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With all the posts recommending The Easy Way to stop Gambling by Allen Carr, I looked it up and I bought the original book instead. I bought The Easy Way to stop Smoking. That is my other shameful addiction. I am a smoker. I have read just the beginning,, but I would like to be a quitter in that addiction too.
That is something that gambling messed up for me too. I had quit smoking in 2009 for three months. Back then we only went to the casino a few times a year, I wasn’t a CG yet. After being in that smokefilled place, I ended up buying a pack and well, there went the three months out the window. I was a smoker again in one evening.
I dont know when I will truly read the whole thing, even now, I am procrastinating. I have to give that up too? Yes, of course I do….I wasn’t born a smoker. I wasn’t born a compulsive gambler either. I need to get free of all these addictive behaviors.

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I made a resolution to get more sleep. Not by sleeping in, but by going to bed earlier. I am trying to be in bed by 10, with lights off by 10:15. It is helping me get up more easily amd making me less grumpy in the mornings. Overall, I am able to handle stress better because I am well rested.

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I am sorry you are still feeling under the weather. Your garden sounds like it is going to bring you a lot of joy. It is good that you have someone to help you and I am sure it feels great to be able to pay someone willing to do a honest job.
I was as Sad as Sad to read you missed the party. I secretly wanted you to mingle and meet some fantastic new friends.

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Hi there and welcome! What would you do if you lose and keep playing? You came to this site for help to stop gambling. If you think that gambling is a way to make money cwhen you are short of funds, you may not have reaached the pain threshold yet. Everytime I gamble it makes me even more in debt. It has never been the solution for my financial problems. It has only made them worse.
My suggestion is to hold on to all you can, pay all the things you have to and offer to do some work for a friend to make up the difference. Can you tutor someone? Can you sell something? Gambling has a way of taking more than you meant to let go.

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What a wonderful way to kick start a new life. Being a helper is what we should all strive to be. To put others before ourselves……if we really did that, we would never gamble. How could anyone not think of someone who could use the money better than the casino or bookie? There are so many people hurting or starving, how could I not find something better to do than risk the funds that might feed someone?
Wow, your post made me remember a time when I was seeking help to stop. I looked up why gambling is wrong. I remember these words. Because the house always wins, when you gamble, you have not shown love to your neighbor. Your neighbors (many, many of our neighbors) had to lose for those very few who do win, to ever win at all. So basically if we win, we have taken that win right out of the pockets of all our neighbors.
Thank you for this lovely reminder, our purpose is to help, not cause harm in this life. I am NOW a Fritz fan for sure:)

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I have not gambled since 1/4/2015. That is really the one time since October, yet I am still neck deep in debt and I am seeing that worry over debt is a trigger for me. This is a strange thing as gambling is the cause of the debt to begin with. So in my awareness of this trigger, I was thinking, how do I fix it? Who could give me good advice? I am often turning to God for help, The Bible is the living word. I find the more I meditate on it, the better I am prepared for when the urges come. So who knows money in The Bible? Solomon, of course, the wisest and richest king. Here is a site I found and although I have not read them all I plan to.

http://Www.letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/topics/money.php

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Hi Malcolm
I miss reading your posts. How is your son? How is work? How is your hamster? Are you gambling? I hope not.
Just a little worried, please update when you feel you can.
You are in my prayers.
K

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It is a very hard thing to do, to admit that we have very little control over ourselves when it comes to gambling. Your niece is a good person to help in your recovery like this. As the money comes in, it will give you piece of mind that your urges won’t deplete the hard work you have put in. Gambling is such a waste. We work and work and then like some kind of zombie, just hand over it all for some short term thrill. Good for you for putting a stop to yourself! I have done the clean up you are talking about. I found the bags/ boxes of junk in the back of my closet where my husbband shoved them from last year. Now, I ask you, if it could sit that long without my needing any of it….How much did I need to save it to begin with???

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Finally got the car out of the shop. The repair shop made me sign a document before the repairs that informed me they would not accept personal checks, only cash, money orders ,or cashier’s checks. We had to withdraw money on two consecutve days to get the cash $500! The total cost was $4992. Thank God for the insurance. It finally had to pay out. I was able to get the trunk shocks fixed from a previous accident. They repaired my car a year and a half ago when I was rear ended by a lunatic woman. The trunk never shut correctly after that. They had my car for 5 1/2 weeks that time so you can see why I wasn’t so keen in taking it back for the trunk repair. So now, it is all good. It seemed to ride nicely. New suspension, new steering rack.
I still have no idea what I ran over.I think My husband thinks I was careless.
whatever
Carrying that cash for the car didn’t give me any flashbacks or urges, but it left the account with $13.00. Thankfully we had the money at all. Payday for me tomorrow and bills will be paid. I have so much work at work that I have been talking in my sleep about it. I may have to term a woman with 10 years in the company. We merged with the co. She worked for last year and she is really strugglung with the learning her new role. I HATE that! She is so sweet. I am retraining her for two weeks, but she may not come around. I guess it must be bothering me even subconciuosly because my hb says I am asking people to speed up and be more accurate even in my sleep. He said I sounded desperate. I even dreamed my teeth were loose and going to fall out (i remembered that dream). The interpretation of that dream says the dreamer is indecisive about something and anxious. I hope the retraining works. I will feel like crap if i have to let her go.
My daughter made brownies at my request just now and they are hollering that they are ready. Time for some chocolate. Chocolate is my friend:)

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That”s what all gambling establishments look like underneath all the glitz. They patiently wait or else mail you lures to keep a gambler stirred up. They wait for us SUCKERS to give them our hard earned money. They should be more honest in their advertisements. The name over the doors should read, Sucker’s Isle, Loser’s Palace, or maybe Destruction Centre.
I hope you kept walking. We are worth putting those places in our rearview.

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Thanks Sad for the sweet comment. We are really having to lean on God just now. (This I trust is a time to learn that there are many things, in fact, nearly everthing that is truly important, is not within our control). Our teenager is pushing us from every direction. I read about parenting a rebellious child and it is so fascinating the corrrelations to addictive behaviour. When he gets going, I see the anology that Velvet uses on F&f forum about the beast. I still see remnents in myself of that beast. Our son is like that, he wants control so bad, he nearly slavers with spouting mean things at us. He is still doing well in school, he is still saying mature things at times. He gets so angry when we tell him no ( most recently, he wanted to go to a party in a very BAD neighborhood to “hang out” with some kids we don’t know). He was so adamant that he was going anyway, my hb, his Dad, told him he would call the police and report him as a runaway. That got his attention for a day or two least. It is really almost funny, he is in Student Gov’t at school. He is on the prom committee, they used his picture on the prom announcements! This is a kid who scbores so high on his ACT and SAT that he could go to Harvard. How do you keep them alive long enough for a little common sense to kick in?
Today we picked up my parents at the cruise terminal, they cruised for port fees only, otherwise free from my Mom’s gambling. My Mom leaned over and whispered to me that Dad had lost a fortune on craps while on the cruise. I know he likes to gamble too, but he is usually so against Mom going that he never goes with her. I got addictions running on both sides of parents. Alcoholism is huge, thank God Mom doesn’t have that too!
We took the family to a lower cost Japanese steakhouse today; we went to Disney Quest last weekend with them. We got in free because our daughter got passes as a Christmas bonus. We are trying to keep our family activities as a regular thing. We lost a lot of ground because of gambling. I had some urges to gamble today and instead we spent $60 on lunch for four.
My car is still in the shop, they broke the steering rack, while trying to fix the suspension!!! They tell me I will have a practically new car to drive when it finally gets out. I have been carpooling with my hb and I think we may continue this most days even when the car is fixed. It is probably saving us money. I like that it forces me to be 15 mins. Early to work too.
I made turkey and dumplings for dinner so I am excited to see how they turn out. I used leftover turkey that I had frozen and leftover flour tortillas instead of bisquits or flour. We shall see. I got the recipe off the the internet.
🙂

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Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! It is so weird how once we give in to the urges, even in the aftermath, it makes the urges stronger. I don’t understand it! It is good that you recognize the cycle. Stay strong:)

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Hope you catch a boat load!

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Hi Seri
With each new thing I try and every time I fill my time with positive experiences, I am retraining my mind to find the fun in life. For the longest time, nothing seemed like fun except to gamble. There is some great information about the excitement center of our brains. The studies show how the CG damages that area and everything else understimulates the addicted brain. With time and filling our time with other things, I believe we can begin healing that area. I am beginning to really enjoy things again. A good movie, a nice lunch, a brisk walk, are all starting to feel like fun again.
I couldn’t hold a decent thought for ten minutes without getting fidgety and short tempered when I was gambling. Staying clear of gambling is allowing me to experience real life again. I am a more attentive friend, wife, and mother lately. I like these benefits a lot!

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I am glad yo are doing something for you. I missed your posts.

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