Episodes

  • DECEMBER 19 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I am not a superperson"

    DECEMBER 19 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "I am not a superperson"
    Dec 19 2024
    The Gamblers Anonymous Program teaches me to work for progress, not perfection. That simple admonition gives me great comfort, for it represents a primary way in which my life today is so different from what it used to be. In my former life, perfection - for all its impossibility - was so often my number one goal. Today I can believe that if I sometimes fail, I'm not a failure - and if I sometimes make mistakes, I'm not a mistake. And I can apply those same beliefs to the Twelve Steps of Recovery, as well as to my entire life. Do I believe that only Step One can be practiced with perfection, and that the remaining Steps represent perfect ideals? Today I Pray … God, teach me to abandon my erstwhile goal of superhuman perfection in everything I did or said. I know now that I was actually bent on failure, because I could never attain those impossible heights I had established for myself. Now that I understand this pattern, may I no longer program my own failures. Today I Will Remember … I may strive to be a super person, but not a superperson. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 18 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Be in harmony with God's will"

    DECEMBER 18 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Be in harmony with God's will"
    Dec 18 2024
    I'm learning all too slowly, at times - that when I give up the losing battle of trying to run my life in my own way, I gain abiding peace and deep serenity. For many of us, that learning process is a painfully slow one. Eventually, however, I understand that there are only two wills in the world, my will and God's. Whatever is within my direct control is my will, and whatever is beyond my direct control is God's will. So I try to accept that which is beyond my control as God's will for me. Am I beginning to realize that, by surrendering my will to the Divine Will, I am for the first time living turmoil and without anxiety? Today I Pray … May I hope that my will can be congruent with the all-encompassing will of God. I pray that I will know immediately if my will is in a useless tug of war with His Divine Will. May I trust God now to guide my will according to His Master Plan - and to make His purpose mine. Today I Will Remember … I will that my will be in harmony with God's. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Feel the stillness of God"

    DECEMBER 17 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Feel the stillness of God"
    Dec 17 2024
    More and more these days, as I progress in my recovery, I seem to be quietly waiting to hear my Higher Power's unmistakable voice within me. Prayer is becoming a two-way street - of seeking and listening, of searching and finding. A favorite bit of Scripture for me is, "Be still and know that I am God." Do I pay quiet and loving attention to my Higher Power, confident that an enlightened knowledge of His will can come to me? Today I Pray … As I seek to know my Higher Power, may I learn the best ways for me to reach and hear Him. May I begin to feel prayer, not just listen to the sound of my own verbalizing. May I feel the sharp outlines of my humanness fading as His Godliness becomes a part of me. May I feel that I am one with Him. Today I will Remember … Feel the stillness of God. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 16 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "There is more to life than suffering"

    DECEMBER 16 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "There is more to life than suffering"
    Dec 16 2024
    Sometimes, on those bad days we all have from time to time, it almost seems that God doesn't want us to be happy here on earth and, for those of us who believe in an afterlife, that He demands pain and suffering in this life as the price of happiness in the next. The Gamblers Anonymous Program teaches me that just the opposite is the case. God wants me to be happy right here on earth - right now. If I allow it, God will even point out the way. Do I sometimes stubbornly refuse to look where God is pointing? Today I Pray … I pray that I am not playing the perennial sufferer, dragging around in the boots of tragedy and acting as if suffering is the only ticket to heaven. May I look around, at the goodness and greenery of earth, which is testimony enough that our life here is meant to be more than just one pitfall after another. May no misconception of God as a master trapper, waiting in every thicket to snare us, distort my relationship with a loving, forgiving Higher Power. Today I Will Remember … There is more to life than suffering. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Kick the worry habit"

    DECEMBER 15 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Kick the worry habit"
    Dec 15 2024
    Some people are such worriers that they feel sorry about the fact that they have nothing to worry about. Newcomers in the Gamblers Anonymous Program sometimes feel, for example, "This is much too good to last." Most of us, however, have plenty of real things to worry about - old standbys: debts, health, death, and taxes, to name just a few. But GA tells us that the antidote to worry and fear is confidence - confidence not in ourselves, but in our Higher Power. Will I continue to believe that God can and will avert the calamity that I spend my days and nights dreading? Will I believe that, if calamity does strike, God will enable me to see it through? Today I Pray … May I realize that the worry habit - worry that grows out of broader, often unlabeled fears will take more than time to conquer. Like many others, I have lived with worry so long that it has become my constant, floor-pacing companion. May my Higher Power teach me that making a chum out of worry is a waste of my energy and fritters away my constructive hours. Today I Will Remember … Kick the worry habit. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Prayer is an attitude"

    DECEMBER 14 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Prayer is an attitude"
    Dec 14 2024
    Some of us in Gamblers Anonymous are inclined to make the mistake of thinking that the few moments we spend in prayer and meditation - in "talking with God" - are all that count. The truth is that the attitude we maintain throughout the entire day is just as important. If we place ourselves in God's hands in the morning, and throughout the day hold ourselves ready to accept His will as it is made known through the events of our daily life, our attitude of acceptance becomes a constant prayer. Can I try to cultivate an attitude of total acceptance each day? Today I Pray … May I maintain contact with my Higher Power all through my day, not just check in for a prayer now and then. May my communion with God never become merely a casual aside. May I come to know that every time I do something that is in accord with God's will I am living a prayer. Today I Will Remember … Prayer is an attitude. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Find the fixed stars"

    DECEMBER 13 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "Find the fixed stars"
    Dec 13 2024
    A friend in Gamblers Anonymous told me of a favorite hymn from her childhood: "Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth Thou hast for me." In actuality, that is what the GA Program has done for me - it has opened my eyes so that I have come to see the true nature of my gambling addiction, as well as the true nature of the joyous life that can be mine if I practice the principles embodied in the Twelve Steps of Recovery. Through prayer and meditation, am I also improving my inner vision, so that I can better see God's love and power working in me and through me? Today I Pray … May each glint of truth that I catch sight of as I work the Steps begin to take on the steadier shine of a fixed star. May I know that these stars are all that I need to chart my course and navigate safely. May I no longer feel the frantic need to put in to every unknown port along the way in search of direction. These stars are always mine to steer by. Today I Will Remember … Find the fixed stars and fix on them. 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 mins
  • DECEMBER 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God teaches me how to trust"

    DECEMBER 12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY "God teaches me how to trust"
    Dec 12 2024
    These days, if I go through an experience that is new and demanding, I can do so in a spirit of confidence and trust. Thanks to Gamblers Anonymous and the Twelve Steps of Recovery, I've come to know that God is with me in all places and in all endeavors. His Spirit is in me as well as in the people around me. As a result, I feel comfortable even in new situations and at home even among strangers. Will I continue to flow along and grow along with the Program, trusting in the love of God at work in me and in my life? Today I Pray … May God's comfort be with me in all situations, familiar or new. May He rebuild the sagging bridge of my confidence. May I acknowledge God in me and in others around me. May that mutual identity in God help me communicate with people on a plane of honesty. If I can learn to trust God, I can learn to trust the ones who share this earth with me. Today I Will Remember … God teaches me how to trust. 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 mins