Ken L

MAY 18 Reflection for the Day

I considered myself a “loner” in the days when I was gambling. Although I was often with other people – saw them, heard them, touched them – most of my important dialogues were with my inner self. I was certain that nobody else would ever understand. Considering my former opinion of myself, it’s likely that I didn’t…[Read more]

MAY 17 Reflection for the Day

If we felt guilty, degraded, or ashamed of either our addiction itself or the things we did while “in action,” that served to magnify our feelings of being outcasts. On occasion, we secretly feared or actually believed that we deserved every painful feeling; we thought, at times, that we truly were outsiders. The…[Read more]

MAY 16 Reflection for the Day
Many of us in the Gamblers Anonymous Program share the memory that we originally gambled to “belong,” to “be a big shot,” or to “be a part of the crowd.” Others of us fueled our addictions in order to “get in” – to feel, at least for a short time, that we fitted in with the rest of the human race. Sometimes, our…[Read more]

May 15 Reflection for the Day
Looking back at those last desperate days before I came to Gamblers Anonymous, I remember more than anything the feelings of loneliness and isolation. Even when I was surrounded by people, including my own family, the sense of “aloneness” was overwhelming. Even when I tried to act sociable and wore the mask of…[Read more]

MAY 1 Reflection for the Day

For those of us who have lost our faith, or who have always had to struggle along without it, it’s often helpful just to accept – blindly and with no reservations. It’s not necessary for us to believe at first; we need not be convinced. If we can only accept, we find ourselves becoming gradually aware of a force for g…[Read more]

MAY 13 Reflection for the Day

When a person wakes up each morning and rises, with nerves screaming and sick at heart, to face frightening reality; when a person stumbles through the day in a pit of despair, wishing to die, but refusing to die; when a person gets up the next day and does it all over again – well, that takes guts. That takes a kind…[Read more]

MAY 12 Reflection for the Day

My courage must come each day, as does my desire to avoid a single bet, a single addictive act. It must be a continuing courage, without deviations and procrastination, without rashness, and without fear of obstacles. This would seem like a large order indeed, were it not for the fact that it is confined to this one…[Read more]

MAY 11 Reflection for the Day

Now that I know I can no longer use false courage that is really bravado, I seek and pray for twenty-four-hour courage to change the things I can. Obviously, this isn’t the kind of courage that will make me a strong and brave person for life, able to handle any and all situations courageously. Rather, what I need is…[Read more]

MAY 10 Reflection for the Day

As the doubter tries the process of prayer, he would do well to add up the results. If he persists, he’ll almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He’ll acquire a quiet courage-the kind that isn’t tension-ridden. He’ll be able to look at “failure” and “success” for what they really…[Read more]

MAY 9 Reflection for the Day

“Perfect courage,” wrote La Rochefocauld, “means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on.” As we grow in the Gamblers Anonymous Program, we recognize persistent fear for what it is, and we become able to handle it. We begin to see each adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop…[Read more]

MAY 8 Reflection for the Day

I’ve learned in the Gamblers Anonymous Program that I need not apologize to anyone for depending upon God as I understand Him. In fact, I now have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. For me, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that men and women of faith s…[Read more]

MAY 7 Reflection for the Day

If I believe that it’s hopeless to expect any improvement in my life, I’m doubting the power of God. If I believe I have reason for despair, I’m confessing personal failure, for I do have the power to change myself; nothing can prevent it but my own unwillingness. I can learn in the Gamblers Anonymous Program to avail…[Read more]

May 6 Reflection for the Day

So many of us suffer from despair. Yet we don’t realize that despair is purely the absence of faith. As long as we’re willing to turn to God for help in our difficulties, we cannot despair. When we’re troubled and can’t see a way out, it’s only because we imagine that all solutions depend on us. The Gamblers…[Read more]

May 5 Reflection for the Day

I knew I had to have a new beginning, and the beginning had to be here. I couldn’t start anywhere else. I had to let go of the past and forget the future. As long as I held on to the past with one hand and grabbed at the future with the other hand, I had nothing with which to grasp today. So I had to begin here, n…[Read more]

May 4 Reflection for the Day

Many people pray as though to overcome the will of a reluctant God, instead of taking hold of the willingness of a loving God. In the late stages of our gambling compulsion, the will to resist has fled. Yet when we admit complete defeat, and when we become entirely ready to try the principles of the Gamblers Anonymous…[Read more]