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.
When I see new members come into Gamblers Anonymous, I am reminded first of the pain and the unmanageable mess I found myself in, and then the hope I felt once I became willing to accept the Gamblers Anonymous Program. When I see and hear the Old Timers, some with twenty years or more in GA, I am reminded that, if I am to continue to recover, I need to make this Program part of my daily life. Although I cannot forget yesterday, TODAY must be my main focus.
Do I know that if I make the GA Program part of my life today, I need not worry about the future or be burdened with regrets from the past?
Today I Pray
Make me doubly willing - to share my experiences with new members and to listen to those more experienced than I. Newcomers and Old Timers both offer me valuable lessons, if I will just listen and learn. Help me to learn more so that I may offer more.
Today I Will Remember
A good teacher remains teachable.
In every story we hear from others in Gamblers Anonymous, pain has been the price of admission into a new life. But our admission price purchased far more than we expected. It led us to a degree of humility, which we soon discovered to be a healer of pain. And, in time, we began to fear pain less, and desire humility more than ever.
Am I learning to "sit loosely in the saddle," making the most of what comes and the least of what goes?
Today I Pray
If Gods plan for us is spiritual growth, a closer alliance with His principles of what is good and what is true, then may I believe that all my experiences have added up to a new and improved me. May I not fear the lessons of pain. May I know that I must continue to grow through pain, as well as joy.
Today I Will Remember
I hurt; therefore I am.
Its still not exactly a "piece of cake" for me to accept todays occasional pain and anxiety with any great degree of serenity, but Im increasingly able to be thankful for a certain amount of pain. In the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we find the willingness to do this by going over the lessons learned from past sufferings - lessons which have led to the blessings we now enjoy. We can remember how the agonies of our gambling days - and the pain of rebellion and bruised pride - have often led us to Gods grace, and thus to new freedom.
Have I thanked my Higher Power for the miracle of my life this day?
Today I Pray
When I was helpless, I asked God for help. When I was hopeless, I reached out for His hope. When I was powerless over my compulsive gambling, I asked to share His power. Now I can honestly thank God that I was helpless, hopeless, and powerless, because I have seen a miracle.
Today I Will Remember
From powerless highs and lows to a Higher Power.
"When a man has reached a condition in which he believed that a thing must happen when he does not wish it, and that which he wishes to happen can never be, this is really the state called desperation," wrote Schopenhauer. The very real pain of emotional difficulties is sometimes very hard to take while were trying to maintain abstinence. Yet we learn, in time, that overcoming such problems is the real test of the Gamblers Anonymous way of living.
Do I believe that adversity gives me more opportunity to grow than does comfort or success?
Today I Pray
May I believe firmly that God, in His infinite wisdom, does not send me those occasional moments of emotional stress in order to tease my abstinence, but to challenge me to grow in my control and my conviction. May I learn not to be afraid of emotional summits and canyons, for the Gamblers Anonymous Program has outfitted me for all kinds of terrain.
Today I Will Remember
Strength through adversity.
Ive heard it said that when God closes a door, He opens a window. Since I started working the Twelve Steps of Recovery, much of the fear and pain that haunted my life is gone. Some of my defects have been lifted from me, though Im still wrestling with others. I believe that if I continue to work the Twelve Steps over and over again, my life will continue to improve - physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Am I more willing and able to help others by working the Steps myself?
Today I Pray
I give thanks to God for showing me that the Gamblers Anonymous Twelve Steps of Recovery are a stairway to a saner life. As I re-work them conscientiously, my life does get better, healthier, and nearer to my Higher Power. As I continue to live them, may I feel the same gratitude and exaltation of spirit as those who are just now discovering them.
Today I Will Remember
Step by Step, day by day.
For a considerable period of time after I reached Gamblers Anonymous, I let things I couldn't do keep me from doing the things I could. If I was bothered by what a speaker or other people said, I retreated, sulking, into my shell. Now, instead of being annoyed or defensive when someone strikes a raw nerve, I try to welcome it - because it allows me to work on my attitudes and perceptions of God, self, other people, and my life situation. We may no longer gamble compulsively, but we sometimes have a compulsive thinking problem.
Am I willing to grow - and grow up?
Today I Pray
May God give me courage to test my new wings - even a feather at a time. May I not wait to be entirely whole before I re-enter the world of everyday opportunity, for recovery is ongoing and growth comes through challenges. May I no longer make desperate stabs at perfection, but keep my aims in sight and develop as I live - a day at a time.
Today I Will Remember
Things I can't do should not get in the way of things I can.
On studying the Twelve Steps of Recovery, many of us as newcomers to Gamblers Anonymous exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." "Don't be discouraged," we're told at meeting after meeting. "No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principals we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
Can I believe, in the words of Browning, that my business is not to remake myself but to make the absolute best of what God made?
Today I Pray
Even if I am an old hand at the GA Program, may I not forget that the Twelve Steps of Recovery do not represent an achievement that can be checked off my "things to do" list. Instead, they are a striving for an ideal, a guide to getting there. May I keep my mind open to deepening interpretations of these principles.
Today I Will Remember
Progress rather than perfection.
"Everyone wants to be somebody, nobody wants to grow," wrote Goethe. I ask myself sometimes, as we all do: Who am I? Where am I? Where am I going? What's it all about? The learning and growing process is usually slow. But eventually our seeking always brings a finding. What seem like great mysteries often turn out to be enshrined in complete simplicity.
Have I accepted the fact that my willingness to grow is the essence of my spiritual development?
Today I Pray
God give me patience and the perseverance to keep on hoeing the long row, even when the end of it is out of sight. The principles of the Gamblers Anonymous Program are my almanac for growing, even more than harvesting. The harvest will come, abundant enough to share, if I can just stick to my garden-tending.
Today I Will Remember
Getting there, not being there.
At the suggestion of a long-timer in Gamblers Anonymous, I began taking "recovery inventories" periodically. The results showed me - clearly and unmistakably - that the promises of the GA Program have been true for me. I am not the sick person I was in years past; I am no longer bankrupt in all areas; I have a new life and a path to follow, and I'm at peace with myself most of the time. And that's a far cry from the time in my life when I dreaded facing each new day. Perhaps we should all write recovery inventories from time to time, showing how the Program is working for each of us.
Just for today, will I try to sow faith where there is fear?
Today I Pray
God, let me compare my new life with the old one - just to see how things have changed for me. May I make progress reports for myself now and then - and for those who are newer to GA. May these reports be - hearteningly - about "what I am doing" rather than - smugly - about "what I have done."
Today I Will Remember
Has the Program kept its promise? Have I kept mine?
Is freedom from compulsive gambling all that we're to expect from a spiritual awakening? Not at all. Freedom from our addiction is only the bare beginning; it's only the first gift of our first awakening. Obviously, if more gifts are to come our way, our awakening has to continue. As it does continue, we find that slowly but surely we can scrap the old life the one that didn't work for a new life that can and does work under any and all conditions.
Am I willing to continue my awakening through the practice of the Twelve Steps of Recovery?
Today I Pray
May I remember how it was when my only goal in life was to be free of compulsive gambling. All the words and phrases I used were stoppers - giving it up, quitting, cutting myself off. Once I was free, I began to realize that my freedom had more to do with beginning than stopping. May I now continue to think in terms of starters - expanding, awakening, growing, learning, becoming...
Today I Will Remember
My Stopping was a starting point.
In times past, even as adults, many of us childishly insisted that people protect, defend, and care for us. We acted as if the world owed US a living. And then, when the people we most loved became fed up, pushing us aside or perhaps abandoning us completely, we were bewildered. We couldn't see that our overdependence on people was unsuccessful because all human beings are fallible; even the best of them will sometimes let us down, especially when our demands are unreasonable. Today, in contrast, we rely upon God, counting on Him rather than on exclusively on ourselves or other people.
Am I trying to do as I think God would have me do, trusting the outcome of His will for me?
Today I Pray
May I know, from dependencies of my past, that I am a dependent person. As I depended on compulsive gambling, I was inclined, too, to hang onto other people, depending on them for more than they could give. May I, at last, switch from these adolescent dependencies to a mature, healthy dependency on my Higher Power.
Today I Will Remember
I have more than one dependency.
Now that we're free from our compulsion to gamble, and living life one day at a time, we can begin to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we love. We can show kindness where we had shown none; we can take the time and initiative to be thoughtful, considerate, and compassionate. Even with people we dislike, we can at least try to be courteous, at times literally going out of our way to understand and help them.
Just for today, will I try to understand rather than be understood, being courteous and respectful to all people with whom I'm in contact?
Today I Pray
May I never forgot my old sponge-like self, who soaked up every drop of affection and attention my family or friends could give me, until they were sapped dry. May I learn to be a giver, rather than a constant taker. May I practice offering interest, kindness, consideration, and compassion until sensitivity to others becomes second nature to me.
Today I Will Remember
Giving is part of being.
In our first weeks or months in Gamblers Anonymous, our shaky emotional condition sometimes affects our feelings toward old friends and family. For many of us, these relationships heal quickly in the initial stages of our recovery. For others, a time of "touchiness" seems to persist; now that were no longer gambling compulsively, we have to sort out our feelings about spouses, children, relatives, employers, fellow workers, and even neighbors. Experience in the GA Program over the years teaches us that we should avoid making important decisions early in our recovery - especially emotion-charged decisions about people.
Am I becoming better equipped to relate maturely to other people?
Today I Pray
May God help me through the edginess, the confusion of re-feeling and re-thinking my relationships, the getting it all together stages of my recovery. May I not rush into new relationships or new situations that demand an investment of my emotions - not yet.
Today I Will Remember
No entangling alliances too soon.
No matter what other people do or don't do, for ourselves we have to remain abstinent from gambling. When our program of recovery becomes contingent on the actions or inactions of another person especially someone with whom we're emotionally involved the results are invariably disastrous. We also need to remember that intense dislike is as much an emotional involvement as new-found romantic love. In short, we have to cool any risky emotional involvements in the first few months of our recovery, trying to accept the fact that our feelings can change quickly and dramatically. Our watchword must be First Things First, concentrating on our number one problem, recovery from compulsive gambling, before anything else.
Am I building a firm foundation while steering clear of slippery emotional areas?
Today I Pray
May I always remember that healthy relationships with people are necessary for my recovery, but that substituting an obsession with either a love or hate object is as dangerous to my well-being as any other addiction.
Today I Will Remember
A dependency is a dependency is a dependency.
We can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. We can be all by ourselves and still feel happy and content. What makes the difference? We feel lonely if we look to other people for something they really cant provide. No one else can give US peace of mind, an inner sense of acceptance, and serenity. And when we find ourselves alone, we neednt feel lonely. God is with us; Gods presence is like warmth enfolding us. The more were aware of ourselves as beloved by God, the more were able to feel content and secure - whether were with others or alone.
Am I experiencing a sense of God at all times and in all places?
Today I Pray
May I understand that we each have our own kind of loneliness - whether we are young and friendless, old and kept waiting by death, bereft, left, running away, or just feeling out of it in a crowd. May my loneliness be eased a bit by the fact that loneliness is, indeed, a universal feeling that everyone knows first-hand - even though some lives seem more empty than others. May I - and all the lonely people - take comfort in the companionship of God.
Today I Will Remember
Shared loneliness is less lonely.