaning you're confident and self-trusting in this situation, 1
meaning you'd be moderately shaky or unsure of yourself in this
situation, 2
meaning you'd prefer to avoid it, and 3 meaning you hope never to be faced
with this situation. Then, after you have given each situation a
rating, go
down the list again and wherever you have put a 1, 2, or 3 ask yourself,
What do I imagine would happen to me if I were in this situation? What
specifically am I afraid of?

   1. Telling a lover I don't like what they are doing to pleasure me.

   2. Being told my lover isn't happy with something I'm doing during
lovemaking.

   3. Telling an employee or coworker that I'm not satisfied with something
they have done.

   4. Being told by a boss, coworker, or customer that they are unhappy
with
my work.

   5. Starting a conversation with someone I'm attracted to.

   6. Having someone whom I'm not attracted to ask me to accompany them
to a
party.

   7. Walking into a gathering full of people and doing something unusual,
unexpected, or foolish that makes everyone notice me.

   8. Walking into a gathering full of people and having no one notice me.

   9. Being asked to do an assignment at work that I think is beyond my
capabilities.

   10. Having to give a performance review to someone I detest or don't
respect.

   11. Being caught in a lie.

   12. Being blamed for something I didn't do.

   13. Expressing a tender feeling and being misunderstood.

   14. Being told that I'm not good at something that I want to be good at.

   15. Having my boss tell me she is angry with me.

   16. Having a customer tell me he is angry with me.

   17. Having someone tell me I have done something that hurt her feelings.

   18. Telling someone he has done something that I feel hurt about.

   19. Telling someone he has done something that angers me.

   20. Telling someone "it's over between us."

   21. Negotiating for what I want with someone who is behaving in a
dominating, threatening manner.

   22. Telling someone she has to leave my home or office.

   23. Being told by someone that he wants me to leave.

   24. Shedding tears in a group meeting.

   25. Having a temporary physical condition that makes it necessary for me
to ask for help.

   26. Being asked for help with some physical task.

   27. Being asked for nurturance.

   28. Being told to calm down or to not be emotional.

   29. Being told to shut up.

   30. Hearing a negative judgment about myself.

   31. Letting someone know my judgments about her.

   32. Being told by someone I like that he doesn't like something about my
personality.

   33. Telling a friend or mate that I want to be treated a certain way and
having her refuse.

   34. Wanting my friend or mate to pay attention to me and being ignored.

   35. Being told to do something that I don't want to do by someone whose
approval I seek.

   36. Being told I'm wrong about something I feel strongly about.

Know Fear
Getting familiar with your fears can help you to take them more lightly.
Many people suffer unnecessarily because they try to hide what they're
afraid of. If you accept your fears, they won't rule your behavior as much
as if you try to pretend they don't exist. The exercise you just did
was to
help you identify the things you imagine could happen to you in certain
situations that may be fear provoking to you. Being specific about
what you
fear helps to eliminate the kind of generalized anxiety that many people
live with every day. Often, when you attempt to name what you specifically
fear, you realize that your fear is without substance. You discover that
your fear is an imagining -- probably related to a false belief that
originated when you were at a much more vulnerable stage of life.

If you do have a specific fear that feels powerful and real, take the time
to acknowledge it so you can feel it fully, get down to the false belief
that may lie beneath it, and clear it out of your system. Perhaps you will
discover a desire underneath the fear. Since expressing a desire takes
more
emotional strength and courage than expressing a fear, many people tend to
express their fears as a "sideways" method of asking for what they
want. For
example, Jean tells her co-worker Tara that she is afraid to ask for
Tara's
help with her project. She imagines that Tara is too busy. When Jean
checks
in with herself to discover what she specifically fears, she finds it's
about being told no. Once she admits this, she is able to see the want
underneath the fear. Now she can say to Tara, "I'd like your input on this
project." After acknowledging the fear of being told no, she realized that
hearing no is not so scary after all. It was more frightening when it
was a
vague sense of dread. Now that Jean has named the fear, it doesn't seem so
serious and she can let go of it and simply express what she wants.

Remember, when you try to ignore your fear and push it into the
background,
it won't go away. Instead, it will either create confusion in your
perception of what's true or it will lead to a lack of authenticity in the
way you express yourself. So if authenticity is your goal, acknowledge
your
fear, clarify what it's about, and let it fade away.

This article was excerpted from Getting Real, by Susan Campbell, Ph.D.
©2001. Reprinted with permission of H J Kramer/New World Library, Novato,
CA. Toll free 800-972-6657, ext. 52. www.newworldlibrary.com

About The Author:
Susan Campbell, Ph.D. has worked for many years as a relationship
coach and
a teamwork consultant to Fortune 500 companies. She is the author of five
previous books, including The Couples' Journey, and Beyond the Power
Struggle. She can be reached at drsusan@.... Visit her
website
at www.susancampbell.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Always The Same Lesson?
  Chérie Carter-Scott, Ph.D.

Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned
them. When you have learned them, you can then go on to the next lesson.

Have you ever noticed that lessons tend to repeat themselves? Does it seem
as if you married or dated the same person several times in different
bodies
with different names? Have you run into the same type of boss over and
over
again? Do you find yourself having the same problem with many different
coworkers?

Several years ago, Bill Murray starred in a movie called Groundhog Day, in
which he woke up in the same day over and over until he learned all the
lessons he needed to in that one day. The same events kept repeating
themselves until he finally "got" what it was he was supposed to do in
each
one. Does this strike a funny but familiar chord with you?

Lessons will be repeated until learned. When I taught high school, I
always
told my students, "If you don't deal well with authority figures at home,
then you will have an opportunity to deal with them out in the world. You
will continually draw into your life people who need to enforce authority,
and you will struggle with them until you learn the lesson of obedience."
Teenagers often perceive their parents as overly strict. At the age of
fourteen, one of my former students went away to boarding school. Much to
her surprise, she found teachers and staff with the same rules that her
mother had laid down at home and that I had at school. She finally
understood.

In couples' counseling it is often noted that people who divorce and
remarry
nearly always marry the same type of person they just left. Similarly, a
friend of mine named Cassidy who was a compulsive perfectionist had a
knack
for attracting inappropriate men. It was no coincidence that Cassidy, to
whom mismatched socks were a horror and a torn shirt a federal offense,
repeatedly drew men into her life who dressed like slobs. She was a
stickler
for manners, yet her most recent boyfriend held his spoon like Fred
Flintstone wields a drumstick. Only recently did Cassidy begin to
acknowledge that perhaps these men were appearing in her life as teachers
and opportunities to work out her perfectionist issue.

You will continually attract the same lesson into your life. You will also
draw to you teachers to teach you that lesson until you get it right. The
only way you can free yourself of difficult patterns and issues you
tend to
repeat, is by shifting your perspective so that you can recognize the
patterns and learn the lessons that they offer. You may try to avoid the
situations, but they will eventually catch up with you.

To face these challenges means you need to accept the fact that something
within you keeps drawing you to the same kind of person or issue, painful
though that situation or relationship may be. In the words of Carl Jung,
"There is no coming to consciousness without pain." And come to
consciousness you must if you are ever to stop repeating the same lessons
and be able to move on to new ones.

The challenge of Rule Four is to identify and release the patterns
that you
are repeating. As any good facilitator or therapist will tell you, this is
no easy task, since it means you have to change, and change is not always
easy. Staying just as you are may not help you advance spiritually, but it
certainly is comfortable in its familiarity. You grooved your patterns a
long time ago as a way of protecting yourself. Moving into unfamiliar new
behavior can be uncomfortable not to mention at times frightening.

Rising to the challenge of identifying and releasing your patterns forces
you to admit that the way you have been doing things isn't working.
The good
news is that by identifying and releasing the pattern, you actually learn
how to change.

In my seminars, I teach that there are six basic steps to executing any
change in your life. They are:

awareness -- becoming conscious of the pattern or issue
acknowledgment -- admitting that you need to release the pattern
choice -- actively selecting to release the pattern
strategy -- creating a realistic plan
commitment -- taking action, aided by external accountability
celebration -- rewarding yourself for succeeding

No lasting change can be made, nor any pattern released permanently,
without
going through each one of these steps. In order to facilitate your process
of change, you will need to learn the lessons of awareness, willingness,
causality, and patience. Once you master these, you will most likely find
the challenge of identifying and releasing your patterns far less
intimidating.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Cookie Thief

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shop,
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,
That the man beside her, as bold as could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.

She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,
As the gutsy "cookie thief" diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!"

With each cookie she took, he took one too.
When only one was left, she wondered what he'd do.
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other.
She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother,
This guy has some nerve, and he's also rude,
Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"

She had never known when she has been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,
Refusing to look back at the "thieving ingrate."

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Then sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise:
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair,
"Then the others were his and he tried to share!"
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!

By Valerie Cox from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul
Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You Are a Marvel

Each second we live is a new and
unique moment of the universe, a
moment that will never be again...
And what do we teach our children?
We teach them that two and two
make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.
When will we also teach them what they are?
We should say to each of them:
Do you know what you are? You are a
marvel. You are unique. In all the years
that have passed, there has never been
another child like you. Your legs, your arms,
your clever fingers, the way you move.
You may become a Shakespeare, a
Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have
the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a
marvel. And when you grow up, can you
then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
You must work - we must all work - to make
the world worthy of its children.

Pablo Casals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

God Hear My Thoughts

Am I going? Why and Where?
Will someone tell me when I get there?
I'm so confused, in a state of depression.
I'm just not willing for it to become regression.
So many things to do all at once.
In this world I feel like a dunce.
One minute I'm cheerful, the next I'm blue.
Sometimes I think I know and I haven't a clue.
I just want to sit and cry.
I couldn't begin to tell you why.
My life is so filled to the brim.
I feel like I'm losing my connection with HIM.
He's given me so much, I mustn't forget.
Without HIM on my sobriety I wouldn't bet.
I'm sorry to stray so far away from the fold.
Please guide me back to be of YOUR creative mold.

Michelle C. 1/08/01 107 days
toocute_19082@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"If God
  Invited you to a party
  And said,

  'Everyone
  In the ballroom tonight
  Will be my special
  Guest,'

  How would you then treat them
  When you
  Arrived?

  Indeed, indeed!"

  Hafiz, 1319-1389
  Beloved Persian Poet

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you dig a grave for others,
you might fall into it yourself.
Irish Proverb

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Regardless of what has happened or whether we understand,
we can open ourselves to God's protection and grace.
- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Life, at its best, is a flowing, changing process
in which nothing is fixed.
I find I am at my best when
I can let the flow of my experience carry me,
in a direction which appears to be forward,
toward a goal of which I am but dimly aware.
In thus floating with the complex stream of my experiencing
and in trying to understand its ever-changing complexity,
it should be evident that there are no fixed points.
When I am thus able to be in the process,
it is clear that there can be no closed system of beliefs,
no unchanging set of principles that I hold.
Life is guide by a changing of and interpretation of my experience.
It is always in process of becoming.
Carl Rogers

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens.
Carl Jung

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My name is Scott and I am tri-addicted,
I am addicted to everything that I try.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I had no problem admitting that I am an addict,
but I need the help of God and others
to accept this, one day at a time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When you start being good to yourself,
You start feeling good about yourself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once you become a pickle,
You can never be a cucumber again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Put Gratitude In Your Attitude*~*~*~*~*~*~*

12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit does not endorse any of the
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Putting together these Daily Recovery Emails has been such
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"What I can't do alone we can do together." If you have any
original poetry or submissions that you would like to send to
me you can email me at
YOUnMEnHP@...

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Promise, Many Gifts*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adult Children of Alcoholics
www.AdultChildren.org/

Al-Anon/Alateen
www.al-anon.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing
www.dhh12s.com/access.htm

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps
www.artsanonymous.org/

Clutterer's Anonymous
www.clutterersanonymous.net

Cocaine Anonymous World Services
www.ca.org/

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page
www.codependents.org/

Crystal Meth Anonymous
www.crystalmeth.org/

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous
www.angelfire.com/id/CGAnonymous/

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship for…
www.debtorsanonymous.org/

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program
www.draonline.org/

Eating Disorders Anonymous
www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org/

Emotions Anonymous
www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Families Anonymous
www.familiesanonymous.org/

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page
www.gamblersanonymous.org/

Hepatitis C Anonymous
www.hcvanonymous.com/

HIV Anonymous
www.hivanonymous.com/

The Marijuana Anonymous
www.marijuana-anonymous.org/

Methadone Anonymous
www.afirmfwc.org/methanon.htm

Narcotics Anonymous Official  Homepage
www.na.org/

Earth Group N.A. online meetings
www.earthgroupna.org/

Nar-Anon is a family support group
www.naranon.com/

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page
www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Overeaters Anonymous
www.oa.org/

Parents Anonymous
www.parentsanonymous.org/paIndex1.htm

Rape Survivors Anonymous
www.rsaws.org/

Recovering Couples Anonymous
www.recovering-couples.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous
www.saa-recovery.org/

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
www.slaafws.org/

Shoplifters Anonymous
www.shopliftersanonymous.org/

Suicide Anonymous
www.geocities.com/samemphis/

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous
www.siawso.org/

Workaholics Anonymous
www.workaholics-anonymous.org/
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the grace of God and through your efforts of passing on this
email, we are reaching many recovering people in different areas of
the world. If you are receiving this, from a country outside of the
USA please send me an email and tell me where you are receiving this.
So far we reaching over 6000 recovering people in 66 countries
including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada , Columbia, Costa Rica, China ,
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Even if your country is listed
please email me, and let me know where you are from.
12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit-owner@yahoogroups.com
Stay in the Light,
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ clean date 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...

     (\o/\o/)   we are each of us angels  with only one wing  (\o/\o/)
      /_\/_\    and can only fly     by embracing each other   /_\/_\

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.groups.google.com/group/12-Step-Soul-Food-for-the-Spirit

For the daily recovery email please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/12StepSoulFoodForTheSpirit/

For the weekly topic meeting please visit me at:
www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/

Thank you Becki.
I do my best every day, I am not really to worried about the IBD
thing, every body seems to get something when they age, and since I
am pushing  the big 4-0 I will just keep jogging along the path of
life, until I cant.
In the mean time, read write learn and live the program. Its what I
do best, next to running a build design firm.
I hope to have our site up and running in the near future, I will
send out the address as soon as it is up and running.
Love to all
Lisa

--- In twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com, b dalton
<beckid42@y...> wrote:
>
> Yes Lisa it has been a long time and you have truely been missed.
I am sorry that you have been ill.  My sponsor of five years had
chrones and I know what you must be going through.  But I have a very
good friend that has IBS and it is not chrones so never give up
hope.  I will keep you in my prayers.  Do some research and there are
support groups for that out there on the internet too.  But keep
hitting your meetings, keep working on the steps and keep turning it
over.  This will be something with a lesson.  I look forward to
hearing about your new job and new venture more.
>
>   Becki
> garcialhd <garcialhd@y...> wrote:
>   Hello to all.
> Its been some time since I have posted anything.
> I am all setttled in with my new job and things are going great.
> Its been a fantasic experience to get clean, work on me, help
others
> and reap the benifits of a sober life.
> The program and all of you out their living it have been apart of
the
> success I have had in the rooms and in my life.
> I have had 1 problem since I return home (houston) and started this
> new career. I was diagnosed with IBD -Inflamitory Bowl Disease, I
> spent a week in the hospital with under going many test, they
weren't
> fun, and alot of needles in my arms, that was not fun either. They
> gave me pain meds that did the job and left me with NO desire to
use.
> (that was a good thing) But over all it left me with the optimizum
to
> believe.
> I believe that I will overcome this IBD(which could be Crones) I
> believe that even with the worst outcome, I have been blessed with
> this program and the abilty to Let go and Let God.
> I have been given not my old life but a new one, I am making a
> differance where others are concerned, adn dispite the bad news, I
> havent slowed down a bit. As a matter a fact I think I have work
> every day for 15 days, I have a deadline and I intent to make it.
> Lifes school has taught me much, I learn the lesson the first time
> today, and each new challange is not a burden it is a blessing.
> Love to all.
> Lisa G
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of
emails each day.  I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the
amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to
unsubscribe.
>
> To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are
options for your group mail.
>
> 1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to
your email program, you simply login to yahoo at
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want
to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the
left.
>
> 2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'.  With this option, you get
one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group,
you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also
there are no graphics or pictures.
>
> To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the
on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down
list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can
choose:
>
> individual emails
>
> daily digest
>
> special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your
inbox.
>
> no email - read on the site only.
>
> Its as simple as that.
>
> Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and
you can exit.
>
> If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you
set up your mail delivery settings.
>
>
> In loving service,
> Scott
> YOUnMEnHP@o...
>
>
>
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>
>
> ---------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Love in recovery
> Becki
>
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Thats very kind of you Connie thanks- How are thing with you?
-- In twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com, connie amstone
<amstoneus@y...> wrote:
>
> Lisa, good hearing from you. I am lifting you up in prayer for your
IBD and visualizing you in perfect health.
>
> garcialhd <garcialhd@y...> wrote:  Hello to all.
> Its been some time since I have posted anything.
> I am all setttled in with my new job and things are going great.
> Its been a fantasic experience to get clean, work on me, help
others
> and reap the benifits of a sober life.
> The program and all of you out their living it have been apart of
the
> success I have had in the rooms and in my life.
> I have had 1 problem since I return home (houston) and started this
> new career. I was diagnosed with IBD -Inflamitory Bowl Disease, I
> spent a week in the hospital with under going many test, they
weren't
> fun, and alot of needles in my arms, that was not fun either. They
> gave me pain meds that did the job and left me with NO desire to
use.
> (that was a good thing) But over all it left me with the optimizum
to
> believe.
> I believe that I will overcome this IBD(which could be Crones) I
> believe that even with the worst outcome, I have been blessed with
> this program and the abilty to Let go and Let God.
> I have been given not my old life but a new one, I am making a
> differance where others are concerned, adn dispite the bad news, I
> havent slowed down a bit. As a matter a fact I think I have work
> every day for 15 days, I have a deadline and I intent to make it.
> Lifes school has taught me much, I learn the lesson the first time
> today, and each new challange is not a burden it is a blessing.
> Love to all.
> Lisa G
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of
emails each day.  I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the
amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to
unsubscribe.
>
> To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are
options for your group mail.
>
> 1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to
your email program, you simply login to yahoo at
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want
to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the
left.
>
> 2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'.  With this option, you get
one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group,
you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also
there are no graphics or pictures.
>
> To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the
on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down
list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can
choose:
>
> individual emails
>
> daily digest
>
> special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your
inbox.
>
> no email - read on the site only.
>
> Its as simple as that.
>
> Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and
you can exit.
>
> If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you
set up your mail delivery settings.
>
>
> In loving service,
> Scott
> YOUnMEnHP@o...
>
>
>
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Beckie...thank you and yes I know I can't save him or anyone else for that matter. It brakes my heart though. You know almost the same unfortunate experiences I had experienced at his age 20, he seems to be as well and it is soooo hard sitting  back and watching. For today he has the willingness but the longer he stays on the outside waiting for a bed the more he is begining to think he may not need treatment. Thank you for your support. Love in recovery, Kelly from Cape Cod 06-05-05

--- In twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com, b dalton <beckid42@y...> wrote:
>
> Kelly, I wish you all the best in this endeavor to try and help your son but you have to remember that we can't "save" anyone. I know how hard it is to sit back and watch our loved ones in these places. It is wonderful that you have the connections that you have and that you can get in there and fight for him, but we can't fight their battles. They have to have the willingness to do what is needed. I wish him the best but remember if things don't work out for him, he has to take the consequences of his behavior and you have to accept what is and get out of God's plan for him and let things go the way they are suppose to. My suggestion would be to get yourself to an alanon/naranon meeting and continue with your program and keep praying for him. I will keep you and him in my prayers. Nobody was going to make me get better until I was ready to get better. As much as you may not want to hear that, it was a reality that I had to hear myself about my child. Today my child is back
> living with me and is about to deliver her first child and is doing great today. But it was because of decisions SHE made, not because of the things I did for her. I had to step back and let her go through what she went through. As painful as it was, it worked, and she knew where to come when she was ready.
>
> Love in recovery
> Becki
>
> viequessoon viequessoon@y... wrote:
> Hi Everyone....it has been so long and I apologize for that. I just came back this week from Vieques, PR and it was absolutely wonderful and a well needed vacation. Welcome to all the new members of the group. Good luck Beckie on the race. Anna....I'm back, give me a call if you still have my number or drop me an email. Haven't heard from you since I dropped you an email. Hope your well...Before I left I basically 12 stepped my 20 year old son. Thank God I asked for him to be admitted to where I work, a detox/treatment facility. That was pretty difficult....asking for help and I had to plead my case but he was accepted. He stayed there for 3 days then went to TSS which is basically a holding facility for men to get into the mens 90 day treatment facility and the woman's 90 day treatment facility. Yesterday he was told to leave for he was horseplaying with other young kids and it got out of hand....I completely lost it. All I could do was pray. The new director at my facility, the
> men's facility where my son was waiting to get in and was accepted fought to have him still come because he still needs help, treatment. In other words, you can't just throw him out without helping him. This guy has a heart and really cares. I have never been so touched. Unfortunately he has to wait on the outside 5 to 10 days before a bed is available but he is getting another chance. So please I am asking for prayers that he continues to stay clean and sober while on the outside waiting. This has been such an emotional time for me but through it all I KNOW I have a higher power and my prayers DO get answered. 3 months ago these words would have never came out of my mouth....Amazing huh??? take care all of you and thank you for being here...Love in recovery, Kelly from Cape Cod 06-05-05
>
>
> As you are aware of, this is a fairly busy list, with lots of emails each day. I know a lot of people can be overwhelmed by the amount of emails they receive on lists and it can make you want to unsubscribe.
>
> To help make your life easier (and less stressful) there are options for your group mail.
>
> 1.You can pick to read on the 'web only'...you get NO emails to your email program, you simply login to yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups and click on the group that you want to read, then you would click on "messages" in the sidebar on the left.
>
> 2.You can subscribe as 'daily digest'. With this option, you get one or two emails daily, which include all the emails to the group, you just get to read them in bunches instead of individually. Also there are no graphics or pictures.
>
> To choose either of these options, you go to your groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups , then click "edit my groups" on the on title bar, then under "message delivery" there will be a drop down list, click on the checkmark and it will show your options.. you can choose:
>
> individual emails
>
> daily digest
>
> special notices- web only but you will get special notices to your inbox.
>
> no email - read on the site only.
>
> Its as simple as that.
>
> Make sure you click on 'save changes' at the bottom of the page and you can exit.
>
> If you ever need any help, Im an email away. I can also help you set up your mail delivery settings.
>
>
> In loving service,
> Scott
> YOUnMEnHP@o...
>
>
>
> SPONSORED LINKS
> Drug addiction Addiction recovery program Recovery from addiction Addiction recovery center Symptoms of drug addiction Christian addiction recovery
>
> ---------------------------------
> YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
>
>
> Visit your group "twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit" on the web.
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Love in recovery
> Becki
>
> ---------------------------------
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