Episode 208 -- April 11, 2022

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 second Meditation Monday in April come from two of Hazelden's best-loved recovery resources: The Promise of a New Day and Each Day a New Beginning. Together, today's meditations invite us to accept the seasons of changes in our lives and find growth beyond our comfort zones.

Promise of A New Day

You can have your cake and eat it. But my God, it will go rotten inside you. —D. H. Lawrence

When we try to hang on to another person or to any part of life, we impede the natural flow. To be in harmony, we must let go. Real strength, real self-respect, is achieved only by setting the hungry self aside.

It's human to want to hold on to what's precious. But life's real treasure is found in achieving the rhythm of ebb and flow. Joy can't be a constant state. Glory is part of a cycle that includes defeat.

Accepting imperfection, accepting change, is part of accepting our humanity. We obey the same cyclic laws that govern the universe. Success in living depends on accepting that one day we'll eat cake and the next we won't. Fear tempts us to hoard the crumbs of our success, but wisdom lets us brush them away.

I will remember that joys recur just as sorrows do

Each Day New Beginning

The world is a wheel always turning. Those who are high go down low, and those who've been low go up higher. — Anzia Yezierska

Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And letting go of the way things are, anticipating instead what they might become, frees us to live each moment more fully.

Time marches on, and our destiny marches with it. There is purpose in how our lives unfold; the ups and downs serve our growth. We must neither resent the doldrums nor savor too long the elation. Giving too much attention to either state interferes with our awareness of the present. And the present has come to teach us.

We must move with time. We must focus our attention on the moment and accept whatever feelings each experience elicits. Emotional maturity is accepting our feelings and letting them go and facing the next moment with fresh receptivity. Our lessons are many, and they accompany the lows as well as the highs. We can be grateful for both.

The program has taught us freedom from lingering lows. It has given us the tools to move confidently forward, trusting that all is well. Nothing lasts forever, and within each struggle is the opportunity for real growth.

The highs will pass away, just as will the lows. They visit us purposefully. I will give them their freedom and find mine as well.

About the Author:
The Promise of a New Day was written by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg
Each Day a New Beginning was written by Karen Casey

The Promise of a New Day: Meditations for Reflection and Renewal © 1983, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation
All rights reserved