Delusional Thinking

"When Price was arrested, he was supposed to have told the detectives that he was confident of recovering that amount if he could gamble for one more week on horses." This is a quote from a recent news article regarding a bank embezzlement in Nova Scotia, Canada. The amount this man was convicted of stealing was $10,000,000 and he thought he could win that money back in one week so goes the mind of a compulsive gambler. Yes, he is a compulsive gambler and stole the money to feed his gambling habit on the horses and on-line casinos.

The normal person certainly does not understand this type of thinking but I do because I am not normal when it comes to gambling. The thought of the elusive one big win so we can stop the madness is on the mind of every compulsive gambler. Unfortunately there is NOT a win big enough for a compulsive gambler to stop gambling. The worst thing that happened to me when I was gambling was to win because it prolonged the agony. It is a never ending cycle which for some people (me included) ends in dire consequences.

This man from Canada was sentenced to 12 years in prison and will most likely serve 5 or 6 years based on his behavior in prison. He was very brazen in his crime because he left and I.O.U. note in the bank vault after he took the money. He honestly thought he could win the money and put the money back so no one would get hurt. It didn't work out this way and usually never works out this way. He stole $7 million from the bank and $3.3 million from various investors. I think the money is all gone and this story is very similar to the Owning Mahowny film based on the crimes of another Canandian Brian Mahowny. His amount was very similar and so was the sentence.

Is there a genetic predisposition for some people when they are presented with the right circumstances that makes them more susceptible to compulsive gambling. Maybe and based on my own experience I have always been fascinated with gambling even when I was a child. I worked at a racetrack when I was in college as a teller. I came in contact with all types of people while I worked at the racetrack and later on when I started to work for the casinos. But I never ever looked deep into myself and thought there was no difference between me and many of the customers at the racetrack and casinos. My arrogance was astonishing because I could not be like "those" people I thought I was smarter.

Well I am here to tell anyone intelligence has nothing to do with being better than anyone else. We are all created equal; no matter our race, creed, color, societal status we are all HUMAN BEINGS. Human beings are flawed individuals because I can speak with great confidence on this subject because I am flawed. I am no smarter than the next person and each day my humility grows. Humility is not a flaw it is a virtue; arrogance is a flaw and I am trying to remove this characteristic from my being. Yes, I seem to learn the hard way about most things but the key is to LEARN and not forget. I can't go back to my old ways because there won't be any recovery left.