Hazelden Publishing: Recovery Road Episode 202

Man standing on the lakeshore looking over a forest into the sun

"We form habits, and then these habits begin to form us."

Product: Day by Day
Day by Day:
Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts

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Episode 202 -- March 21, 2022

Meditation Monday: Welcoming Change

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 third Meditation Monday in March come from two of Hazelden's popular recovery resources: Today I Will Do One Thing and Day by Day. Together, these meditations invite us to embrace change and form new habits to improve our lives in recovery.

Today I Will Do One Thing

I am willing to change.

Before recovery, the way I was living caused me many problems. Step Six asks me if I'm ready to start changing my life. Can I let go of old ways? Can I learn new coping skills? What am I really willing to do to allow change to happen? Having done Step Five and dealt with some of the past, there is less to hide, less to be ashamed of, little to hold me back. I feel more open to learning new ways to handle my problems and meet my needs. I feel more open to letting myself be changed. I believe I am now ready to start this process of gradual transformation.

I will say the Serenity Prayer and I will complete my regular activities on today's recovery plan.

Day by Day

Forming New Habits

We form habits, and then these habits begin to form us. For so long we had such self-destructive ways of being: We were self-centered, angry, and critical people, and so we behaved selfishly, angrily, and judgmentally in the world. To stay sober we must develop new habits, new patterns of living. We must give up old hangouts, old friends, old attitudes and ideas. It seems this is the only way to form new habits—for example, kindness, love, and honesty—on which our program is based.
What habits do I want to develop?

Higher Power, help me to form new habits to replace the old ones that nearly destroyed my life.

The new habit I will work on today is...

About the Author:
Today I Will Do One Thing was written by Tim Mc.
Day by Day was written anonymously