Episodios

  • July 9 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Choose to change"
    Jul 9 2024
    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 his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove." Today I understand that I am not the evil person I once thought I was, only that I have made mistakes in my lifetime that caused me and those I love much pain and grief. By changing myself today, I can face my unsettled past as a time of learning. I hope that those close to me will learn to respect the healthy choices I am making today, rather than dwelling on all the unhealthy choices I used to make. Has the Serenity Prayer taught me to spend my efforts on changing only those things I can - namely things about myself? Today I Pray … Help me understand that I must seek the answers to change within myself. May I choose the things that bring me happiness and serenity, and avoid the things that bring me turmoil and grief. If I allow my Higher Power to guide my life, I will be given all that is needed to make the right choices today. Today I Will Remember … With God's help, I choose to change myself. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    2 m
  • JULY 8 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Be a receiver"
    Jul 8 2024
    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 normally so free and easy among us that even a friend or sponsor may sometimes forget when we expect him to remain silent. Such "privileged communications" have important advantages. For one thing, we find in them the perfect opportunity to be as honest as we know how to be. For another, we don't have to worry about the possibility of injury to other people, nor the fear of ridicule or condemnation. At the same time, we have the best possible chance to spot self-deception. Am I trustworthy for those who trust me? Today I Pray … I pray for God's assistance in making me a trusted confidant. I need to be a person others will be willing to share with. I need to be an open receiver, not just a transmitter. Today I pray for a large portion of tried-and-trueness, so that I may be a better and more receptive friend to those who choose to confide in me. Today I Will Remember … Be a receiver. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    2 m
  • JULY 7 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Am I willing?"
    Jul 7 2024
    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 guilt that I can't release it to understand my motives? Being honest with ourselves isn't easy. It's difficult to search out why I had this or that impulse and, more importantly, why I acted upon it. Nothing makes us feel so vulnerable as to give up the crutch of "the alibi," yet my willingness to be vulnerable will go a long way toward helping me grow in the Gamblers Anonymous Program. Am I becoming more aware that self deception multiplies my problems? Today I Pray … May God remove my urge to make excuses. Help me face up to the realities that surface when I am honest with myself. Help me to know, as certainly as day follows sunrise, that my difficulties will be lessened if I can only trust God's will. Today I Will Remember …. I will be willing to do God's will. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    1 m
  • JULY 6 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Compare me"
    Jul 6 2024
    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 untapped ability. We're children of God, which should give us a strong clue as to the infinite nature of our ability. As spiritual beings, we're unlimited. We may find it easier to accept this as true of some person who shines in a particular field. I may compare my own accomplishments with another's and feel discouraged. But the only comparison I need make or should make is with myself. Am I a better, more productive person today? Today I Pray … May I realize that I am a child of God. And His loving-parent promise to give me what I need, not what I might want, is His way of teaching me to be what I am, not what I dreamed I should be. As a spiritual being, I can truly become a productive person, perhaps even do some of the things I once felt unable to do without the gambler's grandiosity, which lulled me into false confidence. Today I Will Remember … To compare me with the old me. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    2 m
  • A NEW BEGINNING STEP 7 "Asked"
    Jul 6 2024
    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 defects. Is this really necessary? It certainly is! Character defects were a major portion of the reason one gambled. Therefore, keeping these defects can lead one back to gambling. For example, let's take one defect - anger. Assume you get into an argument, handle it poorly and become blindly angry, anger turns into rage. Then you feel something must be done to relieve this terrible hateful feeling and resort to what comes naturally - gambling. In the past, as you know, that pain caused by anger was at least temporarily eased through gambling Compulsive gambling is a learned, inadequate response to life. You must rid yourself of the disturbances that you have acquired through gambling What can be done to prevent such a relapse? First, you must have a desire to remove this defect. To realize the shortcoming can destroy you, desire comes more easily if you realize what is at stake. If you are masochistic, the desire to change may be slower in coming. Assuming you want to live, however, try to take the step as indicated and humbly ask your Higher Power to remove the defect. Humbly ask for help? A nice person who never hurt anyone except themselves. When you've survived for so long, all by yourself, how can you humbly ask for help? Look at your track record with absolute honesty. Have you really been a winner? This honest look at your chaotic years should assure you that anger must go, if only a little at a time. You can only concentrate on one defect at a time. This is a slower process, but it enables you to focus more clearly. Also, working defects singly is, for most, more comfortable. Having selected a defect, seek help from your Higher Power. Each morning shortly after getting up, seek the will of your Higher Power daily as life's problems arise. Ask for help in reducing or removing the defect on which you will be working on that day. You must do the leg work so your Higher Power can finish the job as He sees fit. At this point, learning to cope is a new adventure. This is something many refused or were unable to do before entering Gamblers Anonymous. It's strange at first, but each time you cope you get better at it. When you leave the world of reality and slip into irrational anger, you should now be able to recognize that something is wrong. You now have to get yourself back on the right track so you can go deal with today. Anger, the defect on which you were working, still might be a problem. It will scare you when you react with so little control. Anger could lead you back to a bet via the hatred and resentment created. You're not entitled to be angry; it's an enemy, not a friend. Each day, practice restraint until, God willing, you have formed a beautiful new habit, a positive habit. Today anger should be under control and cannot lead you back into your addiction. Feel good about that. The same procedure can then be applied to another defect. Now you can see how your Higher Power can remove defects, if your Higher Power chooses to do so. Get A Day at a Time here → https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH G.A. A New Beginning https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    5 m
  • JULY 5 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Let freedom ring"
    Jul 5 2024
    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 wise — that which will in no way harm or hinder another person. I'm free to do that which will lead me into paths of peace and satisfaction. I'm free to decide for or against, to say no and to say yes. I'm free to live life in a productive way and to contribute what I have to give to life. Am I coming to believe that I am free to be the best self I am able to be? Today I Pray … Let the freedom I am now experiencing continue to flow through my life into productiveness, into the conviction of life's goodness I have always wanted to share. May I accept this freedom with God's blessing and use it wisely. Today I Will Remember … Let freedom ring true. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    1 m
  • JULY 4 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Celebrate freedom"
    Jul 4 2024
    It's time for me to become willing to do what it takes to recover my personal responsibility, even if that means giving over the financial reins to another. Just as there are paradoxes in the Steps admitting my life's unmanageability in order that it become manageable again, surrendering to a Higher Power in order to become liberated - there will be other paradoxes in my recovery. Allowing a trusted family member or professional to take over management of my finances in order for me to become fiscally responsible may be one of those paradoxes. I have proved that I am powerless over gambling - and over the emotional highs and lows that went with it. Now is the time to give up my lonely disaster course and begin to interact with others, accepting any help my Higher Power provides. Have I accepted that, although my recovery is my own, I sometimes need to count on others for their help and encouragement? Today I Pray … May the Gamblers Anonymous Program, with God's help, give me a chance to live a steady, creative, outreaching life. May I accept the strength others offer me, as I willingly share my strength with others. May I realize on this Declaration of Independence Day that I, too, have a celebration of freedom from my gambling addiction. Today I Will Remember … To celebrate my personal freedom. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    2 m
  • JULY 3 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God is in charge"
    Jul 3 2024
    Change is a part of the flow of life. Sometimes we're frustrated because change seems slow in coming. Sometimes, too, we're resistant to a change that seems to have been thrust upon us. We must remember that change, in and of itself, neither binds us nor frees us. Only our attitude toward change binds or frees. As we learn to flow with the stream of life, praying for guidance about any change that presents itself - praying, also, for guidance if we want to make a change and none seems in view we become willing. Am I willing to let God take charge, directing me in the changes I should make and the course I should take? Today I Pray … When change comes too fast or not fast enough for me, I pray I can adjust accordingly to make use of the freedom the Gamblers Anonymous Program offers to me. I pray for the guidance of my Higher Power when change presents itself - or when it doesn't and I wish it would. May I listen for direction from that Power. Today I Will Remember … God is in charge. A Day at a Time ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3EOjuiH⁠⁠⁠ G.A. A New Beginning ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3E9YgPC⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jamesh-acm/support
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    2 m