I can attain real dignity, importance, and individuality only by a dependence on a Power that is great and good, beyond anything I can imagine or understand. I will try my utmost to call on this Power in making all my decisions. Even though my human mind cannot forecast what the outcome will be, I will try to be confident that whatever comes will be for my ultimate good. 

Just for today, will I try to live this day only, and not tackle all my life problems at once? 

Today I Pray … May I make no decision, engineer no change in the course of my lifestream, without calling upon my Higher Power. May I have faith that God's plan for me is better than any scheme I could devise for myself. 

Today I Will Remember … God is the architect. I am the builder. 

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Personal freedom is mine for the taking. No matter how close the ties of love and concern that bind me to my family and friends, I must always remember that I am an individual, free to be myself and live my own life in serenity and joy. The key word in this realization is personal. For I can free myself from many involvements that seem necessary. Through the Gamblers Anonymous Program, I am learning to develop my own personality. 

Am I reinforcing my personal freedom by leaving others free to control their actions and destinies? 

Today I Pray … May I find personal freedom, by re-evaluating associations, establishing new priorities, gaining respect for my own personhood. May I give others equal room to find their own kinds of personal freedoms. 

Today I Will Remember … Take the liberty; it’s yours. 

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Even with a growing understanding of the Gamblers Anonymous Program and its Twelve Steps, we sometimes may find it difficult to believe that our new way of life leads to personal freedom. Suppose, for example, I feel imprisoned in an uncomfortable job or troublesome personal relationship. What am I doing about it? In the past, my reflex reaction was to try to manipulate the things and people around me into being more acceptable to me. Today, I realize that happiness can't be won that way. 

Am I learning that freedom from despair and frustration can come only from changing in myself the attitudes that are perpetuating the conditions that cause me grief? 

Today I Pray … May I be given clear eyes to see - and then to stop myself when I am manipulating the lives of those around me, my daily associates, friends, family. May I always be aware that change must begin within myself. 

Today I Will Remember … Change from the inside out. 

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Among the many gifts that we are offered in the Gamblers Anonymous Program is the gift of freedom. Paradoxically, however, the gift of freedom is not without a price tag: freedom can be achieved only by paying the price called acceptance. Similarly, if we can surrender to God's guidance, it will cost us our self-will, that "commodity" so precious to those of us who have always thought we could and should run the show.

Is my freedom today worth the price tag of acceptance?

Today I Pray … May God teach me acceptance - the ability to accept the things I cannot change. God also grant me courage to change those things I can. God help me to accept the illness of my addiction and give me the courage to change my addictive behavior. 

Today I Will Remember … Accept the addiction. Change the behavior.  

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We must never be blinded by the futile philosophy that we are just the hapless victims of our inheritance, of our life experience, and of our surroundings that these are the sole forces that make our decisions for us. This is not the road to freedom. We have to believe that we can really choose. As addictive persons, we lost our ability to choose whether we would pursue our illness. Yet we finally did make choices that brought about our recovery. 

Do I believe that in "becoming willing," I have made the best of all choices? 

Today I Pray … May I shed the idea that I am the world's victim, an unfortunate creature caught in a web of circumstance, inferring that others ought to "make it up to me" because I have been given a bad deal on this earth. We are always given choices. May God help me to choose wisely. 

Today I Will Remember … God is not a puppeteer. 

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JANUARY 22 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY In a very real sense, we are imprisoned by our inability or unwillingness to reach out for help to a Power greater than ourselves. But, in time, we pray to be relieved of the bondage of self, so that we can better do God's will. In the words of Ramakrishna, “The sun and moon are not mirrored in cloudy waters, thus the Almighty cannot be mirrored in a heart that is obsessed by the idea of ‘me and mine.’” 

Have I set myself free from the prison of self-will and pride that I myself have built? Have I accepted freedom?

Today I Pray … May the word freedom take on new meanings for me, not just "freedom from" my addiction, but "freedom to" overcome it. Not just freedom from the slavery of self will, but freedom to hear and carry out the will of God. 

Today I Will Remember … Freedom from means freedom to. 

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Every person is a part of the Divine economy. We are all children of God, and it is unlikely that He intends to favor one over another. So it is necessary for all of us to accept whatever positive gifts we receive with a deep humility. We need always to bear in mind that our negative attitudes were first necessary as a means of reducing us to a state in which we would be ready for the gift of positive attitudes through the conversion experience. 

Do I accept the fact that my addiction and the bottom I finally reached are the bedrock upon which my spiritual foundation rests? 

Today I Pray … May I know that from the first moment I admitted my powerlessness, God-given power was mine. Every step taken from that moment of defeat has been a step in the right direction. The First Step is a giant step. Though it is often taken in despair, may I realize that I must be drained of hope before I can be refilled with fresh hope, sapped of willfulness before I can feel the will of God. 

Today I Will Remember … Power through powerlessness. 

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I understand that, when I allow myself to dwell on the problem, the problem will worsen. But when I dwell on the solution, the situation will improve. My problems with money today have much less significance when I focus on my recovery and continued abstinence rather than spending my time wishing I had no debts. My past grand illusions of debt-free wealth are today just that: illusions. My happiness today depends on my acceptance of the financial burdens I have created and the plans I have to repay them in some reasonable fashion.

Do I understand that my patience in these matters is an important ingredient of my recovery?

Today I Pray…May I remember that my life took many turns for the worse - over a long period of time. My recovery will follow a similar process in reverse, taking many turns for the better over a long period of time.

Today I Will Remember … My shortcomings are long only if I let them linger.

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It was far easier for me to accept my powerlessness over gambling than it was for me to accept the notion that some sort of Higher Power could accomplish what I had been unable to accomplish myself. Simply by seeking help and accepting the fellowship of others similarly afflicted, the craving left me. And I realized that, if I was doing what I was powerless alone to do, then surely I was doing so by some Power outside my own that was obviously greater.

Have I surrendered my life into the hands of God?

Today I Pray … May God erase in me the arrogant pride that keeps me from listening to Him. May my unhealthy dependence on gam bling and my clinging dependence on those nearby be transformed into reliance on God. Only in this kind of dependence/reliance on a Higher Power will I find my own transformation.

Today I Will Remember … I am God-dependent.

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If we are determined to stop gambling, there must be no reservations whatsoever, nor any lurking notion that our obsession will someday reverse itself. Our regeneration comes through the splendid paradox of the Twelve Steps: strength arises from complete defeat, and the loss of one's old life is a condition for finding a new one.

Am I convinced that in powerlessness, power comes? Am I certain that, by releasing my life and will, I am released?

Today I Pray … May I know power through powerlessness, victory through surrender, triumph through defeat. May I learn to relinquish any trace of secret pride that I can "do it by myself." Let my will be absorbed and steered by the omnipotent will of God.

Today I Will Remember … Let go and let God.

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