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Hi Jonny, you are doing great, keep focusing on one day at a time, don’t look back, there’s nothing about the past you can change but you can be the master of your future, you can claim ownership for every day in front of you. Like you I’m finding the trigger points are so often and my moods are more stable, i even managed some real laughter this week at work when usually it’s a fake distance laugh as I’m waiting on a result coming in and I’d rather be checking on that than stood with colleagues. The changes come Jonny and your life is yours to own. Keep checking in

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I actually got to day 10 without gambling. My moods are more consistent, i focus more at work, thinking carefully about money but today i got paid, money is tight because of the gambling mess i got myself into and all i can think of is putting my money on a bet, doubling it and not worrying about money this month, losing wouldn’t be an option but i never ***** on losing but i don’t want to go back to day 1, i don’t want to chase until i don’t have a penny again, i don’t want to spend xmas hating myself as much as i did 10 days ago so i resisted my inner voice and i resisted the desire to gamble

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Well as i expected this weekend was tough. i feel like i have developed a split personality and the last 48 hrs have been me versus me having so many arguments with myself that i am exhausted. The good news is i didn’t gamble and when i have checked scores i would have won on most games but if i am honest there’s a couple i would have picked that would have lost me my bets
I have been laid out on the settee most of the weekend totally not well, the common cold having turned into a chest infection ( vera your remedy does seem to be helping though) its bizzare as i literally never get ill, it’s like the hands of fate believe i want to beat this addiction and they foresaw a tough gambling weekend ahead so knocked me of my feet…just to be sure, thanks for that! Ha
I have just watched 2 movies back to back, the gambler which we can all relate to and a film called burnt, towards the end of this film i got a bit emotionally, not for sad reasons but because i truly felt there was hope for me. This film was about working for what you really want even if you fail and have to start again, you get back up and carry on and eventually the sun will shine through. It’s about accepting those rough days and riding them out.
In another 16 hrs i will hit my 1 week mark, i really don’t want to see day 1 again.

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Hi Vera, yeah thats confirmed what I was thinking, I thought it may still act as a trigger, I’ll take your advice on that one as that’s what I’m here for, to absorb all the help I can 🙂

I have all those ingredients at home so that’s how I’m going to be spending my Saturday. I have been left so many jobs to do that I don’t have a minute to think about football which may be a good thing

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today gambling didnt fully consume my whole thoughts as i am full of cold and having to prepare for a shift at work tonight. i have hit day 4 WOW but i’m under no illusion, the biggest challenges are yet to come. tonight the lads will be picking their teams for tomorrow, there will be so many teams with potential goals in them and money for me. i love love love Saturday gambling but i want to love myself and my life in the same way so i have to keep going.
last night i told a few of the lads that i needed to stop and that i had joined an online group. i thought they would ridicule me (in jokey kind of way) but they were supportive, even recognised that i was chaser, i told them how much money i lost and they said to stick at what i was doing, it felt good but i also realised that they could probably relate to my problems.
i was going to pick out some teams and if they lost i would be happy that i didnt bet BUT if they win i think that would be a trigger point. i think once my bank account starts looking healthier, reality will kick in as for years i have been up and down in and out of my overdraft, whenever i get a good wage it goes on my new gambling debts.
gambling sucks
addiction sucks
new beginnings rock
time for a hot honey before work

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goodman, there is so many success journeys on here that feel exactly as we do, it shows you that with hard work and consistency we can leave these gambling days behind. accept your losses (which i know is easier said than done)make today a new day

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Hi Goodman. I really wish had all the answers to help you beat this but I’m struggling to find answers to. What i do know is that whilst ever you are spending time in betting shops the temptation will always be nearly impossible to resist you have to take yourself out of that situation before that 5000 doubles and doubles again. Can you be honest with your friend and tell him that you have a problem with gambling and want to stop? Maybe you could do something else together if not maybe he can go to the betting shop and meet you later to spend time together. You never know, he may also have a gambling problem but it will only get worse for you if you carry on. I have wasted 21 years on gambling and i have only just admitted to myself that i can’t control it. If i gamble, it consumes me and owns my life. You don’t make friends through gambling, you lose them. Stay away from the bookmakers and take your friend to a social event where you can meet new people together. Let me know how you get on

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not too a bad a day today, no trigger situations, i have deleted my football app, although i like checking scores, i know if i see a game with goals potential, the devil on my shoulder would be jumping up and down begging me and dragging me to the bookies. i also put a “days since” calculator on the phone as i expect to be clocking up some days on this thing.
i wondered today where i would be if i had never gambled, would i have a house? would i have a nice bank account where i didnt have to sit and work out my finances weekly? i think so but i know i cant get to this places by trying to recover losses with more losses, i am never going to cover 25 years of losses EVER i’ll only add to them. this journey has to continue. i think if i fail i will lose hope of ever being free. 3 days is a good start considering it took me 4 days to complete day 1

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Jonny…absolutely!! lets get this done! we are in control of our future, it may not always be easy but we have the choice not to give in.
Vera, it’s so good to hear how you have turned it around and that finances do improve, i am still inspired from reading your thread and hearing how the little things mean so much, how you make time for things that gambling took away…that struck home.

so my day 2…i was faced with my first challenge, i got my wage slip for next week and its about £100 short, my first reaction which i always do in these situations is to gamble and make up the difference but with having day 1 under my belt stopped and thought about it. my choices are:- 1.gamble and there’s a 50/50 chance of making my wage up
2. gamble, lose money that i really cant afford to lose and get further in debt.
3. accept that the reason i am in this predicament is because i gambled, face reality and deal with these kind of problems exactly how non gamblers would and ride out the storm without making it worse.

i went with option 3 and the reality is that yes, i have to budget a little more over xmas now but i will manage just fine and the extra money will be paid next wage. if i gambled theres a chance that i will end up completely broke with no more options to make money as i have sold most things that i am ok to part with.
i put up my xmas tree , 5 days ago i cancelled xmas but today i am going to be thankful for what i have.
its crazy how gambling not only consumes most of your day but also mentally, its a constant drain on my thoughts but i am ok with that as long as i am making strong decisions

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you thought i was going to say fail right? 🙂 no, i have day 1 under my belt, i don’t feel as good about it as what i thought i would but i think that’s just the realistic person in me knowing that this is a very small step and the worst is yet to come. to be fair, if no-one had offered me their kind words i’m not sure if i would have succeeded or not with this first day. so i picked my money up, of course i thought about placing another bet but i didnt, i put petrol in the car, bought some food, paid the last of my monthly bills with a little bit left over until pay day next week. do i want to regamble the extra bit of money i have left over, yes i do, 10 days ago i was ending the year with money in my pocket, 4 days ago i blew all my winnings plus another grand on top of that, i didnt know how i was going to eat or get to work, i was waking up with an overwhelming sadness and misery, today i have added to my debt but i am ok until pay day with a little bit left over, today i will be thankful for what i have. i even put up the xmas tree which i wasnt going to do and i also started a little saving pot, whenever i get a little extra, i will put it in there rather than gamble it. lets see what tomorrow brings.

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thank you so much for this post, I am working the night shift so I have had some time to read over some of your posts where you have shared your journey, it’s difficult to be aware of what you are doing, sometimes why, you can fight every hurdle and be so resourceful to find that little extra bit of money for gambling yet its so hard to walk away. I have realised that although the losing brings me to my knees, it makes me push away every single person that may want to spend time with me as this is interfering with my gambling time it’s actually the winning that is the worst part of gambling, the winning makes us stay and when we are losing, we keep throwing more and more money, we have won before so we believe it is only a matter of time until those endorphins are pumped through are veins. A year is amazing and people like you give people like me hope that we just need to keep trying until we get it right, does it get easier with time or do you always feel that battle within yourself? just hearing about you focusing on shopping and baking for the family and enjoying your life is so wonderful

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the title says it all, today was a little different though, i argued and reasoned with myself, i walked up to the cashpoint and walked away, i had more conversations with myself and yes i did give in but i only put a small amount on and i have won enough to put petrol in my car until next pay day, i am not bragging about winning, far from it, i will collect my winnings tomorrow and i wont place another bet, this is something i never do, firstly i never collect on a small amount (but this money has become “real” money and i need it) i always re-bet until i have a decent amount and secondly i never collect without putting on another bet, i have £40.50p to pick up and that’s what i will leave with. i felt ok today, i put a bet on and as soon as i thought i wasn’t going to win my mood took a severe dive, i could feel the waves of anguish and frustration engulfing me, when the game turned around, my emotions lifted and i could go on with my day, i feel like a robot, i have no control over what to feel and when as it all depends on results not on how my life is. also i have noticed that when i gamble i instantly eat rubbish, as if i am not worthy of treating my body with the goodness that i usually pay attention to, when i am in the thick of my gambling, i will eat high carbs, quick sugar fixes, drink coffee and if i am losing i will have a few beers to numb it. this may sound weird but to me there is a clear connection to how i treat myself based on how my results are on games. tomorrow is my day 1 again, tomorrow i will succeed, having somebody come here and leave comments instantly made me feel something, i wished i hadn’t placed that bet as i wanted to feed something positive back, but i said i would always be honest, the power of connecting with other gamblers is in my opinion the key to success, we have to make peace with what we have lost, let it go and start a new chapter in our lives. thank you for being here

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thank you for this comment, I needed to hear this, i have lost so much of my life to this addiction and you are right, we are not aware how much, but they aren’t happy hours, days, weeks, months. i checked out your story too, please keep posting in your journal, i will follow your journey

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hi reenergized, I wanted to come and check out your thread and I am glad I did, the similarities that you find on here are overwhelming and you realise you are like so many other people and that there’s hope for all of us. we are going to have setbacks but if the will to succeed is strong enough we as gamblers will keep pushing through. just to be free of an addiction that dictates our whole mood and being and wether we want to be socialable or not has got to be worth the fight, the success stories on here give me hope.

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thank you for commenting, to be honest I had just placed a bet and then had an email saying I had a comment and felt instantly disappointed that I wasn’t going to complete another “1st day”. there’s a point where we have to accept our losses and no that we may accumulate more money at times but we will always lose more eventually, it’s what compulsive gamblers do, its all or nothing. we have to strive for a better life one day at a time

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