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.
Gamblers Anonymous has taught me that the essence of all growth for me is a willingness to change for the better. Following that, I must have further willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails, and to take courageously every action that is required.
"I am and know and will;
I am knowing and willing;
I know myself to be and to will;
I will to be and to know."
-St. Augustine
Is willingness a key ingredient of my life and the way I work the GA Program?
Today I Pray
I pray for willingness to do what I can, willingness to be what I can be, and - what is sometimes hardest - willingness to be what I am. I pray, too, for energies to carry out my willingness in all that I do, so that I may grow in the ways of God and practice the principles of the Program in all my affairs.
Today I Will Remember
"I am and know and will."
Today Ill try to settle for less than I wish were possible, and be willing to not only accept it but to appreciate it. Today, Ill not expect too much of anyone - especially myself. Ill try to remember that contentment comes from gratefully accepting the good that comes to us, and not from being furious at life because its not "better."
Do I realize the difference between resignation and realistic acceptance?
Today I Pray
May I not set my sights unrealistically high, expect too much. May I look backwards long enough to see that my self-set, impossible goals were the trappings of my addiction; too often I ended up halfway there, confronted by my own failure. Those "foiled-again" or "Ive failed-again" feelings became monumental excuses to give in to my gambling compulsion, which blanketed my miseries. May I avoid that sick old pattern. May I be realistic.
Today I Will Remember
Good is good enough.
How, exactly, can a person turn his or her own will and life over to the care of a Higher Power? All thats needed is a beginning, no matter how small. The minute we put the key of willingness in the lock, the latch springs open. Then the door itself starts to open, perhaps ever so slightly; in time we find that we can always open it wider. Self-will may slam the door shut again, and it often does. But the door can always be reopened, time and time again if necessary, so long as we use our key of willingness.
Have I reaffirmed my decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understand Him?
Today I Pray
May I renew my decision to turn my will and my life over to a Higher Power. May my faith be staunch enough to keep me knowing that there is, indeed, a power greater than I am. May I avail myself of that Power simply by being willing to walk humbly with my God.
Today I Will Remember
Self-will minus self equals will.
JULY 25 Reflection for the Day
The slogans used in Gamblers Anonymous are seemingly clear and simple. Yet they may still have different meanings for different people, according to their own experiences and reactions to the words and ideas. Take, for example, the slogan "Let Go and Let God." For some people, it may suggest that all we have to do is sidestep the challenges that confront us and, somehow, God will do all the work. We must remember that God gives us free will, intelligence, and good senses - it is clearly His intention that we use these gifts. If Im receptive, God will make His will known to me step by step, but I must carry it out.
Do I sometimes act as if surrender to Gods will is a passport to inertia?
Today I Pray
May my "passport" be stamped and ready to take me forward. May my travels be motivated by challenges I can readily recognize as things to do, not things to watch. I pray that I may make the most of my gifts from God, of talents that I am aware of and some I have yet to discover. May I not "let go and give up" but keep on learning, growing, doing, serving, praying, carrying out the will of God as I understand it.
Today I Will Remember
God meant me to make the most of myself.
Now that I avail myself of the letters H-O-W suggested by friends in the Gamblers Anonymous Program - Honesty, Open-Mindedness, Willingness - I see things in a new light. In ways that I couldnt have predicted and surely never expected, Ive come to see things quite differently than I did before coming to GA. I feel good most days. I seldom feel bad, and never for long. Certainly never as bad as I used to feel all of the time.
Is my worst day now infinitely better than my best day previously?
Today I Pray
May I remember today to say "thank you" to my Higher Power, to my friends in the group, and to the whole, vast Fellowship of recovering compulsive gamblers for making me know that things do get better. I give thanks, too, for those verbal boosters, the tags and slogans which have so often burst into my brain at exactly the moments when they were needed, redefining my purpose, restoring my patience, reminding me of my God.
Today I Will Remember
How it was.
Over and over, I see that those who make the best and steadiest progress in the Gamblers Anonymous Program of Recovery are those who readily accept the help of a Higher Power. Once they can do that, its easier for them to get out of their own way. Their problems then seem to resolve themselves in a way that is beyond human understanding.
Do I realize that the effectiveness with which I use the consciousness of God in my daily life depends not on Him, but on me?
Today I Pray
May I know that my recovery and growth depends on my being in touch with my Higher Power, not just once in a while, but always. It means turning to that Power several times a day to ask for strength and knowledge of His will. When I understand that my own life is part of a Higher Plan, I will be less apt to trip and fall, head off in the wrong direction, or just to sit tight and let life pass me by.
Today I Will Remember
To be God-conscious.
We learn the value of meditation in the Gamblers Anonymous Program. As the beginning of the Eleventh Step suggests, we sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious with God as we understood Him. One of the great values of meditation is that it clears the mind. And as the mind becomes clearer, it becomes more capable and willing to acknowledge the truth. Less pain is required to force honest recognition of defects and their results. The real needs of the whole person are revealed.
Are prayer and meditation a regular part of my daily living?
Today I Pray
May God's truths be revealed to me through meditation and these small prayers, through contact with my group, which keeps me mindful of my need to clear my mind with daily meditation. For only an uncluttered mind can receive God, and only a mind cleansed of self-interest can acknowledged the truth.
Today I Will Remember
Meditation is a mind-cleanser.
The feeling of self-pity, which we've all felt at one time or another, is one of the ugliest emotions we can experience. We don't even relish the thought of admitting to others that we're awash in self-pity. We hate being told that it shows; we quickly argue that we're feeling another emotion instead; we go so far as to hide - cleverly - from ourselves the fact that we're going through a siege of "poormeism." By the same token, in a split-second we can easily find several dozen "valid" reasons for feeling sorry for ourselves.
Do I sometimes enjoy rubbing salt into my own wounds?
Today I Pray
May I recognize the emotions I am feeling for what they are. If I am unable to point them out to myself, may I count on others who know what it's like to be a feelings stuffer. May I stay in touch with my feelings by staying in touch with my Higher Power and with the others in my group.
Today I Will Remember
Stay in touch.
When we first come to Gamblers Anonymous, the most common variety of self-pity begins: "Poor me! Why can't I just gamble now and then, like everybody else? Why me?" Such bemoaning, if allowed to persist, is a surefire invitation for a long walk off a short pier - right back to the mess we were in before we came to GA. When we stick around this Program for a while, we discover that it's not just "me" at all; we become involved with people, from all walks of life, who are in exactly the same boat.
Am I losing interest in my comfortably familiar "pity pot"?
Today I Pray
When self-pity has me droopy and inert, may I look up, look around, and perk up. Self-pity, God wills, vanishes in the light of other people's shared troubles. May I always wish for friends honest enough to confront me if they see me digging my way back down into my old pity pit.
Today I Will Remember
Turn self-involvement into involvement.
One of the most serious consequences of the me-me-me syndrome is that we lose touch with practically everyone around us - not to mention reality itself. The essence of self-pity is total self-absorption, and it feeds on itself. Rather than ignore such an emotional state - or deny that we're in it - we need to pull out of our self-absorption, stand back, and take a good honest look at ourselves. Once we recognize self-pity for what it is, we can begin to do something about it.
Am I living in the problem rather than the answer?
Today I Pray
I pray that my preoccupation with self, which is wound up tight as a Maypole, may unwind itself and let its streamers fly again for others to catch and hold. May the thin, familiar wail of me-me-me become a chorus of us-us-us, as we in the Fellowship pick apart our self-fullness and look at it together.
Today I Will Remember
Change me-me-me to us-us-us.
Self-pity is one of the most miserable and consuming defects I know. Because of its interminable demands for attention and sympathy, my self-pity cuts off my communication with others, especially communication with my Higher Power. When I look at it that way, I realize that self-pity limits my spiritual progress. It's also a very real form of martyrdom, which is a luxury I simply can't afford. The remedy, I've been taught, is to have a hard look at myself and a still harder one at the Gamblers Anonymous Program's Twelve Steps to Recovery.
Do I ask my Higher Power to relieve me of the bondage to self?
Today I Pray
May I know from observation that self-pitiers get almost no pity from anyone else. Nobody - not even God - can fill their outsized demands for sympathy. May I recognize my own unsavory feeling of self-pity when it creeps in to rob me of my serenity. May God keep me wary of its sneakiness.
Today I Will Remember
My captor is my self.
When I begin to compare my life with the lives of others, I've begun to move toward the edge of the murky swamp of self-pity. On the other hand, if I feel that what I'm doing is right and good, I won't be so dependent on the admiration or approval of others. Applause is well and good, but it's not essential to my inner contentment. I'm in the Gamblers Anonymous Program to get rid of self-pity, not to increase its power to destroy me.
Am I learning how others have dealt with their problems, so I can apply these lessons to my own life?
Today I Pray
God, make me ever mindful of where I came from and the new goals I have been encouraged to set. May I stop playing to an audience for their approval, since I am fully capable of admiring or applauding myself if I feel I have earned it. Help me make myself attractive from the inside, so it will show through, rather than adorning the outside for effect. I am tired of stage make-up and costumes, God; help me be myself.
Today I Will Remember
Has anyone seen ME?
The Twelve Steps were designed specifically for people like us - as a short cut to God. The Steps are very much like strong medicine that can heal us of the sickness of despair, frustration, and self-pity. Yet we're sometimes unwilling to use the Steps. Why? Perhaps because we have a deep-down desire for martyrdom. Consciously and intellectually, we think we want help on a gut level, though, some hidden sense of guilt makes us crave punishment more than relief from our ills.
Can I try to be cheerful when everything seems to be leading me to despair? Do I realize that despair is very often a mask for self-pity?
Today I Pray
May I pull out the secret guilt inside that makes me want to punish myself. May I probe my despair and discover whether it is really an imposter - self-pity with a mask on. Now that I know that the Twelve Steps can bring relief, may I please use them instead of wallowing in my discomforts.
Today I Will Remember
The Twelve Steps are God's stairway.
One of the best ways to get out of the self-pity trap is to do some "instant bookkeeping." For every entry of misery on the debit side of our ledger, we can surely find a blessing to mark on the credit side: the health we enjoy, the illnesses we dont have, the friends who love us and who allow us to love them, a clean twenty-four hours, a good days work. If we only try, we can easily list a whole string of credits that will far outweigh the debit entries that bring about self-pity.
Is my emotional balance on the credit side today?
Today I Pray
May I learn to sort out my debits and credits, and add it all up. May I list my several blessings on the credit side. May my ledger show me, when all is totaled, a fat fund of good things to draw on.
Today I Will Remember
I have blessings in my savings.