Spirit of Recovery

Today’s episode is titled, “What Defects of Character?” We are going to talk about the importance of being willing to acknowledge our shortcomings, thinking here of course of Step 6, and our question for you is, “What is one shortcoming or character flaw that you realized you had and what was it like to finally see it and own it?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many of us, when in early addiction recovery we are not inclined to trust others or other peoples' ideas of how things should be done. But once we make the commitment to clean and sober living, we have an opportunity to learn and trust a recovery process that has worked for many others. We get to decide if it will work for us. Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on learnin...

When we get into addiction recovery, we learn to be mindful of our actions. We hear the phrase, “Do the next right thing,” which sounds like a great idea, but what does that actually mean? How are we supposed to know what the next right thing is anyway? Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on moving from aimlessness to freedom by doing the “next right thing.” Find Spirit of Rec...

Many gifts of addiction recovery come to us when we are willing to work for them. Part of that work is facing the wreckage of our past. To do so we must combine right intention with the guidance of a trusted advisor in order to get real results. We must “do the work”—but how do we go about doing this work? Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on finding our way from complacency...

When we first get into recovery, we learn we need a Higher Power in order to grow and change. But once we have found something that works for us (even temporarily) we must learn how to rely on and be guided by this Power. And in doing so, we find we can live with a new confidence. Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope in learning to trust our Higher Power in all things. Find Spi...

As we grow through our addiction recovery journey, we often come face to face with old habits that are hard to break! Fortunately, once we are a few steps down the recovery path we become willing to make new choices that support our new--and much better!--way of living. Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on letting go of old habits and opening the door to a whole new way of b...

One thing we need in order to grow in our recovery is to walk our path with principled honesty. This can be more challenging than it sounds at first! But if we are willing to show up and do the work, we can drop the heavy load we have been carrying and enjoy a lightness of being that will transform our lives. Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on lightening the load through t...

It takes courage and integrity to walk an addiction recovery path. If we persist, we will come to know ourselves as the spiritual beings we truly are, but first we must trek through the wreckage of our past. In order to move into the Light, we must face our Shadow. Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on finding a path through the Shadow to the Light. Learn more about your ad c...

Many of us in addiction recovery can affirm that we've never let go of anything that didn't have claw marks on it! Even when we were, in essence, clinging to a sinking ship! But we eventually find that when we become willing to try a new way, our lives begin to change. When we can truly “Let Go” and allow a higher power to provide guidance and direction, our lives begin to become amazing. Today we...

In early recovery, the prospect of living a life filled with peace and joy may appear distant and unattainable. However, there is a path to such a life. The journey begins with disentangling ourselves from the chaos of a life without direction by placing our trust in a Higher Power. And in doing so we begin to unlock the gateway to sanity and hope. Today we want to share our experience, strength a...

Did you ever feel like life would be so much better if you could just wipe the slate clean and start over? Well, you can do just that! In fact you can start over any time you decide. Our Higher Power gives us the ability to leave behind that which no longer serves us and move ahead in a new and better way. A new beginning! Today we want to share our experience, strength and hope on energizing your...

From the Daily Reflection for Dec 5, 2023: “He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being.” TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 107. Many of us in A.A. puzzle over what is a spiritual awakening. I tended to look for a miracle, something dramatic and earth-shattering. But what usually happens is that a sense of well-being, a feeling of peace. Find Spirit of R...

In honor of Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season, we’re here today to talk about the role gratitude has played in our addiction recoveries and in our lives. We want to share our experience, strength and hope on how a thankful mindset has been a game-changer on the road to recovery as well as in life. Please email us and let us know what gratitude has done for you. SpiritOfRecoveryUnity@gma...

A SAFETY NET - From the Daily Reflections entry for November 18, 2023. “Occasionally. . . . We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray. When these things happen we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us.” TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105 Sometimes I scream, stomp my feet, and...

When I "Let Go and Let God," I think more clearly and wisely. Without having to think about it, I quickly let go of things that cause me immediate pain and discomfort. Because I find it hard to let go of the kind of worrisome thoughts and attitudes that cause me immense anguish, all I need do during those times is allow God, as I understand Him, to release them for me, and then and there, I let go...

From the Daily Reflection on October 17: A Daily Tune Up - “Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities.” ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85 How do I maintain my spiritual condition? For me it's quite simple: on a daily basis I ask my Higher Power to grant me the gift of sobriety for that day! I have talked to many alcoholics who have gone back to drinking an...

“Someone who knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.'s can agree with him. . . .” Twelve steps and twelve traditions, pp. 93-94 When on the roller coaster of emotional turmoil, I remember that growth is often painful. My evolution in the A.A. program has taught me that I must experience the inner change, however pain...

From the Daily Reflection - September 20 - “See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.” (ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164) Having a right relationship with God seemed to be an impossible order. My chaotic past had left me filled with guilt and remorse and I wondered how this "God business" could wo...

We were talking recently about the recovery concept of “keeping my side of the street clean” and wanted to explore it here on the podcast. We’ll start by sharing this from the Big Book, p 77-78: “We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worthwhile can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed. We stick t...

Drawing from the Daily Reflection on anonymity, “We are sure that humility, expressed by anonymity, is the greatest safeguard that Alcoholics Anonymous can ever have.” And from the 12 and 12, p. 187, “Since there are no rules in A.A. I place myself where I want to be, and so I choose anonymity. I want my God to use me, humbly, as one of His tools in this program. Sacrifice is the art of giving of...

Living the Truth We Know - In a recent Daily Reflection we read, "The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it." And from the Big Book: “When new in the program, I couldn't comprehend living the spiritual aspect of the program, but now that I'm sober, I can't comprehend living without it. Spirituality was what I had been seeking. God, as I understand Him, has given me answers to the whys...

From a Daily Reflection reading: “I am learning to let go and let God, to have a mind that is open and a heart that is willing to receive God's grace in all my affairs; in this way I can experience the peace and freedom that come as a result of surrender. It has been proven that an act of surrender, originating in desperation and defeat, can grow into an ongoing act of faith, and that faith means...

"One Day at a Time" is one of the phrases we hear a lot in recovery circles. It means first and foremost that we must focus on the present. We can’t see or predict the future, and we can’t control what happens in the world at large. But we can learn to choose our own actions, right here and now. In fact, our own actions are just about the only thing we can exert influence over! And even though it...

When we get in recovery, we find a set of spiritual principles that help us get sober and stay sober. But we also hear that we should “practice these principles in all our affairs.” What does it mean--or what does it look like--to apply recovery principles to our lives outside of our particular addiction? We have heard it said, “I got into recovery to get sober, but what I learned is how to live.”...

In addiction recovery, we learn that we need to make and maintain conscious contact with our Higher Power for guidance, but we don't stop there. We continue on to learn how to be of service to others by carrying the message of recovery to any who seeks it. Today we want to share our experience, strength, and hope on learning to be of service as a natural outcome of spiritual awakening. Find Rev Da...