Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group
Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...
Just wanted to share this message a RCG Friend sent me.In my early recovery I had to learn to forgive not only those people in my life that I felt wronged me but also had to forgive myself.
Somedays I am still a work in progress.Recovery they say is about "Progress Not Perfection."
Forgiveness ... A Very Good Understanding of Forgiveness
One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes.
For every person we'd refuse to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato,
write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag.
Some of our bags, as you can imagine, were quite heavy.
We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one week,
putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving,
next to our desk at work.
The hassle of lugging this around with us
made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually,
and how we had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget,
and keep leaving it in embarrassing places.
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime.
This was a great metaphor for the price we pay
for keeping our pain and heavy negativity!
Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person,
and while that's true ...
it clearly is also a gift for ourselves!
So the next time you decide you can't forgive someone, ask yourself ...
Isn't MY bag heavy enough?
Author Unknown
Somedays I am still a work in progress.Recovery they say is about "Progress Not Perfection."
Forgiveness ... A Very Good Understanding of Forgiveness
One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes.
For every person we'd refuse to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato,
write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag.
Some of our bags, as you can imagine, were quite heavy.
We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one week,
putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving,
next to our desk at work.
The hassle of lugging this around with us
made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually,
and how we had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget,
and keep leaving it in embarrassing places.
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime.
This was a great metaphor for the price we pay
for keeping our pain and heavy negativity!
Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person,
and while that's true ...
it clearly is also a gift for ourselves!
So the next time you decide you can't forgive someone, ask yourself ...
Isn't MY bag heavy enough?
Author Unknown
Yeppers gets stinky for sure and waiting is an escape from all those ever growing hurts from she/he did me wrong.
I believe forgiving oneself took me longer when I quit gambling. I guess it was all the damage my eyes were open to see when 'DENIAL 'GOT THE BOOT..
GReat share,Thankyou..
BE Well Sandra gams5.
I think there may be different meanings for forgiveness, or different degrees. I might forgive something to the extent that I understand the motivation and background of the "offense" to such a degree that I may really hold the hurtful person no longer to blame. I might simply choose to realize "no one is perfect" and choose to let the hurtful behavior be simply a small part of the behavior of an otherwise wonderful person.
I might even decide the hurtful person is just that way and choose not to take it personally, and stop dwelling on it. I don't know if that is forgiveness..but continuing to dwell on hurts we've taken just takes up too much space, time , and energy!
My forgiveness of hurts I've experienced is very much a work in progress!
Thanks for the topic, Ken. :-)