27-12-2009, 12:09 PM
Hi Luke,
Thankyou for your post. You do not say if you are attending meetings or not - I hope you are - as they say "meetings make it". You may ask, "make what"? The answer is that meetings make it easier. Many meetings make it easier, a few meetings make it diificult and no meetings make it almost impossible. Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship. Enjoy that fellowship by attending meetings. Participate in the fellowship and get your recovery going down the right track. Step One says "We admitted we were powerless over gambling - that our lives had become unmanageable". Instead of thinking about beating the bookie, think about attending your next meeting and asking the members there about how "acceptance is the key".
Only by admitting defeat (a compulsive gambler cannot win) can we begin to rebuild our lives. By clinging on to the dream that there must be a way to make it pay, by thinking that maybe we were not compulsive just unlucky, by supposing that had we had a larger stake we would have been alright............. These thoughts (and ones similar) can only make things harder for us and (if we act on them) ultimately lead us back to gambling.
You did well. A compulsive gambler with money in his pocket (or her purse) who does not place a bet is doing well indeed. Use of a telephone list (you can get one at your local meeting - talk to the secretary) can help - just like you called your friend. Compulsive gamblers who have given you their number will be glad to hear from you. It can help them as well as you.
Remember there is no substitute for meetings. MEETINGS MAKE IT
Yours in GA unity
"Poster" David
Thankyou for your post. You do not say if you are attending meetings or not - I hope you are - as they say "meetings make it". You may ask, "make what"? The answer is that meetings make it easier. Many meetings make it easier, a few meetings make it diificult and no meetings make it almost impossible. Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship. Enjoy that fellowship by attending meetings. Participate in the fellowship and get your recovery going down the right track. Step One says "We admitted we were powerless over gambling - that our lives had become unmanageable". Instead of thinking about beating the bookie, think about attending your next meeting and asking the members there about how "acceptance is the key".
Only by admitting defeat (a compulsive gambler cannot win) can we begin to rebuild our lives. By clinging on to the dream that there must be a way to make it pay, by thinking that maybe we were not compulsive just unlucky, by supposing that had we had a larger stake we would have been alright............. These thoughts (and ones similar) can only make things harder for us and (if we act on them) ultimately lead us back to gambling.
You did well. A compulsive gambler with money in his pocket (or her purse) who does not place a bet is doing well indeed. Use of a telephone list (you can get one at your local meeting - talk to the secretary) can help - just like you called your friend. Compulsive gamblers who have given you their number will be glad to hear from you. It can help them as well as you.
Remember there is no substitute for meetings. MEETINGS MAKE IT
Yours in GA unity
"Poster" David