-
Made a list of all
persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them
all.
-
Make direct amends to
such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure
them or others.
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Continued to take
personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
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Sought through prayer
and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we
understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us
and the power to carry that out.
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Having made an effort
to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to
carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.
Understanding the Gamblers Anonymous
program allowed Sean to decide if this was the right program for
him. He was able to relate to all the people at the meeting but
felt his situation was different. He saw the pros and cons of this
program.
For three months he attended Gamblers
Anonymous, his life began to get better until he slipped up and
placed a few bets. He was so ashamed that he gambled he didn’t know
what to do. He missed the next meeting but decided to go again the
following week. He told the group what had happened and they
unfortunately change his date that he placed his last bet. This
totally discouraged him and reduced his self esteem to the lowest in
his life. He still continued to go but his heart was no longer into
Gamblers Anonymous. He felt degraded. His sponsor there tried to
help him work through it. The next meeting he attended a person
walked into the room that he recognized. He began to panic and
asked to talk to the chair person. The chair person tried to calm
him down, by telling him that everything that happens in this room
stays in this room. The person you know is here to get help too.
What Sean didn’t know was this person he
recognized had already been in the program for two years and
successfully stopped gambling. This person was open about her
addiction.
The next week Sean’s wife received a call
from one of her friends asking her if Sean had a gambling
addiction. She told her friend yes he does and he is getting help.
Her friend told her there was a rumor going around about Sean.
Sean’s wife was very upset and called her
husband at work. It was unfortunate that the person Sean recognized
told only one person her husband. The husband meant no harm but he
told a buddy of his.
Gamblers Anonymous is a wonderful program
but it is not anonymous and to expect people to keep silent is
highly unlikely. Sean stayed with Gamblers Anonymous another two
months and then decided it was time to get help elsewhere.
Sean found a unique website that had a private chat room which was
available seven days a weeks. He found another source to help him
move forward. He was grateful
Gamblers
Anonymous Compulsive Gambling Addiction Story Part
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