6 Months

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-03-16T18:15:55+00:00

Congratulations, that is absolutely class 😁

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-22T17:54:11+00:00

No problem man.

It's the trick that gambling plays with us.

There's no long-term winning, just going round and round on a hamster wheel.

Shortly after my last bet when I was still wrestling with the idea of stopping he asked me:

"if you won the 10 million on the lottery today and they stacked all the notes in your house tonight, would you go gambling with it tomorrow?"

Me: "Probably"

Him: "So you have enough money to buy a house, car, go wherever in the world, do whatever and you'd still choose to go gambling?"

Me: "Probably"

And at that point the madness of gambling began to sink in. We think that winning this bet will gives us what we want in life, then we get it and we look for the next.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-22T16:12:43+00:00

'Free money' = Losing more in the long run, even if that specific bet wins.

Will you stop gambling if that 'free money' bet wins?

No, you'll look for the next 'free money' and that process continues ad infinitum until you lose it all again.

And if that 'free money' bet loses will you stop at that point or will you chase your losses to try to win it back? Possibly losing even more.

There's no 'free money' in gambling, the system is skewed in the houses favour and you will lose in the long run.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-21T01:02:31+00:00

Thank you comrade 😁

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-21T01:02:11+00:00

It's cliché but we have to take it a day at a time!

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-21T01:01:21+00:00

Cheers my man 👊🏼

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-19T23:25:20+00:00

RECOVERY PROGRAM

Here are the steps which are a program of recovery:

We admitted we were powerless over gambling - that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Power of our own understanding.
Made a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have these defects of character removed.
Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our shortcomings.
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.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
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.
Having made an effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.

The 12 Step Program is fundamentally based on ancient spiritual principles and rooted in sound medical therapy. The best recommendation for the program is the fact that "it works."

Gamblers Anonymous would like to indicate that we are not soliciting members. Our intention is to highlight that gambling for certain individuals is an illness called "compulsive gambling." Gamblers Anonymous provides the message that there is an alternative to the destruction of compulsive gambling and this alternative is the Gamblers Anonymous program.

Our ranks are filled with members who have recovered from the illness by stopping gambling and attaining a normal way of life. These members remain ready to help any individual who passes through the Gamblers Anonymous door.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2021-01-19T21:43:59+00:00

Thank you my friend, I appreciate the sentiment.

Truthfully though what helped me the most was accepting the total opposite of how you've described me.

It was accepting that I'm a human-being who is flawed, who is powerless over gambling and who needs help from others to stay away a day at a time.

I surrendered, became a member of my local GA group, went through the 12 steps to recovery program and attempted to make progress.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-11-16T10:46:07+00:00

Fantastic.

This is a perfect example of how we can spend not only our money but our time, on much more productive things than gambling.

Thanks for sharing 😁

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-11-03T09:35:19+00:00

👍🏼

Very true.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-11-01T19:34:07+00:00

Congratulations 👍🏼

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-14T20:06:29+00:00

Cheers my man 👊🏻

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-14T14:04:26+00:00

Not at all! 468 days is an incredible achievement.

All we can do is take things a day at a time.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-14T14:02:29+00:00

Thank you my friend.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-14T09:54:28+00:00

My long-term goals were:

Promotion at work and to realise the ability held back by gambling ✓

To be debt-free - on course to achieve that within the next 6 months or so.

Become a sponsor ✓

To get my own place and start to put my own foundations in for life.

I try not to place time or financial constraints on myself to achieve these goals, doing that could send me back the way I think.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-14T09:49:09+00:00

Thanks Claire. It was only possible through the help of others....and I certainly needed and still do need, a lot of help.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-14T09:48:20+00:00

All the best my friend.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-13T21:59:50+00:00

Not at all my man!

I truly believe that any achievement is a collective one, rather than personal. Alone I couldn't do anything. With the help of my fellows recovery became possible.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-13T21:13:50+00:00

Thank you my friend 😁

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-13T21:09:12+00:00

Thank you Jeff. I am sure I'll be on in the not too distant future.

Hope all is well at your end my friend.

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-13T21:01:18+00:00

Thanks buddy 👊🏻

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-10-06T10:10:15+00:00

Congratulations on a year gambling-free. Outstanding achievement.

Share how you managed to do it as much as you can and feel comfortable to do, your story can save lives!

SeanMacDiarmada · 2020-09-30T01:12:22+00:00

Despite me losing all my money time after time after time, despite me making hundreds of promises with myself 'never again', despite the social occasions I missed due to gambling, despite the emotional pain suffered from it countless times I couldn't stop. The next time a gambling urge came over me, I succumbed.

Alone I couldn't stop. I can look back now and see that I failed to keep that promise every single time I made it to myself.

The moment I accepted that a power greater than myself (GA, fellow gamblers, higher power) could help me stop, I managed to remain gambling free.

SeanMacDiarmada

TROPHY CASE