5/17/12 "A New Life" ~12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit

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May 14, 2012, 7:40:06 AM5/14/12
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The weekly meeting topic is:
"I don't understand what is the difference between
the fellowship and the program ?"
Aren’t they the same?
Can you explain this to me?"

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

to share please visit
or email

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,
we will leave the light on in the room and there is coffee in the back :)
Thanks for your participation and support !!!

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

May 17
Today I know that with every in-breath
I am breathing in powerful healing energy.
And with every out-breath I am letting go.
I am letting go of all anxiety, all stress...all negativity
that is standing in the way of my feeling good about myself.
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
http://www.ruthfishel.com/Books_and_CDs.html
for inspirational messages email
ru...@ruthfishel.com

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

A New Life

I once looked at my life with a feeling of dread.
I felt I would be much better off dead.
Not wanting to wake up after closing my eyes.
But each morning I did, with unhappy surprise.
I felt I was clinging to the end of my rope.
I had no dreams, no promise, no hope.

The rest of my life, it seemed to appear,
Would be lived out in perpetual fear.
But one day I woke up with a new point of view.
What gave me this new outlook, I had no clue.
I knew there must be something better out there.
I had to reach out to someone, somewhere.

And when I reached out, broken and crying,
Someone said, "Hang in there, keep trying!"
I was told of a place that had the knack
Of helping people get their lives back on track.
I made myself go there, rather than keep on running,
And they embraced me and said, "Welcome, keep coming!"

These people came up and took my hand,
And the feeling I got I couldn't quite understand.
When I spoke of my pain, they said "Thanks for sharing!"
I knew then and there that this was real caring.

They said, "Honey, we know just how you feel.
You are not crazy and your feelings are real!"
I can't tell you how different my life has become.
I now know I'm important, I AM SOMEONE!

By Kathy

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*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 ~  YOUn...@gmail.com

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

The Difference Between Poor and Rich

Information Please
http://www.wscribe.com/parables/information.html

The Complete? List of AA Sayings
http://www.winternet.com/~terrym/aphorisms.html

I am responsible for...
http://www.winternet.com/~terrym/responsible.html

Recovery Horoscopes Soberscopes
http://www.steps4recovery.org/soberscopes_0607.html

Tommy D. GREAT MUSIC (one of my sponsees)
http://www.bluesbuddha.com/home.html

One Day At A Time

Recovery Gifts, Bracelets, T-Shirts, Mugs and other GREAT gifts

intheooms.com- IN THE ROOMS (ITR), is the premier FREE online social network dedicated to the global recovery community for people seeking help, in recovery and their family, friends and allies of recovery worldwide.  Our mission is to augment or enhance traditional 12 step and other recovery programs by offering a place to not only find like minded people but also people who share the same interests, passions and hobbies. Our mantra is the acronym HITCH which is the Help, Inform, Touch, Connect and Heal. 

Ruth Fishel Books and Tapes 
http://www.ruthfishel.com/Books_and_CDs.html
for inspirational messages email
ru...@ruthfishel.com

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

Just For Today
May 17                                                     "Defects"

"We were entirely ready to have God remove all these
defects of character." Step Six

After taking the Fifth Step, many of us spend some time considering
"the exact nature of our wrongs" and the part they'd played in making
us who we were. What would our lives be like without, say, our
arrogance?

Sure, arrogance had kept us apart from our fellows, preventing us
from enjoying and learning from them. But arrogance had also served
us well, propping up our ego in the face of critically low self-esteem.
What advantage would be gained if our arrogance were removed, and
what support would we be left with?

With arrogance gone, we would be one step closer to being restored
to our proper place among others. We would become capable of
appreciating their company and their wisdom and their challenges as
their equals. Our support and guidance would come, if we chose, from
the care offered us by our Higher Power; "low self-esteem" would
cease to be an issue.

One by one, we examined our character defects this way, and found
them all defective—after all, that's why they're called defects. And
were we entirely ready to have God remove all of them? Yes.

Just for today: I will thoroughly consider all my defects of
character to discover whether I am ready to have the God of
my understanding remove them.  pg. 143

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 YOUn...@gmail.com
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

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

Food For Thought Meditation

Each Day a New Beginning (Women) Meditation

Touchtones (Men) Meditation

Meditation of the Day

Viking Thought of the Day

Elder's Meditation of the Day

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day

Daily Zen

Grapevine Story Today

Daily Motivator

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

Hold Back Nothing

The real tests of the situation are your own willingness to confide and
your full confidence in the one with whom you share your first accurate
self-survey.  .  .  .  Provided you hold back nothing, your sense of relief
will mount from minute to minute.  The dammed-up emotions of years
break out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon as they
are exposed.  As the pain subsides, a healing tranquility takes its place.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.  61-62

A tiny kernel of locked-in feelings began to unfold when I first attended
A.A. meetings and self-knowledge then became a learning task for me.
This new self-understanding brought about a change in my responses
to life's situations.  I realized I had the right to make choices in my life,
and the inner dictatorship of habits slowly lost its grip.

I believe that if I seek God I can find a better way to live and I ask
Him daily to assist me in living a sober life.

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/ May 17th

A.A. Thought for the Day

A lot of well-meaning people treat alcoholics like the priest
and the Levite. They pass by on the other side by scorning
them and telling them what low people they are, with no
willpower. Whereas, they really have fallen for alcohol, in
the same way as the man in the story fell among robbers.
And the member of A.A. who is working with others is like
the Good Samaritan. Am I moved with compassion? Do I take
care of another alcoholic whenever I can?

Meditation for the Day

I must constantly live in preparation for something better to
come. All of life is a preparation for something better. I must
anticipate the morning to come. I must feet, in the night of
sorrow, that understanding joy that tells of confident
expectation of better things to come. "Sorrow may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Know that God
has something better in store for you, as long as you are
making yourself ready for it. All your existence in this world
is a training for a better life to come.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that when life is over, I will return to an eternal,
space-less life with God. I pray that I may make this life a
preparation for a better life to come.

"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
MAY 17

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

Boundaries

Sometimes, life and people seem to push and push. Because 
we are so used to pain, we may tell ourselves it doesn't hurt. 
Because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating 
us, we may tell ourselves there is something wrong with us.

There's nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to 
get our attention. Sometimes, the pain and pushing are pointing 
toward a lesson. The lesson may be that we've become too 
controlling. Or maybe we're being pushed to own our power to 
take care of ourselves. The issue is boundaries.

If something or somebody is pushing us to our limit, that's exactly 
what's happening: we're being pushed to our limits. We can be 
grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and set our 
boundaries.

Today, I will give myself permission to set the limits I want and 
need to set in my life.

©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*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cancel Self-Wrecking Resentments
http://www.inlightimes.com/archives/2003/05/guy-finley.htm

Letters of Wisdom and Affirmation, by Louise Hay
http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/1997/April/0497-25.html

Is Your Bedroom Sacred?
by Jon Robertson
http://www.innerself.com/Spirituality/bedroom_7252.htm


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

Being Vulnerable
by Marie T. Russell

I remember, as a child, waiting for others to make the first step... waiting for attention to be given to me, waiting for others to show love or friendship. I was too "shy" to take the first step. I was afraid of being rejected. So I built a persona that literally broadcasted "I don't need you. I am very self-sufficient."

This attitude was even prevalent in my childhood. My mother once told me that my first words were not "mommy" or "daddy", they were "I can do it!" I now understand that this statement was my way of saying "I don't need you!" It was my defense against the feeling that I was not needed or wanted. So rather than be honest about my need to receive attention and love, I built a wall that said "O.K. if you don't want me...I'll show you! I don't need you either. I can do it all myself."

This has carried over to my "adult" life where I have demonstrated (or so I thought) that I didn't need others. I could do it myself. Yet, I discovered that living behind a glass wall can be lonely. You can see the others out there, yet you somehow remain separated from them. They also see you, but find it difficult to connect with you.

My belief was that no one had time for me. So what did I find on the other side of my wall? Either other people who had no time for me (just as I expected) or people who thought that I had no time for them and thus left me alone.

You too may be living behind a wall that you have built. Your wall may be called "I'm not good enough, so leave me alone" or "No one understands me or loves me, so don't even try" or other such self-defeating attitudinal walls.

These glass walls have a way of magnifying the negative. The world seems like a terrible place on the other side. Yet whatever you see through the wall is only the reflection of what you have been projecting. If your wall is one of "I'm not good enough", perhaps what people see on your side of the wall is a person who seems aloof and not very friendly. Consequently, they stay away as you do not seem to be welcoming any friendships.

Is there a way out of that predicament? Yes. We can start by letting down our defenses, and making ourselves vulnerable by being willing to trust others and ourselves. Affirm: "I am now open to give and receive love. I feel love in me and around me." Repeat to yourself, much as someone would repeat a mantra, "It is safe to give and receive love", "It is o.k. to ask for what I want" and "It's perfectly alright to show my feelings without knowing what the response will be".

This opening of the cocoon is an ongoing process. I find that, for me, the important thing is to stay focused in the heart, to feel my heart expanding and opening towards those around me. The fear of being "thought a fool" still comes up now and then, yet, I am aware that only by "risking" and showing my feelings will others feel safe in opening their hearts and showing me theirs.

When two people are encased behind their respective walls, someone needs to take the first step and step out from behind their defenses so that communication and honesty can take place. Since I cannot ask of others what I do not ask of myself, I take the first step and come out from behind the wall of my fears. Will you join me, so we can play together and celebrate life?

I invite you to abandon your defenses and to become, once again, as vulnerable as a newborn child. Together we can do it! Don't wait for others to make the first step... They may be waiting for you!

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

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

Looking Through Another

Through our daily exchange with others we can "re-discover"
our emotions and how to work with them as a result of our experiences.
In looking through the eyes of another, we see the reflections
of our own strengths and weaknesses, our triumphs and our shortcomings.

Could this also be a golden opportunity to develop the capacity to
demonstrate patience and strength as we listen to another and not judge?
Then as kindly as we can, ask what they intend to do about it?
Through this we learn and teach the virtues of patience, love and
responsibility...

Jim Grant

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

The Perfect Heart (Parable)

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said “Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared - how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”

“Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges — giving love is taking a chance.

Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.

How sad it must be to go through life with a whole untouched heart.

written by ~ Kirat Kyhalbu Gurung

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

Out of My Hands
Virjinja

It's out of my hands.
I have nothing more to say.
Things work out for the best
in this much higher way
when I give it to God
who is infinitely more adept
at perfecting situations
that put me to the test.

It's out of my hands.
When I've exhausted all effort
with no options left,
I simply turn it over...
and give it a rest.
The wise person is (s)he
who knows the truth...
is to surrender the outcome,
and expect the highest good.

Virginia Santoro ~ © 2002 ~ All Rights Reserved
Morning...@aol.com
www.myspace.com/morningmusings
www.hometown.aol.com/morningmusings

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

Metamorphosis

When my spirit is moved
when I touch the heavens
from deep within my heart
without leaving home
some kind of new life begins living in me
I am transformed
into someone I was not before

I breathe unconsciously
I inspire exaltation animation unknowingly
I inhale with no thought of where the oxygen comes from
I take in life pounding pulsing fuel for my fire

A process of such nourishing inner workings
could go on forever without my awareness
but today I choose to embrace in words
this subtle phenomenon
active in each one of us

As inspiration performs miraculous modification
A metamorphose deep in the psyche
As you are gifting yourself with this awareness
Being true to your destiny
Beauty and Joy
Will drop by and stay awhile

Love
Stella

©2000 Stella Savoie
stellar...@soulopen.com

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

You can make your world so much larger
simply by acknowledging everyone else's.
Jeanne Marie Laskas

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

Change and growth take place
when a person has risked himself and dares
to become involved with experimenting with his own life.
Herbert Otto

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

Our soul work...is to repair ourselves,
to heal into wholeness.
It is, simply put, to identify and remove whatever
gets in the way of being truly who we are.
It is the task of uncovering our authentic self
from the encrustations that overlay it,
concealing it from us.
M.J. Abadie, Awaken to Your Spiritual Self

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

Prayer is the one thing that can make a change in your life.
If you will go direct to God in simple, affirmative prayer,
you can heal your body,
bring peace and harmony into your life,
and make well-being a reality.
Emmet Fox, Around the Year with Emmet Fox

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

Those who think
that the world
is a dark place
are blind to the light
that might
illuminate their lives.
Wayne Dyer

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

Serenity is not the absence of conflict,
it is the ability to deal with life on life's terms
With the help of God and
the people that he puts in your life.

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

My greatest success is not
what I have been able to achieve,
but that which I have been able to overcome.

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

Being aware of my defects of character
and taking action on them are two different things.

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

No God, No Peace
Know God, Know Peace

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Take A Moment To GIVE (NO COST)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

CLICK for FREE to Help people in Haiti

FREE Rice

Click to GIVE @ the STOP HIV Site

Click to GIVE @ the Hunger Site

Click to GIVE @ the Breast Cancer Site

Click to GIVE @ the Rain Forest Site

Click to GIVE @ the Animal Rescue Site

Track Your Impact in GIVING

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

Adult Children of Alcoholics

Al-Anon/Alateen 

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps

Clutterer’s Anonymous

Cocaine Anonymous World Services

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page

Crystal Meth Anonymous

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship for…

Depressed Anonymous

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program

Eating Disorders Anonymous

Emotions Anonymous 

Families Anonymous 

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page

Hepatitis C Anonymous

HIV Anonymous

The Marijuana Anonymous

Methadone Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous Official  Homepage

Earth Group N.A. online meetings

Nar-Anon is a family support group

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page

Overeaters Anonymous

Parents Anonymous

Rape Survivors Anonymous

Recovering Couples Anonymous

Sexaholics Anonymous

Sex Addicts Anonymous

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

Shoplifters Anonymous

Spenders Anonymous 

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous

Workaholics Anonymous

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Created in 1997 , "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." 

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 and google 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
YOUn...@gmail.com

Anyone can subscribe to this free daily  e-zine by sending an Email message to me and write subscribe in the subject line.

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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 17,000 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

Stay in the Light, 
In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ cleandate 10/27/88
YOUn...@gmail.com
    

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

Scott’s Daily Blog
http://intherooms.com/younmenhp
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