JUNE 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Hear, don't judge"

JUNE 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Hear, don't judge"

The Gamblers Anonymous Program teaches me that not too many people can truthfully assert that they love everybody. Most of us have to admit that we've loved only a few, and that we've been quite indifferent to many. As for the rest, well, we've really disliked or hated them. We in Gamblers Anonymous find we need something much better than this in order to keep our balance. The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few, can ignore the many, and can continue to fear or hate anyone at all, has to be abandoned if only a little at a time. At meetings, do I concentrate on the message rather than the messenger? Today I Pray … May I understand that there is no place in my recovery from compulsive gambling or in my entire life-for toxic hatred or lackadaisical indifference. One of the most important positive ideas that I must carry with me is that all humans, as the children of God, make up a loving brother- and sisterhood. May I find it hard to hate a brother or sister. Today I Will Remember … Hear the message. Don't judge the messenger. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠

JUNE 4 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Key to recovery"

Acceptance is a key. Too often I was unable to accept who I was, and therefore it was impossible to accept others. Before coming to Gamblers Anonymous, I hid from the truth because I was afraid of it. Now with the help of my GA brothers and sisters, I can walk through it. Today I actually find comfort in knowing the truth. I'm trying to go in the right direction and that's enough for me. Do I accept who I was, with all my shortcomings, and who I am trying to be? Today I Pray … God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the past with its miseries and restlessness, and the burdens that are left over from my gambling days. May my acceptance of things past be a basis for building a new life-a life I not only accept, but celebrate. Today I Will Remember … Acceptance is a key to recovery. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠

JUNE 3 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Love is"

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image," wrote Thomas Merton. "Otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them." As I replace my self-destructive addiction with a healthy dependence on the Gamblers Anonymous Program and its Twelve Steps, I'm finding that the barriers of silence and hatred are melting away. By accepting each other as we are, we have learned again to love. Do I care enough about others in the GA Program to continue working with them as long as necessary? Today I Pray … May I be selfless enough to love people as they are, not as I want them to be, as they mirror my image or feed my ego. May I slow down in my eagerness to love-now that I am capable of feeling love again and ask myself if I really love someone or only that someone's idea of me. May I remove the "self" from my loving. Today I Will Remember … Love is unconditional. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠

JUNE 2 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Caring makes it"

In the process of learning to love myself and, in turn, to love others freely with no strings attached, I've begun to understand these words of St. Augustine: "Love slays what we have been, that we may be what we were not." More and more, I feel the enormous power of such love in the Gamblers Anonymous Program; for me, the words "we care" also mean "we love." Just for today, will I try to be loving in every thought and action? Today I Pray … I pray that I may feel the enormity and the power of the love I find in Gamblers Anonymous. May my own caring be added to that great energy of love that belongs to all of us. May I care with my whole heart that my fellow members maintain their abstinence from gambling and are learning to live with it comfortably and creatively. May I never doubt that they care the same way about me. Today I Will Remember … Caring makes it happen. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠

JUNE 1 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Love is"

Slowly, but surely, I'm becoming able to accept other people's faults as well as their virtues. The Gamblers Anonymous Program is teaching me to "always love the best in others and never fear their worst." This is hardly an easy transition from my old way of thinking, but I'm beginning to see that all people-including me are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong. Am I approaching true tolerance? Am I beginning to see what real love actually means? Today I Pray … May God give me tolerance for any shortcomings or sick symptoms or insensitivities of others, so that I can love the qualities that are good in them. May God instruct me in the truest meaning of love-which must also include patience. May I not overlook the faults of those I love, but may I try to understand them. Today I Will Remember … Love is understanding. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠