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GIVING - THANKS SCREEN:
MODEL # 3
As
Thanksgiving quickly approaches, my reviewing-the-year-thoughts have started in
earnest. Asking myself what progress has
been made on personal goals and new year’s resolutions (made months ago), the
idea to reformat a diagnostic tool into a Giving-Thanks
Screen began to take shape.
That was seven years ago – 2011 – and there was very
positive feedback from the recovering community. Last fall, in Post 100, I wrote, “Recently, it has crossed my mind that
being thankful, as well as proactively looking for reasons to be thankful,
provide very effective antidotes for maintaining recovery-strength and serenity.” Indeed, gratitude is recognizing both the
little (immediate) and the big (wider range) pictures. Being thankful keeps us balanced between an
ever-present search for satisfaction/comfort/happiness and a perpetual sense of
fear/anger/hopelessness.
At the Mid-Central Disordered Gambling Symposium
held last month in Indiana, the focus was on
the family. Over two days, we
continued to hear not only recovery testimonies from gamblers but also from
family members, who have their own recovery journeys. Now with Thanksgiving Day
rapidly approaching, I offer a third
Giving-Thanks Screen.
This time, the inspiration for such a model comes
from lessons-learned and wisdom-gained
by veteran Gam-Anon members.
Definitely, the loved ones, friends, and associates of persons with
disordered gambling are impacted, as well, by the controls of a world caught in
and ruled by another’s addiction.
Obviously, finances need to be addressed and restructured. However, self-image, lifestyle, and personal
responses can, also, become severely affected.
Still, the good news is that there is hope and there is real help for recovery too!
Thus Model #3
of the Giving-Thanks Screen tests the responses of those impacted by
another’s gambling addiction.
Realistically, being co-dependent with a disordered gambler calls for
serious recovery work … but it is do-able! Gam-Anon members share encouragement and ways
to find strength, peace, confidence - and yes, security and stability.
Once more, the following items are formatted as thankfulness questions. As I have said before: prayerfully, each will
not only provide progress-assessments,
but also measurable reasons to give thanks!
1. Do
you give thanks for having recognizable – and do-able – priorities?
2. Are
you thankful for days and nights not controlled
by fear?
3. Are
you grateful for Gam-Anon Meetings wherein you can learn from others and share
your own lessons-learned, as well?
4. Do
you, thankfully, practice letting go of the things
you cannot change?
5. Are
you thankful for the growing relationship you have with your Higher Power?
6. Is
your day spent in a mode of thanks-living now that you are experiencing a
better sense of balance and control in your life?
7. Do
you experience thankfulness for new-found ways of honestly expressing yourself
and having the assurance and courage to speak your own opinions?
8. Are
you grateful for ways in which you are caring for yourself in body, mind, and
spirit?
9. Do
you feel thankful for active experiences in new involvements outside of your
home?
10. Do
you give thanks for moments of humor, times of glass-full optimism, and a
growing sense of peace?
11. Are
you grateful for being able to accept the acceptance of what you can change and what you cannot?
Once
again, do you tell yourself THANK YOU!
for
saying
YES
to RECOVERY?
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING
BE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED!!!
Blessings,
Rev. Janet Jacobs,
CCGSO
Founding Director
Gambling Recovery
Ministries
For
more information on problem gambling and recovery issues, visit:
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