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...
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change:
I cannot change the past, those I have hurt, the money I have spent
The courage to change those things I can:
Treating others and myself with respect, working on myself to become more at peace with all that is around me. Not gambling
And the wisdom to know the difference:
It is not my job to change the world or those in it. I can only work on myself. I can make healthy positive choices today that keep me sane and on the right track, I can rely on God for the strength to get me where I need to go.
What does the serenity prayer mean to you?
I cannot change the past, those I have hurt, the money I have spent
The courage to change those things I can:
Treating others and myself with respect, working on myself to become more at peace with all that is around me. Not gambling
And the wisdom to know the difference:
It is not my job to change the world or those in it. I can only work on myself. I can make healthy positive choices today that keep me sane and on the right track, I can rely on God for the strength to get me where I need to go.
What does the serenity prayer mean to you?
It means that with peace of mind I am asking my Higher Power (HP) to accept how people live their lives--in essence it is for me to mind my own business when I want someone to change the way they behave or act and not try to change them. That part is me letting go of controlling life.
In the latter half of the I am asking for the courage to change something that needs to be changed even if it scares me or I am afraid of not being liked or displeasing someone or afraid of embarrassing myself or failing. This part to me is essentially me asking HP to help me let go of my ego.
Lastly please HP help me know the difference between when i should let go and mind my own business and when I should take action.
we always say the prayer at the meetings
and I would go through it as always
but until I read your post
never went back and read it slowly enough
to think about it.
I thank you for your "understanding" of it
and I am certainly going to be thinking
about my understanding of it and developing it
and from now on know that each time I hear it
I will be thinking of just what it does mean to me
instead of saying the words by rote.
Right now it means to me that in the past I have
not taken control of how I accepted things in my life,
i.e. "didn't live life on it's terms" and this got me into
trouble.
Now I must take the time to try and act
differently, i.e.
by learning to recognize the things I need to accept,
having courage to change those that need changing,
and learning the difference between the two.
thank you for bringing this very basic GA "mantra" to
the forefront so that I can now start to realize its full
power for helping me with my addiction.
It is a great reminder to me that I can't control others or anything
other then what belongs to me. Also want to share a second Serenity Prayer I use. " God Grant Me The Serenity To Accept The People I Cannot Change, Courage to Change The Person I Can, And The Wisdom To Know That Person Is Me.
One thing that I have been doing that has been helpful is ask myself, what's the story I am telling myself about that? Even about triggers about loneliness, about boredom, about this addiction of mine.
Asking myself has given that one step removed objective mind that has been helpful in unhooking from the compulsive/emotional component of just running with a feeling. It forces me to slow down and observe and analyze and see how I fetter and chain myself. The serenity prayer reminds me as I said to set myself free and let go.
Thank you Rainietoo for the invitation to explore the personal meaning..
:)