[Clarity]

I am going to my first meeting tonight .

Not sure of the wisdom.. Driving sixty miles away after three hours sleep but I need to so badly .
I am so nervous … Worried I will weep whole way through it .
I thought it might be useful for people as terrified of the idea of GA as me to hear others’ experiences

[velvet]

Hi Happy
Behind every username there is a live person – really. When you go into your group, just imagine the other members are your friends here – all anxious to hear ‘your’ story and to support you. A stranger is just a friend you don’t know – yet.
Saying who you are out loud will be a relief – I remember when I went to Gamanon for the first time and heard myself speak it was almost as though I hadn’t known who I was before – it was amazing.
I look forward to hearing how you got on
Velvet

[charlster2]

I wish you all the best tonight. If you can’t make it, there’s always the next one. Safety is the best policy.

Driving 60 miles shows commitment and determination to beat this. You really need support and having a good cry wouldn’t be a bad thing or anything to be ashamed of.

You shouldn’t have to keep everything bottled up inside you all of the time, that can’t be good.

The drive back will be a lot less intense than the drive there, just be safe.

I’m thinking of you,

Charlster.

[Anonymous]

Thank u Velvet and Charlster, I’m not sure I deserve your praise . I keep hoping my mate will text and say lets go to bingo and then I can put off GA for another week …old habits die hard ..

I am going to grab an hours’ sleep and then hit the road ..

Forever the deep thinker … I can’t decide what to wear .
Casual but smart?
Very casual .. Denim ?
Smart ?

Bingo is easier !! U are not worried what impression people get from u .

Now my old fear … What if one of these people is an ax murderer?.. A CG ax murderer ?
Ah he will probably have sold his ax to fund his gambling haha.

[Anonymous]

Ok I’m still in bed and too tired to drive .
So next week?

[charlster2]

You’ve got a week to gear yourself up for the next meeting. The way your mind is at the moment coupled with lack of sleep, it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to drive those distances tonight.

Be great if you could use this week to get your head around the fact that you’ll be opening up to people and focus on the benefits you’ll reap from doing that.

It will make you feel so much lighter unloading all the clutter in your head. I’m not an expert, but I feel it’s exactly what you need.

You’ll know yourself better than anyone else and I’m sure you know this anyway.

One day at a time. We can’t be with you in person, but we can give you moral support and we’re all pulling for you.

We have to get Happy, happy!!! :o)

Charlster.

[monique]

Hi Happy. It sounds like you need to give yourself some good sleep and rest. There will be other Meetings. It will be useful to have a ‘real time/place’ meeting. Could you find one a bit closer to home, but still not on your doorstep? Or even rethink going to something more local? There are a lot of advantages to finding local people who are in the same sort of situation. Just offering ‘food for thought’ …
I cried my way through my first GamAnon meeting some years ago!!

Best wishes,

Monique

[p]

My first GA meeting i was terrified. I was nervous, i didnt know what to expect. I got there and blubbered, couldnt talk, but was welcomed. Everyone there is a gambler, like us. They have had to walk through the door for the first time too. Its a place like here but in a room where you can see everyone in real life. if you are too overwhelmed to share you dont need to. There are no rules saying you must do this or that. I know you had been worried about someone seeing you but its anonymous.. You dont give your last name. If there is someone there you know then they are there for the same reason. Not many people would even know a meeting is being held there as they arent really advertised.. for me i would go dressed casual and comfortable, however you feel best about yourself. Just go, and tell us all what it was like. I found i had to give it quite a few goes before i felt comfortable but then grew to love it.. men or women they are all there for the same reason.. good on you happy so proud of you. Take from it what works for you.

P

[charles]

I’m not sure what I felt on the way there, a little nervous, a little deflated as I was admitting I had been wrong for years.

I don’t remember much about my first meeting. I got there after the start so I remember the person who spoke to me outside for a few minutes to tell me how it ran. I can remember the person chairing the meeting. I can remember being surprised to hear several stories similar to my own, up till then I had thought that I was “unique”. Everything was a bit of a blur but the oen piece of advice i still remember was someone saying i should surrender and admit that the bookies had beaten me. Strangely up until then I always thought that I would beat the bookies!

I think the biggest thing I got from my first meeting was hope, I looked around the room and saw lots of people just like me. A lot of them were no longer gambling so I now knew that it was possible, up until then I hadn’t thought that. If they could do it then so could I.

I hope you get to that meeting Happy, then get to the next one. However you feel after your first meeting I’d recommend getting to at least six before making your mind up whether that particular meeting is for you. As others have said, a closer meeting would be easier to get to, it is what it says on the tin – anonymous. Anyone you see there or who sees you there will be in exactly the same position as you are – a compulsive gambler using support.

[Author]

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