Latest / Collectors MD Features / #25: From Rock Bottom To Recovery | Hello, My Name Is Craig
Transcript
- 0:00Watching your wagers more than the game? Take
- 0:02a pause and see what else your gambling could
- 0:04be costing you. For free advice and financial
- 0:06counseling, visit oasas .ny .gov. The following
- 0:11program was pre -recorded. On WFAN, it's time
- 0:15for Hello, My Name is Craig. our weekly candid
- 0:18conversation about gambling addiction. Now, here's
- 0:22Craig Carton. Good morning. Welcome to another
- 0:24edition of Hello, My Name is Craig. Craig Carton
- 0:26with you for the next 30 minutes or so with a
- 0:28frank, open, honest conversation about compulsive
- 0:31gambling. Happy to have Alyx joining us this
- 0:33morning. Alyx, good morning. How are you? Good
- 0:36morning, Craig. I'm doing well. How are you?
- 0:38Doing great. How long has it been since your
- 0:40last wager? September of 2024 for my last traditional
- 0:47gambling wager. So two years. Have you wagered
- 0:51in a non -traditional manner since then or no?
- 0:54Well, that ties to a lot of the work we're doing,
- 0:59and it really comes down to how you define gambling.
- 1:03I would say yes, because my compulsive collecting
- 1:08extended beyond my last traditional wager. But
- 1:11since founding Collectors MD in March of 2025,
- 1:15I've shifted my focus to... Collect with intention,
- 1:20as we call it. So when you say collect, you're
- 1:22talking about memorabilia, cards, that type of
- 1:24thing? Memorabilia, sports cards, sneakers, watches,
- 1:29you name it. I've been a collector my entire
- 1:31life. So it's interesting, the dichotomy between
- 1:35the two. Let me go to the sports gambling or
- 1:37casino gambling first. I definitely want to dovetail
- 1:40back to the collection and how you view it these
- 1:43days. What type of gambler were you when you
- 1:46were really getting yourself into trouble? Yeah,
- 1:50Craig, when I was in the throes of my addiction,
- 1:52I was primarily gambling on live blackjack within
- 1:56the apps. That was really my kryptonite. That's
- 2:05what did me under. Give me an idea of at the
- 2:08height of your blackjack play, what would a normal
- 2:11day look like for you? Man. Well, waking up in
- 2:17the morning, firing up one of the apps and sitting
- 2:21down at one of the virtual tables in front of
- 2:25a, you know, a live dealer was like my morning
- 2:28cup of coffee. And just to have the motivation
- 2:33to get out of bed, I'd have to play at least
- 2:36a few hands. And quite often, you know, what
- 2:40started out as like an innocent 7 a .m. session.
- 2:45would uh sort of evolve into hours and hours
- 2:50of chasing losses and uh you know it could be
- 2:54it could have been on a work day could have been
- 2:56on the weekend um it was all consuming it just
- 3:00completely took over my life um you know i'd
- 3:04be working i'd have a call scheduled for 2 30
- 3:06and i'd have this unrelenting desire to uh play
- 3:11a few hands and again i'd fire up the app and
- 3:15I'd be chasing losses while simultaneously hosting
- 3:19a live meeting, which is just insane in hindsight.
- 3:25But that was my reality. So your reality is kind
- 3:28of something I talk about a lot. I quote the
- 3:30movie Mr. Mom, and in that movie there's a line
- 3:32that goes, even when you're here, you're not
- 3:36here. Meaning you're physically present, but
- 3:38emotionally and mentally present. You were checked
- 3:41out on anything happening in front of you because
- 3:43your focus was on, you know, the little three
- 3:45inch by three inch screen in which you're playing
- 3:47blackjack with a live dealer. That's exactly
- 3:50right. Craig, my dad would often say, you know,
- 3:57he'd be having a conversation with me and he
- 3:59could just, he could tell. He could tell that
- 4:01I wasn't present. It was like lights out, no
- 4:06one's home. He would often compare it to a waiter
- 4:09trying to keep a million saucers in the air from
- 4:12falling on the ground. That was literally me.
- 4:16My mind was just constantly on, how do I get
- 4:19back what I just lost? How do I place my next
- 4:21bet? How do I get back to New Jersey so that
- 4:24I can open up the DraftKings app? That was me.
- 4:28Got it. Were you single during all this? Were
- 4:32you in a relationship or no? No. My wife and
- 4:36I have been married since November of 2022. My
- 4:40active addiction really started to spiral, I
- 4:44would say, around 2021, so about a year prior
- 4:50to getting married. So the reason I ask that
- 4:53question is, did she know you only as the guy
- 4:57that's gambling a lot? were you guys together
- 5:00and the gambling got more aggressive and more
- 5:04aggressive and more time -consuming after you
- 5:06guys had started seeing each other? And the reason
- 5:08I ask that question is I always wonder if she
- 5:11ever came to you and said, hey, what's going
- 5:13on? Like, you're not as social as you used to
- 5:15be. You don't like music anymore. Like, we don't
- 5:17go out anymore. You're distracted, that kind
- 5:19of thing. Yeah, definitely the latter. We met
- 5:22in the summer of 2015. So we were together for...
- 5:26about six years before things started to really
- 5:28escalate with my gambling. And she absolutely
- 5:32noticed. She knew I gambled. She knew I participated
- 5:38in casual betting here and there. But she didn't
- 5:43really recognize or notice that things were starting
- 5:47to spiral until it inevitably did. Meaning financial
- 5:53problems, right? financial problems, emotional
- 5:56distance, you know, canceling plans last minute,
- 6:00you know, all of the usual signs that we see
- 6:05across the board. I want to answer your question.
- 6:07It's going to seem like it's a joke, and it's
- 6:09not. How many times, not the exact number, but
- 6:13how often would you pretend like you had to go
- 6:17to the bathroom, whether at a social function,
- 6:20an event, a house party, etc., just so that you
- 6:23could whip out the phone? And get an extra five
- 6:25or six hands of black check -in. Craig, my wife
- 6:29firmly believed that I had serious stomach problems.
- 6:34She would encourage me to go to the doctor to
- 6:38seek help because I would literally lock myself
- 6:40in the bathroom for hours on end, and I'd come
- 6:42out profusely sweating. So it's just something
- 6:46to get that up. It was very evident that I was
- 6:50either very sick or doing something. Completely
- 6:54flagrant. Was there ever an accusation of you
- 6:56cheating on her? Yes, definitely. But I think
- 7:02it was more than just that. It was like, you
- 7:04know, the financial infidelity was definitely
- 7:07something that came up. But it was before I think
- 7:10she really put two and two together and realized
- 7:13that it was the gambling. But like I told you,
- 7:15I've been a collector my entire life. I'm 36
- 7:18years old today. During my 20s, I was. A sneaker
- 7:23head. I once owned over 550 pairs of sneakers.
- 7:28So I was already spending beyond my means well
- 7:31before gambling entered the picture. But there's
- 7:34a difference between, like I'm a sneaker head
- 7:36also. There's a difference, I think, between
- 7:39collecting sneakers for the purpose of having
- 7:42this amazing collection that, you know, you want
- 7:44to be on an episode of Cribs kind of thing versus
- 7:47I'm now collecting with the point being I'm going
- 7:51to start trading. To me, those are two different
- 7:54things. Yeah, and there's a third thing. There's
- 7:57the validation, right? There's the wanting to
- 8:05keep up appearances, becoming a part of my identity
- 8:08and ego and needing to showcase this lifestyle
- 8:12to my friends and family that made them believe
- 8:15that I was this, you know. successful individual
- 8:19who could afford to buy whatever I wanted. Was
- 8:22collecting your main source of income or did
- 8:24you have a real job and did that on the side?
- 8:27Oh no, it was totally a side hobby, side hustle.
- 8:31I was in media and advertising for about 13 years.
- 8:35Got it. So let me get to what happened two years
- 8:39ago when you stopped playing blackjack. A lot
- 8:42of us have... for lack of a better term, a bottom
- 8:44-of -the -barrel moment. Like, there's a reason
- 8:46we stop, and it's not because necessarily that
- 8:49we want to stop. It's, hey, we ran out of money.
- 8:51We got arrested. Our spouse found out. You know,
- 8:54there's a million different reasons why you stop.
- 8:56Did you have a bottom -of -the -barrel moment
- 8:58where, you know, the poop hit the fan, or you
- 9:02got outed, or you got in trouble? Like, what
- 9:04happened? Yeah, that moment actually really took
- 9:07place in April of 2023. basically had gambled
- 9:14the most money away that i had ever gambled um
- 9:17or i had ever lost we're talking about uh and
- 9:20i know we don't talk about dollar amounts um
- 9:23but you know i always say this about the amounts
- 9:27you can talk about yeah for sure we just don't
- 9:29glorify it like we're not we're not proud of
- 9:31the fact yeah of course but it's all good so
- 9:33you were a couple hundred grand in debt Yeah,
- 9:37but it was like six figures of losses in like
- 9:40a 48 -hour window type deal. Where, yeah, after
- 9:45that bender, my wife was away on a bachelorette
- 9:47party and I just went to town. And towards the
- 9:51end of that, you know, tilt session, if you will,
- 9:54it was Friday morning. I hadn't slept for a minute
- 10:00over the span of two days. I was completely delirious.
- 10:04Didn't know what to do with myself. um, told
- 10:07myself that, uh, I was going to call my dad.
- 10:09It's like a, you know, a last cry for help. And,
- 10:12uh, if he didn't answer, I'd find a way to end
- 10:14it. That was, that was my mindset at the time.
- 10:17And so, um, he called my dad at 6 AM on a Friday,
- 10:21April, 2023. Thank God he answered the phone.
- 10:25He came and picked me up from my apartment in
- 10:27Jersey city, took me back to, uh, you know, my
- 10:31childhood home. I was, uh, paralyzed to the recliner
- 10:35in their living room that entire weekend, just
- 10:37not knowing what to do with myself. And did your
- 10:40dad, in that moment, start with the questioning
- 10:43and challenge you, or did he recognize that you
- 10:45were in such a bad place emotionally that he
- 10:48gave you space and figured once you kind of get
- 10:51some sleep and have something to eat, you know,
- 10:53he'll be able to address what's going on? Yeah,
- 10:57it was definitely the latter. You know, I went
- 11:00back home, and my parents knew that I was in
- 11:02a really bad way. They already knew. that gambling
- 11:07had become a problem. It was about a year, probably
- 11:11not quite a year. It was about eight months prior,
- 11:15I would say in August, September of 2022, that
- 11:21I came to them and told them that I had a gambling
- 11:23problem and that I needed help. But this is something
- 11:27that perpetuated over the span of several years.
- 11:32And so, um, in this particular moment, uh, my
- 11:35parents realized that they needed to intervene
- 11:37and, uh, help me get professional support. When
- 11:40you said a few moments ago that had your dad
- 11:42not answered the phone, you would have considered
- 11:45killing yourself. How, how real and tangible
- 11:49was that for you? Oh, it was as real as it gets,
- 11:52Craig. Um, you know, I, I couldn't, I couldn't
- 11:56get life insurance, uh, you know, because I reported
- 12:01to a therapist, psychiatrist of suicidal ideation.
- 12:04So, I mean, I was in a really, really bad way.
- 12:08Had you, like, given it thought, contemplated,
- 12:11other than, I don't want to wake up tomorrow,
- 12:13I'm going to kill myself, had you actually processed
- 12:15or thought about what you were going to do, and
- 12:18had you walked, like, emotionally and mentally
- 12:20walked through, hey, my fiance's going to be
- 12:23home on Sunday night, she's going to find me,
- 12:24like, that kind of stuff, or no? No, no, I didn't
- 12:28like process it in a way where I was like planning
- 12:30something out or like writing like a suicide
- 12:32note or anything like that. I just, you know,
- 12:35my mind just kept racing to like, you know, what,
- 12:39what do I like looked around the room? Like,
- 12:41what do I need to do? What's the easiest way
- 12:42out? Like, do I jump out the window? Do I overdose
- 12:45on pills? Like that's, that's the type. It was
- 12:48just like, it was so fragmented. It was just
- 12:51such chaos in my head. Um, it's, it's really
- 12:54hard to. recall exactly what i was thinking in
- 12:56that moment but logic and yeah there's no logic
- 13:00no rational thinking at that point exactly it
- 13:03was just completely irrational completely deranged
- 13:05so you're uh you go home for that weekend and
- 13:09then you kind of have to come to jesus moment
- 13:10with your folks for the second time and then
- 13:13did you immediately get into some kind of recovery
- 13:17program start going to ga like what was your
- 13:19process to get into a healthier space Yeah, so
- 13:23I had already started going to GA meetings, you
- 13:26know, right before the new year. So it was around
- 13:31November, December of 2022 is when I started
- 13:34going to GA meetings. And it wasn't the second
- 13:36time that I had, you know, sort of come to Jesus
- 13:39moment with my parents. It was probably the fifth
- 13:42or sixth. Right. I kept relapsing. I go to GA.
- 13:45I say my last day was this morning. Like, you
- 13:48know, it was just this ongoing cycle of. just
- 13:52not taking it seriously, trying to chase my losses,
- 13:55trying to put myself back in the driver's seat
- 13:58and go back to the fantasy land of living life
- 14:04in the fast lane. But in that moment, that weekend,
- 14:10my parents started doing some research and they
- 14:12discovered Right Choice Recovery. in Dayton,
- 14:15New Jersey, and I admitted into that program.
- 14:18I think they're great. I think Rob and his staff
- 14:20there are amazing. They change people's lives
- 14:22for the better. I couldn't agree more. Rob Sackowitz
- 14:26has very much saved my life in more ways than
- 14:31one. I send virtually every single person I counsel
- 14:35to Rob as one of the first things I do. The first
- 14:37thing I would say is you have to self -exclude
- 14:39because if you're not willing to self -exclude,
- 14:41I can't help you because you're going to continue
- 14:43to gamble. And then the second thing I do is
- 14:46I text Rob immediately and connect him and his
- 14:50staff. To me, they're saints. We're going to
- 14:52take a quick break. Hello, My Name is Craig.
- 14:54You can bet on all the sports all the time. Sure.
- 14:57But if your gambling is becoming more than a
- 14:59game, it might be time to take a pause and find
- 15:01out what it's really costing you. Visit Oasis
- 15:04.ny .gov. That's O -A -S -A -S .ny .gov to learn
- 15:09more. The following is pre -recorded. Back to
- 15:13more of Hello, My Name is Craig on The Fan with
- 15:16your host, Craig Carton. Welcome back to Hello,
- 15:18My Name is Craig. In my head, what I'm processing
- 15:20is you haven't played blackjack, casino gambled,
- 15:24sports gambled in a couple years, which is awesome.
- 15:26So you sound like you probably found yourself.
- 15:29You're back to who you are. But you're back to
- 15:32collecting. And as I understand collecting these
- 15:36days. You know, you're not collecting just to
- 15:38show off how many sneakers you got or playing
- 15:40cards you got. You're collecting to trade up
- 15:42and trade up and make money on it, which is why
- 15:44you admitted at the start of this that you kind
- 15:47of feel like, in a way, maybe you are gambling.
- 15:51So walk me through how you process that reality,
- 15:55which you verbalized, and yet you continue to
- 15:58do it. Yeah, so there's a lot of nuances here,
- 16:03Craig. I want to start out just by explaining
- 16:07why I started Collectors MD, which is the organization
- 16:11that I've committed my life and my career to
- 16:14that I started in March of 2025. And I really
- 16:19started Collectors MD because of my own personal
- 16:22experiences with not just the gambling, but the
- 16:25compulsive collecting, the overspending, the
- 16:28gambling -related behaviors that can come with
- 16:31modern -day collecting like you're talking about.
- 16:35Like I said earlier, I've been a collector my
- 16:37entire life, and for a long time, collecting
- 16:40was something that brought me a tremendous amount
- 16:42of joy. It was all about the nostalgia, the community,
- 16:46the friendships, the excitement of collecting.
- 16:48But over time, my relationship with collecting
- 16:50changed, and something that started as passion
- 16:52really gradually became something I struggled
- 16:55to control. And as I began navigating my own
- 16:58recovery through the traditional gambling, resources,
- 17:04I realized that I wasn't alone. There were other
- 17:07people that were experiencing similar challenges,
- 17:09but very few were talking about them openly.
- 17:13And there really weren't any resources specifically
- 17:15addressing what was happening within these modern
- 17:18collectibles environments. And so what stood
- 17:20out to me was this sort of disconnect between
- 17:22the two worlds, right? On one side, you have
- 17:24the collectibles industry where activities like
- 17:27live breaking, repacks, auctions, randomized
- 17:31products have become increasingly popular, but
- 17:34the potential behavioral risks aren't always
- 17:36recognized or understood. And then on the other
- 17:39side, you have the behavioral health and problem
- 17:40gambling community, where many professionals
- 17:42aren't necessarily familiar with how these activities
- 17:45work or why somebody might experience gambling
- 17:48-like behaviors or harm in an environment that
- 17:51isn't traditionally classified as gambling. And
- 17:53so I created Collectors MD to really bridge that
- 17:56gap. And so today, Collectors MD is a peer support,
- 18:00education, and advocacy initiative that's focused
- 18:02on compulsive collecting, overspending, and gambling
- 18:06-adjacent behaviors within modern collecting
- 18:08environments. And so we offer weekly peer support
- 18:11meetings. We put out educational content. We
- 18:14have practical tools and resources. We have pathways
- 18:17to professional support. And we also collaborate
- 18:20with collectibles businesses, behavioral health
- 18:22professionals, problem gambling councils. treatment
- 18:26centers, recovery organizations to really increase
- 18:28awareness and promote healthier participation.
- 18:31And something I always emphasize is that we are
- 18:34not anti -collecting. I still love the hobby.
- 18:37I recognize how much positivity, connection,
- 18:40and enjoyment it brings to millions of people.
- 18:42And so our approach recognizes that different
- 18:45people need different things. And for some, that
- 18:48might mean, like I said before, intentional collecting,
- 18:51which is our version of harm reduction, which
- 18:53means like establishing boundaries, taking accountability
- 18:56for your purchasing decisions, staying within
- 18:59your means. For others, that might mean abstinence,
- 19:01you know, taking a temporary or permanent break
- 19:05as the healthiest path forward. But ultimately,
- 19:08the goal isn't to tell people whether they should
- 19:11collect. It's to help people recognize when collecting
- 19:14is no longer serving them in a healthy way and
- 19:16really just making sure they have access to the
- 19:18education support and resources that they might
- 19:21need. Yeah, I'm looking at your website now.
- 19:23I'm fascinated by it. I think it's great what
- 19:25you're doing because it's real. You know, a lot
- 19:28of times, you know, an issue some people have
- 19:30with GA is you go into a certain room and the
- 19:33first thing you hear is you can never gamble
- 19:35again for the rest of your life. And when you're
- 19:38talking to people, especially younger guys, you
- 19:41know, that's daunting. That's why the first meeting
- 19:43is the easiest to go to. The second meeting is
- 19:45the hardest because... Yeah, you kind of get
- 19:48overwhelmed, and maybe the room doesn't feel
- 19:50like it's appropriate for you because of your
- 19:51age or whatever the case may be. So I'm just
- 19:53navigating your website here, and I think it's
- 19:58really smart because you're being real about
- 20:00it. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly, and what you just
- 20:03explained is exactly what I went through, right?
- 20:05I go to a GA, and I talk about my gambling addiction,
- 20:10but I also talk about joining breaks and overspending.
- 20:14ripping these personals and buying high -end
- 20:16singles on eBay. And it just didn't click with
- 20:20anybody. They just couldn't wrap their heads
- 20:21around how that could have the same sort of impact
- 20:25that traditional gambling environments do. And
- 20:28for me, the two activities really fueled each
- 20:30other. I would gamble. I'd have extra money.
- 20:32I'd go buy a box. Or on the flip side, if I spent
- 20:38a ton of money and missed on a break, I'd go
- 20:40and play blackjack to try to win the money back.
- 20:43And I think one of the most important distinctions
- 20:45between collecting and gambling is that collecting
- 20:49has redeeming qualities that exist independently
- 20:51of the financial outcome, right? Collecting is
- 20:54rooted in nostalgia, history, family, community,
- 20:59personal interests, emotional connections. It's
- 21:01something that can bring generations together,
- 21:03right? Like a parent and a child opening a pack
- 21:07of cards or someone building a collection around
- 21:09their favorite athlete or team. collectors forming
- 21:12lifelong friendships through a shared passion.
- 21:14So I think there's also a tangible component
- 21:19to it, right? You're acquiring an item that can
- 21:22have not just financial value, but personal,
- 21:25sentimental, historical value, regardless of
- 21:29whether it's worth more or less than what you
- 21:31paid. On the contrary, traditional gambling is
- 21:35fundamentally centered around wagering something
- 21:37of value on an uncertain outcome. And while gambling
- 21:40can certainly have social and entertainment value
- 21:43and some people can do it responsibly, more power
- 21:45to them, those aren't unique to gambling. And
- 21:49the wager itself doesn't create the same sort
- 21:52of lasting connection to an object or history
- 21:55or personal passion that collecting often does.
- 21:58And that's how I distinguish the two and why
- 22:00I firmly believe that harm reduction is a possible
- 22:03path forward for some people. when it comes to
- 22:06collecting versus gambling. Do you guys have
- 22:08the ability, because you do, obviously, on this
- 22:11website, you're creating a platform for people
- 22:15to continue to collect while also providing them
- 22:17a safe haven from problem collecting, and there's
- 22:21tons of resources here. Is there any concern
- 22:25that you guys have? Can you recognize somebody
- 22:28that comes to your site because they want to
- 22:32collect in a safer way? Maybe they do have a
- 22:33problem. that exhibits behavior that you guys
- 22:38would recognize as problematic and then let them
- 22:41know directly, hey, we're not going to let you
- 22:42trade on this site anymore, but we're going to
- 22:44connect you to the resources we have to get you
- 22:46help? Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's one
- 22:49of the most important considerations when we
- 22:52talk about harm reduction and intentional collecting,
- 22:55right? Intentional collecting isn't necessarily
- 22:57the right approach for everyone. And I think
- 22:59we'd be doing people a disservice if we suggested
- 23:02otherwise, right? For some people, setting financial
- 23:06limits and establishing boundaries and approaching
- 23:09their hobby more intentionally can be effective.
- 23:12But for a lot of people, particularly those who
- 23:15have repeatedly tried to moderate their behavior
- 23:17or maybe have a history with gambling addiction,
- 23:20for those people, continued participation may
- 23:23actually perpetuate the cycle of harm. And that's
- 23:26where really self -awareness and accountability
- 23:28and honest assessment have to become so important,
- 23:32right? We have to recognize that someone can
- 23:35really convince themselves they're collecting
- 23:38intentionally when in reality they're still engaging
- 23:42in the same compulsive behaviors just under a
- 23:44different label. And that's a genuine concern.
- 23:46And it's something we take very seriously at
- 23:50Collectors MD. We don't want harm reduction to
- 23:53become just another justification for continued
- 23:55harmful behavior. If someone is consistently
- 23:58exceeding their limits or hiding purchases or
- 24:00chasing losses or experiencing financial, emotional,
- 24:04mental, relational consequences, you know, of
- 24:07their actions or from their actions or finding
- 24:11themselves like unable to disengage. Those are
- 24:13signs that, you know, intentional collecting
- 24:16may not be an appropriate strategy. And so in
- 24:19those types of situations, we would recommend
- 24:22stepping away from the hobby, whether temporarily
- 24:25or permanently as the healthier option. And then
- 24:30ideally connect them with, appropriate professional
- 24:33support. And I mentioned this earlier, but we
- 24:35have a fully fleshed out referral network of
- 24:37licensed therapists, clinicians, doctors, financial
- 24:40advisors, attorneys that we can direct people
- 24:44to to get the real professional support that
- 24:47they might need. Well, I think what you're doing
- 24:49is great. I think it's important. It's funny
- 24:51because I never considered, you know, because
- 24:53I'm not a collector, that collecting is another
- 24:56form of gambling, which clearly it is these days.
- 24:59And everyone's chasing the holy grail of a one
- 25:01-of -one, this and that. So I applaud you for
- 25:04doing it. I'm so glad you shared your story with
- 25:06us. And I'm really glad that when the demons
- 25:08were coming after you and the walls were caving
- 25:10in, you didn't make a decision that's irreversible.
- 25:12And I think we need to tell more of those stories
- 25:14publicly. And anything I can do to help you guys
- 25:17out, please use me as a resource. And I appreciate
- 25:19you joining us today very, very much. Absolutely,
- 25:22Craig. Can I say one last thing? Of course. So
- 25:27kind of full circle moment, I know how much you
- 25:30support and respect Right Choice Recovery. From
- 25:33September through, I should say, September 2025
- 25:36through August of 2026, I actually worked at
- 25:40Right Choice leading group meetings in a clinical
- 25:43setting for gambling addiction, helping those
- 25:46overcome a lot of the challenges that I faced
- 25:51during my active addiction. That paired with
- 25:53the work I'm doing at Collectors MD. is really
- 25:56what I believe step 12 is all about, paying it
- 25:59forward, turning pain into purpose, helping other
- 26:02people overcome struggles that you once faced.
- 26:04And that's what I've committed my life and my
- 26:06career to. And I'm not saying everybody has to
- 26:09do exactly that or get up on a stage and preach
- 26:14from the mountaintops. But I definitely think
- 26:17that... Step 12 is one of, if not the most important.
- 26:22Not just that. You found what might be your true
- 26:24calling and why you're here. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
- 26:28I do firmly believe that. And I promise you this.
- 26:32I guarantee you that when you look in the mirror,
- 26:34you like what you see a whole lot more than you
- 26:36did a couple years ago. Yeah, yeah. I found identity,
- 26:40purpose, belonging, all in places that, you know,
- 26:44I never thought in a million years I would find.
- 26:47I'm super grateful for recovery. And while I
- 26:52obviously regret a lot of the decisions I made
- 26:54along the way, I ultimately have no regrets because
- 26:57I now have the opportunity and platform to help
- 26:59other people. And you're very blessed that you
- 27:02have the parents you have and the woman you have.
- 27:05Because without them, you might not be here telling
- 27:07this story. So give them an extra hug. Thank
- 27:10you so much for joining us. Look forward to meeting
- 27:12you one day in person as well. And keep doing
- 27:14what you're doing because you're making a difference.
- 27:15Thank you. Yeah, likewise, Craig. Thank you so
- 27:18much. Take care. Be well. Appreciate you allowing
- 27:20us into your homes as always. This has been another
- 27:22edition of Hello, My Name is Craig. Watching
- 27:26your wagers more than the game? Take a pause
- 27:28and see what else your gambling could be costing
- 27:30you. For free advice and financial counseling,
- 27:32visit oasas .ny .gov.