Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Hi, my name is John. I am a recovering compulsive gambler. I was free from a bet for 10 years from 1986 till 1996 and I can honestly say those were the 10 best years of my life.I had a beautiful wife that i learned to love more then my gambling. I had a great house, great job, and 2 nice cars in the driveway. I was doing everything that Gamblers Anonymous was teaching me, how to stay free from a bet one day at a time. It was suggested for me to get a sponser and go to a lot of meetings and read the steps of recovery and do them. Ask for a higher power to be put in your life. So I ask God to be my higher power. Because i was the higher power for a long time and i was not doing anything right in my life but making things worse. I was even more happy because my wife at the time was in Gam Anon. That is a place for families, and friends, can go to get the help they need. To understand the gambling problems in there lives and how they can live a much better life with the compulsive gambler.

Well I have some sad news to tell you after my life was going so good. I stop going to G.A. stop calling my sponser and all the beautiful friends I met in the G.A. program and I put God on the side lines. I stayed out there gambling FOR 9 years. When I was in the program my sponser would tell me, "if you go back to gambling it will get worse," and he was so right.

I lost my beautiful wife, and my house, my job, and my car in the driveway. I gave that beautiful life I had all away because I allowed myself to go back to gambling. Thinking I could do it own my own.

Well the good news today is that I forgot to tell you. I have and 8 year old son name Jared. That my wife and I had before we were divorced. He was 2 years old when I went back out to gamble. I am very grateful to God Jared never knew I had a problem with gambling. About 16 months ago Jared came up to me and said "dad nana keeps trying to get me to scratch lottery tickets with her and i keep telling her i dont want to." So I told Jared to tell his mom and he did and he told me nana doesn't ask him anymore. I new his nana had a gambling problem. But I didn't want to tell him that because he would find out all about me. I want to tell you what my son Jared also said to me. He said, "dad I am so glad you dont gamble I hate gambling."

That was my wake up call from God. I am so very grateful today that God gave my son that message to tell me. Because I belive that as Jared got older I would have been teaching him how to gamble with me. Today I am forever grateful to God and my son for giving me a second chance in life. I am now back in G.A. with 16 months free from a bet and taking the program very seriously, as serious as I took my gambling. I am helping the new people that come in to the program in any way I can to make there lives better. I love giving them a smile of my own and welcome them to there first meeting. Then I put a smile card in with the package kit we give to new people at their first meeting.

I want you all to know that I have a wonderful life with my ex/wife today and my beautiful son Jared and most of all with my higher power. Who I chose to call God and I am forever grateful to all of you at Smile for allowing me to smile again and being able to make someone else smile. God bless you.