https://portagerecoveryassociation.org/

PRA Portage Recovery Association, 5965 McCasland Avenue, Portage, IN (2026)

11/25/2023

join us today! offering a soup and bread lunch for only $5!

11/20/2023

Join us this Saturday!

11/11/2023

Building a Framework for Recovery Veterans Day

As I’ve changed, so has my support system. It’s about what and who is helping me grow. I didn’t use around my family members, so they didn’t see the destruction of my addiction. I’d get high and leave. Just disappear. So I’m rebuilding a lot of those relationships.

I’m a veteran, and I work at the VA now. I tell the vets I work with that recovery is like laying bricks. We create a foundation on which we build straight walls of recovery. We build that foundation with people and support. But, just as with bricks, sometimes relationships crack and break, and you have to either get rid of them or mend them.

If people aren’t helping you build your network of recovery, it might be time to move on or reconstruct a healthier relationship.

Today I will strengthen those relationships that build upon my solid foundation of recovery and growth.

—Berlynn F., U.S. Marine Corps, 2009–2011

This inspiration is from:

Leave No One Behind: Daily Meditations for Military Service Members and Veterans in Recovery.

11/06/2023

Congratulations to November's Member of the Month, PRA Portage Recovery Association .
PRA is a nonprofit recovery association that provides a safe and affordable place for 12-step groups to meet. They have also more recently opened the PRA’s Next Chapter Café to offer a supportive location for their members and community members that share their vision of hope, faith, and recovery. All are welcome during business hours.

08/13/2023

FEAR
Before I came to Al-Anon, fear was my biggest obstacle. My reactions to fear included withdrawing, hiding, procrastinating, running, or berating myself. None of these behaviors helped me to face my fears. In fact, they only made situations worse. Fear still sneaks up on me, but I have found tools in this program to help me overcome it. I now realize that fear in and of itself is neither good nor bad. It’s not a sign of weakness or cowardice, as I once thought. It’s just a signal that some decision or action is needed on my part.

The first thing I try to do now is recognize when I am acting out of fear. Reacting rather than acting out of conscious decision-making is a clear sign. Often I react by putting off something beneficial to my spiritual growth. I may fear telling my ex-spouse my needs concerning visitation with our children, chairing a meeting, or talking to a newcomer.

Next, I use the Serenity Prayer and ask my Higher Power for the courage to do the thing I’m scared to do. Just because I pray for courage doesn’t necessarily mean I will immediately receive it. Rather, as I practice the Steps and continue praying, I am able to act more courageously when confronted by situations that usually generate fear in me.

Finally, I remind myself when I make a decision and take action that the outcome is in my Higher Power’s hands. I pray, “Thy will, not mine, be done,” trusting my Higher Power to provide what is best for my growth.

Today’s Reminder
With the help of the program and my Higher Power, I can handle almost anything life brings – sometimes hurls – my way. Today I no longer fear my fear.

“Now I know I can take care of my problems without being so crazy with fear.” Courage to Be Me, p. 292

08/13/2023

Difficult people
NA Just For Today
August 13

Page 235

"By giving unconditional love...we become more loving, and by sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual."

Basic Text, p. 103

Most of us have one or two exceptionally difficult people in our lives. How do we deal with such a person in our recovery?

First, we take our own inventory. Have we wronged this person? Has some action or attitude of ours served as an invitation for the kind of treatment they have given us? If so, we will want to clear the air, admit we have been wrong, and ask our Higher Power to remove whatever defects may prevent us from being helpful and constructive.

Next, as people seeking to live spiritually oriented lives, we approach the problem from the other person's point of view. They may be faced with any number of challenges we either fail to consider or know nothing about, challenges that cause them to be unpleasant. As it's said, we seek in recovery "to forgive rather than be forgiven; to understand rather than be understood."

Finally, if it is within our power, we seek ways to help others overcome their challenges without injuring their dignity. We pray for their well-being and spiritual growth and for the ability to offer them the unconditional love that has meant so much to us in our recovery.

We cannot change the difficult people in our lives, nor can we please everyone. But by applying the spiritual principles we've learned in NA, we can learn to love them.

Just for Today: Higher Power, help me serve other people, not demand that they serve me.

08/13/2023

A CLEAN SWEEP
AA Daily Reflection
August 13
. . and third, having thus cleaned away the debris of the past, we consider how, with our newfound knowledge of ourselves, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being we know.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77

As I faced the Eighth Step, everything that was required for successful completion of the previous seven Steps came together: courage, honesty, sincerity, willingness and thoroughness, I could not muster the strength required for this task at the beginning, which is why this Step reads "Became willing. . . . "

I needed to develop the courage to begin, the honesty to see where I was wrong, a sincere desire to set things right, thoroughness in making a list, and willingness to take the risks required for true humility. With the help of my Higher Power in developing these virtues, I completed this Step and continued to move forward in my quest for spiritual growth.

From the book Daily Reflections.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

08/10/2023

HOPE FOR TODAY
August 10

As a child I lived in a fantasy world where to think it so would make it so. Combined with my need for perfectionism and self-control, I believed I could think myself out of reacting emotionally to people and situations. I carried these misperceptions into adulthood. In my denial, I thought I could make myself not feel anything. I had practiced being tough for a long time.

In Al-Anon the emotional truth of my life surfaced as I accepted my past. At first I felt terrified. Ugliness locked deep inside me -- anger, fear, and resentment -- poured forth like boiling lava from an erupting volcano.

As I continued to feel and express my emotions, the lava cooled and reached calmer, level ground. I went through a period of thinking I must apply perfectionism and self-control to my now-out-in-the-open emotional life. This was short-lived because life kept happening, and so did my emotions. I was healthy enough to know that stuffing my feelings would impede my recovery. Anything less than honesty wouldn't work.

I'm learning to be comfortable with my feelings as I accept whatever life brings my way. I use the Serenity Prayer and the slogans "Think" and "Keep It Simple." Using "Easy Does It" and "One Day at a Time" helps, too. I'll never forget when I chose to face my dark side. When I did, my gentle side became available, and my emotional life grew more balanced. Today, instead of veering between extremes, I'm living a life of stability and serenity.

Thought for the Day
In order to heal, I need to feel. It might be rough going at first, but I know my Higher Power and the program will help me find an emotional center point.

"The more we accept and share our feelings, the closer we come to experiencing the full range of our emotions, from sadness to joy." Alateen's 4th Step Inventory, p. 32

08/10/2023

Regular prayer and meditation
NA Just For Today
August 10
Page 232

"Most of us pray when we are hurting. We learn that if we pray regularly, we won't be hurting as often or as intensely."

Basic Text, p. 45

Regular prayer and meditation are two more key elements in our new pattern of living. Our active addiction was more than just a bad habit waiting to be broken by force of will. Our addiction was a negative, draining dependence that stole all our positive energy. That dependence was so total, it prevented us from developing any kind of reliance on a Higher Power.

From the very beginning of our recovery, our Higher Power has been the force that's brought us freedom. First, it relieved us of our compulsion to keep taking drugs, even when we knew they were killing us. Then, it gave us freedom from the more deeply ingrained aspects of our disease. Our Higher Power gave us the direction, the strength, and the courage to inventory ourselves; to admit out loud to another person what our lives had been like, perhaps for the first time; to begin seeking release from the chronic defects of character underlying our troubles; and, at last, to make amends for the wrongs we'd done.

That first contact with a Higher Power, and that first freedom, has grown into a life full of freedom. We maintain that freedom by maintaining and improving our conscious contact with our Higher Power through regular prayer and meditation.

Just for Today: I will make a commitment to include regular prayer and meditation in my new pattern of living.

08/10/2023

REDOUBLING OUR EFFORTS
AA Daily Reflection
August 10

To a degree, he has already done this when taking moral inventory, but now the time has come when he ought to redouble his efforts to see how many people he has hurt, and in what ways,
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77

As I continue to grow in sobriety, I become more aware of myself as a person of worth. In the process, I am better able to see others as persons, and with this comes the realization that these were people whom I had hurt in my drinking days. I didn't just lie, I lied about Tom. I didn't just cheat, I cheated Joe. What were seemingly impersonal acts, were really personal affronts, because it was people—people of worth—whom I had harmed. I need to do something about the people I have hurt so that I may enjoy a peaceful sobriety.

From the book Daily Reflections.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

08/07/2023

Combating Shame
Shame can hold us back, hold us down, and keep us staring at our feet.~ Beyond Codependency

Watch out for shame.

Many systems and people reek of shame. They are controlled by shame and may want us to play their game with them. They may be hoping to hook us and control us through shame.

We don't have to fall into their shame. Instead, we'll take the good feelings - self-acceptance, love, and nurturing.

Compulsive behaviors, sexually addictive behaviors, overeating, chemical abuse, and addictive gambling are shame-based behaviors. If we participate in them, we will feel ashamed. It's inevitable. We need to watch out for addictive and other compulsive behaviors because those will immerse us in shame.

Our past, and the brainwashing we may have had that imposed "original shame" upon us, may try to put shame on us. This can happen when we're all alone, walking through the grocery store or just quietly going about living our life. Don't think . . . Don't feel . . . Don't grow or change . . .Don't be alive . . . Don't live life . . . Be ashamed!

Be done with shame. Attack shame. Go to war with it. Learn to recognize it and avoid it like the plague.

Today, I will deliberately refuse to get caught up in the shame floating around in the world. If I cannot resist it, I will feel it, accept it, and then be done with it as quickly as possible. God, help me know that it's okay to love myself and help me to refuse to submit to shame. If I get off course, help me learn to change shame into guilt, correct the behavior, and move forward with my life in immediate self-love.

08/07/2023

The gratitude list
NA Just For Today
August 7

Page 229

"We focus on anything that isn't going our way and ignore all the beauty in our lives."

Basic Text, p. 80

It's easy to be grateful when everything runs smoothly. If we get a raise at work, we're grateful. If we get married, we're grateful. If someone surprises us with a nice present or an unasked favor, we're grateful. But if we get fired, divorced, or disappointed, gratitude flies out the window. We find ourselves becoming obsessed with the things that are wrong, even though everything else may be wonderful.

This is where we can use a gratitude list. We sit down with a pen and paper and list the people for whom we are grateful. We all have people who've supported us through life's upheavals. We list the spiritual assets we have attained, for we know we could never make it through our present circumstances without them. Last, but not least, we list our recovery itself. Whatever we have that we are grateful for goes on the list.

We're sure to find that we have literally hundreds of things in our lives that inspire our gratitude. Even those of us who are suffering from an illness or who have lost all material wealth will find blessings of a spiritual nature for which we can be thankful. An awakening of the spirit is the most valuable gift an addict can receive.

Just for Today: I will write a list of things, both material and spiritual, for which I am grateful.

PRA Portage Recovery Association

11/25/2023

11/20/2023

11/11/2023

11/06/2023

08/13/2023

08/13/2023

08/13/2023

08/10/2023

08/10/2023

08/10/2023

08/07/2023

08/07/2023

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Organization

Shortcuts

Share

Category