Thank you Steev,
It really helps to read an inderstanding post .
Yes it is much easier to admit that in the past you had a problem rather than today I blew half my wages .
Someone who appears on a tv show and says he/she has been sober for a year gets huge applause , but someone who arrives for interview under the influence is slated and never allowed to forget it.
It is the same with gambling .
Every single person on this site , whatever stage their addciton is at – recovery, active , relapse, starting again – each one of us is trying to do our personal best to stop. It’s not easy but we keep trying and we will eventually pull down barriers to stopping .
This summer I have not visited my mother alone – I know she is disappointed and it has been a difficult choice to make, but I also know that she is a huge barrier to my stopping . She will gamble anyway and I can’t stop her but I find it incredibly difficult to say no to a trip to the casino when I visit – not because of her addiction but because of my own. I want to go and get my fix . It’s the only time I visit a land casino so by not visiting I don’t get tempted .
None of us choose this way to live and all of us deserve to better.