A Day at a Time Reflections

Writing down the things I am grateful for helps me switch from a negative to a positive attitude. Today I will take the time to list the positive aspects of my new life and the blessings that accompany the miracles of my recovery. I am grateful for such seemingly simple things: the ability to fall asleep with contentment, to awaken with a gladness to be alive, to face life on life's terms with pea...

We sometimes hear someone say, "He is standing in his own light." A mental picture then clearly reveals that many of us tend to shadow our own happiness by mistaken thinking. Let us learn to stand aside so the light can shine on us and all we do. For only then can we see ourselves and our circumstances with true clarity. With the Gamblers Anonymous Program of Recovery, we no longer need to stand i...

I am grateful for my friends in the Gamblers Anonymous Program. Right now I am aware of the blessings of friendship-the blessings of meeting, of sharing, of smiling, of listening, and of being available when needed. Right now I know that if I want a friend, I must be a friend. Will I vow, this day, to be a better friend to more people? Will I strive, this day in my thoughts, words, and actions-to...

I can always take strength and comfort from knowing I belong to a world wide Fellowship. Thousands just like me are working together for the same purpose. None of us needs ever to be alone again, because each of us in our own way works for the good of others. We are bound together by a common problem that can be solved by love and understanding and mutual service. The Gamblers Anonymous Program -...

IBM founder T. J. Watson said, "Success is on the far side of failure." For most compulsive gamblers, nothing could be truer. Without failure upon failure, we would never be capable of seeing that losing the bet was not the cause of problems in our life; it was making the bet in the first place. Only after we reached or exceeded our painful threshold for failures were we able to realize that, conv...

The slogan "Live and Let Live" can be extremely helpful when we are having trouble tolerating other people's behavior. We know for certain that nobody's behavior-no matter how offensive, distasteful, or vicious-is worth the price of a relapse. Our own recovery is primary, and while we must be unafraid of walking away from people or situations that cause us discomfort, we must also make a special e...

When we first stopped gambling, it was an enormous relief to find that the people we met in the Gamblers Anonymous Program seemed quite different than those apparently hos tile masses we know as "they." We were met, not with criticism and suspicion, but with understanding and concern. However, we still encounter people who get on our nerves, both within the Program and outside it. Obviously, we mu...

STEP 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living. Having been convinced of our powerlessness over gambling and the unmanageability of our lives in Step One, we are now told that only a power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living. (THIS MEANS WE CAN'T DO IT BY OURSELVES.) At this point, we m...

Honesty is a word I had to be reacquainted with. Before coming to Gamblers Anonymous, I bounced lies and half-truths around so often in my head that I believed they were all true. Today I strive for rigorous honesty with myself and with others. Above all, I must always remain honest with myself about where the credit for my recovery belongs - with my Higher Power and the Fellowship of GA. Have I a...

I used to be an expert at unrealistic self-appraisal. At certain times, I would look only at that part of my life that seemed good. Then I would magnify whatever real or imagined virtues I had attained. Next, I would pat myself on the back for the fantastic job I was doing in the Program. Naturally, this generated a craving for still more "accomplishments'' and still greater approval. Wasn't that...

If I am troubled, worried, exasperated, or frustrated, do I tend to rationalize the situation and lay the blame on someone else? When I am in such a state, is my conversation punctuated with, "He did. "She said "They did..."? Or can I honestly admit that perhaps I'm at fault. My peace of mind depends on overcoming my negative attitudes and my tendency to rationalize. Will I try, day by day, to be...

Gamblers Anonymous enables us to discover two roadblocks that keep us from seeing the value and comfort of the spiritual approach: self-justification and self-righteousness. The first grimly assures me that I'm always right. The second mistakenly comforts me with the delusion that I'm better than other people - "holier than thou." Just for today, will I pause abruptly while rationalizing and ask m...

Rare is the recovering compulsive gambler who will now dispute the fact that denial is a primary symptom of the illness. The Gamblers Anonymous Program teaches us that compulsive gambling actually tells the afflicted person that he or she really isn't sick at all. Not surprisingly, then, our lives as addictive gamblers were characterized by endless rationalizations and dishonesty and, in short, a...

Looking back, I realize just how much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of others. It provided much self-satisfaction, to be sure, but I see now just how subtle and actually perverse the process became. After all was said and done, the net effect of dwelling on the so-called faults of others was self-granted permission to remain comfortably unaware of my own defects.  Do I stil...

The longer I'm in the Gamblers Anonymous Program, the more clearly I see why it's important for me to understand why I do what I do, and say what I say. In the process, I'm coming to realize what kind of person I really am. I see now, for example, that it's far easier to be honest with other people than with myself. I'm learning also that we're all hampered by our need to justify our actions and w...

One of the most constructive things I can do is to learn to listen to myself and get in touch with my true feelings. For years, I tuned myself out, going along, instead, with what others felt and said. Even today, it sometimes seems that they have it all together, while I'm still stumbling around. Thankfully, I'm beginning to understand that people-pleasing takes many forms. Slowly but steadily, I...

Have I gained freedom simply because one day I was weak and the next day I became suddenly strong? Have I changed from the helpless and hopeless person I once seemed to be simply by resolving, "from now on, things will be different"? Is the fact that I am more comfortable today than ever before the result of my own will power? Can I take credit for pulling myself up by my own boot straps? I know b...

I used to imagine my life as a grotesque abstract painting: a montage of crises framed by end-upon-end catastrophes. My days all were grey and my thoughts greyer still. I was haunted by dread and nameless fears. I was filled with self-loathing. I had no idea who I was, what I was, or why I was. I miss none of those feelings. Today, step by step, I am discovering myself and learning that I can be f...

Now that I am in Gamblers Anonymous, I am no longer enslaved by the compulsion to place the next bet. Free, free at last from fabricating the elaborate alibis-and hoping they won't unravel. Free from the guilt and shame. Free from the worry about bookies and loan companies. Free from the ever burgeoning mountain of debt.  Do I treasure my freedom from compulsive gambling?  Today I Pray … Praise Go...

I can attain real dignity, importance, and individuality only by a dependence on a Power that is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to call on this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good.  Just for today, will I tr...

Personal freedom is mine for the taking. No matter how close the ties of love and concern that bind me to my family and friends, I must always remember that I am an individual, free to be myself and live my own life in serenity and joy. The key word in this realization is personal. For I can free myself from many involvements that seem necessary. Through the Gamblers Anonymous Program, I am learni...

Even with a growing understanding of the Gamblers Anonymous Program and its Twelve Steps, we sometimes may find it difficult to believe that our new way of life leads to personal freedom. Suppose, for example, I feel imprisoned in an uncomfortable job or troublesome personal relationship. What am I doing about it? In the past, my reflex reaction was to try to manipulate the things and people aroun...

Among the many gifts that we are offered in the Gamblers Anonymous Program is the gift of freedom. Paradoxically, however, the gift of freedom is not without a price tag: freedom can be achieved only by paying the price called acceptance. Similarly, if we can surrender to God's guidance, it will cost us our self-will, that "commodity" so precious to those of us who have always thought we could and...

We must never be blinded by the futile philosophy that we are just the hapless victims of our inheritance, of our life experience, and of our surroundings that these are the sole forces that make our decisions for us. This is not the road to freedom. We have to believe that we can really choose. As addictive persons, we lost our ability to choose whether we would pursue our illness. Yet we finally...

JANUARY 22 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY In a very real sense, we are imprisoned by our inability or unwillingness to reach out for help to a Power greater than ourselves. But, in time, we pray to be relieved of the bondage of self, so that we can better do God's will. In the words of Ramakrishna, “The sun and moon are not mirrored in cloudy waters, thus the Almighty cannot be mirrored in a heart that is...