Getting Past Gambling

A place to come and share experiences, to find support and strength, for those of us who are putting gambling behind us and finding new exciting and happier ways to live our lives.
" You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing."
*Dale Carnegie {1888-1955 American Author & Achievement Expert}


Saturday, May 27, 2006

YOU GAIN STRENGTH OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

Sooner or later you'll encounter a crisis in your life, and how you meet it will determine your future happiness and success.

Since the beginning of time, everyone has been called upon to meet such a crisis.

Close scrutiny will show you that most "crisis situations"are opportunities to either advance or stay where you are.

Indeed, most changes in your life will be due to either "inspiration" or "desperation."

Whatever comes your way, give it meaning and transform it into something of value.
Personal growth is the process of responding positively to change.


A precious stone cannot be polished without friction, nor humanity perfected without trials.

©2006 by Max Steingart

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

DAILY GURU

OPPORTUNITY LIES IN THE MIDST OF DIFFICULTY

Every problem you encounter has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem.
The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity.
You'll find that every situation,
properly perceived, offers you an opportunity.
As fast as each opportunity presents itself, use it.
No matter how tiny an opportunity it may be, use it.
You'll discover new directions
when you have an open mind and a willing hand.
Successful people didn't achieve their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them.
They developed an opportunity that was at hand.
You must make your own opportunities if you want to be successful.
Opportunity is all around you.



©2006 by Max Steingart

Monday, May 22, 2006

"You Are Bigger Than You Think"


"He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment."
-- Meister Eckhart


We are the ocean -- vast, deep, powerful and rich. Nourishing and nurturing. Dive down into the dark stillness of being. Sense the rising and falling of surface thoughts and emotions, sometimes gentle, sometimes violent. Always shifting. Always in motion. Draw back and watch the waves of your life at play. Know you are the unfathomable depths -- surface agitations can’t disturb you. Know that you are bigger than the little things that aggravate you.


"The bird of paradise alights only on the hand that does not grasp."
-- John Berry


"It’s best not to get too excited or too depressed by the ups and downs of life."
-- Dalai Lama

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

DAILY GURU

CHANGE INFLUENCES YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH

Personal growth is the process of responding positively to change.

It involves risk as you step from the known to the unknown.

All your growth will depend on your activity.

Your strength and growth will come
only through continuous effort and struggle.


There will be no development without effort.
Trouble is the common denominator of living.


It's the great equalizer of life.
Your trials and your sorrows will develop you.


When good or bad fortune comes your way,
you must give it meaning and transform it into something of value.

What happens to you is not as important
as your reaction to what is happening to you.



©2006 by Max Steingart

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

DAILY GURU

IT'S A GOOD TIME TO CHANGE

Where you are in your life today,
you made an appointment to be there five years ago.


Where you'll be five years from now
will be determined by your actions today and in the future.


The first step toward getting somewhere
is to decide that you're not going to stay where you are.


Analyze your life in terms of your environment.

Are the things around you helping you toward your success or are they holding you back?
You're a product of your environment.


So choose an environment that will best develop you toward your goals.

Your world today is a living expression of how you're using and have used your mind.
It's something you can change at any time.


Don't remain a captive to your environment.

Don't say "If I could, I would," say, "If I can, I will."

You can make changes any time.

Why not start today?



©2006 by Max Steingart

Monday, May 08, 2006

We want you: Say no to pokies

Nick Xenophon's inspiring 21.5% statewide upper house vote in the recent South Australian election has got a few people thinking about the prospect of importing the phenomenon of a "no pokies" political campaign to Victoria.

As someone who hates the pokies, I'm contemplating having a red hot go at them as a candidate in this year's state election on 25 November. To that end, a vehemently anti-gambling four-page submission will be lobbed before today's 5pm deadline for the Gambling Licences Review.
Victoria has the richest racing industry in the world, partly because the Kennett Government gifted it 25% of Tabcorp's duopoly pokies licence as part of a compromise before the 1994 float. Tabcorp and fellow duopolist Tattersall's only have their licences until 2012, and that's why the government is conducting this review, the results of which will be announced in 2007 – after the election. However, the government has stipulated that there will be no change to machine numbers or problem gambling policies, which are summarised here.


The internet makes submissions so much easier these days. The Bracks Government will no doubt announce how many submissions they receive, so how about a solid deployment of the 35,000 Crikey Army to boost their numbers.

Email the following message to gamblinglicencesreview@justice.vic.gov.au and you'll be contributing to policy formulation in Australia's most cerebral state, albeit one with an estimated 100,000 citizens who all-too-often stare blankly into these mind-numbing machines:

What sort of review doesn't consider problem gambling and the number of poker machines? Victoria's 30,000 machines is way too many when you understand that $2.4 billion a year is lost by punters and 84% of problems gamblers cite the pokies as their main vice.
For goodness sake, get them out of pubs, reduce the total number to about 10,000, force venues to close from midnight to midday and introduce WA-style machines that minimise losses by requiring players to stop and think.


What sort of civilised society can gloat about having the lowest smoking rate in the world – 17% and falling – and simultaneously suffer the highest per capita gambling losses. Retaining 30,000 machines when the Tabcorp and Tattersall's licences expire in 2012 is not tackling an insidious sin industry that is estimated to cause 1 suicide a week in Victoria.
Russia had a massive increase in the distribution of Vodka under Tsar Nicholas II because he enjoyed the tax revenue, yet big-drinking Russians are still paying the price today. Surely Victoria in 2006 is rich enough to not deluge misery on an estimated 2.3% of its pokies-addicted citizens just because the government likes collecting 24.2% of their losses in taxes, plus a $1,533 annual levy on all machines.


Member of the Crikey Army

A couple of thousand of them might cause a bit of a shock. Of course, everyone is welcome to design their own missive, and please feel free to CC me in:

smayne@crikey.com.au.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

DAILY GURU

MAKING CHOICES IS YOUR GREATEST POWER

You can decide to alter the course of your life at any time.
No one can ever take that away from you.
You can do what you want to do
and be who you want to be.
Nature is constantly at work around you.
Character and destiny are her handiwork.
She gives you love and hate,
jealousy and reverence.
You have the power to choose which impulse you follow.
While your character is formed by your circumstances, your desires can shape those circumstances.
The one thing over which you have absolute control is your own thoughts.
It is this that puts you in a position to control your own destiny.
Your greatest power is the power to choose.



©2006 by Max Steingart

Friday, May 05, 2006

DAILY GURU

BEING SUCCESSFUL IS A CHOICE YOU MAKE

Success or failure?
It's always your choice.
You alone have the responsibility to shape your life.
Once you understand this,
nothing and no one can deny you success.
There's really no one to stop you but yourself.
More powerful than all the success slogans ever written is the realization that everyone has but one boss.
That boss is you.
Your life will always be to a large extent what you make of it.
No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but you.
You can be successful if you want to be successful.


©2006 by Max Steingart

Monday, May 01, 2006

DAILY GURU

YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE

You don't have to buy from anyone.
You don't have to work at any particular job.
You don't have to participate in any given relationship.
You can choose.
You steer the course you choose in the direction of where you want to be today, tomorrow, or in a distant time to come.
You hold the tiller.
You can decide to alter the course of your life at any time.
No one can ever take that away from you.
You can decide what you want and go after it.
It's always your next move.


©2006 by Max Steingart

THE DAILY GURU

BEING SUCCESSFUL IS A CHOICE YOU MAKE

Success or failure?
It's always your choice.
You alone have the responsibility to shape your life.
Once you understand this,
nothing and no one can deny you success.
There's really no one to stop you but yourself.
More powerful than all the success slogans ever written is the realization that everyone has but one boss.
That boss is you.
Your life will always be to a large extent what you make of it.
No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but you.
You can be successful if you want to be successful.



©2006 by Max Steingart