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GA Area 2A - Serving Alaska & British ColumbiaIssue 008 Gam-Anon Area 18 - Serving Western Canada January 2018
GA & GAM-ANON NEWSLETTER
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday January 3 Inter-Group Meeting: 6:30 - 7:30pmTriCity Church, 2145 Nova Scotia Avenue, Port Coquitlam.
Wednesday January 3, Public Relations Committee Meeting: 1:30pmSteve W's home. 604-591-5629 cell: [email protected]
Monday January 22 Anniversary Pot Luck: Monday Noon Surrey 11:30am Regular meeting 12:00-1:00pm
After working through Step Four and uncovering our own personal truckload of guilt we must unload it and rid ourselves of it by working through Step Five. Step Five reads: "Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs." This task is sure to be ego deflating but necessary. We must talk about our defects to remove our guilt and then we must see what we were, to be able to see what we can become. Humility can be achieved in Step Five. The ability to accept defeat and realize we are not more powerful than our compulsive gambling addiction is a start to becoming humble. Being humble means we are capable of accepting our limitations and weaknesses. Our burden is lightened by admitting our defects to another human being. In Step Five we become forgiving by seeking forgiveness.
The NEW year has been traditionally known as a time for resolutions. It is considered a "fresh start". Perhaps we want to lose a few extra pounds, maybe start a fitness regime or stop smoking. No matter what we decide, New Year's resolutions are usually undertaken with good intentions but for some reason or another "fizzle" out a few days, a few weeks or a couple of months after they are begun. Is this because we lose interest or because we are just not strong enough to see it through? My NEW year and "fresh start" was not on January 1st. It began on September 25, 2013, my first day living free from the devastating grips of compulsive gambling. As a member of Gamblers Anonymous I know I cannot lose interest in this program by letting my interest "fizzle" out. I must maintain the focus that this program instills in me. My NEW years resolution is to continue to live the GA way of life, reminding me to never give in to complacency and to continue enjoying the peace and serenity I have come to know, "One Day At A Time" . June S.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
"Humility isn't denying your strengths; it's being honest about your weaknesses"Rick Warren
contact: [email protected] January 2018
WORDS OF EXPERIENCE STRENGTH AND HOPE
This past year has been a whirlwind for me. I first entered GA not quite a year ago. I have had a couple of slips and I have figured out that I never really put my energy into GA. I got a sponsor and still I never really "got it". I thought that I could still be the independent, rely on myself person. Oh how wrong I was. Gambling had taken everything away from me. I let it take away the home I owned because I felt it was more important to gamble than anything else. I felt that gambling could take away my pain and hatred towards myself. I realized after my last time gambling that I was totally out of control. With the help of my sponsor, the GA Program and the willingness to look at my life I have realized that I can't do this alone. I have come to understand that is what GA and the Higher Power is all about, that I am not alone. I need to reach out.
This year I decided I would move in with family and get control of my life and finances. I had accumulated so much debt from gambling that when I looked at it, it no longer only took away the things I worked so hard for but was also continuing to take away the life I was living free from gambling. I needed to take the control back that gambling took away from me.
I am more hopeful now than ever that I can be okay and beat this horrible disease. I owe a lot to the GA Program for opening my eyes. I am not naive enough to think I could never go back to gambling as I know I still think about it and I know how all consuming it can be. However, I also believe now if I put in a lot of effort I can beat this. I gain hope from meeting all the people in the GA Program who now seem to be happy and in control of their lives.Andrea D.
Step 4 - Character Defects/Assets. (Continuation from November Newsletter) Part 2
With studying my character defects done, I was now ready to go into my character assets. I was ready-or sort of...I thought that these were things I was going to be better at or at least more prepared to discuss out loud! Say what? Setting the bar too high is not always a good thing and setting the bar too low is the same, not necessarily a good thing either. So how do I decide then on where I should be for a long term recovery? How do I decide on where my path is? How am I to navigate my recovery?
I had all these questions and I would refer to them often. But slowly I realized that I had begun to put some trust into the 12 Sep Program. I realized too that in going forward more answers would come. I figured that to know only one side of my character was not enough, I needed to know both sides and so I continued on.
I found that my character assets were much easier to define and write about. And when I got to the end of my asset list it seemed to be way too short and I had begun using metaphors. It had become a distraction. Boy oh boy, left unchecked, at times I found myself wavering between talking about an asset and living it within a defect context. How did that happen? I needed to re-read my work. It became apparent that this step was not going to be an easy one either. I realized that Step Four was going to take a lot of work and a lot of repetition. Was that why there was a Step 10?
I liked talking talking about my "good side" or my attributes. Things came easily. What I needed to figure out however was how to turn my defects into assets. That is, to make them less effective in my daily life than they had been. For me, I found the use of an analogy to help me. I thought of how my "stubbornness" of fighting to control my disease (while in the throws of it) kept me inside my disease BUT now I could take that same "stubbornness" and put it to work in completing the 12 Step Program. Later on I would use it again with my on-going recovery to stay clean.
It was somewhere about this time I also realized that this particular kind of thinking was beginning to generate "HOPE"! Funny, how and when did that happen? Was this 12 Step Program actually going to work for me? I found a certain strength/resolve while doing this Step 4. It was a different kind of strength, one that would come in handy again while doing some of the steps yet to come.
Hey - It's time to go to a meeting tonight! Perhaps I'll see you there....Anonymous
contact: [email protected] January 2018
OUR TWELVE STEPS OF RECOVERYFROM THE GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS BOOK; "A NEW BEGINNING"
STEP 5: Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
It is suggested that this step be done shortly after completing Step Four, while the facts revealed in Step Four are still fresh in one's mind. In Step Four one can dig inside oneself, as most compulsive gamblers accumulated loads of guilt. In Step Five one can dispose of this guilt and cope with everyday problems. One can always look back, and must in making amends, but no longer do you have to live with your personal guilt bag.
Selecting someone to help you with the fifth step is the next chore. The person should fill two needs; one, they should have the experience and wisdom to help see the situation more clearly, and be a person who will keep the conversation completely confidential. Perhaps your sponsor will be the logical choice, your clergyman or a good friend - you must make the choice. Reread the fourth step and use your notes as an agenda. Honesty, open-mindedness and sincerity will make the whole thing go more smoothly. Your ego, which won't like the idea of displaying former misdeeds to another human being, will quickly accept the healthy atmosphere. You will see yourself more clearly after Step Four and this insight will remain. Self-knowledge has no bounds. Your new found serenity will enable you to calmly listen and learn. Your awareness will really accelerate. Your relief at having disposed of this guilt will be tremendous.
Humility is a very elusive trait which seems to fly away from one who seems to feel they possess it. If this be so, you must seek to become a well-adjusted person and in so doing, gain humility which one does not realize one has. Do not take this step lightly or minimize its importance. Those who have done this step feel that guilt must be disposed of, and action through this step is the proper way to do it.
Guilt disposed of as suggested, will aid you in so many ways. Self-honesty is accelerated as you clearly see your guilt. No longer will you feel unique. Rather, you will join the human race knowing that you are not alone. What the program teaches comes true. You will realize no two gamblers are alike yet none is an original. Upon entering the program, one now feels a sense of being understood. No longer will you be alone, and knowledge of this is exhilarating. As conflicts arise, however, one tends to pull away from this beautiful union. Now, the fifth step helps resolve these confl ic ts and you can say to a l l the wor ld : " I am a human being."
January 6:Gamblers Anonymous, wrote Dr. Robert L. Custer in the foreword to the Gamblers Anonymous Blue Book, is a Program of the Twelve Steps "that provides a framework of hope, structure and friendship" for those who have chosen the road to a "successful adaption to a life without gambling." He adds, "This road can be smooth or rocky, but, in any case, it is never a painless journey....." As a recovering compulsive gambler, I can face any discomfort today, knowing that the pain of recovery will never be as acute and desperate as the pain of my gambling days.Am I prepared to see each new day in the GA Program as a time for learning, growing and making healthy choices?Today I Pray: May I make prudent use of the power of choice that God has given me, to plan wisely, one day at a time, without becoming a slave to apprehension, regret, or anxiety. I pray that God's will be done through the exercising of my own will, which He, in his goodness has given me.Today I Will Remember: God wills my will to be.
This Month's Featured: REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
contact: [email protected] January 2018
Disclaimer Statement - All articles and materials published in this newsletter do not reflect the opinion of Gamblers Anonymous as a whole. All materials are submitted voluntarily by members and their identities are kept in the strictest confidence unless otherwise permitted by the individual.
GA Area 2A Intergroup - Alaska and British Columbia
Trustee Paul N. [email protected] John P. [email protected] Mary W. [email protected] Esther J. [email protected] Relations Jon C. [email protected] June S. [email protected] Bob C. [email protected] Relief Bob C. [email protected]
Gam-Anon Area 18 - Western CanadaDelegate Janet W. [email protected]
CONTACT INFORMATIONEMAIL ADDRESSES FOR TRUSTED SERVANTS
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS FOR JANUARYCELEBRANT YEARS CLEAN CELEBRATION DATE LOCATION
Jim L. 1 Tuesday January 9 North VancouverBill W. 3 Tuesday January 9 North VancouverPaul U. 1 Wednesday January 10 White RockJason O. 6 Tuesday January 16 North VancouverMichele P. 9 Monday January 22 Surrey (Noon)Donna M. 10 Wednesday January 24 White Rock
