Over 1,300 Years of Recovery!!!

I am an incredibly fortunate person to be associated with a phenomenal program in Gamblers Anonymous. Yesterday I had what can be called a “GA Day”. I attended the regular Saturday morning meeting which was fantastic and later on I drove with another exceptional member some 80 miles to a GA love fest. It was a love fest because three superior members were each celebrating their 25th year in Gamblers Anonymous. I knew one of the celebrants very well and knew of the other two celebrants. I went for the person I knew well but really I went because it is all a part of my recovery.

Over three years ago when “it” all happened I knew I needed help with my illness. I also knew there wouldn’t be any short-cuts to recovery because I had been battling my compulsive gambling addiction all of my adult life. I immersed myself in recovery and in GA. As I was doing this I met and continue to meet so many extraordinary people who help me with my recovery. When I entered the program I wanted to speak with people who had considerable time in GA and find out how they had done it.

I have been fortunate to meet people with a great deal of time in GA some with 20, 30 and 40 years of recovery. I wanted what they have and thankfully these incredible people were willing to give it away. I absorbed as much as possible early on in the program and came across one of the celebrants last night. Three years ago this celebrant was kind enough to take me to an amazingly spiritual meeting in the same location of last night’s meeting. I will not forget that meeting three years ago which was held in a church basement with so much recovery in the room.

Last night recovery was bountiful from the dinner at the Chinese restaurant to the actual meeting itself. There had to be over 50 GA members at the restaurant which may have overwhelmed the staff because it took almost two hours to receive our food. The principles of the program were surely tested during this time period but I know for myself the lack of service did not faze me whatsoever. My tolerance and patience levels have increased since my incarceration and I didn’t even have to call on the Serenity Prayer as we were waiting for our food. I mostly sat there and took it all in with a smile on my face.

I was surrounded by so many people who truly understand GA and I was hoping some of it would rub off on me. I couldn’t help but to be extremely happy the entire evening. I have come a long way in the past three years and I love the direction my life is taking. I met so many wonderful people and I met others who had gone through the same things I have gone through. As much as I would like to think I am unique; quite simply I am not unique. There were others who spent time in prison and most of them had spent more time then me. I am exceedingly fortunate in this regard.

The dinner was over and it was time to go to the meeting. The meeting couldn’t be held in the usual location of the church’s basement because there were too many attendees. Instead of being in the church basement the meeting took place upstairs in a much larger room. One hundred chairs were set out and those chairs were filled and twelve people had to stand. Yes, that is correct 112 people were in attendance which is by far and away the biggest GA meeting I had ever attended. Not only were there 112 people in attendance there was a substantial number of years in recovery represented in all of the attendees. Someone calculated that there was over 1,300 years of recovery in the room. Wow; this amounts to over 11 years of recovery per person which is astonishing when you consider the fact there were two brand new attendees who were at their first meeting.

I was in awe of the room and fellowship which ensued for over three hours. I did not mind that the meeting took over three hours because I did my best to absorb each word that was said. Since there was such a big crowd everyone’s sharing was limited to two minutes and most of the time was spent on praising the birthday people. I was no exception and I must state I was a bit nervous when I spoke.

If I want to pursue a career in public speaking I need to become more comfortable and know what I am going to say before I stand in front of the group. I wanted to address the newcomers but I was so nervous of running over the allotted two minutes I concentrated on the birthday people most notably my friend. It is odd because I have no problem standing in front any group no matter the size but for some reason I felt a little intimidated last night. I believe I was overwhelmed with all the “seasoned veterans” of recovery. There was no need for me to be nervous because there are the nicest people I have ever encountered in my life. They do “get” the program and are all givers in the highest order. I do aspire to be like this and going to these types of meetings is the right thing to do.

Someone mentioned the slogan “do the right things” and this really sums up the GA Program. It is a program of honesty, openness and willingness and this person went on to say that doing the right thing is ALWAYS doing the right thing. This is so simple but so powerful. It isn’t about perception it about reality and the key for me is to do the right things even when no one is in sight. If I am true to myself and true to the program I walk the talk since actions speak louder then words.

I do believe this was a huge problem for me when I was gambling as my sense of logic was completely distorted. I would do the right things when everyone was looking but when they weren’t looking I lied, cheated and stole. Thankfully with my Higher Power’s help and GA’s help these days are long gone. If there is a piece of trash on the ground I pick it up even though no one is around and this may sound too simplistic but it is working very well for me.

I was able to spend three hours in the car as we drove to and from the meeting with this other exceptional member who I consider friend. The common characteristic of the three birthday celebrants was giving back to the program which is why people came from all across North America to celebrate these birthdays. I had a fantastic evening and I am so happy I made the decision to enter that GA room over three years ago because my life has changed for the positive in every aspect.