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 first came to Gamblers Anonymous, I was stunned by the constant sound of laughter. I realize today that cheerfulness and merriment are useful. Outsiders are sometimes surprised when we burst into laughter over some miserable even tragic experience from the past. But why shouldnt we laugh? We have been shown the way to recovery, as well as the way to help others like ourselves. What greater cause could there be for rejoicing than this?
Have I begun to regain my sense of humor?
Today I Pray
May God restore my sense of humor. May I appreciate the honest laughter that is the background music of our mutual rejoicing in our abstinence. May I laugh a lot, not the defensive ego-laugh that mocks anothers weakness, not the wry laugh of the self-put-down, but the healthy laugh that keeps situations in perspective. May I never regard this kind of laughter as irreverent. I have learned instead, that it is irreverent to take myself too seriously.
Today I Will Remember
A sense of humor is a sign of health.
Am I so sure Im doing everything possible to make my new life a success? Am I using my capabilities well? Do I recognize and appreciate all I have to be grateful for? The Gamblers Anonymous Program and its Twelve Steps of Recovery teach me that I am the possessor of unlimited resources. The more I do with them, the more they will grow to over-shadow and cancel out the difficult and painful feelings that now get so much of my attention.
Am I less sensitive today than when I first came into the Program?
Today I Pray
May I make the most of myself in all ways. May I begin to look outward to people and opportunities and wonderful resources around me. As I become less ingrown and understand myself better in relation toothers, may I be less touchy and thin-skinned. May I shrug off my old the worldisouttoget-me feeling and see that same world as my treasure-house, God given and boundless.
Today I Will Remember
My resources are unlimited.
I will resolve to observe with new interest even the commonplace things that happen today. If I learn to see everything with a fresh eye, perhaps Ill find I have countless reasons for contentment and gratitude. When I find myself trapped in the quicksand of my negative thoughts, Ill turn away from them and grab for the lifesaving strength of sharing with others in the Program.
Do I carry my weight as an all-important link in the worldwide chain of Gamblers Anonymous?
Today I Pray
I pray that God will open my eyes to the smallest everyday wonders, that I may notice and list among my blessings things like just feeling good, being able to think clearly. Even when I make a simple choice, like whether to spend my leisure time in a sport, at a concert, or getting together with abstinent friends, may I be reminded that the power of choice is a gift from God.
Today I Will Remember
I am blessed with the freedom of choice.
As I grow in the Gamblers Anonymous Program sharing, caring, and becoming more and more involved I find that its becoming easier to live in the NOW. Even my vocabulary is changing. No longer is every other sentence salted with such well-used phrases as couldve, shouldve, wouldve or mightve.
Whats done is done and what will be will be. The only time that really matters is now. Am I gaining real pleasure and serenity and peace in the Program?
Today I Pray
That I may collect all my scattered memories from the past and high-flown schemes and overblown fears for the future and compact them into the neater confines of today. Only by living in the NOW may I keep my balance, without bending backwards to the past or tipping forward into the future. May I stop trying to get my arms around my whole unwieldy lifetime and carry it around in a gunny sack with me wherever I go.
Today I Will Remember
Make room for today.
Thanks Ken for posting :)
Were taught that faith without works is dead. How true this is for the compulsive gambler. For if we fail to perfect or enlarge our spiritual lives through work and self-sacrifice for others, were not equipped to survive the trials and low spots ahead. If we dont practice the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we'll surely return to gambling; and if we return to gambling, well likely die. Then faith will be dead indeed.
Do I believe, through my faith, that I can be uniquely useful to those who still suffer?
Today I Pray
May my faith in my Higher Power and in the influence of GA be multiplied within me as I pass it along to others who are overcoming the compulsion to gamble. May I be certain that my helping others is not simply repaying my debts; it is the only way I know to continue my spiritual growth and maintain my own abstinence.
Today I Will Remember
The more faith I can give, the more I will have.
MAY 1 Reflection for the Day
For those of us who have lost our faith, or who have always had to struggle along without it, its often helpful just to accept blindly and with no reservations. Its not necessary for us to believe at first; we need not be convinced. If we can only accept, we find ourselves becoming gradually aware of a force for good thats always there to help us.
Have I taken the way of faith?
Today I Pray
May I abandon my need to know the whys and wherefores' of my trust in a Higher Power. May I not intellectualize about faith, since by its nature it precludes analysis. May I know that head-tripping was a symptom of my disease, as I strung together cleverly, I thought alibi upon excuse upon rationale. May I learn acceptance, and faith will follow.
Today I Will Remember
Faith follows acceptance.
Have I begun to ask God each day for strength?
Today I Pray
May I stop counting on my old standbys, my superior intelligence and my will power, to control my life. I used to think, with those two fabulous attributes, that I was all powerful. May I not forget, as my self image is restored, that only through surrender to a Higher Power will I be given the power that can make me whole.
Today I will Remember
Check for head tripping
When I was gambling, I was certain that my intelligence, backed by will power, could properly control my inner life and guarantee me success in the world around me. This brave and grandiose philosophy, by which I played God, sounded good in the saying, but it still had to meet the acid test: how well did it actually work? One good look in the mirror was answer enough.
Have I begun to ask God each day for strength?
Today I Pray
May I stop counting on my old standbys, my superior intelligence and my will power, to control my life. I used to think, with those two fabulous attributes, that I was all powerful. May I not forget, as my self image is restored, that only through surrender to a Higher Power will I be given the power that can make me whole.
Today I will Remember
Check for head tripping
MAY 3 Reflection for the Day
To stand on one leg and prove Gods existence is a very different thing wrote Soren Kierkegard, from going down on ones knees and thanking Him. It is my confidence in a higher Power; working in me, that today releases and activates my ability to make my life a more joyous, satisfying experience. I cant bring this about by relying on myself and my own limited ideas.
Have I begun to thank God every day?
Today I Pray
May I remember constantly that it is my belief in my Higher Power that flips the switch to release the power in me. Whenever I falter in my faith, that power is shut off. I pray for undiminished faith, so that this power-given by God and regenerated by my own belief in it may always be available to me as the source of my strength.
Today I Will Remember
Faith regenerates God-given power.
I knew I had to have a new beginning, and the beginning had to be here. I couldnt start anywhere else. I had to let go of the past and forget the future. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand, I had nothing with which to grasp today. So I had to begin here, now.
Do I practice the Eleventh Step, praying only for the knowledge of Gods will for me and the power to carry that out?
Today I Pray
May I not worry about verbalizing my wants and needs in my prayers to a Higher Power. May I not fret over the language of my prayers, for God needs no language; communication with God is beyond speech. May the Eleventh Step guide me in my prayers at all times.
Today I Will Remember
Gods will be done.
Most likely an age related issue :) Hope you all have a great week.
Ken L YBIR
May 4 Reflection for the Day
Many people pray as though to overcome the will of a reluctant God, instead of taking hold of the willingness of a loving God. In the late stages of our gambling compulsion, the will to resist has fled. Yet when we admit complete defeat, and when we become entirely ready to try the principles of the Gamblers Anonymous Programme, our obsession leaves us and we enter a new dimension freedom under God as we understand Him
Is my growth in the Program convincing me that God alone can remove obsessions?
Today I Pray
May I pray not as a complaining child to a stern father, as though praying must always mean pleading, usually in moments of helpless desperation. May I pray, instead, for my own willingness to reach out to Him, since He is ready at all times to reach out to me. May I regard my Higher Power as a willing God.
Today I will Remember
God is willing.
So many of us suffer from despair. Yet we dont realize that despair is purely the absence of faith. As long as were willing to turn to God for help in our difficulties, we cannot despair. When were troubled and cant see a way out, its only because we imagine that all solutions depend on us. The Gamblers Anonymous Program teaches us to let go of overwhelming problems and let God handle them for us.
When I consciously surrender my will to Gods will, do I see faith at work in my life?
Today I Pray
May I, as a recovering person, be free of despair and depression, those two down Ds that are the result of feelings of helplessness. May I know that I am never without the help of God, that I am never helpless when God is with me. If I have faith, I need never be helpless and hopeless.
Today I Will Remember
Despair is the absence of faith.
Wine
Today at 10:30 AM
MAY 7 Reflection for the Day
If I believe that its hopeless to expect any improvement in my life, Im doubting the power of God. If I believe I have reason for despair, Im confessing personal failure, for I do have the power to change myself; nothing can prevent it but my own unwillingness. I can learn in the Gamblers Anonymous Program to avail myself of the immense, inexhaustible power of God if Im willing to be continually aware of Gods nearness.
Do I still imagine that my satisfaction with life depends on what someone else will do?
Today I Pray
May I give over my life to the will of God, not to the whims and insensitivities of others. When I counted solely on what other people did and thought and felt for my own happiness, I became nothing more than a cheap mirror reflecting others' lives. May I remain close to God in all things. I value myself because God values me. May I be dependent only upon my Higher Power.
Today I Will Remember
Stay close to God.
Ive learned in the Gamblers Anonymous Program that I need not apologize to anyone for depending upon God as I understand Him. In fact, I now have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. For me, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that men and women of faith seldom lack courage. They trust their God. So I never apologize for my belief in Him, but, instead, I try to let Him demonstrate, through me and those around me, what He can do.
Do I walk as I talk?
Today I Pray
May my faith be confirmed as I see how God has worked through others since the beginning of time. May I see that the brave ones, the miracle-workers, the happy people are those who have professed their spirituality. May I see, even now as I look around, how God works through those who believe in Him.
Today I Will Remember
To watch God at work.
Perfect courage, wrote La Rochefocauld, means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on. As we grow in the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we recognize persistent fear for what it is, and we become able to handle it. We begin to see each adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage that is born of humility, rather than of bravado.
Do I realize that whistling to keep up my courage is merely good practice for whistling?
Today I Pray
May I find courage in my Higher Power. Since all things are possible through God, I must be able to overcome the insidious fears that haunt me so often fears of losing someone or something that has become important in my life. I pray for my own willingness to let go of those fears.
Today I Will Remember
Praying is more than whistling in the dark.