The Last First Tuesday

I have written about this a few times before but tonight will be my last first Tuesday of the month Gamblers Anonymous Intergroup Meeting. Even though my secretarialship term expired in January of this year I have maintained my Intergroup representative status. I have volunteered my time for another Secretary who leads the Tuesday night group. It works out well because I get to be in the company of some great people who are in recovery from this horrible addiction and the Secretary for the Tuesday meeting gets to lead the meeting. It is a win-win situation for everyone.

Even though this is a "business" meeting of GA I do enjoy the fellowship. A huge part of the Program for me is the fellowship because it has helped me and continues to help me in my recovery. These are great people who volunteer their time to give back to the Program so they can share their experience, strength and hope. I am honored to be in their company.

Sometimes these meetings can get long and even sometimes a bit boring but it is the fellowship that keeps bringing me back. I will miss these meetings because they have given me strength and hope. I am still working on the experience part because having only 13 months in the Program makes me a virtual rookie in the area of recovery. I do love to learn from some of these people who demonstrate quality abstinence.

Recovering from a compulsive gambling addiction for me is a life long process and I have learned so very much about myself in these past thirteen months it really has amazed me. I do know this learning process MUST last a life time or I am destined to make the mistakes of my past. I have no intention of ever making those mistakes but do I know I MUST be diligent each and every day because I don't want to have the feeling of being "cured" to ever make me complacent. I became complacent when I was 19 years old one year after my first warning of my compulsive gambling addiction and again when I was 29 years old one year after my second warning but went back to my old ways in the years to come. I pray to my Higher Power that I am given enough strength to ward off these feeling of complacency because no good can come of being complacent.

The people who attend the First Tuesday Intergroup Meeting of Gamblers Anonymous have hundreds of years of recovery and are NOT complacent because they are diligent about their recovery. I must stay diligent and I must learn from these remarkable people which is why I am so very blessed to attend a meeting that has helped get my life back together and most importantly save my life.