Power is the key to facing our fears. Yet, we don’t go automatically from “full of fear” to “full of love.” It is a process through which we allow others to be filled with love. We practice the principles of the Program, and feel love. We do service for our home group, and we feel greater love. We work with others, and the love overflows. Who of us can live in fear when our lives are overflowing with love?
When I am full of love, there is
no room for fear to develop.
I have everything I need, now, and almost everything I want. I have peace of mind. I have love. I care about all of you.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 296
February 7
Stop judging others and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them.
~Matthew 7:1-2
We cannot afford the luxury of resentments, this we know. But one of the things that we fail to recognize is that resentments are created because we judge someone or something to be wrong. Without judging another to be wrong, we would not have resentments! We are told in Chemically Dependent Anonymous to stay focused on our side of the street, and avoid attempts at correcting and judging the wrongs of others. After all, are we such great students of human relations that we can honestly assess situations that are causing us emotional upset? When we judge and resent, then sadly, we will treat the ones we resent accordingly—and it isn’t with loving kindness! If we don’t want to be judged or resented by others, and then treated badly, we need to not do it ourselves. We need to remember that breaking the cycle starts with us.
I change the way I treat others before
I question the way God treats me.
In {using a Fourth Step resentment list}, we have the opportunity to let go of blame, to examine our own emotions and attitudes, and to take responsibility for our part.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 55
February 8
Almost always, if I measure my decision carefully by the yardsticks of absolute honesty, absolute unselfishness, absolute purity, and absolute love, and it checks up pretty well with those four, then my answer can't be very far out of the way. ∼Dr. Bob
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions were founded on the Four Absolutes. These Absolutes are the principles taught in the Oxford Movement, an early Christian group attended by the founders of A.A. A good spiritual exercise is to meditate on them and consider how they add to our decisions:
1.Absolute Honesty: Both with ourselves and with others, in word, deed, and thought;
2.Absolute Unselfishness: To be willing wherever possible to help others in need;
3.Absolute Love: To love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves; and,
4.Absolute Purity: Integrity and clarity of mind, of body, and of purpose.
I memorize the four absolutes and measure
my decisions against their wisdom.
So we obey the spiritual principles of our program in both our personal and our group lives {…}
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 97
February 9
There is nothing we can’t handle together, you, me and God. ∼Margo T.
One striking thing about the Twelve Steps is that they begin with the word “we.” It’s neither “you,” nor “I,” not even “they.” It is we, for we do this program together. How wonderful a feeling it is to know that we are not alone any longer. What a beautiful concept to be in a fellowship where we work together as equals. We are not preached to by someone pointing a finger and saying, “You have to do thus and such.” Nor are we left to our own devices by having to determine for ourselves, “I must do thus and such.” The joy of the Fellowship is that we work together, hand in hand with one another and with a Higher Power of our own understanding. Let us always remember, there is nothing that you, I, and God cannot handle with the power of we.
I alone can do it, but I can’t do it alone.
We’ve been there, we know the pain and suffering caused by this disease.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 111
February 10
Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug. ∼Mary Chapin Carpenter
Having the option to make different choices, when meeting the situations in our daily lives, is what makes recovery interesting. Some days we are on top of everything that rears its ugly head, feeling cheered on by our Higher Power. Other days, we are under the covers unable to peek into the light of day. Some days we are the shining ones who inspire others and. at times, it is others who must drag us out of our misery and to a meeting. No matter what the situation though, if we face it honestly, incorporating what we have learned from our home group, from literature, and from our sponsor, we can progress to a greater understanding of ourselves and others. From this, we can appreciate that we are neither the windshield nor the bug, but the guy with the squeegee.
Being my best self enables me to clean the bugs off the windshield. It is the reward for all the “work” I do.
I've come to love life, and to face it daily, however difficult, non-chemically. Isn't that great?
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 367
February 11
Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. ~Janice Joplin
At a 12-step conference a speaker got a good laugh with this line, “You no longer need to punish, deceive, or compromise yourself, unless you want to stay employed.” We laugh, but for some of us this may still be true. However, part of the integrity that we learn in C.D.A. is that we no longer need to compromise ourselves for anything. Not for a job, not for a partner, not for approval. Addiction robbed us of our true selves. It hijacked our integrity and made us do things that deep down we didn’t believe were right. Recovery halts the necessity of negotiating our values in order to keep going. Why? Because the God of our understanding has values that we live by. If we compromise our values, by default we are compromising God’s. That is not what the Great Reality wants for us in our life. If something demands we compromise our morals and values, then God hasn’t guided us there. We must find another way.
I need not compromise myself because
where God guides … He provides.
Our ability to deal with life on a daily basis was compromised.
∼Chemically Dependent Anonymous P 72
February 12
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