Circumstances and More...

Alright so much for me dedicating a few minutes each day to writing; there were a set of circumstances that preventing me from sitting down. One of these circumstances had my laptop put on resuscitation measures since it crashed very hard and was out of commission for almost one week. The timing was very suspect in all of this because the laptop turned one year old and with it the warranty expired and wouldn’t you know it the very next day after receiving notification of the warranty expiring the laptop crashed; coincidence or a vast conspiracy??? I am not one who is big on conspiracy theories but I am also not into coincidences so I guess it fell somewhere in between!! Additionally I could have used our regular computer but I just didn’t allocate the time to sit down and write these past 10 days and I do apologize.

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s and by the way if anyone really cares what is happening in my life they can always find my Facebook page which gives a snapshot usually on a daily basis. Mother’s Day was extremely nice as we joined our dear friends for an afternoon on the beach. We arrived a little later than planned (but really with us we always seem to be behind schedule!) however; the afternoon was great with a picnic on the beach and a Scrabble game for the adults. The children were very brave and went in the water while the adults watched from a far. The interesting thing about the beaches in Southern California is the air temperature which seems to drop precipitously as the afternoon went on; I was very cold as the sun was setting but the children were having a grand old time splashing around in the water; oh to be young again!!

Mother’s Day did mark another “first” for me as I was finally able to be with my wife on Mother’s day for the first time since 2006 yes, there were two Mother’s Days I missed and I think that concludes the “first” events as life moves along at a very rapid pace. Life maybe moving on at a rapid pace but each day is so enjoyable. I do marvel at how well everything is progressing and yes, this is a direct result of recovery. In the past few weeks I have noticed a few of my friends struggle with their daily lives and the stresses of life inevitably seem to creep up on them. I constantly remind myself to “stay in the moment” and yes, enjoy each and every moment as they occur. I have never had the clarity I have had and this is another direct result of recovery.

Speaking of recovery this past week I concluded my “counseling” sessions with one of our clients at work. Yes, I had the honor and pleasure of sitting with a fellow compulsive gambler three times a week for at least an hour each time (we always went well past the hour). This was so rewarding and I was certainly blessed with the right “client” as he certainly had a very good foundation prior to my “guidance”!! I wouldn’t say it was a counseling session as much as it was reinforcing the principles of the Gamblers Anonymous Program. I went through an excellent resource provided by GA and this was the basis of our sessions.

I am beyond fortunate to have been able to assist in any way I could and really this helped me as much maybe even more than it helped the other person. I did enjoy those sessions and I pray that this person truly “walks the walk” because they had the “talk” down from the onset. I did take a cue from our Clinical Director asking on a scale of zero to ten with zero being “never to gamble again” and ten being “yes, I will gamble again”; the answer I received was a very heartfelt “ZERO!” According to our Clinical Director this is a very good indicator that the person will do very well as they move forward in recovery. Yes, I did my best and it wasn’t very difficult at all; I just instilled the things that have been passed down to me from some of the long time members and newer members of GA. It was very cool to have this opportunity and the best part is I made a friend in the process; recovery is indeed wonderful.

The children are doing very well; yes, my daughter has completed her softball season and won’t be on the All-Stars because she couldn’t commit to the full schedule; this is just as well and even though she was a little taken a back she has gotten over it very quickly. My son continues with his baseball season and last week I had arranged a private session for the team with a professional baseball player. The team really enjoyed the lesson but the very next day they went out and promptly lost not being able to hit anything!! I don’t believe it had anything to do with the private lesson but the timing was less than desirable. The great thing about 8 year olds is that the final score does not matter as much as what is the snack at the end of the game. After the snacks were devoured the game was a distance memory. I swear the adult coaches take so much more seriously than the kids!!! My son has three more games to go and then the playoffs. He also has the opportunity to make the All Star team but again since he will miss 2 ½ weeks his chances are certainly lessened.

Yesterday Wayman Tisdale passed away at the young age of 44; yes, in a few months I will be this same age. Mr. Tisdale fought a courageous battle with cancer over the past two years before losing that battle. I am writing this because I followed his career for the past 20 years. He was a star college basketball player and went on to have a very solid professional career but that isn’t the half of it; he was a very accomplished jazz musician making several very popular albums. I have listened to some of those albums and they are incredible. I do remember his college playing days and I must say there was something different about his style compared to his contemporaries and now I understand why. He wasn’t about being a star basketball player he was about being himself. He did make great music and I am very saddened by his loss. This does reiterate to me the need to enjoy every moment because it is all fleeting. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring but I do know today is a gift. I continue to enjoy these gifts one at a time as I move forward in recovery; yes, it is a wonderful life through an through!!

Softball Controversy Averted

It was brought to my attention earlier today that when I started this blog over 4 years ago my posts were short but I did post daily. Then as I progressed my posts became longer and now I am posting on a weekly basis. The most important part of this conversation was the fact that this blog is all part of my recovery and I must not lose focus. I have become very busy with life over the past few months and this is a very good thing and I thought only posting once a week would be beneficial but after thinking about it this is part of my recovery and I must do a better job of "finding" the time to work an integral part of my recovery.

I am not sure what this has to do with recovery but I do know recovery allows me to have an incredible life!! Over the weekend which was once again filled with softball and baseball games and even a few Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Saturday morning brought me to the Saturday morning GA meeting to help celebrate two very special birthdays. My very dear friend was celebrating 5 years in the program along with another friend who was celebrating 3 years. I had the honor and privilige to Chair the meeting and the meeting went exceptionally well. We do have a tendency in our little group to have "marathon" type meetings but not Saturday as I employed my Monday Speaker's meeting philosophy as the meeting ended in one hour. This seemed to work well and hopefully I didn't offend anyone. I do believe having structure assists the meetings and also assists recovery. I was very happy I attended the meeting and very happy to consider the incredible people celebrating my dear friends.

After the meeting I found myself at my son's baseball game and his team did very well. My son's confidence continues to grow and grow and striking out seems to be in the past. He is now regularly hitting off the pitcher and not waiting for the four balls so he can hit off the coach. He did go only 1 for 3 dropping his batting average below .500 for the first time in a few games. I was shocked to see that my son was the third leading hitter on his team but more importantly he is enjoying himself.

As my son's game ended we made our made to my daughter's game. This was a do or die game for my daughter's team as they faced elimination from the season ending tournament. The game didn't start out so well but my daughter did save her very best for last. She hit a triple in her first at bat driving in one run and that was the only run for the first two innings as her team fell behind 9-1. My daughter entered the game as the pitcher at this point and had the team's first "one two three" inning all season. She was beaming from ear to ear as her team made the plays they didn't seem to make all year. She bounced off the field and into the dugout with such enthusiasm it is ashamed her team ended up on the losing side of the ledger. With that her season ended and I really just wanted her to have one more game because it seemed everything had come together; oh well there will be more games in the near future.

On Sunday morning the tryouts for the All Star game ensued and even though my daughter would miss half of the All Star season she still tried out for the team. It would have been a bit interesting to see if she would have made the team if she wasn't going to miss so many games and practices. She did tryout very well but later on we did learn that she wasn't even considered because of the time she would miss. There seemed to be a very big controversy surrounding the selection process and I believe it was very fortunate my daughter wasn't being considered; had she been considered I do wonder what would have happened because as her coach told me she is a phenomenal player with a huge heart. My daughter was a bit disappointed she didn't make the team but was consoled when I told her what her coach had to say.

Life is moving so quickly and these days are like rapid fire but I am enjoying every moment. Work is going so well and I get to incorporate my recovery principles on a daily basis and I also get to be counselor for the next two weeks. This is wonderful and so rewarding; I am invigorated with these sessions but I must say I am blessed to have a "client" who really understands the basis of recovering from a compulsive gambling addiction. Our hour whizzes by and lately I am running over which is very positive. Life moves in mysterious ways and I love those mysteries of life especially through recovery.