The Anything Is Possible Dream

   The popularity of gambling is exploding in the West, but it should not be viewed as an infectious disease. Like all news – it is always the negative aspects of this multi-million industry that dominates the news.

It however be interesting to look at the statistics closely to see how many people around the world in fact gamble and how many of them are serious gamblers, so addicted to the sport, they have become a danger to themselves and their families, so to speak. I suspect that the picture would not be as alarming as the media often portrays the activity to be.
'The practice of gambling can be described as staking something of value on the outcome of an event that involves chance in the hope of gaining the objects of value that have been staked on the event by others.' It is, in other words, about taking a risk which involves a loss in the hope of gaining much more than the loss, or at least covering the loss. It is risk-taking motivated by riches.

This practice stretches nearly as far back as human history. It is innate to human beings – so much so that we take it for granted and only now see aspects of the activity in our lives which are less subtle and perhaps a little more contrived than what we accept as part and parcel of everyday living.

However life is itself a gamble. Our ancestors who were hunter-gathers, pre-existing us took a gamble everyday when they went hunting or collected food. Both practices involved putting at stake what you have – in other words expending what energy you had/eating your food reserves in order to have the energy to go out and hunt or find more than, or the same amount as, what you had to invest in order to carry on living. That was perhaps the birth of the anything is possible dream. It is that hope which is the driving force of human existence, and for the most part we are exorcising that primeval urge when we gamble naturally in our daily lives or artificially by visiting betting shops or casinos. So, don't beat yourself up emotionally by trying to resist that urge every time you feel its pull. Betting on the odd American Football game - American football odds, or on the odd hockey game -  ice hockey betting, is okay, so long as it is done with moderation.