No March Madness for me, whether it be college basketball or at a casino! No Way!
In addition, I pledge to not participate in fantasy sports contests or pools of any kind. Fantasy football was one of my “hold outs”. In earlier attempts to quit gambling I decided for myself that a little fantasy football, or March Madness, or other pools, didn’t really count as gambling. So I continued them while abstaining from casinos. I now realize that for me, the games and pools are all just another form of gambling that I didn’t want to let go of. As I have continued in my recovery quest, I now know that all of these games elicit the same competitive, compulsive behaviours as blackjack, roulette, poker, or slots.
I immersed myself in fantasy football to the extent that I was thinking about it nearly all the time, and took it very seriously both during the week and on the weekends when the games took place. I was on the edge of my seat and had tremendous highs and lows all the way from the first Thursday night game to the final Monday night game of the week. It took a while, but I finally realized that I found a new and still unhealthy “hobby” to replace the casinos that i could no longer frequent. I now know that it was just another way to hang on to my gambling addiction. I have a pretty thick head so it has taken me a long time to admit this and root out and let go of the remainder of my gambling addictions, one by one.
Thank you for the reminder! Here’s to March Sanity!