What a difference a day makes.
That was the title of a popular song by vocalist Dinah Washington during my generation and it is also very true of life. Especially if you happen to be a gambler.
It's a fact that regardless of your skills, every gambler will have those losing days. It doesn't matter whether the game is blackjack, dice, slots, poker, baccarat, roulette, sports betting, or horse racing, it is inevitable that some days will turn out bad for you.
But life does have its rainbows. The wonder of life is that there is always tomorrow, like Scarlett O'Hara, the femme fatale in 'Gone With The Wind,' so aptly said.
Each day I forget what happened the night before. It's water over the dam and there isn't anything you can do about it except get stubborn and vow not to let it happen again. Today, this very moment is what counts. Today is the first day of your life and mine, and that is how it has always been and how it will continue to be.
It pays to wake up with a smile in your heart. You make your breakfast, check the latest on Fox News to see if the world is still intact, and you plan the day's activities. A friend may ask me how I did at poker last night. I will be honest and say, 'Not too well, but today will be different.'
A new day is always different than the previous 24 hours. My late friend Dave Molina had a favorite saying when somebody told him of a crisis in their life: 'This, too, shall pass.'
Molina died about a year ago. He was living in Nogales, AZ. working as a copy editor for a newspaper when he was stricken by a massive heart attack. Dave was a heavy drinker and smoker who refused to give up those habits despite the toll they were taking on him.
I used to introduce Dave to strangers by saying, 'This is my friend Dave Molina. I introduced him to four women who became his ex-wives.' True story.
Dave was a hopeless romantic When he met a woman who moved him; he would spend the evening drinking Coors Beer and romancing her. He would sing to her in English and Spanish, and the more beer he drank, the more loving he became. By midnight he would have made up his mind -- I am going to marry that girl -- and few women could resist the Molina charm.
What a difference a day makes.
One night when Dave and I were drinking, he confessed that he had once given serious thought to committing suicide.
'I was without a job and between marriages,' he said. 'Things were going really badly for me. I thought of all the ways I had screwed up my life and decided suicide was the best way out.'
He had all the tools he needed to complete the job: desire, depression, a case of beer and a loaded gun.
But something made him hesitate. He put it off for a day, then two. By the end of a week, he was feeling better about life. Being a strong Catholic, he thought about the consequences of suicide and decided God would not be too happy about such an act. The depression left him, he found a job, I introduced him to a woman at Shelter Island near San Diego, wedding bells rang, and Molina was back in the saddle again.
We began going to casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, and Southern California. We frolicked and kicked up our heels like two Peter Pans. Life was good and we lived it to the hilt.
If you are going through rough times, follow Dave's advice that 'This, too, shall pass.' Refuse to let it get you down. Experience the joy of life. Give it a chance to change you for the better.
Work daily to re-assert your faith in yourself and your destiny. Realize that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. And hang in there for the day that you will be showered with rainbows.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
