GA--Program Note

Apparently all of the blog sites were down for a few hours yesterday afternoon and evening. I apologize to those who tried to get on the blog but were unsuccessful. I don't know what had happened but I do know all of the blogs were down.

Tonight is my second to last Intergroup meeting with Gamblers Anonymous. Intergroup is the business side of GA and it meets the first Tuesday of every month. It is my second to last meeting because my term as Co-Secretary of the Saturday morning meeting is up at the end of the month. The Secretarial Chairs rotate every six months so new people can give their service to the Program. It is a great rule because everyone brings something different to a meeting and it keeps the Program from stagnating. I have enjoyed my six months and look forward to serving in the near future. I will not volunteer for any other meeting because of the uncertainty of where I will be in the next six months and it wouldn't be fair to someone who was interested in assisting the Program.

I don't know how other groups within Gamblers Anonymous operate I only know my area and I must say we have a very special group of people. I have met young people and older people. I have met White, Black, Hispanic, Oriental and other ethnic persuasions. I have met rich, poor and middle class people. It is truly amazing how special our group in Gamblers Anonymous is to me. They are all wonderful people and really want to help others who are suffering with a gambling problem. I am so happy I have joined this group and I will forever be in their debt. They are saving me from committing the same mistakes I have made in the past.

I always thought I was smart enough to stop gambling on my own but I only fooled myself. Each time it got progressively worse and the next stop is death. I don't want to die and for this I thank Gamblers Anonymous for saving my life.

I know the Program is not for everyone and some people do have to learn the hard way like myself but it is a very simple program in its design; People helping people with their gambling addiction by abstaining from gambling and following the twelve steps of recovery. If someone follows this program there is NO way they can gamble today and today becomes a lifetime. No one (including myself) likes to be told what to do but there comes a point in life where we all have to make choices and hopefully these choices are the correct ones. Nine months and one week ago I made the choice to attend the Saturday morning Gamblers Anonymous meeting and my life has changed for the better.

Tomorrow morning I am driving back to Las Vegas to attend the National Council for RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING annual conference. I will be there until Friday so there will not be any postings until Friday and this will be a recap on the conference. I must talk about one segment of this program and it is called; "The Harm Reduction Debate, Should Abstinence Be the Only Goal for Addiction Treatment?" I find the concept of "harm reduction" very interesting; to me this means yes, there is harm when some people gamble so the clinician will try to minimize not eliminate the harm. I guess for some and even myself I tried to minimize the harm for a number of years but I never fully addressed my addiction and it lead to major harm not only of myself but to my family.

I was unwillingly to admit I had a problem with gambling and until I admitted this there was nothing but problems. There are many people out there right now in denial of their gambling problem and some will commit crimes, some will lose their families, some will lose their houses, some will lose their lives. I cannot save anyone but myself and hopefully my story will help one person seek the treatment they so need to recover from their gambling problem. Yes, there is life after gambling and it is a good life with a true sense of purpose.

Program note; please tune into Al Roker's Investigates Kids, Cards, and Dice program on Court TV at 8:00 pm Pacific and Eastern Time on Cable and 9:00 pm Pacific Time on Directv and Dish Network Thursday December 8th. I would like to hear some feedback on this program, thank you.