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.
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.
First off, thank you so much for posting these daily reflections. I generally don't comment, but I felt the need to thank you because I do look at them if not each day, then I catch up.
I had the honor of chairing a GA meeting tonight and passed the blue book to someone that really needed the May 5th reflection, I hope it hit home for him, it did with me, thanks again,
Jay
Nice to chair a GA meeting isn't it. :)
Hope you have a great week.
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.
If I believe that it's hopeless to expect any improvement in my life, I'm doubting the power of God. If I believe I have reason for despair, I'm 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 I'm willing to be continually aware of God's 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.
May 8 Reflection for the Day
I've 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 to 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.
May 9 Reflection for the Day
"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 practise 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.
As the doubter tries the process of prayer,he would do well to add up the results.If he persists,he'll almost surely find more serenity,more tolerance,less fear,and less anger.He'll acquire courage-the kind that isn't tension -ridden.He'll be able to look at "failure" and "success" for what they really are.Problems and calamity will begin to mean is instruction, instead of his destruction.He'll feel freer and saner.
Have wonderful and accountable things begun to happen to me in my new life?
Today I Pray
Through prayer,communion with a Higher Power, may I begin to see life sort itself out. May I become less tense,more sane,more open,more courageous,more loving,less tangled in problems,less afraid of losing,less afraid of living.May I know that God,too,wants these things for me.May God's will be done.
Today I Will Remember
Be still and know that He is God.
Now that I know I can no longer use false courage that is really bravado,I seek and pray for twenty-four-hour courage to change the things I can.Obviously,this isn't the kind of courage that will make me a strong and brave person for life,able to handle any and situations courageously.Rather,what I need is a persistent and intelligent courage,continuing each day into the next one -
but doing today only what can be done today and avoiding all fear and worry with regard to the final result.
What does courage mean to me today?
Today I Pray
May I tackle only those things I have a chance of changing.And change must start with me,a day at a time.May I know that acceptance often is a form of courage.I pray not for super-bravery,but just for persistence to meet what life brings to me without being overcome by it.
Today I Will Remember
Courage is meeting a day at a time.
My courage must come each day, as does my desire to avoid a single bet, a single addictive act. It must be a continuing courage, without deviations and procrastination, without rashness, and without fear of obstacles. This would seem like a large order indeed, were it not for the fact that it is confined to this one day, and that within this day much power is given to me.
Do I extend the Serenity Prayer to my entire life?
Today I Pray
May each new morning offer me a supply of courage to last me during the day. If my courage is renewed each day and I know that I need just a day's worth, that courage will always be fresh and the supply will not run out. May I realize, as days pass, that what I feared during the earliest days of my recovery I no longer fear, that my daily courage is now helping me cope with bigger problems.
Today I Will Remember
God give me courage - just for today.
When a person wakes up each morning and rises, with nerves screaming and sick at heart, to face frightening reality; when a person stumbles through the day in a pit of despair, wishing to die, but refusing to die; when a person gets up the next day and does it all over again - well, that takes guts. That takes a kind of real, basic survival courage, a courage that can be put to good use if that person ever finds his or her way to Gamblers Anonymous. That person has learned courage the hard way, and when that person comes to the GA Program, he or she will find new and beautiful ways to use it.
Have I the courage to keep trying, one day at a time?
Today I Pray
May I put the "guts-to-survive" kind of courage left over from my gambling days into good use in the Program. If I was able to "hang on" enough to live through the miseries of my addiction, may I translate that same will to survive into my recovery program. May I use my courage in new, constructive ways.
Today I Will Remember
God preserved me to help carry out His purpose.
"A very popular error - having the courage of one's convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack upon one's convictions," wrote Nietzsche. The Gamblers Anonymous Program is helping me get rid of my old ideas by sharing with others and working the Twelve Steps. Having made a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of myself; having admitted to myself and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs; and having become entirely ready to have all my defects of character removed - I will humbly ask God to remove my shortcomings.
Am I trying to follow the Program just as it is?
Today I Pray
I pray that I may continue to practice the Twelve Steps, over and over again, if need be. The Program has worked for thousands and thousands of recovering compulsive gamblers the world over. It can work for me. May I pause regularly and check to see if I am really practicing the GA Program, as it is set forth.
Today I Will Remember
Step by Step.
Looking back at those last desperate days before I came to Gamblers Anonymous, I remember more than anything the feelings of loneliness and isolation. Even when I was surrounded by people, including my own family, the sense of "aloneness" was overwhelming. Even when I tried to act sociable and wore the mask of cheerfulness, I usually felt a terrible anger at not belonging
Will I ever forget the misery of being "alone in a crowd"?
Today I Pray
I thank God for the greatest single joy that has come to me outside of my abstinence from gambling - the feeling that I am no longer alone. May I not assume that loneliness will vanish overnight. May I know that there will be a lonely time during recovery, especially since I must pull away from my former gambling buddies. I pray that I may find new friends who are recovering. I thank God for the Gamblers Anonymous Fellowship.
Today I Will Remember
I am not alone.
Many of us in the Gamblers Anonymous Program share the memory that we originally gambled to "belong," to "be a big shot," or to "be a part of the crowd." Others of us fueled our addictions in order to "get in" - to feel, at least for a short time, that we fitted in with the rest of the human race. Sometimes, our gambling had the desired effect, temporarily assuaging our feelings of apartness. But when the rush of the action wore off, we were left feeling more alone, more left out, more "different" than ever.
Do I sometimes feel that "my case is different"?
Today I Pray
God, may I get over my feeling of being "different" or in some way unique, of not belonging. Perhaps it was this feeling that led me to gambling in the first place. It also kept me from seeing the seriousness of my addiction, since I thought "I am different. I can handle it." May I now be aware that I do belong, to a vast Fellowship of people like me. With every shared experience, my "uniqueness" is disappearing.
Today I Will Remember
I am not unique.
If we felt guilty, degraded, or ashamed of either our addiction itself or the things we did while "in action," that served to magnify our feelings of being outcasts. On occasion, we secretly feared or actually believed that we deserved every painful feeling; we thought, at times, that we truly were outsiders. The dark tunnel of our lives seemed formidable and unending. We couldn't even voice our feelings and could hardly bear to think about them. So we soon gambled again.
Do I remember well what it used to be like?
Today I Pray
May I remember how often, during my gambling days, I felt alone with my shame and guilt. The phony jollity of a gambling party or the shallow relationships struck up at a casino could not keep me from feeling like an outsider. May I appreciate the chance to make new friends through the Fellowship. May I know that my relationships now will be saner, less dependent, more mature.
Today I Will Remember
Thank God for new friends.