Getting Past Gambling

A place to come and share experiences, to find support and strength, for those of us who are putting gambling behind us and finding new exciting and happier ways to live our lives.
" You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing."
*Dale Carnegie {1888-1955 American Author & Achievement Expert}


Friday, December 31, 2004

GO FOR PASSION!

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life."
-- Frederico Fellini


How do you ration your passion?
In what situations have you experienced your life to the fullest? Do you live your passion as fully as you can? How do you limit your experience of passion?
Passion emerges when your essence expresses itself. How do you stop yourself from fully expressing who you are?
"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."

-- Henri Frederic Amiel

"We could hardly wait to get up in the morning."
-- Wilbur Wright

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Be aware of your motives

"Ordinarily, everything we do is in our self-interest. Everything."
-- Anthony de Mello


"Remember, most of the things you think you need are ego trips designed to bolster your image and your perception of security.... You'll waste a lot of energy satisfying your ego only to find that, as soon as it's got what it wants, it ignores all your efforts and promptly nails another list of demands to your forehead. The ego will always try to force you to slave for its vision. I wouldn't stand for that BS if I were you."
-- Stuart Wilde


"We have no need to teach pure motives to the mind. All that is necessary to make the mind pure is to undo the negative conditioning to which it has been subjected; then we will be left with pure, unconditioned awareness."
-- Eknath Easwaran

BELIEVE IN YOUR OWN SUCCESS

"What you believe yourself to be, you are."
-- Claude M. Bristol


Do you believe, deep down inside of you, that you can succeed in what you want to do?
Beliefs are strong, and they have the power to attract what is believed to us. If we doubt our ability to succeed, if we in fact believe we WON'T succeed, then sure enough, that’s what will happen.
What do you believe about yourself? You have the power to change your beliefs, and that will change your outcome. Set goals you believe you can accomplish. Your beliefs will shape your actions. As you achieve these goals, you'll begin to believe you are capable of succeeding and of doing even more.
"It is better to believe than to disbelieve; in so doing you bring everything to the realm of possibility."
-- Albert Einstein


"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution."
-- Dr. David Schwartz

Sunday, December 26, 2004

ONE STEP AT A TIME

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step."
-- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Does the prospect of changing and growing seem monumental to you? Just too much to tackle?
Then consider this approach. Take a simple step of affirming your openness to experience more or something new. Or a different first step might be to let go of judgment by embracing the neutral. Begin to see the people, activities and things around you as neither good nor bad.
A journey is made of many small steps. Don’t focus on a far-off destination if you’re not clear how to get there. Build a foundation that is solid for you. We get to new places one step at a time.
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time."

Thursday, December 23, 2004

ARE YOU AFRAID TO BE DIFFERENT


On the path of evolution, we move from being a willing and obedient member of the group to wanting to take control over our own lives. This is a necessary but difficult transition.
Andrew Schneider says, "At this point we are afraid of being ourselves. We are afraid of being unique and different. We are afraid of being individually powerful, and even successful. For all of these things stand against the old ways that told us that conformity was right and individualism was wrong.


"For as long as we possibly can, we make a compromise. We try to live both lives - the dependent tribal life and the independent personal life - as contradictory and opposite as they are.

"We want approval from others. We want to be accepted and popular. We seek this comfort to overcome our fear and feel more secure. ...So, at times when we conform, we don’t feel the fear of living. But we might lose the new sense of adventure, discovery, daring and enthusiasm for life that the questioning and questing have brought us."

"Nature never repeats herself, and the possibilities of one human soul will never be found in another."
-- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what's urgent, learn to focus on what is really important."
-- Stephen Covey


Time management is all about making decisions. At each step of the way, we want to choose activities that best support what we want to do with our lives. To do this, we need to be clear about our short and long-term goals.
Here’s a general question to ask yourself often: "Is this the best use of my time in terms of meeting my goals?" Sometimes, of course, we don't have any choice. But ask yourself honestly, "Could I take more control if I really wanted to?" Often, we play the victim because we don't want to make the effort to change our behaviour.


"Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.'"
-- Lao-Tzu

Friday, December 17, 2004

DAILY GURU

Friday 17th Of December 2004

Another way to speed up your quest for spiritual enlightenment is the practice of giving thanks. When you give thanks throughout the day, you are sending a signal to your subconscious mind that you have plenty.

When the subconscious mind believes it has plenty, it will always project a world of plenty, but if it believes in a world of lack and poverty, it will project a world full of little.

The world which God created is a world which lacks nothing. It is bountiful and eternal, and when you start to have a mindset which believes you are prosperous, you are aligning your mind to be in line with the universal principles that God created. Then, and only then, will your mind return back to its natural state and you will marvel at the marvellous new world which will appear before your very eyes.

So we come back to that old saying. Is the glass half empty, or is it half full. Its all how you see things, and when you see things in this way, you then make it your reality. The only difference is, the world of lack and poverty that you create is an illusion, and Gods world is the Truth.

DAILY GURU

Thursday 16th Of December 2004

Make a decision to change your life right now. Become a better person. Get fitter. Lose that unwanted weight. Give up those old destructive habits. Do more spiritual work. Meditate more.

I don't know what you actually need to become a better person, but I am sure there is something everyone can do every day to advance a little more in their lives. The journey to wholeness is a lifelong process and can be very enjoyable if you are headed in the right direction.

We were put on this planet to realise our true potential and it is through betterment of ourselves, that the truth of who we really are starts to dawn upon us. As Wayne Dyer says, we are spirits having a human experience, not humans having a spiritual experience.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

DAILY GURU

Wednesday 15th Of December 2004

Do you want to experience real love?

The best and fastest way to achieve this lofty state of being, is you must first learn to give love. In the giving, you will receive. The love must pass through you, then out of you, then outwards.

In reality, you can only give love to yourself, no one can give you love. That is why, when you chase it externally, you will always be dismally disappointed.

When you start to give love freely and unconditionally, it will start to flow in and out of you continuously, without end.

Love has no end. Love is real. What is real is eternal. Everything else is an illusion.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

DAILY GURU

Tuesday 14th Of December 2004

The world is a mirror of your belief system. What do you believe? Do you believe in a world of lack and limitation? Or do you believe in prosperity and abundance. Whichever one is more dominant in your thinking, will usually be reflected outwards into the world.

Inspect your mind constantly. Cleaning out old belief systems is a second by second process. Be vigilant for beliefs and thoughts that don't support your quest for the spiritual life.

Thoughts are like thieves. They enter the mind unnoticed and then start to steal all your spiritual energy. The way to get rid of them is to be constantly alert to when they enter the mind. Consciousness of these thoughts, instantly makes them disappear.

It is said, that the light casts out all darkness. Your job then, is to let more light in. Light is another word for being more conscious

Monday, December 13, 2004

DAILY GURU

Monday 13th Of December 2004

Habits can be a two edged sword. Some can be good for you, and some can be bad.

Which habits would you like to get rid of?
Its very easy. Simply replace the bad with the good. Bad habits use the same amount of energy as good habits, so you may as well have good habits. For example, instead of sitting around all night watching TV on the lounge, get up and do some stretching. Make light exercise your habit. Instead of watching useless news programs, read an inspirational book.

You can do much to change your negative habits, it's just a matter of recognising them and replacing them with positive ones.

You must also start to take positive action. Change one thing at a time. Don't try to do everything in one go. You cannot succeed like this.

You must tilt the scale slowly, otherwise you will fail.But above all else, as Nike says, Just Do It.

Saturday, December 11, 2004

DAILY GURU

Saturday 11th Of December 2004

What is the gap?

The gap is the infinite moment that is present in between two thoughts. It is a moment that once immersed in, leads to infinity and enlightenment. The gap is the place where you will no longer believe in God, but in fact know Him.
How do I enter the gap?I

t is a moment by moment decision, that you not be immersed in past or future thoughts. A single moment in the gap is enough to free you of a lifetime of sin. Y

ou have become lost, and have forgotten the way home, but fear no more, it can be found in the present moment anytime you make a wholehearted decision to do so.

It is like a forgotten song which you knew long ago, but is now a very faint memory. A miniscule of a second in the gap will restore your memory completely and you will hear the angels of heaven singing for ever and ever.

You will become immortal.

Friday, December 10, 2004

DAILY GURU

Friday 10th Of December 2004

Do you really yearn to be enlightened?

Well here's the formula.Forget about the past, and don't think about the future.

That's it! It's really that simple. The present moment, is the only point in time, you will ever have a chance of entering the kingdom of heaven.

You will not be allowed to bring any baggage with you, because the present moment is such a fine, tight line and such a narrow path, that you must be spiritually and psychologically thin to enter.

Don't worry about going to monasteries for weeks on end to be in silence. Forget about those long sessions of yoga. Forget about going to church every week. All these things will make no difference in your quest for enlightenment.

The present moment is the only key there is. You must enter the gap. It is a moment by moment decision that you must make, until one day, you will be engulfed in the present moment totally. The past and the future will fall away, like chains attached to your legs.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Thursday 9th Of December 2004

You must take responsibility for where you are at this point in your life. Every decision you have ever made has brought you here.

When you were created, you were given choices, and those choices have moulded your life up until this point. Do not blame anyone else for your failures! Nor should you praise anyone for your successes!

You have the power to move mountains. You also have the power to create hell for yourself. It has always been your choice, but most people blame others, or something outside of themselves.

Your life has been made up from billions of tiny little decisions. To reverse the process, you must start to change those tiny little decisions, and over time, baby step by baby step, you will learn to stand up on solid foundations. You will become solid as a rock. Unshakeable.

Start today. It is never too late.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

DAILY GURU

Wednesday 8th Of December 2004

What is sin?The real meaning of sin, is to miss the mark, or to not get the message or lesson, presented in any situation.

Every time you repeat your mistakes, you sin, not because it is bad to sin, but because you missed another opportunity to learn the lesson presented and move up to a higher plane of consciousness.

Remember this. Next time you are faced with a challenge, ask yourself, do I want to learn the lesson presented here, or do I want to remain amidst the pain which this situation keeps me in?

Take the higher path.All the angels at the gates of heaven will be rejoicing in your decision.

DAILY GURU

Tuesday 7th Of December 2004

Do you want to have a job that is much easier? Then you must find a job you love. Most people work and live from day to day without passion and zest. The secret to a happy and productive career is finding something that ignites your juices.

You were born to create. You were born to extend your spirit into this world. You were born in the image of God to reflect the spirit within. Find a job that allows you to express your God given talents, and you will never want for anything again.As the saying goes.

Do what you love, and all shall be added to you.

When you have a job or hobby that you love, you come to life, your senses are awakened and your creativity is reborn. You will become a child again. When you are a child, you will know what its like, to be in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Monday, December 06, 2004

DAILY GURU

Monday 6th Of December 2004

Your world is shaped by the words that come out of your mouth.

Jesus said two thousand years ago, that its not what you put in your mouth that make people sick, its what comes out of it.

The reason for this is, that whatever you talk about you believe in, which in turn strengthens your belief system, especially when you tell someone else, the belief becomes even stronger.

When two minds are joined in one belief, the belief becomes so strong, it then becomes reality.

Watch what you say very carefully..what you say, is what you reap.

Saturday, December 04, 2004

DAILY GURU

Saturday 4th Of December 2004

You are the master of your own destiny. You and you alone shape and mould the world you live in. If this were not true, you would be a mere mortal controlled by the external world, like a feather in the wind, blown this way and that way.

But this is not the case. You are the master of your own ship.

When you realize this, you will never blame another, because not only are you the master of your own destiny, you are the master of your own emotions. There is no one inside of you, to control you, except you.

But you must realize this, because this realization is the first step in self liberation. Isn't this liberating? To realize that you never have to blame another again. You can move forward now, in complete confidence.

Remember this..what you focus on expands, so start focusing on where you want to be, instead of blaming the world for where you are, because whatever you focus on will eventually engulf you.

DAILY GURU

Friday 3rd Of December 2004

Want to know a little secret?

It takes as much energy to be rich, as it takes to be poor, or to be sick or healthy.
Both the negative and the positive conditions need universal energy to be manifested..It is your choice.

When you watch a movie on television, it takes the same electricity to play the movie, regardless of the content of the movie.

It is the same with our lives in general. You are today where you want to be, because of the movies you've decided to play in your head.

You can decide right now to change the movie..it's up to you!

Thursday, December 02, 2004

DAILY GURU

Thursday 2nd Of December 2004

When you are focused and have a goal in mind, the Universe makes way for things to happen, in a certain way, which may seem miraculous at first.

You don't have to be concerned with the details of how to get there, or how things will happen. You only have to have a goal. The way to achieve this goal, is not your concern, it will all fall into place...This process is called "synchronicity".

When you are in tune with the Universe, and in tune with your self, everything is taken care of for you. Everything will happen in a perfect way.

You were born to set goals..not for the goal as an end in itself, but so you can marvel at how it all unfolds, and how the Universe wants you to know how powerful you are.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

DAILY GURU

Wednesday 1st Of December 2004

What would you do with your life if you knew it was impossible to fail? Would you change the way you looked at the world? Of course you would! You would realise, the sky is the limit. You can have, be and do everything you'd ever imagined.

The only reason why most people are where they are at, presently, is because of fear of failure.

Today, go out into the world and do something differently, and do it as though you cannot fail.failure is a choice, so is success. You will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome..Most people place limitations on themselves.

Today, try raising the bar another notch. Extend yourself. Push the envelope. Learn to fly. You are a caterpillar, becoming a butterfly.