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A Day at a Time Reflections
Reflections from the Gamblers Anonymous little blue book, A Day at a Time, published by Hazelden Information and Education Services www.hazelden.org Available on Amazon - A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
Episodes
- A Day at a Time Reflections
A NEW BEGINNING STEP 9 "Amends"
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. To make direct amends means making amends in person…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 29 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Smug success becomes a setback"
Virtually all of us suffered the defect of pride when we sought help through the Program, the Twelve Steps, and the Fellowship of recovering compulsive…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 28 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Remain teachable, find teachers"
I never cease to be amazed at how appropriate the topic at meetings I attend seems to be in relation to my life at that particular time. We can only become…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 27 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Praise God for progress"
The Gamblers Anonymous Program's Fourth Step suggests that we make a fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves. For so many of us, especially…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 26 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I've seen God's amazing grace"
From time to time when I see the slogan "There, but for the Grace of God Go I," I remember how I used to mouth those words when I saw others whose gambling…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 25 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Feel worth caring about"
My gambling addiction was like a thief in more ways than I can count. It robbed me not only of money, property, and other material things, but of dignity and…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 24 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "We reap whatever we sow"
"You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 23 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Getting to be who I want to be"
"One's own self is well hidden from one's own self," a renowned philosopher once wrote. "Of all mines of treasure, one's own is the last to be dug up." The…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 22 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "We are mirrors of each other"
"Not all those who know their minds know their hearts as well," wrote La Rochefoucauld. The Gamblers Anonymous Program is of inestimable value for those of us…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 21 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I will try to like myself"
There's a world of difference between the idea of self-love and love of self. Self-love is a reflection of an inflated ego, around which - in our distorted…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 20 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I will not kick myself"
Before I admitted my powerlessness over gambling, I had as much self worth as a "peeled zero." I came into Gamblers Anonymous as a nobody who desperately…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 19 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Throw away old tapes"
There are countless ways by which my progress and growth in the Gamblers Anonymous Program can be measured. One of the most important is my awareness that I'm…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 18 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I'm grateful for the contrast"
Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the rewards that would be mine when I first contemplated turning my life and will over to the care of God as I…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Miracles mark our progress"
All my life I searched for what would bring me happiness, traveling many roads, fast and slow. Most of the roads I chose were easier, softer ways, but the…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 16 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Give and take and give back"
Someone once said that the mind's direction is more important than its progress. If my direction is correct, then progress is sure to follow. We first come to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "A heavy hand is not a helping hand"
All too often I unwittingly set standards for others in the Gamblers Anonymous Program. Worse yet, I expect those standards to be met. I go so far, on…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "The Twelve Steps work"
"Fundamental progress has to do with the reinterpretation of basic ideas," wrote Alfred North Whitehead. When we review the ups and downs of our recovery in…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I need not be discouraged"
My progress in recovery depends in large measure on my attitude, and my attitude is up to me. It's the way I decide to look at things. Nobody can force an…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "The greatest high of them all"
Many people we meet in Gamblers Anonymous radiate a kind of special glow a joy in living that shows in their faces and bearing. They've put aside their…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God's formula for living"
When I say the Serenity Prayer, sometimes over and over, I occasionally lose sight of the prayer's meaning even as I repeat its words. So I try to think of the…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Anxiety never solved anything"
When we allow our Higher Power to take charge, without reservations on our part, we stop being anxious. When we're not anxious about some person or situation…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Stop list-making for God"
I remember once hearing someone in the Gamblers Anonymous Program say, "Life is a series of agreeings or disagreeings with the universe." There is much truth…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Loosen up on the stranglehold"
Determination-our clenched-jaw resolve that we can do something about everything-is perhaps the greatest hindrance to achieving serenity. Our old tapes tell…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Serenity comes first"
When I first read the Serenity Prayer, the word "serenity" itself seemed like an impossibility. At the time, the word conjured up images of lethargy, apa thy…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 6 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Serenity is surrender"
As we "Keep Coming Back" to meetings, we're able to recognize those who have an abundance of serenity. We are drawn to these people. To our surprise, we…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 4 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I cannot engineer another's recovery"
We are powerless over gambling; that admission brought us to the Gamblers Anonymous Program, where we learn through unconditional surrender that there is…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 3 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Acceptance is not inactivity"
I've learned in Gamblers Anonymous that I am wholly powerless over my compulsion. At long last, I've conceded my powerlessness; as a result, my life has taken…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 2 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Live and let live"
An entire philosophy of life is condensed in the slogan "Live and Let Live." First we're urged to live fully, richly, and happily - to fulfill our destiny with…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 1 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Shared loneliness is less lonely"
We can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. We can be all by ourselves and still feel happy and content. What makes the difference? We feel lonely if…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
OCTOBER 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Life without people?"
Soon after I came to Gamblers Anonymous, I found a Higher Power whom I choose to call God. I've come to believe that He has all power; if I stay close to Him…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 30 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "A dependancy is a dependancy"
No matter what other people do or don't do, for ourselves we have to remain abstinent from gambling. When our program of recovery becomes contingent on the…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 29 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "No entangling alliances"
In our first weeks or months in Gamblers Anonymous, our shaky emotional condition sometimes affects our feelings toward old friends and family. For many of us…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 28 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Giving is part of being"
Now that we're free from our compulsion to gamble, and living life one day at a time, we can begin to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we love. We…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 27 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "More than one dependancy"
In times past, even as adults, many of us childishly insisted that people protect, defend, and care for us. We acted as if the world owed US a living. And…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 26 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Stopping was a starting point"
Is freedom from compulsive gambling all that we're to expect from a spiritual awakening? Not at all. Freedom from our addiction is only the bare beginning…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 25 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Promises"
At the suggestion of a long-timer in Gamblers Anonymous, I began taking "recovery inventories" periodically. The results showed me - clearly and unmistakably -…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 24 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Getting there, not being there."
"Everybody wants to be somebody, nobody wants to grow," wrote Goethe. I ask myself sometimes, as we all do: Who am I? Where am I? Where am I going? What's it…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 23 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Progress over perfection"
On studying the Twelve Steps of Recovery, many of us as newcomers to Gamblers Anonymous exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." "Don't be…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 22 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Don't let things I can't do get in the way"
For a considerable period of time after I reached Gamblers Anonymous, I let things I couldn't do keep me from doing the things I could. If I was bothered by…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 21 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Step by step"
I've heard it said that when God closes a door, He opens a window. Since I started working the Twelve Steps of Recovery, much of the fear and pain that haunted…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 20 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Strength through adversity"
"When a man has reached a condition in which he believed that a thing must happen when he does not wish it, and that which he wishes to happen can never be…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 19 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "From powerless high to Higher Power"
It's still not exactly a "piece of cake" for me to accept today's occasional pain and anxiety with any great degree of serenity, but I'm increasingly able to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 18 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I hurt; therefore I am"
In every story we hear from others in Gamblers Anonymous, pain has been the price of admission into a new life, But our admission price purchased far more than…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Remain teachable"
When I see new members come into Gamblers Anonymous, I am reminded first of the pain and the unmanageable mess I found myself in, and then the hope I felt once…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 16 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "First a trap door"
We learn from others in Gamblers Anonymous that the best way to deal with painful situations is to meet them head on, to deal with them honestly and…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Throw away my stamp"
No one welcomes pain with open arms, but it does have its uses. Just as physical pain serves as a warning that we may be suffering a bodily illness, so can…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Humility restores sight"
Until we came to the Gamblers Anonymous Program, our lives had been spent running from pain and problems. Escape by way of compulsive gambling was always our…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Pain saves lives"
We hear often in our Gamblers Anonymous meetings that pain is the touchstone of spiritual progress. We eventually realize that, just as the pains of compulsive…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Thank God for restoring my feelings"
"At certain moments," wrote Coleridge, "a single almost insignificant sorrow may, by association, bring together all the little relics of pain and discomfort…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Love is a charitable contribution"
One thing, more than anything else, that can relieve my occasional feeling of depression is love. I have to keep myself "lovable" in the sense of being able to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Loneliness is treatable"
Years ago, Dr. Alfred Adler prescribed this remedy for depression to a patient: "You can be healed if every day you begin the first thing in the morning to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Look for someone to share with"
The longer I'm in the Gamblers Anonymous Program and the longer I try to practice its principles in all my affairs, the less frequently I become morose and…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Choose not to be hopeless"
We are told that no situation is hopeless. At first, of course, we find this hard to believe. The opposites - hope and despair are human emotional attitudes…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Problems have endings"
"If you're not all right the way you are," it's been said, "it takes a lot of effort to get better. Realize you're all right the way you are, and you'll get…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 6 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Goal set too high set me back"
As practicing compulsive gamblers, we were all too familiar with depression, that pile-up of dark feelings that seemed to close over our heads at regular…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I am not God"
We're often told that compulsive gamblers are perfectionists, impatient about any shortcomings - especially our own. We tend to set impossible goals for…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 4 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God may not do it MY way"
Though I have prayed at various times in my life, I realized after several months in Gamblers Anonymous that I'd never really prayed properly. I'd always tried…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 3 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Don't give in or up, give over"
Sometimes, even when friends in and outside of the Gamblers Anonymous Program tell us how well we're doing, we know deep down that we're really not doing well…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 2 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Tell God what to do?"
When I wake up. I'll think quietly about the twenty-four hours ahead, I'll ask God to direct my thinking especially asking that it be free from self-pity and…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
SEPTEMBER 1 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I thank God for my understanding"
The Gamblers Anonymous Red Book, in explaining Step Eleven, says "A conscious contact seems to start with daily prayer. What is prayer? To some it is a…