A Day at a Time Reflections

Every person is a part of the Divine economy. We are all children of God, and it is unlikely that He intends to favor one over another. So it is necessary for all of us to accept whatever positive gifts we receive with a deep humility. We need always to bear in mind that our negative attitudes were first necessary as a means of reducing us to a state in which we would be ready for the gift of posi...

I understand that, when I allow myself to dwell on the problem, the problem will worsen. But when I dwell on the solution, the situation will improve. My problems with money today have much less significance when I focus on my recovery and continued abstinence rather than spending my time wishing I had no debts. My past grand illusions of debt-free wealth are today just that: illusions. My happine...

It was far easier for me to accept my powerlessness over gambling than it was for me to accept the notion that some sort of Higher Power could accomplish what I had been unable to accomplish myself. Simply by seeking help and accepting the fellowship of others similarly afflicted, the craving left me. And I realized that, if I was doing what I was powerless alone to do, then surely I was doing so...

If we are determined to stop gambling, there must be no reservations whatsoever, nor any lurking notion that our obsession will someday reverse itself. Our regeneration comes through the splendid paradox of the Twelve Steps: strength arises from complete defeat, and the loss of one's old life is a condition for finding a new one. Am I convinced that in powerlessness, power comes? Am I certain that...

I have been told over and over that I must constantly work to give up my old ideas. "That's easy for you to say," I've sometimes thought. All my life, I have been programmed, computer style; specific inputs brought forth predictable responses. My mind still tends to react as a computer reacts, but I am learning to destroy the old tapes and literally reprogram myself. Am I fully willing to abandon...

When we first came to Gamblers Anonymous, whether for ourselves or under pressure from others, some of us were all but sickened by the concept of "surrender." To admit defeat flew in the face of our lifelong beliefs. Some of us thought of the immortal rallying cries of Churchill at Dunkirk, or of FDR following the attack on Pearl Harbor. And so we secretly vowed, at first, that the very idea of su...

I must never forget who and what I am and where I come from. I have to remember the nature of my illness and what it was like before I came to Gamblers Anonymous. I'll try to keep the memory green, yet not spend my time dwelling morbidly on the past. I won't be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to others, so others will give to me. Can I ever afford to forget what it...

Rare are the practicing compulsive gamblers who have any idea how irrational they are, or, seeing their irrationality, can bear to face it. One dictionary defines sanity as "soundness of mind." Yet no compulsive gambler, rationally analyzing his or her destructive behavior, can truly claim soundness of mind. Have I come to believe, as the Second Step suggests, that a Power greater than myself can...

I admitted that I couldn't win the gambling battle on my own. So I finally began to accept the critically important fact that dependence on a Higher Power could help me achieve what had always seemed impossible. I stopped running. I stopped fighting. For the first time, I began accepting. And for the first time, I began to be really free. Do I realize that it doesn't matter what kind of shoes I'm...

The Gamblers Anonymous Program and my friends in the Fellowship have provided me with a whole new set of tools for living. If I use all of these tools regularly and well, they'll also help rid me of such negative feelings as guilt, anxiety, rebellion, and pride. When I'm feeling depressed, do I use the tools that have proved effective? Or do I grit my teeth and suffer in painful silence? Today I P...

When I sit quietly and compare my life today with the way it used to be, the difference is almost beyond belief. But things aren't always rosy: some days are a lot better than others. I tend to accept the bad days more easily on an intellectual level than I do emotionally, or at gut-level. There are no pat answers, but part of the solution surely lies in a constant effort to practice all of the Tw...

The experiences of thousands upon thousands of people have proved that acceptance and faith are capable of producing freedom from gambling. When we apply the same principles of acceptance and faith to our emotional problems, however, we discover that only relative results are possible. Obviously, for example, nobody can ever become completely free from fear, anger, or pride. None of us will ever a...

Since I came to Gamblers Anonymous, I've become increasingly aware of the Serenity Prayer. I see it on literature covers, the walls of meeting rooms, and in the homes of new found friends. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Do I understand the Serenity Prayer? Do I believe in its power and rep...

In the past, and sometimes even now, I automatically have said, "Why me?" when I'm trying to learn that my first problem is to accept my present circumstances as they are, myself as I am, and the people around me as they are. Just as I finally accepted my powerlessness over gambling, so must I accept my powerlessness over people, places, and things. Am I learning to accept life on life's terms? To...

Today is the day for which I asked and for which I have been given strength. That in itself is a miracle. The fact that I am alive is the great miracle from which all other miracles will flow, providing I continue to do the things that have brought me this far in my new life. Am I grateful that I have been given this day? Today I Pray...May God's goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my lif...

I'm beginning to see just how unnatural my old life actually was, and that it became increasingly so as my illness progressed. The longer I'm in the Gamblers Anonymous Program, the more comfortable this new way of life seems. At first, it was impossible for me to extend my hand to a newcomer; such an act was wholly unnatural for me. But it is becoming increasingly easier for me to reach out to ano...

Gamblers Anonymous, wrote Dr. Robert L. Custer in the foreword to the Gamblers Anonymous Blue Book, is a Program of the Twelve Steps "that provides a framework of hope, structure, and friendship" for those who have chosen the road to a "successful adaptation to a life without gam bling." He adds, "This road can be smooth or rocky, but, in any case, it is never a painless journey. As a recovering c...

"Today is my lucky day." How often in the past we said that, when it was an empty prophecy. Today, those words are real; I am given a second chance. In my gambling days, I sacrificed every "today" for a dream of some distant tomorrow. Of all that I lost, I grieve most for all those "todays I cannot bring them back. But today-this day-I have. I will not sacrifice it or waste it. Do I truly believe...

STEP 1  - We admitted we were powerless over gambling that our lives had become unmanageable.  We at Gamblers Anonymous, believe our gambling problem is an emotional illness, progressive in nature, which no amount of human will-power can stop or control. We have facts to support this belief. We believed, at one time or another, that all of our problems could be solved with a big win. Some, patheti...

For a good part of my life, I saw things mostly in negative terms. Everything was serious, heavy, or just plain awful. Perhaps now I can truly change my attitude, searching out the winners in the Gamblers Anonymous Program who have learned how to live comfortably in the real world - without gambliing. If things get rough today, can I take a quiet moment and say to myself, as the philosopher Homer...

My gambling compulsion is threefold in that it affects me physically, mentally, and spiritually. As a compulsive gambler, I was totally out of touch, not only with myself, but with reality. Day after miserable day, like a caged animal on a treadmill, I repeated my self-destructive pattern of living. Have I begun to break away from my old ideas? Just for today can I adjust myself to what is, rather...

Before I came to the Gamblers Anonymous Program, I hadn't the faintest idea of what it was to "Live in the Now." I often became obsessed with things that happened yesterday, last week, or even five years ago. Worse yet, many of my walking hours were spent cleaning away the "wreckage of the future." "To me," Walt Whitman once wrote, "every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle...

In the old days, I saw everything in terms of forever. Endless hours were spent rehashing old mistakes. I tried to take comfort in the forlorn hope that tomorrow "would be different." As a result, I lived a fantasy life in which happiness was all but nonexistent. No wonder I rarely smiled and hardly ever laughed aloud. Do I still think in terms of forever? Today I Pray...May I set my goals for the...

by Emily Dickinson If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain: If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.