Episodes

  • JANUARY 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "First surrender"

    JANUARY 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "First surrender"
    Jan 14 2025
    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 wearing when I'm running away? Today I Pray … May I know the freedom that comes with surrender to a Higher Power - that most important kind of surrender that means neither "giving in" nor "giving up" but "giving over" my will to the will of God. Like a weary fugitive from spiritual order, may I stop hiding, dodging, running. May I find peace in surrender, in the knowledge that God wills that I be whole and healthy and He will show me the way. Today I Will Remember … First surrender, then serenity. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    1 min
  • JANUARY 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Pass on the passwords"

    JANUARY 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Pass on the passwords"
    Jan 13 2025
    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 Pray … I praise my wonder-working Higher Power for giving me the tools for recovery, once I admitted I was powerless over gambling and gave myself over to the will of God as I understand Him. I give thanks for the Twelve Steps, and for the fellowship of the group, which can help me see myself honestly. I give thanks for those words and phrases which become, as we understand them more completely, banners in our celebration of life free from gambling. Today I Will Remember … Pass on the passwords to recovery. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    1 min
  • JANUARY 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Present pain is endurable"

    JANUARY 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Present pain is endurable"
    Jan 12 2025
    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 Twelve Steps. Do I accept the fact that my Higher Power will never give me more than I can handle - one day at a time? Today I Pray … That I may receive strength in the knowledge that God never gives us more than we can bear, that I can always, somehow, endure present pain, whereas the trials of a lifetime, condensed into one disastrous moment, would surely overcome me. Thanks be to God for giving us only those tribulations that are in proportion to our strength, never destroying us in our frailty. May I remember that fortitude grows out of suffering. Today I Will Remember … Present pain is endurable. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    1 min
  • JANUARY 11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Feelings are real"

    JANUARY 11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Feelings are real"
    Jan 11 2025
    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 achieve perfect love, harmony, or serenity. We'll have to settle for very gradual progress, punctuated occasionally by very heavy setbacks. Have I begun to abandon my old attitude of "all or nothing"? Today I Pray … May God grant me the patience to apply those same principles of faith and acceptance that are keys to my recovery to the whole of my emotional being. May I learn to recognize the festering of my own human anger, my hurt, my frustration, my sadness. With the help of my Higher Power, may I find appropriate ways to deal with these feelings without doing harm to myself or others. Today I Will Remember … Feelings are real - I will acknowledge them. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    2 mins
  • JANUARY 10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Share the prayer"

    JANUARY 10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Share the prayer"
    Jan 10 2025
    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 repeat it often? Is it becoming easier for me to accept the things I cannot change? Today I Pray…God grant that the words of the Serenity Prayer never become mechanical for me or lose their meaning in the lulling rhythms of repetition. I pray that these words will continue to take on new depths of significance as I fit life's realities to them. I trust that I may find the solutions I need in this prayer, which, in its simplicity, encompasses all of life's situations. Today I Will Remember…Share the prayer. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    1 min
  • JANUARY 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Control the controller"

    JANUARY 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Control the controller"
    Jan 9 2025
    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? Today I Pray…May I learn to control my urge to control, my compulsion to manage, neaten, organize, and label the lives of others. May I learn to accept situations and people as they are instead of as I would like them to be. Thus, may I do away with the ongoing frustrations that a controlling person, by nature, faces continually. May I be entirely ready to have this defect of character removed. Today I Will Remember…Control for the controller (me). A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    1 min
  • JANUARY 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "My life is a miracle"

    JANUARY 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "My life is a miracle"
    Jan 8 2025
    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 life. May I never cease to wonder at the greatest miracle in my life that I am alive, here, on this green earth, and growing healthier with the life-preserving tools I have been given. Since God has chosen to give me life and to preserve my life, even through the dangers of my gambling addiction, may I always continue to listen for His plan for me. May I always believe in miracles. Today I Will Remember…My life is a miracle. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    1 min
  • JANUARY 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Never spare to care & share"

    JANUARY 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Never spare to care & share"
    Jan 7 2025
    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 another person. Sharing my experience, strength, and hope is becoming a natural part of daily living. Have I learned that I can't keep what I've gotten unless I "give it away"? Will I take the time to share today? Today I Pray ... May I share my love, my joy, my happiness, my time, my hospitality, my knowledge of things on earth, and my faith in a Higher Power. Even though I may not see the results of my acts of sharing, may I take joy in the acts themselves. May sharing, according to God's plan, become as natural to me as speaking or breathing. Today I Will Remember ... Be never sparing in caring and sharing. A Day at a Time https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC
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    2 mins