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Hey Mike – I hope you enjoy your fire stick – a much better purchase than gambling chips !
Well done!

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Vera I read something you wrote about mindset – and while barriers help me with the automatic pilot stuff on the phone , you idea of mindset has helped me most .

In group someone asked me will I gamble when I am home ? I replied no because I have decided not to – and it is as simple as that . When I go home I usually start planning to gamble the minute I decide to go . I attend groups and discuss how I will avoid it – all the time I am planning , the anticipation is building up and of course my mindset is set on going!

Well done Vera – I am so glad you are looking st your bags of presents instead of – not an empty purse but a purse full of misery !

You are doing really well !

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I am sorry to hear you gambled – however it is positive that instead of chasing you set higher barriers – so well done !

You will get past the difficult first few days – you have done it before .
Keep strong

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That’s great news Jen – hope u are feeling better after your self inflicted illness haha!
Sometimes it is worth it though!

Well done on your gamble free time xx

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Thank you Laura , Jen and Vera.

Well done on your sales Vera – hope you bought something nice !

Yes Laura ,it is nice to wake up in a much more sparse room- I even got rid of excess pieces of furniture .

When I clear out I wonder why I kept the stuff for so long – I toss an item and I wonder why I didn’t get rid of it three years ago.

It is like stopping gambling – I am stopped now and I wonder why I couldn’t stop years ago ?

it is ten days until payday – the bank account  healthy –  that reality is sinking in  cannot understand how I have spent so much gambling over the years – it seems so completely ridiculous.

i watched Louis thereux in Vegas last night – I was especially saddened by the man who lost maybe 300000 or more and pretended to smile through the pain – I was amazed at how they were sucked in by the VIP treatment – a real need to be the big shot!

Also I hadnt realised that   the staff made them feel so unique and important – one lady , a retired doctor, described how the casino held a memorial for her husband and it didn’t cos ther  a penny . 

louis pointed out that she had spent 4 million on slot  machines

in the past seven years !

it seemed so obvious to me that  were all being totally deceived – why couldn’t I see this when it was happening to me ?

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Hi Vera
I’m glad to read you didn’t gamble .
Were you tempted?
So today instead of waking up full of pain and self- loathing , you can feel proud that you made the right choice.

I hope everything is ok and that the urges weren’t triggered by an upset.
Maybe catch you in group tonight?
Xx

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Hi CITR

Well done on coming here and sharing the things you plan to do to stay gamble free.
It is a hard but rewarding journey and I wish you all the best with it .
It is a credit to you that you are so determined to get past this relapse and you know how to do it as you have been so successful in the past .

Keep posting !

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Lol Jen ! I’m a bit happier these days .
To be honest Gloria , once or twice I wanted to track my journey , which I thought journals were for and I couldn’t find my old threads either .

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I have done a huge amount of clearing out since I wrote this morning. – I am finding my journal so useful right now – it helps me reinforce the good work I am doing and also explore my thoughts around gambling .

I am doing an amazing clear out— things which were hard to let go – because I could sell them – are being sent to recycling at an startling rate. I will not need to sell them because I no longer gamble and will never need the few miserable quid these things will bring .
My thoughts have changed – I no longer need the escape route that this stuff represented .

I might have to return several times today to comment on my progress as there is actually no one in the whole world I can explain this to outside this site !

The only negative thing is the thought which keeps creeping into my head that I could get the whole house decorated if I could get a good win. However sensible brain knows this particular strategy has never worked out !

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Hi Gloria ,
I think if you type your name into the search all posts which mention you will come up .

Well done on your gamble free time – it’s good to read success stories – I think I remember you – I have been on here rather a long time . I was called ‘sad’ back then until people convinced me to change my name – I’m glad I did !
Hope to hear more from you and more about your journey .

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Thank you Mike – I thought perhaps I might have come across preachy – and trust me I am in no position to preach!

You are so right – we feel much better when we spend the money on ourselves – we can enjoy our purchases without the awful guilt that gambling brings us .

Keep working at it Mike – we work hard and deserve to be able to treat ourselves to a game , video, clothes or even a trip.
We are as worthy of a good life as anyone else and we need to believe this .

Keep strong

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Woke this morning to the sound of rain pelting against my window. My first thought is that I don’t have a hangover – I seem to be making wiser choices with alcohol.

My second thought is that I haven’t gambled. It’s a great feeling- which means it is eleven days until payday and I will then be in position where I haven’t gambled for two pay cheques. That will make a huge difference .

I find myself thinking the rest of my life could be like this. I am
Starting to feel confident again in my ability to sustain recovery. I think it is over two weeks now but never really remember.

I still find too many plans rush through my head – I want everything now . It is time to do a proper financial inventory and make some real plans- perhaps I need help with this because I never know where to start .

On the bright side I cleared out a cubbyhole which was full of junk yesterday – it’s amazing that you can feel the difference even when you can’t see the cleared space -there must be something in all that energy flow feng shui stuff. I also dumped many of the old coats hanging in there because I am not going to need old stuff anymore. In fact I am going to go coat hunting today . Coats are an example of where I am all or nothing – if I can’t have a really good coat I tend to not buy at all. I will buy a stylish cheap coat because there will always be money for another coat .

Today I will tackle another small space – I think it will be the landing which has become a bit of a storage area. Hopefully by tonight it will be completely clear.

I am going to buy myself good coffee – I have a coffee machine and for too long I have begrudged myself the pods for it . I need to chnge my thinking regarding money. I think the best way to do this is to start spending it .

I got a small refund from the taxman and it was lovely to be able to say to my son that it is going directly to his account. If it had come two weeks ago it would have been going directly to a casino.

So that’s about it – life is good

Onwards and upwards!

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Mike , The truth is none of us on here want to stop gambling completely – we all love gambling and would gamble all day every day if we could .

However most of us NEED to stop gambling – it takes so much time from us (not just gambling time but planning and regretting time), it takes our money and the good life we could be having.

Once gambling becomes compulsive and we find we  are gambling more than we intended to, and for longer than we aimed to – gambling has become an addicting for us – it is really hard to cut back for most people as we just don’t have that stop button inside us once we start.

Most of us eventually ( and I am a particularly slow learner ) come to the realisation that we need to stop completely . Well done on the calendar and the gamble free time . Perhaps for now aim to stay gamble free- you might like life a lot more without gambling .

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Hi Kathryn,
Well done on your smoking free time . Do you miss it ? Great experiences are so much better than money sitting in a bank.
You have quite the high flying lifestyle nowadays!

That’s actually a great idea to have a Christmas plan – a little every month we would hardly miss but it would soon add up .

It’s great to read your positive update
Xx

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Hi Laura , how has your week been ?
Xx

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