COMPULSIVE GAMBLING CAN BE STOPPED

 

COMPULSIVE GAMBLING: AN UNCONDITIONAL LOVER

The adrenaline, the euphoria, the joy of knowing you will be in action is enough to inspire any gambler to gamble again and again or no matter how much they have lost. I am not just talking about lost money. I am talking about lost health, family,and friends.

About losing everything that matters.

I gambled for over 60 years and lost it all. In the last nine years I have quit gambling and slowly rebuilt my life. Yet, I continue to long for my greatest friend and unconditional lover. Gambling.

Now, I am no longer owned by that urge. I own it. I only own it onlyday at a time. So, I stay on guard and keep working with other compulsive gamblers continually or I know I am doomed. Each day I commit to not gambling that day get to the next day without making a bet.

Compusive gambling is an incurable, lifelong disease.That is the bad news. The could new the condition can be arrested. You can stop.

It's not easy but it's much better than going to jail, an asylum, or the cemetary.

I was a very big gambler betting on sports, craps, blackjack, or anything at all everyday. I would win or lose thousands of dollars. I have lost well over a million dollars before I stopped gambling over eleven years ago in 2009.

I lost everything including my priceless soul.

The addiction of compulsive gambling is the same for all affected whether one bets nickels or millions of dollars.We are powerless. Gamblers cannot stop. Help is needed.

The help comes from joining Gamblers Anonymous (GA) which is a totally free fellowship..

No one stops gambling on their own permanently. Will power alone will not make it. I tried many times and would stop for a few months or longer.

But, the urge to gamble waited patiently to take me down again and again I would stay abstinent for one month to three years. Eventually, I would start gambling.

I could not understand that I needed the help of other compulsive gamblers to quit gambling permanently\ I always thought I could stop on my own. I never wanted to. So, I would say I was different.

Being destroyed financially, mentally, and emotionally was not enough to stop me. . The monster inside my brain and every other compulsive gamblers brain still lives on unaffected by logic and reason. It says come back to me. I love you no matter what the circumstances are.

It says "You can do it David. You can set limits, you can avoid going out of control and just enjoy the thrill of being in action. like a normal person..”

Simultaneously, my rational mind keeps speaking the painful truth constantly saying. “you are powerless., you cannot stop gambling on your own”. My compulsive gambling mental illness is much smarter and stronger than my will.

You are doomed if you gamble David.”

I do know that now. The gambling demon in my brain does not go away. It never will.

But, the evil voice tears at my irrational mind and says "just do it.” You will be okay My logical mind needs constant reinforcement to say no to that urge everyday of my life. It says "David, you have tried to stop gambling and cannot do it alone" Go to a gamblers anonymous meeting, call your GA. friends.

My abnormal mind is a powerful, self destructive force that needs no nourishment. It never starves and is endlessly patient. It waits and waits tirelessly inside myself and inside every other compulsive gambler. It says "Come to me David. You want me"

It stalks me and tempts me like the sick, twisted, sociopath it is.

My solution, my lifelong answer came when I started to attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings regularly which are filled with people just like me. I faithfully attend GA meetings weekly, every week, no matter what else is happening. My GA meetings are the biggest responsibility I have.

Meetings come before work, family, or anything else because I know that gambling will either drive me insane, put me in jail, or kill me.

So, I know that my life depends on not gambling and I need the support of other compulsive gamblers continually. I stay abstinent by going to meetings and sharing my feelings with other gamblers whether young or old whether they have been abstinent for one day or thirty years.

I know that I need the positive reinforcement I get from being at GA meetings which are plentiful all over the country and the world. Just Google gamblers anonymous. Call the emergency phone service or have someone call for you. People who are compulsive gamblers understand each other.

I work the 12 steps of recovery with a sponsor and at group meetings. I deal with personal defects that caused me endless pain and suffering from gambling. Only from GA can I get the strength and support of others just like me who help me through each day.

Compulsive Gamblers all share the same feelings. Only other compulsive gamblers understand each other regardless of age, nationality, beliefs or any other denominator. We are all the same because we are powerless over gambling and our lives are unmanageable. It's an easy concept to understand but tough to accept and stick with. But, thousands of men and women are recovering compulsive gamblers.

Look up Gamblers Anonymous online and find out where to call and where the local meetings are in your area. Google it. There are thousands of meetings throughout the country everyday of the year.

.There is a free, twenty four hour a day non stop helpline that can be called by anyone, anytime. Try it.

I have not gambled a penny since January 9, 2009.

If I can stop anybody can.

But, only with help.

You can only but only if you don't play.

Gambling is my deadly lover who I never intend to return to.

Compulsive gambling is the devil.