[risingphoenix]

Glad to hear you have confessed to family. It is the most difficult step but a very important one. Now you need to work on staying gamble free- one day at a time!

[risingphoenix]

Lavende94, Glad to hear the rehab helped. Yes, there is still a chance to live life as it was meant to be. With joy and happiness. I hope you continue to stay on the gamble free path. There is so much to life once we all get away from gambling!

[risingphoenix]

Congrats on the 10 month milestone my friend! Keep at it. One day at a time

[risingphoenix]

Day 346

Thanks Don and Sjc1 for your comments. I am glad my story and journey is inspiring others. I hope you are staying gamble free.

Sjc1, I am sorry to hear you have hit your rock bottom/dreaded moment. On the bright side, the only way now is up. Keep at it and you will rebuild your life.

[risingphoenix]

Day 337

Lot of introspection over the last few weeks to try and find the root cause of my gambling troubles. Not sure why I started thinking about this now, but my mind has been troubled thinking about this over the last two/three weeks. I am staying gamble free but I have started looking more into my deep seated thoughts.

Why did I become like I had become?
What made me go down this route?
Was there some repressed feeling?
Was there something absurd I was chasing?
Was I angry, sad or depressed about something?
Was I just greedy?
What was I seeking?
Maybe did I actually just become addicted to losing? ?

I hope to get to the bottom of this someday. I will continue to remain gamble free and build back my life

[risingphoenix]

Day 335

Another day. Another gamble free day.

One day at a time.

[risingphoenix]

Occupying yourself in activities and keep yourself busy is great. That will keep the gambling thoughts away.

[risingphoenix]

Sorry to hear about your relapse DE. I believe you need to restrict your access to cash. You are likely having very easy access to cash that is letting you relapse easily. Delete all your trading accounts. Disconnect all your bank transfer links and either create a brand new checking/saving account or hand over your finances to your family.

Please do this. It will help you. I was in your exact same shoes for 6 years. I relapsed so many times. Only when I confessed to my family and handed them all my money (and still do every paycheck) is when I was able to start my gamble free journey.

I Hope you are able get back on track and reclaim your life.

[risingphoenix]

Day 329

Thanks Don. I hope you are staying gamble free. I don’t think the urges ever go away. They just stay in the background waiting like a sleeping tiger to pounce back when we let our guard down. Us gambling addicts should always continue to remain vigil for the rest of our lives. One small slip may end up proving very costly.

On a positive note, I hit a personal financial milestone today. This is surprisingly a few days ahead of schedule. Time for a little celebration ?

[risingphoenix]

Day 326

Time goes on. One more gamble free day. Urges are still there but I occupy my mind with other things to drown the urges. I don’t want to relapse and restart my count. Counting the days helps me remember how far I have come. 6 years of gambling damaged so many things in my life that I have to rebuild.

Atleast now I have 326 days of being gamble free behind me, some decent savings, a job, my family’s support, a place to live and able to get a good night’s sleep. I am so very thankful for all that.

[risingphoenix]

Glad to hear Don. Well done! Small steps towards sobriety. That’s all it takes. One step ahead of another. I look forward to hear more of your gamble free journey

[risingphoenix]

Day 319

Thanks DE. Hoping that I continue the gamble free streak forever.

—
Payday is incoming. I have allocated the funds to where they need to go. Have standing instructions ready. Lack of access to funds is a key requirement to staying gamble free.

Here’s to staying gamble free. One day at a time!

[risingphoenix]

Well done Don. So glad to see you allocate the funds where they need to go to and keeping the urges in check.

[risingphoenix]

Re: 12 steps. Since you are an atheist, see if you can follow this agnostic 12 steps. https://www.gamblingtherapy.org/forum/topic/agnostic-12-steps/

[risingphoenix]

Hi DE,
Something that I think could be relatable to you is when I used to heavily gamble previously, one of the things that constantly drew me towards gambling even when I was trying to quit (specifically in the capital markets) was the periods of increased volatility. Following market news during this time made me FOMO into it without thinking rationally and I inevitably lost all my money. Every single time.

Maybe if I could suggest, if you are doing this currently, try not to follow trading news and journals on a regular basis. Delete any subscriptions or access to these kinds of articles or news channels. Go cold turkey for a few months and see if that helps you continue to stay gamble free.

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