• kenl posted an update in the group Group logo of CommunityCommunity 3 years, 10 months ago

    MAY 23 Reflection for the Day
    When newcomers to Gamblers Anonymous experience the first startling feeling that they’re truly among friends, they also wonder – with almost a sense of terror – if the feeling is real. Will it last? Those of us who’ve been in the Program a few years can assure any newcomer at a meeting that it is very real indeed, and that it does last. It’s not just another false start, nor just a temporary burst of gladness to be followed, inevitably, by shattering disappointment.

    Am I convinced that I can have a genuine and enduring recovery from the loneliness of my compulsive gambling?

    Today I Pray
    Please, God, let me not be held back by my fear of recurring loneliness. May I know that the openness that warms me in this group will not suddenly close up and leave me out. May I be patient with my fear, which is swollen with past disappoints and losses. May I know that the fellowship of the group will, in time, convince me that loneliness is never incurable.

    Today I Will Remember
    Loneliness is curable.

    MAY 24 Reflection for the Day
    Getting over years of suspicion and other self-protective mechanisms can hardly be an overnight process. We’ve become thoroughly conditioned to feeling and acting misunderstood and unloved – whether we really were or not. Some of us may need time and practice to break out of our shell and the seemingly comfortable familiarity of solitude. Even though we begin to believe and know we’re no longer alone, we tend to sometimes feel and act in old ways.

    Am I taking it easy? Am I learning to wear the Gamblers Anonymous Program and life like a loose garment?

    Today I Pray
    May I expect no sudden, total reversal of all my old traits. My abstinence from gambling is just a beginning. May I realize that the symptoms of my compulsion will wear off gradually. If I slip back, now and then, into my old self-pity bag or my grandiosity, may I not be discouraged, but grateful. At last, I can face myself honestly and not let my delusions get the best of me.

    Today I Will Remember
    Easy does it.