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Welcome to Bill's Place.
A collection of Friends In Recovery.
Featuring a weekly Step Study from various 12 Step Recovery literature.
With the occasional inspirational message or message pertaining to a broad spectrum of varied spiritual practices.
An open forum for discussion of the aforementioned Step Study and inspirational/spiritual practice messages.
"Dance like there's no one watching and love like you've never been hurt."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BillsPlace/

Just For Today
Meditations for recovering addicts
October 26
The path to self-acceptance

"The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery."
IP No.19, "Self-Acceptance"

Our addiction has been a source of shame to many of us. We have hidden ourselves from others, sure that if anyone got to know who we really were they would reject us. NA helps us learn self-acceptance.

Many of us find a great deal of relief just from attending meetings, hearing fellow addicts share their stories, and discovering that others have felt the same way we feel about ourselves. When others share honestly with us who they are, we feel free to do the same. As we learn to tell others the truth about ourselves, we learn to accept ourselves.

Self-disclosure, however, is only the beginning. Once we've shared the things that make us uncomfortable with our lives, we need to find a different way to live-and that's where the steps come in. We develop a concept of a Higher Power. We inventory our lives, in detail, and discuss our inventory with our sponsor. We ask the God of our understanding to remove our character defects, the shortcomings that are the source of our troubles. We take responsibility for the things we've done and make amends for them. And we incorporate all these disciplines into our daily lives, "practicing these principles in all our affairs."

By working the steps, we can become people we are proud to be. We can freely tell the truth about ourselves, for we have nothing to hide.

Just for today: I will walk the path to self-acceptance. I will show up, tell the truth, and work the steps.

IP No. 19
Self Acceptance
(Excerpt)

The Twelve Steps are the solution

Today, the first step toward self-acceptance is acceptance of our addiction. We must accept our disease and all the troubles that it brings us before we can accept ourselves as human beings.

The next thing we need to help us toward self-acceptance is belief in a Power greater than ourselves who can restore us to sanity. We do not need to believe in any particular person's concept of that Higher Power, but we do need to believe in a concept that works for us. A spiritual understanding of self-acceptance is knowing that it is all right to find ourselves in pain, to have made mistakes, and to know that we are not perfect.

The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery. Now that we have come to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we can depend upon His strength to give us the courage to honestly examine our defects and our assets. Although it is sometimes painful and may not seem to lead to self-acceptance, it is necessary to get in touch with our feelings. We wish to build a solid foundation of recovery, and therefore need to examine our actions and motivations and begin changing those things that are unacceptable.

Our defects are part of us and will only be removed when we practice living the NA program. Our assets are gifts from our Higher Power, and as we learn to utilize them fully, our self-acceptance grows and our lives improve.

Sometimes we slip into the melodrama of wishing we could be what we think we should be. We may feel overpowered by our self-pity and pride, but by renewing our faith in a Higher Power we are given the hope, courage, and strength to grow.

Self-acceptance permits balance in our recovery. We no longer have to look for the approval of others because we are satisfied with being ourselves. We are free to gratefully emphasize our assets, to humbly move away from our defects, and to become the best recovering addicts we can be. Accepting ourselves as we are means that we are all right, that we are not perfect, but we can improve.

We remember that we have the disease of addiction, and that it takes a long time to achieve self-acceptance on a deep level. No matter how bad our lives have become, we are always accepted in the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous.

Accepting ourselves as we are resolves the problem of expecting human perfection. When we accept ourselves, we can accept others into our lives, unconditionally, probably for the first time. Our friendships become deep and we experience the warmth and caring which results from addicts sharing recovery and a new life.

The joy of being
~Ralph Marston~

Living in joyful harmony with life is not that difficult at all. What can be difficult is getting away from the negative patterns that have become so comfortable and familiar.

It helps when you can remind yourself often of who you are and who you are not. You are not your problems or your pleasures, and are not the collection of material objects and concerns that surround you.

You are the awareness that can find meaning and bring out purpose in it all. You are the experience of being alive and the wisdom that is able to rise above the commotion.

The negativity you wish to escape is with you only as long as you hold on to it. Can you choose to let it fall cleanly away from you?

Of course you can, and the question to ask yourself is this. When will you?

Remember that you are more than anything that could bring you down. Let go, and let the joy of being rise peacefully to the surface.

Sensing Unseen Energy
Meditation by Orin and DaBen

I allow myself to grow calm and relaxed.
I focus on my inner world of thoughts, feelings, and inner pictures.

I am peaceful and calm.
I draw in the unseen energies of light that are all around me.
I allow myself to believe that listening to, working with, and believing in the power of the unseen energies around me creates wonderful and positive changes in my life and circumstances.
I think of an area of my life I want to improve.

I surround myself with light and send light to this situation.
I relax my body as I think of this situation.
I know when I think of things in a relaxed, calm way, I am creating a higher future for myself and attracting better things in whatever area I picture and think about.

As I picture my home I think of several wonderful things I appreciate about it.
I send loving, positive energy to my home.
I know as I appreciate it, I am increasing the unseen energies of light in it.
Those energies will lift me and allow me to create even more beauty in my home and surroundings.

I listen to the signs from the universe that are telling me what direction to go.
I hear the inner messages coming from my soul and higher self.

I think of an area of my life in which I want to make a decision.
I get quiet and think about the signs I have been receiving about what direction to choose.
I ask for messages from my soul and higher self; I recognize them when they come.
I pay attention to the subtle, unseen energies that are all around me.

These are energies of spiritual light, of guidance from my soul and guides, of other people's energy, of the earth and stars, and of the universe that is always sending me loving, positive energy.

Today I will notice the unseen energy about me.
I will stay relaxed and calm.
I will notice any negative energy, and instead of letting it affect me, I will surround myself with the unseen energy of light.
I will connect with the higher energies that are always available to me.
Today is the beginning of my ability to become a master of the unseen energies, and to use them to create light and love all around me.

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The Message Is Hope, The Promise Is Freedom

Just for today, you never have to use again.

Alive and Free

Never Alone Never Again
(neveralone_neveragain)

"Dance like there's no one watching and love like you've never been hurt."

Jimmy K.

The message is hope. The promise is freedom. Just For Today, you never have to use again.

---
"Not wholly in the busy world, not quite beyond it, blooms the garden that I love."
~Anonymous~

Peace.
Bill

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To trust, have faith, is to know that whatever happens will be good.

Trust and Believe

Canookie Girl