For a Chatroom Meeting: When the meeting moderator asks if someone would like to read such and such a reading, like the how it works? you can copy and paste from here, be a big part of the meeting!
This is the SHORT VERSION Further down is the LONG VERSION.
**** Welcome to the OLGA Chat-Style Meeting ****
Are there any newcomers here? Welcome!
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* to begin sharing
** to end sharing
? indicates a question
We have meetings here Sunday - Saturday 9 PM EST; Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday - 3 PM EST, or in Skype on 3 PM EST. For Skype, the contact is olganon-meeting-chair
Check the "Meetings" calendar for current schedule.
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We start the meeting with the Serenity Prayer, Please read along :
Higher Power, Grant me The Serenity to Accept the things I cannot Change, the Courage to Change the things I Can, & the Wisdom to Know the Difference.
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*Our Mission:
On-Line Gamers Anonymous is a fellowship of people sharing their experience, strength and hope to help each other recover and heal from the problems resulting from excessive game playing.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop gaming.
Our primary purpose is to abstain from gaming and to help others find freedom from gaming addiction.
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The Meeting Format is very simple. To indicate that you'd like to share type * to be recognized and type ** to signal that you are finished. ? indicates a question.
Please allow each person to share without interruption.
Please wrap up your share in 5-8 minutes, to leave room for all to share. Once everyone has shared, we'll open for second-dippers!
Sharing on the topic is encouraged, but not required. You may also share about quitting games or how your recovery is going.
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Tonight's Topic:
The topic is optional. If you are new, you can ask any questions, introduce yourself or share your struggles.
~~~~~ MEETING ~~~~~~~
At the end of the meeting:
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Pass the Virtual Basket:
Since there are no dues or fees for OLGA. membership, those members attending this meeting are asked to make a voluntary contribution to help cover the group’s expenses and to support our services. We cannot keep our doors open without financial support.
We are now going to pass the basket around the room by sharing a link that will take you to a donation page. Please help to keep the doors of OLGA open. Every donation helps, no matter how small. Give Online!
When everyone is finished, continue.
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Thank you all for being here and helping me stay sober one more day!
*We have a special way of closing.
Let's have a moment of silence for the addicted gamer who is still suffering……
Let us hug each other (To hug one another, everyone type "hugs" into their screen).
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Prayer for the Day of your choosing, below are two examples:
Higher Power, grant us the humility to realize our ignorance, admit our mistakes and recognize our need.
Help us to praise rather than criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy.
** OR (use one or the other)**
Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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Closing Reminder: Who you see here, what is said here, when you leave here, let it stay here.
Feel free to stay after the meeting to chat.
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END
TOPICS THAT CAN BE USED:
ALTERNATE CHAT TOPICS WHEN THERE ARE LOTS OF NEWCOMERS:
Tonight's Topic: Getting honest: How did gaming create or worsen problems in my life?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember the reasons I have for NOT gaming when life starts to get good again.
Tonight's Topic: Obsession and compulsion: What have my attempts at moderation been like?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept the truth that moderation is just a pipe dream for me.
Tonight's Topic: The "subtle insanity that precedes the first game": What are the thoughts that trigger an irresistable compulsion to game? How can I deal with them?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, open my eyes to see the insanity of my addict brain, so that the truth can be less subtle and more obvious.
Tonight's Topic: One Day at a Time: What can I do to make it between now and the end of the day without starting that first game?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me trust you to take care of tomorrow and all the days after that instead of worrying about it myself.
Tonight's Topic: Asking for help: How can I reach out to the OLGA fellowship?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember that I'm not in this alone, and to have the humility to ask for and accept the help that's available to me.
Tonight's Topic: Living game-free: As newcomers, we suddenly have much more time on our hands and can struggle with boredom and lack of motivation to do constructive things. How can we deal with this?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to use my free time to strengthen my recovery instead of weaken it.
Tonight's Topic: Withdrawal symptoms: What can I expect? What healthy ways can I use to deal with stress and emotional pain?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to be realistic about the challenge I'm facing and to take good care of myself.
Tonight's Topic: Reservations: Do I have any lingering plans or ready excuses to game again? How and where am I holding myself back from trying out the suggestions in OLGA?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember that reservations in my program are the same as holding reservations for a relapse, and that I'm worth working the program for.
PRINCIPLE-BASED CHAT TOPICS:
Tonight's Topic: HOW...Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness. Is HOW visible in my recovery? How is it visible? If not, how can I start making it more visible?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me get past the denial, pride, and self-will that try to keep me locked up in this addiction.
Tonight's Topic: Honesty and acceptance...Am I being honest about what my gaming has done to me? Can I accept myself as an addict?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to look the truth squarely in the eye without shaming myself over it.
Tonight's Topic: Hope...What gives me hope in my recovery?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see the things that you're already doing in my life.
Tonight's Topic: Faith...Am I willing to expose myself to the truth no matter what the consequences of it may be?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to trust that truth can bring freedom if I want it to.
Tonight's Topic: Courage...Are there things my HP wants me to do that I'm afraid of doing? How can I take a step toward doing those things?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be courageous enough to take the next step you want me to take.
Tonight's Topic: Integrity...Am I willing to set aside the masks that I've worn and be who I really am?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to put the masks down and be who you want me to be.
Tonight's Topic: Willingness...Am I willing to take suggestions and make changes in how I live my life?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me not insist on doing things my way today.
LONG VERSION:
OLGA Meeting Approved Readings
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Serenity Prayer (all who choose, join in) GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
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Our Mission On-Line Gamers Anonymous is a fellowship of people sharing their experience, strengths and hope to help each other recover and heal from the problems caused by excessive game playing.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop gaming.
Our primary purpose is to abstain from gaming and to help others find freedom from gaming addiction.
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Introductions - Everyone introduce themselves
How It Works - Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest. Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it, then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. Remember that we deal with obsessive gaming - cunning, baffling and powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power - that one is God. May you find God now! Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the steps and principles we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:
Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over gaming, and that our lives have become unmanageable. Principles - Honesty and Acceptance
Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Principle - Hope
Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God. Principle - Faith
Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Principles - Action and Courage
Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Principle - Integrity
Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Principle - Willingness
Step 7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. Principle - Humility
Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Principle - Brotherly love
Step 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure, them or others. Principle - Justice
Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Principle - Perseverance
Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out. Principle - Spirituality.
Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we carried this message to other compulsive gamers and practiced these principles in all our affairs. Principle - Service
Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. Our description of the excessive gamer,and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas: (a) That we were excessive gamers and could not manage our own lives. (b) That probably no human power could have relieved our excessive gaming. (c) That God could and would, if God were sought.
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The 12 Traditions - The 12 Steps were created so we don't kill ourselves. We also have the 12 Traditions, so we don't kill each other.
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OLGA / OLG-Anon unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as each one of us understands God, as expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for OLGA membership is a desire to stop playing video games. The only requirements for OLG-Anon membership is that there be a problem with playing video games in a relative or friend or loved one.
4. The group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OLGA / OLG-Anon as a whole.
5. The group has but one primary purpose-to carry its message to the video game addict who still suffers.
6. The OLGA / OLG-Anon group ought never endorse, finance or lend the OLGA / OLG-Anon name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. The OLGA / OLG-Anon group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Online Gamers Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but we may employ special workers as needed.
9. OLGA / OLG-Anon., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Online Gamers Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the OLGA / OLG-Anon name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity of other OLGA/OLG-Anon members.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
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Pass the Virtual Basket
Since there are no dues or fees for OLGA. membership, those members attending this meeting are asked to make a voluntary contribution to help cover the group’s expenses and to support our services. We cannot keep our doors open without financial support.
We are now going to pass the basket around the room by sharing a link that will take you to a donation page. Please help to keep the doors of OLGA open. Every donation helps, no matter how small. Give Online!
When everyone is finished, continue.
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The Promises (closing)
"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.
No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
Self-seeking will slip away.
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises?
We think not.
They are being fulfilled among us, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
They will always materialize if we work for them "
- From the book "Alcoholics Anonymous"
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Lords Prayer (Closing)
The Lord's Prayer (all who choose join in) - Our Father, Who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us Lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory Now and forever. Amen
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Alternative Prayer (Closing)
Higher Power, help me to stay free. For this next twenty-four-hour period, take from me any urge to game. With Your help, I'll be free: Action for the Day Today, I'll think about my obsessive gaming. Only in this kind of reliance on a Higher Power will I find my own transformation.
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Just For Today (Closing)
Just for today my thoughts will be on my recovery, living and enjoying life without the use of gaming.
Just For Today (Refrain)
Just for today I will have faith in someone in OLGA who believes in me and wants to help me in my recovery.
Just For Today
Just for today I will have a program. I will try to follow it to the best of my ability.
Just For Today
Just for today through OLGA I will try to get a better perspective on my life.
Just For Today
Just for today I will be unafraid, my thoughts will be on my new associations, people who are not gaming and who have found a new way of life. So long as I follow that way, I have nothing to fear.
Just For Today
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Closing Reminder (everyone says together) - Remember, what you hear here, who you see here, when you leave here, let it stay here!
Keep coming back, no matter what!