January 6 - Gamblers Anonymous, wrote Dr. Robert L. Custer in the foreword to the Gamblers Anonymous Blue Book, is a Program of 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 gambling." He add, "This road can be smooth or rocky, but in any case, it is never a painless journey..." As a recovering compulsive gambler, I can face any discomforts today, knowing that the pain of recovery will never be as acute and as desperate as the pain of my gambling days.
Am I prepared to see each new day in the GA Program as a time for learning, growing, and making healthy choices?
Today I Pray - May I make prudent use of the power of choice that God has given me, to plan wisely, one day at a time, without becoming a slave to apprehension, regret, or anxiety. I pray that God's will be done through the exercising of my own will, which He, in His goodness, has given me.
Today I Will Remember - God wills my will to be.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Gamblers have luck when not gambling
January 5 - "Today is my lucky day." How often in the past we said that, when it was an empty prophesy. Today, those words are real; I am being given a second change. 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 or waste it.
Do I truly believe that today is mine, that today I can choose to be happy, to grow, and to learn to live, instead of counting on some pie in the sky day in the far-off future?
Today I Pray - I pray that the colors of this day may not be blurred by muted vagaries of the future or dulled by storm gray remnants form the past. I pray that my Higher Power will help me choose my actions and concerns out of the wealth of my busyness that each day offers.
Today I Will Remember - I will not lose for today, if I choose for today.
Do I truly believe that today is mine, that today I can choose to be happy, to grow, and to learn to live, instead of counting on some pie in the sky day in the far-off future?
Today I Pray - I pray that the colors of this day may not be blurred by muted vagaries of the future or dulled by storm gray remnants form the past. I pray that my Higher Power will help me choose my actions and concerns out of the wealth of my busyness that each day offers.
Today I Will Remember - I will not lose for today, if I choose for today.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Gamblers' Heart Beared Much Heavier Hurt
January 4 - 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 our the winners in the GA Program who have learned how to live comfortably in the real world without gambling.
If things get rough today, can I take a quiet moment and say to myself, as the philosopher Homer once said, "Bear patiently, my heart - for you have suffered heavier things"?
Today I Pray - May the peace of God that passes all human understanding fill the place within me that once harbored my despair. May an appreciation for living - even for life's trials - cancel out my old negative attitudes. During heart-heavy moments, help to remind me that my heart was once much heavier still.
Today I Will Remember - I am a winner - in the best sense of the word.
If things get rough today, can I take a quiet moment and say to myself, as the philosopher Homer once said, "Bear patiently, my heart - for you have suffered heavier things"?
Today I Pray - May the peace of God that passes all human understanding fill the place within me that once harbored my despair. May an appreciation for living - even for life's trials - cancel out my old negative attitudes. During heart-heavy moments, help to remind me that my heart was once much heavier still.
Today I Will Remember - I am a winner - in the best sense of the word.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Gambling Compulsion Causes Self Destruction
January 3 - My gambling compulsion is three-fold 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 than try to adjust everything to my own desires?
Today I Pray - I pray that I may not be caught up again in the downward, destructive spiral that removed me from myself and from the realities of the world around me. I pray that I may adjust to people and situations as they are, instead of always trying, unsuccessfully and with endless frustration, to bend them to my own desires.
Today I Will Remember - I can change only myself.
Have I begun to break away from my old ideas? Just for today can I adjust myself to what is, rather than try to adjust everything to my own desires?
Today I Pray - I pray that I may not be caught up again in the downward, destructive spiral that removed me from myself and from the realities of the world around me. I pray that I may adjust to people and situations as they are, instead of always trying, unsuccessfully and with endless frustration, to bend them to my own desires.
Today I Will Remember - I can change only myself.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Live in the Now, Don't Borrow from Tomorrow
January 2 - Before I came to the GA 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 waking hours were spent clearing away the "wreckage of the future." "To me, " Walt Whitman once wrote, "every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle."
Can I truly believe that in my heart?
Today I Pray - Let me carry only the weight of twenty-four hours at one time, without the extra bulk of yesterday's regrets or tomorrow's anxieties. Let me breathe the blessings of each new day for itself, by itself, and keep my human burdens contained in daily perspective. May I learn the balance of soul that comes through keeping close to God.
Today I Will Remember - Don't borrow from tomorrow.
Can I truly believe that in my heart?
Today I Pray - Let me carry only the weight of twenty-four hours at one time, without the extra bulk of yesterday's regrets or tomorrow's anxieties. Let me breathe the blessings of each new day for itself, by itself, and keep my human burdens contained in daily perspective. May I learn the balance of soul that comes through keeping close to God.
Today I Will Remember - Don't borrow from tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
One Day at a Time for This New Year
January 1 - 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 about 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 New Year not at the year long mark, but one day at a time. My traditional New Year's resolutions have been so grandly stated and so soon broken. Let me not weaken my resolve by stretching it to cover "forever" - or even one long year. May I reapply it firmly each new day. May I learn not to stamp my past mistakes with the indelible word, "forever." Instead, may each single day in each New Year be freshened by my new found hope.
Today I Will Remember - Happy New Day.
Do I still think in terms of forever?
Today I Pray - May I set my goals for the New Year not at the year long mark, but one day at a time. My traditional New Year's resolutions have been so grandly stated and so soon broken. Let me not weaken my resolve by stretching it to cover "forever" - or even one long year. May I reapply it firmly each new day. May I learn not to stamp my past mistakes with the indelible word, "forever." Instead, may each single day in each New Year be freshened by my new found hope.
Today I Will Remember - Happy New Day.
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