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Lanie's Hope

From Healing to Freedom

Freedom is amazing.

So many take it for granted; they forget the significance and feeling of freedom and the joy that it brings.They fail to remember that although freedom is ever present around them, it was not always this way. And the failure to remember that, renders freedom for granted.

Isn’t it ironic that freedom can be a vice? Is it not full of irony that the concept, pursuit and life of freedom can be a source of bondage and captivity?

If taken for granted, freedom remains a concept instead of a reality. This is a crucial concept to understand. Repeat this to yourself. See and feel the significance! In order to truly live in freedom and to live out the message of freedom, one must be intentional, rational, situational, and if need be, unconventional in nature. In this way, freedom can be fully achieved and realized.

Now what if I told you, that although you assumed I was referring to the freedom we have here in America, that I was not speaking of that? Rather, I was speaking of the personal freedom you can have and yet choose to take for granted.

Freedom must be personal before it is congregational; that is, before a body of people desire it, an individual must desire it and seek to achieve it. A man or woman wanting to be free of bondage will find other men or women in bondage, and in turn they will find others. What does this result in? A group of people! A body, a congregation, a nation. Living in freedom.

Freedom and healing go hand in hand. We do not find them far apart from each other. May we find them ever close together in our own lives. May we live in Freedom.

Pieces of Peace

Peace.

Everyone desires the word, and yet almost no one knows what the word means.

Instead, what we usually end up with is piece. A partial aspect of the solution we desire. One that temporarily satisfies and contains promises, but one that ultimately fails.

Such is the case in many areas of our lives. Including that of healing! We want and crave peace, but we do not achieve it. Instead, we have a piece of the world, and it is a very disappointing one at that.

If only we realized the true source of peace! If only we understood that (1) it is very achievable and (2) it is something much better than we dreamed of!

HINT: It is not found within yourself.

So often we find the problem within ourselves, and so we look to the solution within ourselves. This is incorrect and empty. Peace is found outside of ourselves. Peace has been gifted to us. Peace was bought with a price. Peace must be received in thankful and humble heart.

Peace is found in healing, and the Healer. We are the healed, the broken but redeemed, the ones who have a story to tell.

Go in peace, and be healed.

Why?

Why?

Why do you do what you do? What makes you move? What makes your engine run?

What drives you and gives you motivation? What is it that lights your fire?

What makes you not just survive, but thrive?

Everyone has something. That motivating factor, the tipping physical point where they can become a different person altogether and for the better. They become more motivated, more driven, more successful and most importantly, maturing in their own healing along life’s journey.

This motivator is not found apart from understanding more and more about yourself every single day. In this growth you will discover new attributes about yourself, both good and bad, and use them to find the essential parts of yourself that further healing and more growth and improvement.

See, it is a continual train of self-improvement going on; a growth train, as it pertains to mindset.

God has placed you on this planet to make a difference and an impact for many. But this will not happen robotically. The saying is true – “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

Why are you here? Why do you want to make a difference? Why do you think that YOU can be that difference and impact?

Why? Maybe you need to ask yourself – why not?

Review of “All Bets Are Off”

allbetsareoffcvrThis is the title and cover of the book about Arnie and Sheila Wexler written by them, along with Steve Jacobson.   Arnie and Sheila have helped so many compulsive gamblers and their families to recover from the devastation of compulsive gambling, as well as written training manuals to train casino workers on recognizing a problem gambler.  Arnie and Sheila have been in their respective recovery programs for over 47 years and reading their story is just amazing.

Going back to the beginning of Arnie’s gambling, the reader can see how his love of sports quickly evolved into enjoying the sport because of the rush he felt while “in action.”   He loved horse racing and spent countless hours at the track.  When he wasn’t at the actual track, his mind was still on the upcoming action and how to get more money.  He had the ability to charm people into loaning him money, he was collecting kickbacks from vendors through his job, and lying to everybody- all to keep him going.   His first date with Sheila (when he was 21 and she was 16) was to a drive-in to see Damn Yankees and the second was to a racetrack.  However, as Sheila writes “I never had another date with him unless it was a sports event, a racetrack, or a casino night- except for an occasional Broadway show.”   There were many naysayers that tried to convince Sheila NOT to marry Arnie, knowing that he was a compulsive gambler and her life would be hell.  However, she loved him and believed that after they married, everything would be different and Arnie’s gambling would come to a halt because he had promised to quit when they were married. Read more →

Walk in Memory, Walk for Hope September 14th, 2013 Henderson,NV

Lanie’s Hope Supports the 7th Annual “Walk in Memory – Walk for Hope”

WMWH Banner

The 7th Annual “Walk in Memory – Walk for Hope” community suicide prevention awareness walk will be taking place on Saturday, September 14, 2013, in ten different communities across the State of Nevada. Walk participants are asked to donate $20 per individual. To participate on a team, go to https://www.nvsuicideprevention.org and select “Lanie’s Hope” on the drop down box.  Each person walking will need to complete a registration form. All donations will be used to help fund various NCSP programs in communities throughout the state.

Compulsive Gamblers have the highest suicide rate of any social segment.  Participation in Walk in Memory, Walk for Hope supports a valuable community resource while raising awareness of Lanie’s Hope’s mission. Team apparel will be available for purchase on our website in August 2013.
PLEASE JOIN OUR TEAM TODAY!
Bea Aikens, Founder

Boulder City Hospital – May 2, 2013 3PM

RECOGNIZING PROBLEM GAMBLING

In recognition of National Mental Health Month, Boulder City Hospital’s Mental Health: Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) staff will participate in a one-hour introductory course to understanding and recognizing Problem Gambling.
Lanie’s Hope Founder and Advocate for the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, Bea Aikens will present a one hour presentation, providing a basic explanation of what happens when gambling becomes an addiction and review screening methods and resources available to identify and treat problem gamblers and their families.

 

 

Carrying The Message: Sharing My Experience, Strength, and Hope

Ted Hartwell – Advocate for Social Change in Problem Gambling

Today, service to my community includes promoting awareness of the disease of problem gambling: the reality of its existence, the seriousness of its impact not only on the sufferer but on everyone in that individual’s sphere of influence, and the availability of treatment.

As has been the case for many others I have spoken with, my own gambling story begins at a young age (10). Family vacations with my father would involve trips to the Ruidoso Downs race track, where I was given $20 for the day to bet on horses. Later, he would teach me how to play poker, and by the time I was a teenager I was playing occasionally, and later regularly, with a group of his colleagues. By the time I was in college, I became involved in a high-stakes pot-limit game, and won enough money over time to move out of the house and get my own apartment while I was in school. There were two men in that game that I (and others) won money from fairly consistently, and looking back I now realize that it was not just because (as I thought) they were “bad” player, but because they were compulsive (pathological) gamblers who would stay in the game until the last card on almost every hand.

When I finished my graduate degree in 1991, I received a job offer from the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas to supervise archaeological work out at the infamous Yucca Mountain Project. I was thrilled to get a job in archaeology, and was excited about the prospects of moving to Las Vegas. For many years after moving to Las Vegas I continued to play live poker. While I never considered myself a professional player, I did well enough to win a little money over the long run, and saw it as an entertaining pastime. I didn’t understand the appeal of the video poker machines…it seemed like a complete waste of time to play a machine, where you had no control over the outcome. Occasionally, I would put $20 into a machine, but never won anything substantial until I hit my first royal flush for $1,000 in the mid-1990s. It was a few years later that I hit a 2nd one, and then very soon after, a third. “Aha! This is why people play the machines!” I thought. Gradually, I played less and less live poker and more and more video poker until soon I was playing video poker almost exclusively. It didn’t seem to matter that intellectually I knew I was never going to beat a computer chip. Read more →

Will you “Answer the Call”?

The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling has been doing more with less for several years. Recent budget cuts have impacted the Council’s ability to serve our community, and yet through the remarkable work of a small, focused and impassioned staff, this community service organization continues to provide exceptional resources on problem gambling, supports those impacted by problem gambling, and NEVER let’s the phone go unanswered!  They need the support of our community! It is unfathomable to me that, as of this writing, only two individuals have contributed to this drive to keep the phone lines going. I can only guess that this is because the generous Las Vegas community does not know the need exists. Please consider a contribution to keep the phone line (a life line to many) alive!
www.razoo.com/story/Anyone-Anywhere-Anytime
Read more →

A Compelling and Passionate Speaker
Bea Aikens couples her personal experience with extensive knowledge of the disease of compulsive gambling to build a compelling platform for civic, community and national organizations seeking knowledge and understanding of the disease of disordered gambling. To engage Bea for your upcoming event, contact her at
Contact Info
Lanie's Hope
P.O. Box 60214
Boulder City, NV 89006
702.812.1922
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