Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good to see you here, Carole! Thanks for posting to my thread.
Did you get the email I sent you before Christmas?
I think of you a lot.As a CG, I know I can never gamble “normally” again RD.
I crossed the line of no return.
It takes time for that to sink in. It takes trial and error before we surrender fully.
It takes daily effort and will power to get to the point of admitting we are powerless over gambling.
For me, having small bets never worked. It escalated fast . Gambling is a progressive illness. I liken it to giving a stray cat food. She/he will keep come back for more.
We need to starve stray cats if we really want rid of them.
You have achieved a lot by taking the first steps RD. I applaud you for that.
Try not to take any backward steps. They can lead a CG to the pit.
Stay focused.Happy New Year , Adam!
You deserve a medal for resisting the bandits under your nose at work.
The new one will be no different than the old ones.
As you well know, they are all only mechanical pick pockets.
Great to hear you are progressing with your savings.
You give me great hope.
I, too am trying to scrape a Restoration Fund together to replace the Retirement Lump sum that I threw away in a week last March.
Mental isn’t it?…sorry for butting in here, but I agree that “Recovery” is all about surrender and giving up control. Gambling, for a CG , ( in my experience) involves control at every level. When we admit defeat, we reach a place where we need to un- cover, discover, recover and re discover……..
I don’t think surrender is a once off experience. I think for all of us CG and Non CG alike, it’s a daily process. Like peeling an onion. Bit by bit we learn to drop our expectations, our falsehoods and our illusions. Until we reach a place called Freedom.
Only then will we leave Slavery behind and fall into …..Awareness.
Therein lies freedom .
“What I am aware of , I am in control of: What I am not aware of is in control of me”!
Awareness, awareness, awareness!
Interesting posts!Hi Laura!
Habits are hard to break, especially when a certain habit seems to be the only thing that gives us enjoyment or when it becomes “easy”. Not having full health is restrictive and I guess gambling is an ideal pastime since it takes such little exertion. I know, for me, certain casinos developed into comfort zones; places I felt “normal” and accepted! I would justify going there since my health prevents me from doing things I “would prefer to do”. Sometimes, instead of making more effort, I would create a false lull and take the easy option. i.e. opt out. Does that ever happen with you Laura? When we step back and begin to rationalize, we see things differently. We become aware that the stress of gambling exacerbates health issues rather than alleviating them. The stress of “being caught” is a huge issue for me too, but when we think about it at a deeper level the One Who Sees All will always know our inner thoughts and plans. Sometimes we deceive ourselves.
Can you figure out some way of getting home from work without entering the “danger zone” Laura? Maybe a change of route or travel in company?
Habits, when they become compulsions are more difficult to break and when the dreaded “addiction” is added to the mix it really means we need a bit of extra hurdle help.
Can you look at ways to organize your travel/funds/opportunities so that you won’t slip back into a crazy world of lies chaos and disorder, Laura.
Gambling can be fun but you know that for a CG it will ALWAYS end in tears.
Spare yourself the torment, Laura.
It is possible to put the brakes on.
Again. It’s never too late.Great minds think alike, Velvet!
I’ve being planning to post on this thread next…
Hi Jenny.
You and your family were in my thoughts and prayers over Christmas.
I hope the New Year brings you peace and serenity.
“When you sup with the devil, use a long handled spoon”
(in other words, avoid conflict where possible!)Well done on walking out after the first bet, Lee.
Well done on not chasing your loss.
Well done on keeping some money for a meal out.
Well done on giving that money to your wife.
Well done on recording how you feel.
Well done on looking around at what you have and not what you don’t have.
Gambling comes and goes. It is not YOU! Don’t define yourself by your faults and flaws. Nobody is perfect.
I sometimes ask “how will I live without gambling?” The answer is “a CG cannot live WITH gambling”. When we gamble something inside us dies.
Put this episode behind you.
Start again.
Never look back.
I haunt myself with gambling regrets too.
Walking out with money shows you are making progress.
Take it from here and don’t crucify yourself.
Don’t let gambling take your hope as well as your money.
Keep moving forward Maverick. Looking back can be dangerous. Focus on now. It’s all any of us have.
Well done on posting.
Enjoy your night out.Well done on not gambling FG
I had a similar experience myself yesterday
Access
Time
Money
Regarding the groups, I’m not a “Band Wagon” person, but I want to comment. I would see sense in having a New Members only Group if that is what new members wanted but in my experience with GT, I see most new members attending briefly then disappearing so how do we define “New Members”? For how long are you “new”? If you stay away and come back are you “old”? It may work in Real Life Groups but with online Groups it seems to me to be a not so good idea. I often waited with my finger ready to press that green “join” button and I’m old as the hills. If “One Day at a Time” is our motto, then every day and every member is new! Nobody who takes the time to log in should be excluded. That’s my opinion. The older members here have enough savy to log out when a new member needs attention from the moderator.
It could mean sending a CG back to gambling by asking them to leave a group. For this reason I don’t think the change was thought out long enough.
This is badly worded. I’m in a rush.
Will say more later
Or maybe I have said enough!I’m glad to hear you enjoyed your holiday FG and that you are now ready for work . You sound very positive . I agree totally with what you wrote on Maverick’s thread that it is 100% up to us to be accountable and responsible for our own actions. Non CGs (my husband for one) really can’t keep up to us when we swing into action and decide to double cross and bamboozle them with antics that even we ourselves find difficult to figure out. Sometimes my head feels like a ball of wire waiting to be un sprung. Then , when it is released, it takes ages to get the threads straightened out. How could a “normal” person cope with that nonsense?
I know I can get my ATM card from my husband anytime I want it. I know I can get loans and hide money without his knowing. During a CG’s “be good” phase, our intentions are genuine but when the devil jumps up on our backs, NOTHING will stop us gambling, unless we have no immediate access to funds and no opportunity.
I made sure I had visitors coming every second day since Christmas, and on the other days I was invited to friend’s /family’s houses for meals.
I’m STUFFED!
Friends just left now . I cooked sirloin beef and all the trimmings and I have cleaned up and re set the table for tomorrow . For “Little Christmas”. I just wish I could sleep.It’s hard on macho men when the job folds up, Kathryn! (And of course those “machos” are wimps behind the scenes, so it’as all everybody else’s fault)
Add gambling to the mix and see what you’ll get!!!
I hope he gets a job FAST. Then he will either be a new man , or back to his old self!
Stand by him for now K. In my book, you do’t kick a person when they are down!
(Time enough for that when he starts rattling your cage HA HA!)
Great to hear from you. You were on my mind.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Can’t believe “Little Christmas” is almost here-6th January!I’m my calculation is correct , Micky your ten days off are almost over?
I hope they went well and that you are well rested and ready for another year. A Gamble Free one would be the best reward you could give yourself for all your hard work. When I think of the time and money I wasted I feel sick. I met somebody at a family wedding yesterday who had just come back from Vegas. An in law. She told me they enjoyed playing the machines for a while, but got fed up quickly.
We can never do that again Micky, but there are many other things a CG CAN do IF we don’t gamble.
Take it easy!
Happy New Year.
‘Can’t believe it’s January 4th already.Resolutions won’t stop me gambling.
Barriers will.
I resolve to create as many barriers as possible, to make gambling IMPOSSIBLE!It seems you have been through a lot lately, Lee.
Gambling solves none of it. We all know that.
I hope your health issues are resolved. Every problem is magnified when we are ill. I often gambled to escape health issues.
I wish you good health and a gamble free New Year. As you say “if nothing changes, nothing changes”!
Be kind to yourself! Like you always are to others!Notify your Union about the refusal of the doctor’s receptionist to give you the medical appointment. Lorraine. Why not make a private appointment and when the bill comes, let them wait for payment until you get Redundancy pay. If they dismiss you, they will have to compensate you, won’t they? Play the game their way. Keep a step ahead!
I hear you loud and clear on Sad’s thread, Ican…..Things, people and even God Himself get in our way and frustrate us when we “need” to gamble. We resent them for “depriving us of having fun”!
Time and reason serve to still our heart’s (false)desire!