Shows / A Day at a Time Reflections
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
AUGUST 31 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Trust in the will of God"
From time to time, I begin to think I know what God's will is for other people. I say to myself, "This person ought to be cured of his illness," or "That one…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 30 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "All-day prayer"
I'll begin today with prayer - prayer in my heart, prayer in my mind, and words of prayer on my lips. Through prayer, I'll stay tuned to God today, reaching…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 29 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Identity through prayer"
Prayer can have many rewards. One of the greatest rewards is the sense of belonging it brings to me. No longer do I live as a stranger in a strange land, alien…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 28 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Prayer nourishes the soul"
"Prayer does not change God," wrote Soren Kierkegaard, "but it changes him who prays." Those of us in the Gamblers Anonymous Program who've learned to make…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 27 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "The offspring of delusion"
Taking a long hard look at those defects I'm unwilling or reluctant to give up, I ought to rub out the rigid lines I've drawn. Perhaps, in some cases, I'll…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 26 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Sharing makes my faults less glaring"
What causes compulsive gambling? Did we gamble because of some inner flaw or shortcoming or life situation? Gamblers Anonymous: A New Beginning says: "We don't…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 25 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Half-hearted, I cannot be whole"
Without freedom from compulsive gambling, we have nothing. Yet we can't be free of our obsession to gamble until we become willing to deal with the character…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 24 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Pray and act"
Some of us, after we've taken the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and then the Seventh Step, sit back and simply wait for our Higher Power to remove our shortcomings…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 23 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Trust in God and clean house"
I heard someone in the Gamblers Anonymous Program once read, "Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well, regardless of anyone. The…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 22 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Change me"
So often, in the past, we prayed for things, a windfall, or a streak of luck. I've learned in Gamblers Anonymous that real prayer begins-not ends-in asking God…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 21 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Entirely ready"
After we take an inventory, determining and admitting the exact nature of our wrongs, we become "entirely ready," as the Sixth Step suggests, "to have these…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 20 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Pain as liberation"
All of the Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural inclinations and desires; they puncture, squeeze, and finally deflate our egos. When it comes to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 19 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Shortcomings are shortcomings"
"How does the Gamblers Anonymous Program work?" newcomers sometimes ask. The two answers I most often hear are "very well" and "slowly." I'm appreciative of…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 18 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I need a three-way mirror"
As compulsive gamblers, self-delusion was intricately woven through almost all of what we thought and did. We became experts at convincing ourselves, when…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Goodness is a gift from God"
The Fourth Step suggests we make a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory-not an immoral inventory of ourselves. The Steps are guidelines to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 16 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "At least a B minus"
Inventory-taking isn't always done in red ink. It's a rare day when we haven't done something right. As I uncover and face my shortcomings, my many good…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Buying stock in my future"
It's often said that you can't tell a book by its cover. For many of us, our "covers" or surface records haven't looked all that bad; it seemed at first, that…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Pave the way to recovery"
Step Four enables me to see myself as I really am my characteristics, motives, attitudes, and behaviors. I'm taught in Gamblers Anonymous to search out my…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I will not be a fugitive"
The Gamblers Anonymous Program's Fourth Step suggests that we make a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves. For some of us, no…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Allow serenity into my life"
Someone once inquired of a Zen master. "How do you maintain such serenity and peace?" He replied, "I never leave my place of meditation." Although he meditated…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Microscopic irritations"
When I dwell on piddling things that annoy me and they sprout resentments that grow bigger and bigger like weeds-I forget how I could be stretching my world…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Not all injustice can be fixed"
We've been our own worst enemies most of our lives, and we've often injured ourselves seriously as a result of a "justified" resentment over a slight wrong…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "tear down resentments"
On numerous occasions, I've found that there's a strong connection between my fears and my resentments. If I secretly fear that I'm inadequate, for example…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "the side door"
As a recovering compulsive gambler, I have to remind myself that no amount of social acceptance of resentments will take the poison out of them. In a way, the…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Resentments cause violence"
What can we do about our resentments? Experience has shown that the best thing to do is to write them down, listing people, institutions, or principles that…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 6 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Resentments are rubbish"
Sometimes through bitter experience and painful lessons, we learn in our fellowship with others in Gamblers Anonymous that resentment is our number one enemy…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Martyr dumb"
Among the important things we learn in Gamblers Anonymous is to be good to ourselves. For so many of us, though, this is a surprisingly difficult thing to do…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 4 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Blessings in savings"
One of the best ways to get out of the self-pity trap is to do some "instant bookkeeping." For every entry of misery on the debit side of our ledger, we can…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 3 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God's Stairway"
The Twelve Steps were designed specifically for people like us - as a shortcut to God. The Steps are very much like strong medicine that can heal us of the…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 2 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Has anyone seen ME?"
When I begin to compare my life with the lives of others, I've begun to move toward the edge of the murky swamp of self-pity. On the other hand, if I feel that…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
AUGUST 1 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "My captor is self"
Self-pity is one of the most miserable and consuming defects I know. Because of its interminable demands for attention and sympathy, my self pity cuts off my…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
A NEW BEGINNING STEP 8 "Willing"
Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. In your fourth step inventory, you made a list of the improper actions…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 31 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Change me-me-me"
One of the most serious consequences of the me-me-me syndrome is that we lose touch with practically everyone around us-not to mention reality itself. The…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 30 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Turn self-involvement into involvement"
When we first come to Gamblers Anonymous, the most common variety of self-pity begins: "Poor me! Why can't I just gamble now and then, like everybody else? Why…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 29 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Stay in touch"
The feeling of self-pity, which we've all felt at one time or another, is one of the ugliest emotions we can experience. We don't even relish the thought of…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 28 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Meditation is a mind-cleanser"
We learn the value of meditation in the Gamblers Anonymous Program. As the beginning of the Eleventh Step suggests, we sought through prayer and meditation to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 27 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Be God-conscious"
Over and over, I see that those who make the best and steadiest progress in the Gamblers Anonymous Program of Recovery are those who readily accept the help of…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 26 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "How it was"
Now that I avail myself of the letters H-O-W suggested by friends in the Gamblers Anonymous Program Honesty, Open-Mindedness, Willingness - I see things in a…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 25 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God meant me to make the most of myself"
The slogans used in Gamblers Anonymous are seemingly clear and simple. Yet they may still have different meanings for different people, according to their own…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 24 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Self-will minus self equals will"
How, exactly, can a person turn his or her own will and life over to the care of a Higher Power? All that's needed is a beginning, no matter how small. The…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 23 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Good is Good Enough"
Today I'll try to settle for less than I wish were possible, and be willing to not only accept it but to appreciate it. Today, I'll not expect too much of any…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 22 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I am and know and will"
Gamblers Anonymous has taught me that the essence of all growth for me is a willingness to change for the better. Following that, I must have further…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 21 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Nothing is impossible"
When we're faced with some condition or situation not to our liking, how can we have faith that all things are working together for good? Perhaps we have to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 20 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Hear the speech"
"It is the privilege of wisdom to listen," Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote. If I try as hard as I can to culti vate the art of listening - uncritically and…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 19 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Discard disbelief"
Many of us come to the Gamblers Anonymous Program professing that we're agnostic or atheistic. As someone once put it, our will to disbelieve is so strong that…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 18 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I will not bargain"
Very few of us know what we really want, and none of us knows what is best for us. That knowledge is in the hands of God. This is a fact I must ultimately…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "HOW"
For my own good, I'll go to meetings and participate in discussions with an open mind that's ready to receive and accept new ideas. For my own peace of mind…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 16 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Patience"
Long experience has proved that the Gamblers Anonymous Program and Twelve Steps will work for any person who approaches them with an open mind. We have to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "What am I protecting?"
Faced with almost certain destruction by our addiction to gambling, we eventually had no choice but to become open-minded on spiritual matters. In that sense…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Open to heal"
Conditioned as we are by our old ideas and old ways of living, it's understandable that we tend to resist certain suggestions made to us when we first come to…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Strength in sameness"
These days, I go to meetings to listen for the similarities between me and others in Gamblers Anonymous - not the differences. And when I look for the…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "A steady star"
In many respects, the Fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous is like a reasonably happy cruise ship or, in time of trouble, like a convoy. But in the long run, each…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Keep my balance"
Someone once defined the ego as "the sum total of false ideas about myself." Persistent reworking of the Twelve Steps enables me gradually to strip away my…
A Day at a Time ReflectionsJULY 10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "The Steps are a road"
The Gamblers Anonymous Program is a road, not a resting place. Before we came to this Program - and, for some living of us, many times afterward - most of us…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
July 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Choose to change"
Samuel Johnson wrote: "... he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything other than his own disposition will waste…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Be a receiver"
When we speak with a friend in the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we shouldn't hesitate to remind him or her of our need for privacy. Intimate communication is…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Am I willing?"
What wonderful things could happen in my life if I could get rid of my natural impulse to justify my actions. Is honesty so deeply repressed under layers of…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 6 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Compare me"
Some people in the Gamblers Anonymous Program feel that they can't do the things they want to do. They doubt their own ability. But actually, every person has…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
JULY 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Let freedom ring"
I am free to be, to do, to accept, to reject. I am free to be the wise, loving, kind, and patient person I want to be. I'm free to do that which I consider…
- A Day at a Time Reflections
A NEW BEGINNING STEP 7 "Asked"
STEP 7 Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our shortcomings. Now you're being asked to seek, to remove, via your Higher Power, your character…