A Day at a Time Reflections

"Perfect courage," wrote La Rochefoucauld, "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...

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 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...

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 continu...

So many of us suffer from despair. Yet we don't realize that despair is purely the absence of faith. As long as we're willing to turn to God for help in our difficulties, we cannot despair. When we're troubled and can't see a way out, it's 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 fo...

I knew I had to have a new beginning, and the beginning had to be here. I couldn't 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 knowledge of God's will for me...

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 Program, our obsession leaves us and we enter a new dimension-freedom under God...

"To stand on one leg and prove God's existence is a very different thing," wrote Soren Kierkegaard, "from going down on one's 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 can't bring this about by relying on myself and my own limited ideas.  Have I begun to thank G...

STEP 5 Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. It is suggested that this step be done shortly after completing Step Four, while the facts revealed in Step Four are still fresh in one's mind. In Step Four one can dig inside oneself, as most compulsive gamblers accumulated loads of guilt. In Step Five one can dispose of this guilt and cope with every day prob...

When I was gambling, I was certain that my intelligence, backed by will power, could properly control my life and guarantee me success in the world around me. This brave and grandiose philosophy, by which I played God, sounded good in the say Ing. 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 f...

For those of us who have lost our faith, or who have always had to struggle along without it, it's often helpful just to accept-blindly and with no reservations. It's 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 that's always there to help us. Have I taken the way of faith? Today I Pray … M...

We're 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, we're not equipped to survive the trials and low spots ahead. If we don't practice the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we'll surely return to gambling; and if we return to gambling, we'll likely die. Then fait...

As I grow in the Gamblers Anonymous Program-sharing, caring, and becoming more and more involved-I find that it's 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 "could've," "should've," "would've," or "might've." What's done is done and what will be will be. The only time that really matters is now. Am I g...

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 I'll find I have countless reasons for contentment and gratitude. When I find myself trapped in the quicksand of my negative thoughts, I'll turn away from them-and grab for the lifesaving strength of sharing with others in the Program. Do I carry my weig...

Am I so sure I'm 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 feelin...

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 shouldn't we laugh? We have been shown the way to recovery, as well as the way to help others like ourselves. What greater...

I have much more to be grateful for than I realize. Too often, I don't remember to give thought to all the things in my life that I could enjoy and appreciate. Perhaps I don't take time for this important meditation because I'm too preoccupied with my own so-called woes. I allow my mind to overflow with grievances; the more I think about them, the more monumental they seem. Instead of surrendering...

We come to know in the Gamblers Anonymous Program that there is no deeper satisfaction and no greater joy than in a Twelfth Step well done. To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness to light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, and above all to watch them awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives-these things are the substa...

No matter what it is that seems to be our need or problem, we can find something to rejoice in, something for which to give thanks. It is not God who needs to be thanked, but we who need to be thankful. Thankfulness opens new doors to good in our life. Thankfulness creates a new heart and a new spirit in us. Do I keep myself aware of the many blessings that come to me each day and remember to be t...

As I attend meetings of the Gamblers Anonymous Program, may my eyes open wider and wider. Other people's problems make mine look small, yet they are facing them with courage and confidence. Others are trapped in situations as bad as mine, but they bear their troubles with more fortitude. By going to meetings, I find many reasons to be grateful. My load has begun to lighten. Do I expect easy soluti...

Can I be wholeheartedly grateful for today? If so, I'm opening doors to more and more abundant good. What if I can't be thankful for the "rain" that has fallen in my life for the so-called bad times? What then? I can begin by giving thanks for all the sunshine I can remember, and for every blessing that has come my way. Perhaps then I'll be able to look back over the rainy periods of my life with...

If a person continues to see only giants, wrote Anais Nin, "it means he is still looking at the world through the eyes of a child." During this twenty four-hour period, I won't allow myself to be burdened by thoughts of giants and monsters of things that are past. I won't concern myself about tomorrow until it becomes my today. The better I use today, the more likely it is that tomorrow will be br...

As we continue to make these vital choices and so move toward these high aspirations, our reality returns and our compulsion vanishes. We learn, in the words of Plutarch, that, "A pleasant and happy life does not come from external things. Man draws from within himself, as from a spring, pleasure and joy." Am I learning to "travel first class" inside? Today I Pray … The grace of God has showed me...

We in Gamblers Anonymous know full well the futility of trying to overcome our addiction by will power alone. At the same time, we do know that it takes great willingness to adopt the Program's Twelve Steps as a way of life that can restore us to a normal way of thinking and living. No matter how severe our addiction, we discover with relief that choices can still be made. For example, we can choo...

The Gamblers Anonymous Program teaches me to remain on guard against impatience, lapses into self pity, and resentments of the words and deeds of others. Though I must never forget what it used to be like, neither should I permit myself to take tormenting excursions into the past merely for the sake of self-indulgent morbidity. Now that I'm alert to the danger signals, I know I'm improving day by...

I once heard it said that "the mind is the slayer of the real." Looking back at the insanity of those days when I was gambling, I know precisely what that phrase means. One of the Program's important fringe benefits for me today is an increasing awareness of the world around me, so I can see and enjoy reality. This alone helps diminish the difficulties I so often magnify, creating my own misery in...