Hey guys,
I’m Matt and it’s time to change my behaviour.
ivd Gambanned, contacted Gamcare and downloaded Recovery audiobook. I know it won’t be easy.
I have a question for someone who has taken the 12 steps approach… if your an atheist… how did you get around the god stuff?
Thanks in advance x
Hello Matt2.0 and Welcome
Don't worry about region. You are aiming for a born again moment but not in a religious sense
You will be searching the core of your soul and learning about a mind controlling power
I am an atheist and you deal with this in your own way. If I'm going to worship anything it will be something like the Sun which I can see brings life to earth
You will be learning humility and how to connect with life again. You adapt what is on offer but it is helpful to realise there is a greater power whatever you perceive that to be.
The twelve steps works on the basis that you surrender and reach out for help. It works for many people and you use your own thought processes to work with it and not think its all about a "god"
You need to be humble in the face of this addiction. Recovery is the power of help that you can relate to. It does not have to be about religion
Best wishes from everyone on the forum
Ideally you would be better to find someone to work the 12 steps with, ideally through GA, or someone who has worked them themselves and understands what you’re talking about.
As far as getting past the religious side of things, the Steps talk about a God of your understanding. This is to do with step 2 that you come to believe a power greater than yourself can help you with stopping gambling. In it’s simplest form, you try to stop on your own and you can’t. You find something like a GA room and you can stop. That something greater than you would be the GA room. Don’t overthink it from getting in your way of recovery.
Some people also refer to God as a Good Orderly Direction, just a better way of being than you have been so far.
One final bit of advice I would suggest is just put gambling down for now. Have a few weeks getting your mind clear before you start the steps. It’s a real boost to recovery but it can be difficult to look at yourself honestly so don’t try and do everything at once.
Any questions you have about it just ask.
Chris.
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
