Return to God

OK I'm back ... I've been gambling. But for whatever reason I wanted to come here and just say, that I'm ready to quit, yet again.

I'm not sure if anything or anybody can help me, but I'm iving this a shot. But for the Grace of God go I. Hopefully I will be ok. I want a life that cannot be imagined, and through all of this, I think God will lead me out to a newfound freedom that I will not be able to recognize.

A Dentist visit after 15 years!!

It's hard to say when my last dentist visit was, But it was probably sometime in the early to mid 1990's. Well, with God's help I stopped gambling, and finally made it to the dentist today... June 4th, 2008!

You know it's been a long time since you've been to the dentist, if the way they take an X-ray of your teeth is not the way in which you ever remember it being done before! It was sort of cool, I put the piece in my mouth to get a nice picture of my teeth!

Well, I can say this much.... If I was gambling, I'm not sure if I would have made this dentist visit..... I would have been trying to not go to the dentist..... Because when I gamble my life is surronded by gambling. Nothing else matters.

I did have a small problem with one tooth, and it needed to be partially filled again, but all went well. The thought crossed mind over the last week or so that....anh, I do not need to go to the dentist..... I could just gamble???? then I would numb this little toothache pain that I have.... But I know that is a lie told by the DEVIL!

I'm hoping to continue doing neccessary things in sobriety and recovery from gambling. It has been a long road, but I'm happy that God has helped me put the bet down for some time now.

I need to change even more this time around!!! The last time I stopped gambling..... from Nov. 17th, 2004- July 2007.... A lot of things in my life changed... I went back to school and received a Masters degree and I also changed careers completley!

What is going to change with my abstience and continued God recovery from gambling this time???

I do not know.... Our best years of our existence lie ahead!

The Book that DESTROYED the fellowship!

Here it is.... Take a good look at the inside page which explains this Woeful book. I think the first sentence in the first paragraph says it all. "The book remained in the planning stage until it was decided that the actual writing should be left to professionals."

THERE you have it.... This book which originally came out in 1984 and is still used in today's fellowship was not even written by COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS.. INSTEAD, it was written by a firm that WE paid $1,000's of dollars to write it!

I gringe to think that the fellowship then decided to BURN all the older Gamblers ANonymous Big Books. Fortunatley, they forgot to BURN mine.

Soon, I will be making copies of the Original G.A. big book and make it available on-line.

But for the Grace of God. I will never have to Gamble again.

Tomorrow, a Report on the Half-marathon that I'm running, and on what I'm doing to continue to recover!

In God We Trust

Is it possible that NO MONEY = NO GAMBLING for the Compulsive Gambler???

Only for the Problem Gambler who can Stop on a NON-Spiritual basis can NO MONEY = NO GAMBLING??

WHY YOU ASK???

Because There is No need to Have a LOVING GOD in order for them to stop gambling. There is no "In God We Trust"

So Yes, it is possible that if you are just a problem gambler ,that you can surrender all the money you have or ever will have and thus never gamble again. Of course, you will never be able to purchase anything, and you will have to resort to begging and asking others to buy food and clothes for you. But it will all be worth it??? Right???

Wrong??? WHAT IF YOU ARE A REAL COMPULSIVE GAMBLER WHO does not believe in God you will do ANYTHING TO GAMBLE!!! You will eventually collect .05cent cans, you will go to the Casino just looking for a few pennies left over in machines, you will sell your own blood, you will prostitute themselves. You will cheat the government and steal.

One way or another a real compulsive gambler will eventually find a way to gamble again..... It is inevitable.

Once Again, : No money = No gambling ---> Will only work for the Problem Gambler who can stop on a NON-Spiritual basis.

Lies on just the FIRST PARAGRAPH!

LET'S LOOK AT THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THE GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS COMBO BOOK AND SEE HOW MANY LIES ARE PRESENT.



REMEMBER..... IF THIS IS AN HONEST PROGRAM....WHY ARE THERE SO MANY LIES???




FROM THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ON THE FIRST PAGE:


HISTORY

"The fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous is the outgrowth of a chance meeting between two men during the month of January in 1957. These men had a truly baffling history of trouble and misery due to an obsession to gamble. They began to meet regularly and as the months passed neither had returned to gambling. "



OK.... Let's look at the lies and misleading information we are given by the fellowship of G.A. just on the first paragraph of the first page!


Lie #1 can be found in the FIRST SENTENCE!!!!: GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS is NOT an outgrowth of a chance meeting between 2 men in January of 1957!!! IN FACT IF YOU READ JIM W.'s (Co-founder of G.A.) original story he speaks of meetings with other compulsive gamblers back in 1954... WITH HIM THERE!!! and there is indeed evidence that hundreds of meetings were already in existence well before 1957!!

Look the New York times speaks of G.A. meetings back in 1947....That is 10 years prior to what G.A. claims...

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00610FC3F5A107A93C6A9178AD85F438485F9

The Washington Post claims of meetings back in 1949.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/216146662.html?dids=216146662:216146662&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=SEP+17%2C+1949&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=

And TIME magazine acknowledges that Gamblers ANonymous meeetings had started in kentucky back in 1947?
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,855567,00.html

SO then why does CURRENT day G.A. not want to acknowledge the Gamblers Anonymous that was around prior to the so called founding in 1957????

BECAUSE OF 1 SIMPLE REASON..... All the meetings prior to 1957 used a Spiritual approach to the Compulsive Gambling problem.... ALL OF THEM WERE USING ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS AS A GUIDE

It was not until 1957 that a hardcore athiest (Sam J.) met with Jim W. and was able to pursuade him to change the spiritual and God finding steps that had been used in G.A. meetings up to that point.

See.... Jim W. was a very spirtual man.... and he believed in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous ... He never wanted to change the steps in Gamblers Anonymous ..... Sam J. pursuaded him to do so back in 1957......!

So what happened???

Well, the 2nd MAJOR lie in Gamblers ANonymous literature uncovers the TRUTH!

The Statement "As the months paths neither had returned to gambling"...... IS A COMPLETE LIE AND MISLEADING STATEMENT TO OTHER COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS!!

The TRUTH IS .... BOTH RETURNED TO GAMBLING! It is known that Sam J. returned to gambling almost immediately.... In fact he did not even attend the "so-called 2nd" meeting of G.A. Sam J. ended up DEAD! He died due to Gambling and Drinking.

While Jim W. did continue on for many years and tried to change G.A. back to a spiritual program....It was overrun by those compulsive gamblers who were able to stop gambling on a non-spiritual basis. Jim W. retuned to gambling back in the late 1960's and early 1970's....

(I will be posting a tape of Clancy I. AA speaker and Jim W.'s sponsor) which makes mention and describes Jim's relapse and how he was going to blow his head off with a gun!


So we have only made it through the first paragraph and already 2 huge lies! That changed the course of G.A. history to a non-spiritual program!

Ask yourself this..... How can anybody who is a Real compulsive gambler get better if they are told lies the first few moments of their first G.A. meeting.

THIS NEEDS TO STOP !!

There is an ANSWER!

Gamblers Anonymous is the only Way???

So, if you had a headache,.....It would make sense to pound your head just so you do not feel it anymore??? RIGHT???

Of Course, that sounds ridiculous!!!

But Listen to this......

If you went to Gamblers Anonymous for 11 years and never stopped gambling but for maybe 1 or 2 months.... Why would you ever proclaim that,..... "Gamblers ANonymous is the ONLY way WE can get beat this Thing?"

and in fact, when someone in Gamblers Anonymous mentions that they are doing something different than the "GA program" (Whatever the GA program is?!) Usually they are met with confrontation and arguments!!! And told that if they do not attend GA meetings they will of course go back to gamble...

That makes no sense at all? And that is one of the baffling differences between A.A. and G.A. You see in A.A. if someone states that they have found another way to stop drinking, generally the membership is happy for them....

"If he thinks he can do the job in some other way, or prefers some other spiritual approach, encourage him to follow his own conscience. We have no monopoly on God; we merely have an approach that worked with us." pg.95 Alcoholics ANonymous

I think the key word in this passage is GOD. Of course in GA .... they have no monopoly on GOD!!! They do not believe in God in the same way!! They took it out of almost all the literature over the last 50 years!!!

BUT GA DOES have a MONOPOLY on Self-Will.... It is the G.A. way or the Highway! Mention that you are attempting to live a spiritual life in a G.A. meeting and there is a very good chance that you will be asked to leave, and or unwanted at the meeting.

SO BACK TO my fellow... with 11 years "in" G.A. HE HAS NEVER STOPPED GAMBLING!! HELLO!!! Just an observation and Experience...... For a REAL COMPULSIVE GAMBLER G.A. does not work!

It works for those who can stop on a NON-SPIRITUAL BASIS.

Good luck to any real compulsive gambler who goes to GA... they will inevitable run the gauntlet of Self-will ideas like "No money = No gambling" and Stay away from betting establishments.

But remember, anything that requires MY will...... WILL ALWAYS end up resulting in a Gamble in the end.

It might be 1 day, 1 month, 1 year, or 10+ years.... But everyone who is a Real Compulsive Gambler will return to gambling if their recover is based on Self-will. It is an Illness which can only temporarily be treated by the SELF.

Only God can Treat us!

Alcoholic and/or Compulsive Gambler???

While active in Drinking and Gambling throughout my 20's, I would occasional have brief moments of clarity.

For a brief moment I would see my life tumbling out of control. I was jumping from City to city and the end of my road was to be the Windy City of Chicago.

During these moments of clarity, I would ask myself .... What is worse..... Drinking so much that I ought to sleep the whole clock around.... To the point that when I'm waking up in the morning I'm barfing, and sometimes ending up with the "dry heeves" or gambling.... that I do not have any money, and countless creditors and instuitions are calling for their money. Not to mention all (really little remorse) I'm having for stealing all the time.

Well, AT the time of drinking and gambling.... I have to say that both were pretty bad. But for the Grace of God I did hit a bottom on January 12th, 2004..... and since that day God has undoubtly been the one mighty power that has kept me sober.

My bottom was an alcohol bottom. I hit it after an all-night/morning binge in bars around Chicago on the night of January 11th....

I'm grateful for hitting this bottom. I have found that I have a common problem with others in A.A. I have alcoholism, I also found that there was a common solution for WHICH WE CAN ALL AGREE. And for that I'm eternally grateful for..... Because for whatever reason..... There is nothing close to a Common solution in G.A.

It is always do what works for you in Gamblers Anonymous..... If that was always the answer I was given... I would have always returned to Gambling!!

Thank God for A.A. I have a found a solution to all my problems and it is a SPIRITUAL SOLUTION!