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...
Good Afternoon Folks
Took me awhile to figure out how to get back into the site.
I am not computer wise.But am back and I am going to start
posting the GA Reflection for the Day again and hope to catch
up with my old recovery friends and to meet some new people.
If you are interested I visit a new site called Gamtalk that is run
out of Montreal Canada and it has 24/7 chat room and on Friday
at 3pm est we have a group Topic Session.Today's topic is Step 9.
God Bless
Ken L GRCG
March 22 Reflection for the Day
Once in a great while, I find myself thinking perhaps things werent quite so bad as they seemed to be. At such moments, I force myself to realize that my illness is talking to me, trying to tempt me into denying that I am, in fact, afflicted with an illness. One of the key action steps of the Gamblers Anonymous Program is that we give our illness to God, as we understand Him, accepting our powerlessness in the face of His greater Power.
Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself?
Today I Pray
May I know that much of our lives depends on faith. For we cannot know the limits of space and time or explain the mysteries of life and death. But when we see God working through us and through others who have found new life in the GA Program it is all the evidence we need to know that God exists.
Today I will Remember
The Big Wheel runs by faith.
Took me awhile to figure out how to get back into the site.
I am not computer wise.But am back and I am going to start
posting the GA Reflection for the Day again and hope to catch
up with my old recovery friends and to meet some new people.
If you are interested I visit a new site called Gamtalk that is run
out of Montreal Canada and it has 24/7 chat room and on Friday
at 3pm est we have a group Topic Session.Today's topic is Step 9.
God Bless
Ken L GRCG
March 22 Reflection for the Day
Once in a great while, I find myself thinking perhaps things werent quite so bad as they seemed to be. At such moments, I force myself to realize that my illness is talking to me, trying to tempt me into denying that I am, in fact, afflicted with an illness. One of the key action steps of the Gamblers Anonymous Program is that we give our illness to God, as we understand Him, accepting our powerlessness in the face of His greater Power.
Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself?
Today I Pray
May I know that much of our lives depends on faith. For we cannot know the limits of space and time or explain the mysteries of life and death. But when we see God working through us and through others who have found new life in the GA Program it is all the evidence we need to know that God exists.
Today I will Remember
The Big Wheel runs by faith.
Once we surrendered and came to the Gamblers Anonymous Program, many of us wondered what we would do with all that time on our hands. All the hours we'd previously spent planning, hiding, alibiing, losing our shirts, borrowing, juggling accounts - and all the rest - threatened to turn into empty chunks of time that somehow had to be filled. We needed new ways to use the energy previously absorbed by our addiction. We soon realized that substituting a new and different activity is far easier than just stopping the old activity and putting nothing in its place.
Am I redirecting my mind and energy?
Today I Pray
I pray that, once free of the encumbrance of my addiction, I may turn to my Higher Power to discover for me how to fill my time constructively and creatively. May that same Power that makes human paths cross and links certain people to specific situations, lead me along good new roads into good new places.
Today I Will Remember
Happenstance may be more than chance.
June 30 Reflection for the Day
I've learned in the Gamblers Anonymous Program that the trick, for me, is not stopping gambling, but staying stopped and learning how not to start again. God knows, I tried to stop plenty of times, by lecturing myself on how it was affecting not only my life, but all aspects of my behavior. Gambling was actually changing who I seemed to be. To stay stopped, I've had to develop a positive, ongoing program of action. I've had to learn to live free from addiction, cultivating new patterns, new interests, and new attitudes.
Am I remaining flexible in my new life? Am I exercising my freedom to abandon limited objectives?
Today I Pray
I pray that my new life will be filled with new patterns, new friends, new activities, new ways of looking at things. I need God's help to overhaul my lifestyle to include all the newness it must hold. I also need a few ideas of my own.May my independence from compulsive gambling help me make my choices with an open mind and a clear, appraising eye.
Today I Will Remember
Stopping is starting.
Fear may have originally brought some of us to Gamblers Anonymous.In the beginning, fear alone may help some of us stay away from the game ad that insidious about-to-be-lucky feeling ( even when we knew that gambling always turned against us in the end. ) But a fearful state is hardly conducive to comfort and happiness - not for long. We have to find alternatives to fear to get us through those first empty hours, days,or eve weeks. For most of us, the answer has been to become active in and around the GA program. In no time, we feel that we truly belong; for the first time in a long time, we begin to feel a " par of " rather than " apart from. "
Am I willing to take the initiative?
Today I Pray
May God please help me find alternatives to fear - that watchdog of my earliest abstinence. I thank my Higher Power for directing me to a place where I can meet others who have experienced the same compulsion and fears. I am grateful for my feeling of belonging.
Today I Will Remember
I am "a part of," not "apart from. "
During our days of active addiction, many of us displayed almost dazzlingly fertile powers of imagination. In no time at all, we could dream up more reasons - or - excuses - for pursuing our addiction than most people use for all other purposes in their entire lives. When we first come to Gamblers Anonymous, our once - imaginative minds seem to become lethargic and even numb."Now what do I do?"many of us wonder. Gradually, however, the lethargy disappears. We begin to apply our practiced imaginations to new, healthy challenges. We become turned on to life in ways that we never dreamed possible.
Am I finding that I can now enjoy activities that I wouldn't even consider in the old days?
Today I Pray
May God give me a new surge of energy directed toward "turning on to life" rather than making excuses for not handling my responsibilities. May my Higher Power allow my out - of - order imagination to be restored - not to the buzzing over-activity and excuse-making of my gambling days, but to a healthy openness to life's boundless possibilities.
Today I Will Remember
Turn on to life.
Change is a part of the flow of life. Sometimes we're frustrated because change seems slow in coming. Sometimes, too, we're resistant to a change that seems to have been thrust upon us. We must remember that change, in and of itself, neither binds us nor frees us. Only our attitude toward change binds or frees. As we learn to flow with the stream of life, praying for guidance about any change that presents itself - praying, also, for guidance if we want to make a change and none seems in view - we become willing.
Am I willing to let God take charge, directing me in the changes I should make and the course I should take?
Today I Pray
When change comes too fast - or not fast enough - for me, I pray I can adjust accordingly to make use of the freedom the Gamblers Anonymous Program offers to me. I pray for the guidance of my Higher Power when change presents itself - or when it doesn't and I wish it would. May I listen for direction from that Power.
Today I Will Remember
God is in charge.
It's time for me to become willing to do what is takes to recover my personal responsibility, even if that means giving over the financial reins to another. Just as there are paradoxes in the Steps - admitting my life's unmanageability in order that it become manageable again, surrendering to a Higher Power in order to become liberated - there will be other paradoxes in my recovery. Allowing a trusted family member or professional to take over management of my finances in order for me to become fiscally responsible may be one of those paradoxes. I have proved that I am powerless over gambling - and over the emotional highs and lows that went with it. Now is the time to give up my lonely disaster course and begin to interact with others, accepting any help my Higher Power provides.
Have I accepted that, although my recovery is my own, I sometimes need to count on others for their help and encouragement?
Today I Pray
May the Gamblers Anonymous Program, with God's help, give me a chance to live a steady, creative, outreaching life. May I accept the strength others offer me, as I willing share my strength with others. May I realize on this Declaration of Independence Day that I, too, have a celebration of freedom - from my gambling addiction.
Today I Will Remember
To celebrate my personal freedom.
I am free to be, to do, to accept, to reject. I am free to be the wise, loving, kind, and patient person I want to be. I'm free to do that which I consider wise - that which will in no way harm or hinder another person. I'm free to do that which will lead me into the paths of peace and satisfaction. I'm free to decide for or against, to say no and to say yes. I'm free to live life in a productive way and to contribute what I have to give to life.
Am I coming to believe that I am free to be the best self I am able to be?
Today I Pray
Let the freedom I am now experiencing continue to flow through my life into productiveness, into the conviction of life's goodness I have always wanted to share. May I accept this freedom with God's blessing - and use it wisely.
Today I Will Remember
Let freedom ring true.
Some people in the Gamblers Anonymous Program feel that they can't do the things they want to do. They doubt their own ability. But actually, every person has untapped ability. We're children of God, which should give us a strong clue as to the infinite nature of our ability. As spiritual beings, we're unlimited. We may find it easier to accept this as true of some person who shines in a particular field. I may compare my own accomplishments with another's and feel discouraged. But the only comparison I need to make or should make is with myself.
Am I a better, more productive person today?
Today I Pray
May I realize that I am a child of God. And His loving - parent promise to give me what I need, not what I might want, is His way of teaching me to be what I am, not what I dreamed I should me. As a spiritual being, I can truly become a productive person, perhaps even do some of the things I once felt unable to do without the gambler's grandiosity, which lulled me into false confidence.
Today I Will Remember
To compare me with the old me.
What wonderful things could happen in my life if I could get rid of my natural impulse to justify my actions. Is honesty so deeply repressed under layers of guilt that I can't release it to understand my motives? Being honest with ourselves isn't easy. It's difficult to search out why I had this or that impulse and, more importantly, why I acted upon it. Nothing makes us feel so vulnerable as to give up the crutch of "the alibi," yet my willingness to be vulnerable will go a long way toward helping me grow in the Gamblers Anonymous Program.
Am I becoming more aware that self-deception multiplies my problems?
Today I Pray
May God remove my urge to make excuses. Help me face up to the realities that surface when I am honest with myself. Help me to know, as certainly as day follows sunrise, that my difficulties will be lessened if I can only trust God's will.
Today I will Remember
I will be willing to do God's will.
When we speak with a friend in the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we shouldn't hesitate to remind him or her of our need for privacy. Intimate communication is normally so free and easy among us that even a friend or sponsor may sometimes forget when we expect him to remain silent. Such "privileged communications" have important advantages. For one thing, we find in them the perfect opportunity to be as honest as we know how to be. For another, we don't have to worry about the possibility of injury to other people, nor the fear of ridicule or condemnation. At the same time, we have the best possible chance to spot self-deception.
Am I trustworthy for those who trust me?
Today I Pray
I pray for God's assistance in making me a trusted confidant. I need to be a person others will be willing to share with. I need to be an open receiver, not just a transmitter. Today I pray for a large portion of tried-and-trueness, so that I may be a better and more receptive friend to those who choose to confide in me.
Today I Will Remember
Be a receiver.
Samuel Johnson wrote: "...he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything other than his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove." Today I understand that I am not the evil person I once thought I was, only that I have made mistakes in my lifetime that caused me and those I love much pain and grief. By changing myself today, I can face my unsettled past as a time of learning. I hope that those close to me will learn to respect the healthy choices I am making today, rather than dwelling on all the unhealthy choices I used to make.
Has the Serenity Prayer taught me to spend my efforts on changing only those things I can - namely things about myself?
Today I Pray
Help me understand that I must seek the answers to change within myself. May I choose the things that bring me happiness and serenity, and avoid the things that bring me turmoil and grief. If I allow my Higher Power to guide my life, I will be given all that is needed to make the right choices today.
Today I Will Remember
With God's help, I choose to change myself.
The Gamblers Anonymous Program is a road, not a resting place. Before we came to this Program - and, for some of us, many times afterward - most of us looked for answers to our living problems in religion, philosophy, psychology, in theories of self-control and personal growth. Often these explorations of ours aimed at goals that were precisely what we wanted: freedom, calm, confidence, and joy. But they seldom provided any workable methods for getting there - for how to get from the doldrums of despair we found ourselves in to where we wanted to be.
Do I truly believe that I can find everything that I need and really want through the Twelve Steps?
Today I Pray
May I know that, once through the Twelve Steps, I am not on a plane surface. For life is not a flat field, but a slope upward. And those flights of Steps must be taken over and over and remembered. May I be sure that, once I have made them totally familiar to me, they will take me anywhere I want to go.
Today I Will Remember
The Steps are a road, not a resting place.
Someone once defined the ego as "the sum total of false ideas about myself." Persistent reworking of the Twelve Steps enables me gradually to strip away my false ideas about myself. This permits nearly imperceptible but steady growth in my understanding of the truth about myself. And this, in turn, leads to a growing understanding of God and other human beings.
Do I strive for self-honesty, promptly admitting when I'm wrong?
Today I Pray
God, teach me understanding; teach me to know truth when I meet it; teach me the importance of self-honesty, so that I may be able to say, sincerely, "I was wrong," along with "I am sorry." Teach me that there is such a thing as a "healthy ego" which does not require that feelings be medicated by action highs. May I - slowly, on my tightrope - move toward the ideal of balance, so I can do away with the nets of falsehood and compulsion.
Today I Will Remember
To keep my balance
In many respects, the Fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous is like a reasonably happy cruise ship or, in time of trouble, like a convoy. But in the long run, each of us must chart his or her own course through life. When the seas are smooth, we may become careless. By neglecting Step Ten, we may get out of the habit of checking our position. If we're mindful of Step Ten, however, then we rarely go so far wrong that we can't make a few corrections and get back on course again.
Do I realize that regular practice of Step Ten can help to bring me into serenity and a happier frame of mind?
Today I Pray
May Step Ten be the sextant by which I read my whereabouts at sea, so that I can correct my course, rechart it as I am heading for shallow places. May I keep in mind that, if it weren't for an all-knowing Captain and the vigilance of my fellow crew members, this ship could be adrift and I could easily panic.
Today I Will Remember
To steer by a steady star.
These days I go to meetings to listen for the similarities between me and others in Gamblers Anonymous - not the differences. And when I look for the similarities, it's amazing how many I find, particularly in the area of feelings. Today I go to meetings thinking that I'm here not because of anyone else's addictions, but because of mine and, most importantly, what my addiction did to my spirit and body. I'm here because there's no way I can stay free of my addiction by myself. I need the GA Program and my Higher Power.
Am I becoming less harsh in my judgment of others?
Today I Pray
May I stay alert as I listen, just one more time, to Jack or Jill or Fred or Sam or Martha go through his or her tale of woe or wail. May I find, when I listen with the wholehearted attention I want to be able to give, that each has something to offer me to add to my own life-tale. May I be struck once again by our samenesses. May each sameness draw us nearer to each other's needs.
Today I Will Remember
In sameness there is strength.