Daily Reprieve

From Courage to Change of April 14;

Many of us develop a heightened awareness of our thoughts as we recover in Al-Anon. After a while we are able to notice the change when our thinking becomes distorted. But if we wish to put a stop to negative thoughts, awareness is just the beginning.

When “stinking thinking” takes hold of me, I must do more than just dismiss the negative thoughts. I must replace them with something positive or I am likely to slide right back into my negative thinking.

Our group ordered a collection of Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature (CAL.) on audiocassettes when they were available. I have gotten into the habit of listening to them in my car when I’m driving around town. Even though I had read these CAL pamphlets many times before, hearing them spoken out loud is a different and very powerful experience. If my attitude is not good, adjusting it by listening to Al-Anon wisdom on a tape, at a meeting, or one-to-one can get me back on track.

Today’s Reminder

Today I’m going to pay close attention to what I tell myself. If necessary, I’ll stop in mid-thought, start over, and replace negative illusions with positive truths.

“What we teach ourselves with out thoughts and attitudes is up to us.” ~ . . . In All Our Affairs

 

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A slip in the 12 Step program is an event of deviation from the protection of recovery teachings. A slip in chemical dependency is the insanity of the first drink or hit of one’s drug of choice. A slip in co-dependency is the acting on the belief that I can control another person’s life.

Yet a slip of this sort is never an accident. Thoughts build upon thoughts breaking down sound judgement until the action appears in public as some ludicrous answer to a shadow dragon. Awareness of these thoughts and patterns provides me an early warning system. The sinister aspect of the disease is its ability to explore and use my own thoughts against me. I am in competition with my anti-self to know who and what I am on a daily basis. My success is demonstrated when the building of my thoughts makes me useful in the lives of my fellow human beings.

This entry was posted on October 21, 2020 at 7:19 am and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Addiction, Alcoholism, Courage to Change, Journal, Life, Personal, Recovery, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.