Episode 194 -- February 21, 2022

Meditation Monday: Let It Go

Welcome to Meditation Monday. We're pausing each Monday for a few minutes of reflection and inspiration from the authors of the Hazelden Meditation series of books.

Meditations are daily reflections, prayers, slogans and phrases intended to offer inspiration and comfort, and—above all—hope to those of us in recovery.

The selections for this mid-February Meditation Monday come from three of Hazelden's popular recovery resources: A Life of My Own, Today's Gift, and Twenty-Four Hours a Day. Together, these meditations focus on releasing control of outcomes and finding serenity through acceptance and the assistance of our Higher Power.

A Life of My Own

We can stop making mountains out of molehills.

Learning to let go of the choices other people make takes away much of the angst we have grown accustomed to. Letting go of the outcome of all experiences, even those that involve us, frees our minds from the needless worry that keeps us stuck. The more we focus on a problem, our own or someone else's, the bigger it gets.

Why do we worry so much? For some of us it has become a habit. Lucky for us, by sharing the Twelve Step journey we can learn how not to worry. The solution is to have faith that our Higher Power will take care of us. And the others in our lives have their Higher Power to care for them. Learning to give up our old way of "doing" life unburdens us profoundly. The time we'll gain will allow us to do what we really need to do.

My perspective today will be healthy.
I'll "let go and let God."

Today's Gift

"A person's best ally is someone who takes care of herself."
—Susan Clarke

Once there was a little girl who was learning to walk. The trouble was, her mother wouldn't let her fall down. Every time she was about to fall, her mother would rush over and catch her.

It was hard to learn how to walk if she couldn't fall down, but the girl was too little to be able to tell her mother. Her mother thought she was taking care of her child, when in fact she was keeping her from learning to take care of herself. Letting her fall would have shown trust in the child, trust that she could get up. It would have taught her that she wasn't so fragile that she couldn't recover if she hurt herself.

We are all like this mother once in a while, protecting one another from important lessons in life. This doesn't mean we have to let someone get seriously hurt, but that we allow each other the freedom to learn and grow in individual ways.

What will I be able to learn from my little stumbles today?

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

AA Thought for the Day
When we came into AA, the first thing we did was to admit that we couldn't do anything about our drinking. We admitted that alcohol had us licked and that we were helpless against it. We never could decide whether or not to take a drink. We always took the drink. And since we couldn't do anything about it ourselves, we put our whole drinking problem into the hands of God. We turned the whole thing over to that Power greater than ourselves. And we have nothing more to do about it, except to trust God to take care of the problem for us. Have I done this honestly and fully?

A Life of My Own Meditation for the Day
This is the time for my spirit to touch the spirit of God. I know that the feeling of the spirit-touch is more important than all the sensations of material things. I must seek a silence of spirit-touching with God. Just a moment's contact and all the fever of life leaves me. Then I am well, whole, calm, and able to rise and minister to others. God's touch is a potent healer. I must feel that touch and sense God's presence.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that the fever of resentment, worry, and fear may melt into nothingness. I pray that health, joy, peace, and serenity may take its place.

Hazelden meditation books offer a brief reading for every day of the year. Today's selection from A Life of My Own is from February 25, the meditation from Today's Gift is from February 23, and the selection from Twenty-Four Hours a Day is from February 27.

About the Author:
A Life of My Own was written by Karen Casey, PhD
Today's Gift includes writing from Antiga, Paul Bjorklund, Cecil Carle, Liane Cordes, Paula Culp, Emilio DeGrazia, Karen Casey Elliott, Jeanne Engelmann, Patricia Hoolihan, Bonnie-Jean Kimball, Joe Klaas, Roseann Lloyd, Peter McDonald, Beth Milligan, Ann Monson, Pat O'Donnell, and Cynthia Orange.
Twenty-Four Hours a Day was written by Richmond W.

A Life of My Own © 1993 by Hazelden Foundation
Today's Gift © 1985, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
Twenty-Four Hours a Day © 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
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