Strangers in Recovery – Ep17 – Chris, part2
Chris from the UK, recovering alcoholic and compulsive gambler, Co-Host of All Bets Are Off Podcast and Trustee at Gambling Education Network is back with the second part of our discussion where he talks about his activities in recovery. He shares the journey about how he got into the podcasting field, how it allowed him to express himself and help others, and what are their plans for the future. He mentions other podcasts addressing gambling harm and talks about the Do It For Her movie that the Gambling Education Network commissioned.
We openly talk about details of gambling addiction, the various depth of it, and involved parties who suffer from its harm. His humble personality shines through in words, we can connect to his narrative and understand what helps him to be sober and bet-free these days through the various recovery activities where he’s involved.
His stories might resonate with many of us struggling with alcohol, gambling and mental health, looking for support, or feeling lost with all details of our own problems. You can follow him on Twitter @gillsy1002_, listen to the Gambling Addiction Recovery Podcast called All Bets Are Off where he’s a Co-Host and the leading impact-focused UK charity Gambling Education Network dedicated to the prevention and reduction of gambling harm.
The first part of the discussion with Chris is at Strangers in Recovery episode 16!
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.
Strangers in Recovery – Ep16 – Chris, part1
Chris from the UK, recovering alcoholic and compulsive gambler, Co-Host of All Bets Are Off Podcast and Trustee at Gambling Education Network shares his experiences with drinking and gambling, brings us to the years when he has been addicted to both and the journey of how he found the way out of them by supporting tools such as honesty, connections, and fellowships like Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous.
In the first part of this double episode, he shows moments of his life, how he built up his years in active addictions, and the moments that led him to utter surrender allowing him to start his recovery in 2017. He openly talks about details of his addictions, the various mental health issues, and the losses of his life. His humble personality shines through in words that are encouraging and relatable, we can connect to his narrative and understand what helps him to be sober and bet-free these days.
His stories might resonate with many of us struggling with alcohol, gambling and mental health, looking for support, or feeling lost with all details of our own problems. You can follow him on Twitter @gillsy1002_, listen to the Gambling Addiction Recovery Podcast called All Bets Are Off where he’s a Co-Host and the leading impact-focused UK charity Gambling Education Network dedicated to the prevention and reduction of gambling harm.
The second part of the discussion with Chris is coming on 13 February!
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.
Strangers in Recovery – Ep12 – Bala with guests of 2021
Bala, the host of the show takes it over for an episode and invites you to listen to certain parts of his guests again and be with them for the last episode in 2021.
He shares about what he has learned in the last over 4 months since he hasn’t placed a bet and how he sees now his own recovery where the Strangers in Recovery podcast incorporates with its weekly guests. He established it as a format to talk safely, freely, and with full honesty which he brings now again from his own understanding.
The two poems have been published originally in Hungarian in Spanyolnátha art magazine at its latest edition: http://www.spanyolnatha.hu/uj-lapszam/szepiras/szemben-a-semmivel-nemvers-joga-definiciok-onmagamra-didergunk-a-vilagtalansagban-fonyeremeny/5500/
Now he presents two of them translated into English.
opposed to nothing
you order a drink
a spin
just a hit,
and dive into the last one.
you became a burnt tablecloth
after you pulled it by your own toes.
you have been left behind.
you were well educated
– as opposed to nothing –
now not even your own reflection is familiar anymore
myself, myself
later, you take a seat next to me
trace of coffee on the tablecloth
remembrance
jackpot
cards on doors scratched
screams pouring on woods
I let it in
it stops
cheerless island
by the pass of the morning
your hand of seconds
stems breaks off
same boat same place
in the mirror the third
cherry
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.
Strangers in Recovery – Ep8 – George
George, a Scottish recovering alcoholic talks about his experiences with sobriety of over 12 years and how he found his way in Alcoholics Anonymous as a solution for his addiction. He is an honest alcoholic who practices his recovery every day by attending meetings, helping out at a local rehab center, or just simply picking up the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous to read and learn something new about himself.
He shares moments of his life in recovery, how he discovered that unmanageability of his drinking could have taken his life and how he turned to a grandfather of climbing trees these days. His personality shines through his words that are relatable for all addicts at any stage of recovery, we can easily connect to his narrative and understand how much it takes to be honest and show a full picture of alcoholism.
His stories and explanations of certain aspects of his addiction might resonate with many of us struggling with our own ones, and wanting to discover a better life in sobriety. You can follow him on Twitter @GeorgeC195.
“I didn’t see an alternative, I couldn’t live with it, I couldn’t live without it. If I could find a way to drink, without all the consequences that were building up in terms of my marriage, in terms of my personal relations, in terms of my carrier, in terms of my financial arrangements, and everything else: then I might, well, still be drinking. From my first meeting at Alcoholics Anonymous, I do remember two things: one guy said, if you don’t take the first drink, you can’t get drunk. That made complete sense to me cause it nailed my pattern. If it was absolutely crucial, I could not drink for a period of time. I hated it, I’ve been miserable, I’ve been grumpy, but I could do it. I thought, yeah, I can live with that. The other thing that they said: keep coming back. So I kept going back, not really knowing why I was going back, except that I wanted to hang out with these people who have got sober and starting to get my life together.“
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.
Strangers in Recovery – Ep7 – Becca
Becca, a Canadian recovering alcoholic talks about her experiences with sobriety of over 4 years and how she discovers her own truth by being an alcoholic. She is the host of The Unashamed Alcoholic Podcast where she invites well-known sober people for conversations about alcohol and working to take the stigma out of alcoholism, addiction and recovery.
She shares moments of her life in recovery, how she approaches her addiction and talks openly about what works for her, especially since she opened up in public. Her personality shines through in memories and feelings that are relatable for all addicts at any stage of recovery, we can easily connect to her narrative and understand how much it takes to be honest and show a full picture about alcoholism.
Her stories might resonate with many of us struggling with addictions, looking for our own truth in recovery, and wanting to discover a better life in sobriety. You can follow her on Twitter @UnashamedAlc.
“I’m sober, but that’s not the truth, that’s not my truth. I was saying I’m sober for 3 years before I started saying I’m an alcoholic as the truth. I’ve been hiding that when I went out to meet new people like I don’t drink, not giving any more details. Because how can I say I’m an alcoholic? I was at Alcoholics Anonymous, I admitted it, I loved life, I was super happy, I was confident in myself – but in secret. I thought this is ridiculous, I can be so open getting drunk and being hungover, or ah, I need a drink tonight – but you can’t talk about being in recovery? Why? Why can’t I be as open about one thing as I’m about another one? Why does society accept getting drunk is OK to talk about, but getting sober is not. That doesn’t make any sense!”
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.
Strangers in Recovery – Ep6 – Edward
Edward, a Canada-based Hong Kong-born volunteer first responder in mental health talks about his experiences in living with childhood trauma and the way how he decided to help others by sharing his own views.
He shows moments of his life in recovery, how he supports others to use available resources to heal, and openly talks about what works for him may not work for someone else. His personality shines through in words that are encouraging and relatable, therefore we can connect to his narrative and understand how much it takes to build up our own boundaries and why it’s a key in recovery.
His stories might resonate with many of us struggling with mental health issues, looking for motivations and examples of how others deal with trauma and being early or already advanced in recovery. You can follow him on Twitter @Maahokgit.
He suggests reaching out to these organizations in case of looking for affordable therapy: https://openpathcollective.org (Open Path Psychotherapy Collective is a non-profit nationwide network in the United States of America of mental health professionals dedicated to providing in-office and online mental health care – at a steeply reduced rate – to individuals, couples, children, and families in need) and https://affordabletherapynetwork.com (The Affordable Therapy Network is a Directory of Therapists offering Low Cost and Sliding Scale rates across Canada).
“I’m more than happy to tell what works for me because my situation is helpful, but I don’t know what works for you. I’m glad to help you look for different alternatives where we can talk about it. Sometimes, I know in my personal experience, when I talk about my issues with my peer support, I actually fix my own problem. It’s weird because you can type all day long, but when we actually verbalize, vocally speaking out, it makes more sense: oh, yeah, I need to do this.”
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.
Strangers in Recovery – Ep1 – Bala
Bala, the host of the show establishes his understanding of strangers and recovery by various quotes and goes into details of his gambling addiction and how he relapsed back in time. He talks about why he failed to stay abstinent and how he started his recovery on August 10, 2021.
He admits that it’s fearful to talk about his past and about his plans for the future. He presents Strangers is Recovery podcast as a format to talk safely, freely, and with full honesty.
“I have a tremendous amount of shame. But now I just want to talk about it. This shame will never go away. I will have to work with it. But I want to talk. And I want to listen.”
I appreciate you leaving your comments and thoughts on https://strangersinrecovery.club website. You can reach your host at bala@strangersinrecovery.club, follow him on twitter and instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stick with us until the next episodes! Listen to all episodes with care and empathy. We are here to show our best selves via stories from our worst periods. We are Strangers in Recovery.