fellowship -- friends in recovery

It is my belief that being a part of a 'fellowship' can be an EXTREMELY useful tool in recovery, whatever path we choose...

fellowship, defined - an association of people who share common beliefs or activities

soooo

the gambler's anonymous program is a fellowship....online forums are fellowships...and having one or more 'support –buddies’ is ALSO a fellowship.

our involvment in fellowships can vary, to fit our needs...I see some people who are very involved in gamblers anonymous activities.....different things work better for different people...I have seen people who hook up with a 'buddy' and commit, each day, to not gambling and have found success in that...I have seen others, however, who were unable to keep the commitment and ended up in a great deal of shame and remorse :( and I have even seen where that triggered the OTHER person to gamble......the key is, *I* think....to find what works for US...

I have quite a few 'friends in recovery' and...what we do varies….there really isn’t a PLAN….they are just my friends….I have one friend who…we generally email one another often throughout the day....

usually we mail at night or early in the morning to share how we'll spend our day...then...throughout the day....we might text or email just to say hi...or i'm waiting at the dr. office and i'm bored..how r u doing?...sometimes we telephone also.... we spend lots of times talking about recovery…addiction…philosophy, life….we share other things in our lives as well…as friends tend to do.

one thing that this *consistent* contact does is....if and when we become overwhelmed with the desire to gamble.....reaching out to someone isn't a big deal...it is what we do ALL OF THE TIME....when things are bad OR good...we are staying in contact....

some of my 'friends in recovery' still struggle often with urges...or even gamble from time to time...but...once we break free from the cycle and the issue of not gambling/gambling is not a daily concern...the contact turns more towards just being a friend :)

it makes sense that...sometimes...when we hook up with a 'buddy' we don't really 'click'...we don't in the REAL world...outside of the internet and outside of gambling..so why should we here? if that happens...make new friends.

I guess...what I'm saying is...that one thing that has worked for ME...is making friends...finding people that I like...or..hmmm ?relate to on some level or another....or are just drawn to for no particular reason...finding those people...and become friends...and sharing our day....and our recoveries.

I subscribe to the ‘Wisdom of the Rooms’ site and they send an email every day….yesterday the email was "The reason the program works is because we're not all crazy on the same day."

Having friends in recovery…helps me in so many ways…one important way is….when I DO start thinking or behaving ‘like an addict’ they can call me on it….that’s something that a friend who is NOT in recovery…could never do.

Alone is too lonely.
Even if i COULD do this alone....why would I want to?