Today I'm going to tell you a story , not a fiction or fairytale story.
This is my life story .
I left school at primary five(5)
And starting working at young age I have done all sorts of jobs .
In a Month I manage to made around 900 dollars , back in these days wet in market , was a pot of activity , there was so much to see and do !
During the weekend the coffee shop near the wet market where I was working will be filled with horse racing gamblers , and the place packed like sardines .
This is where it all begin my gambling addiction started . I was having a drink at the coffee shop with some friends . One of them said , he got an good insider information for the next horse racing betting , be told me "it's a sure win bet , guaranteed win bet"!. He added .
Then I replied "what do you mean by guarantee win bet"? He said to me again , "this horse definitely win the race" back in my story , in those day I only earn 20$ a day my friends told me to join in and bet 20$ , I was really unwilling to place my bet . If I lost that 20$ I would have lost my entire day pay. But because I don't want them to look down on me , I took the risk bet my 20$ . And would you believe it?!
The horse won the race ! My 20$ bet give me a 700$ windfall ! Hey ! 700$ ! That was my entire month salary ! And I think why was I bothering to work . Just like this I was hooked up to gambling .
**In reality , people who gamble are like those drug addict ,when the urge comes , and they don't gamble , they get withdrawal symptoms . People who take drug knows when they are addicted , but gambler have no ideas they are addicted , they refuse to admit that they have lost a lot . Every night they will console themselves , "Don't give up , Don't give up" a win will come soon . Am I right?
Gamblers are very much failed at maths , just to win a 100$ they willing to lose a thousand dollar or more ! Do you know why we addicted to gambling ? Because we believe that we are the GOD OF GAMBLERS !
What is God of gamblers ? It means to gamble until **Even God cannot save you ** , why do we lose our mind ? Here(casino) , we lose all our money so we go out there to get more money , only to bring it back here(casino) and lose everything again. Then we go out there to get more money and come back again to lose every single cent and then off we go trying to borrow and begging from our friends and relatives , this vicious cycle never ends .
Don't you think such behavior insane ?!
If we can't be God of gamblers then we might can be Holy gamblers , do you know what is holy gamblers? It's someone who has gambled his stuff WHOLLY away !
Yes , sometimes there a wins in gambling but why do these wins always go to others people and never come to us ? Isn't it depressing ?
When a person has lost everything he will started to seek out his friends and relatives. Begging , pleasing , kneeling and you name it the rest , everything I did just to borrow some money and win back my capital .
eventually , they will avoid you like plague . Desperate times call for divine intervention I sought help from every God under the sun , I prayed to all the deites in Singapore and all the 13 states of Malaysia . I prayed to every God known to man , I even asked the trees and stones for divine help .
You may say how much you love gambling but you nowhere near my standard . . Do you know how addicted to gambling I was ? My wife give me money to buy milk powder for the baby , do you know what I did ?
I used that money to gamble and I lost it all like always .
Dear readers , you might wonder how could I be so shameless , but I've done far more worse than that .what most important symbol of marriage ? The wedding ring right , I took my wedding ring that cost 300$ and pawned it for 250$ I used the money to heal my gambling addiction for a moment , I gamble my money on blackjack and poker and lost it all .
Until one day , the lowest point of my gambling addiction has come to fetch me , there is one incident that I never share before , I was afraid that if I told anyone , they would ridicule me . Once again I want to say to whoever reading this , I hope that after reading my story will make you stop and reflect on yourselves .
Six years ago my mother had cancer and lying in hospital bed , I came back home that day and found that my mother drawer open , when I went to closed it I saw that there was money in the drawer. I took out 2000$ , I should not use the word "take" that would be a lie , "I stole it" !
My mother was lying in the hospital bed and I still had the heart to gamble . I lose all sense of time gambling , until my brother called me , and tell me that my mother was dying and I rushed to hospital right away . On the way to hospital , I took my wallet out and all I had left was 24$ , that was all that was left from 2000$ I stole from my dying mother saving !
When I reach at the hospital , I was too late . My mother was gone ! She left me she has left us !
I suddenly felt very heartbroken I realized that I had been terrible father , a terrible son , a terrible brother . because of gambling I neglected my family , I had always been my Mother favourite son . After she passed away , I was heavily in debt's .
Then , I really wanted to end my life and follow my mother. That would be best , wouldn't it ? Better to die than harm my family .
But think about it , do you think dying is easy ? You're family will be in this burden , what about you're wife ? You're children ? My family realize that something was wrong and they stopped me .
My daughter said to me , "Dad , we all love you ! If only you would stop gambling ! The whole family will help you ."
At that moment , I realized that even though I felt that I had lost everything I still had something to live for. I have my family by my side , they encourage and told me I could start over and stand tall again !
Dad you can do it ! My daughter said that to me . The question is can I really do it ?
I believe that it was the end of my road for me , it was too late .
I borrowed money to pay my debt and borrowed again to return what I borrowed .
I gambled from the age of 17 year old to 50 , that 33 years but what do have to show for it ? If you are gambling you a losing yourself .
My wife my children . They never gambling in their life , but they took a gamble on me ,they used their love to bet on my life .
Gambling did not make me become a rich person instead , I have a mountain debt's to clear . Fortunately my family and some good friends gave me constant encouragement and help . I told my current employer to pay all my job payment to my wife , because if I don't gamble I won't lost , if I don't lost I can save money , and slowly repay all my debts . Now I'm no longer owe the loansharks any Money I have settled all of my debts .
My daughter was very smart , she open a bank account that only let me deposit money and I could not withdraw any cash out of it . It come with credit card which I could use to buy things but I had no access to cash it out .
My son was brilliant too , everytime he noticed that I had some free times , he will take the whole family outing together .
It's felt like we were having family reunion every weekend , I realized we didn't need special occasion to spend time together , it felt so great , they did it all to ensure that I didn't have anytime to even think about gambling .
What is most important is to set your heart and mind to it and not lose faith on it , what you have to do is Stop gambling completely .
Some people say that social gambling is harmless , but there is nothing but a lie !
In fact , social gambling train you for serious gambling .
Don't believe me ?
If social gambling is "harmless" , serious gambling is "heartless" , and gambling problem is " merciless" and no one will pity you .
Dear gamblers put there if you read this , I just wanted to say. If I can quit my 33 years of gambling addiction , you can do it too !
This story is written by my friend , he wanted to let people know and take a lesson from what he has experience about gambling