this is taken from  "NA"   which has some REAL good daily messages......to me addiction is addiction....whether its  80 proof   or drugs    or relationships   or  fear/hate/resentment/control....whatever.....so i read  the dailys on all the stuff because i can always find somethign for me in these messages.......i go to 12 steps meets on pal talk and other places  and  because i consider myself a  4 time winner...i go to   alanon/ coda/ acoa/ AND aa......this take below is off the  "NA"  daily messages
 
 

Keeping Faith

"We grasp the limitless strength provided for us through our daily prayer and surrender as long as we keep faith and renew it."

Basic Text p.44

There are two parts to recovery: getting clean, and staying clean. Getting clean is comparatively easy because we only have to do it once. Staying clean is more difficult, requiring attention every day of our lives. Yet both draw their power from faith.

 

#######ROSIE.....oh yeah, working the steps/ program, and than getting myself **halfway* emotionally sober, i thought "ok, i can graduate now" WRONG!!!!! i don't do my sports/ get my body in shape only to let it go by lying on the couch and letting myself atrophy!!! i mean i have to do a **maintenance* program for the rest of my life, because those old patterns can come back in if i am not vigilent....i have already seen this at work!!!!! if i slack off on meetings, i feel like i am **crashing*.....i mean i don't have to do 6-8 hrs. per day on it , NO!!! maintenance is much easier, but it is still requiring diligence....now i do my **mental health stuff* in the morning......a meet 2x per week at least...and i am ok......

 

We got clean on faith. We admitted that addiction was more powerful than we were, and we stopped trying to fight it on our own. We turned the battle over to a Power greater than ourselves, and that Higher Power got us clean. We stay clean each day the same way: on faith. Just for today, we surrender. Life may be too big for us to tackle on our own power. When it is, we seek a Power greater than ourselves. We pray, asking our Higher Power for direction and the strength to follow it. By exercising and renewing our faith on a daily basis, we tap the resources we need to live clean, full lives.There is limitless strength available to us whenever we need it. To grasp it, all we need to do is keep faith in the Higher Power that got us clean and keeps us clean.

  

#######ROSIE....i got emotionally clean on **willingness, openess* to faith....i didn't have it yet, but i was **open* to a new persepctive of a higher power.....no wonder mine was so **remote* looking before!!!! i was not looking within.......my addictions to escape/ to try and be in control/ and the hate/resentment (used to be) more powerful than i was......i will always have to work the steps on the escapism....controlism......fearism.....but i can look within to my **christ within* and find a power greater than the darkness i have battled....light ALWAYS triumphs over darkness.......i stay emotionally clean by working all the parts of the program....and tapping into my **christ within*........yes, just for today, i align myself with/ cooperate with my higher power within....i don't look at the big picture anymore.....**just for today*...cause today/ right now is all i have!!!!!! prayer/ meditation each day.....my **self talk* cd's and tapes to reprogram and overwrite the old patterns of self defeater....... DAILY is the key, here.....i went to an AA meet sat night.....every fri and sat i try to go...well this weekend it was sat....and our topic was surrender....and i was joking with the others during my share, that i thought i was **codependent on my program/12 steps* everyone laughed and agreed....its almost like i am addicted to the program.....i KNOW it is saving me....i see it as a good addiction.....however i was doing **too much* and burning myself out....so now i am pacing myself......**program work for about 1-2 hours doing my shares* and **meets 2x per week* and that is it!!!!! by pacing myself, i feel better about it.....doing the work.....not feeling like **this is all there is to my life*.....doing step 12, spreading the good news.....i set a boundary on myself how long i can do it EACH day, without getting **work sour* about it........

 

Just for today: Faith got me clean, and faith will keep me clean. Today, I will keep faith with my Higher Power. I will renew my surrender and pray for knowledge and strength.

pg. 288