Wasting My Young Life Away

Bryan, I can't thankyou enough right now. I was in bookies today to place bets on the football, before I place my bets I always check on my phone to compare the odds with the other shops. When I went on the internet the forum came up as I didn't close it from last night. I read your words of advice, and I just went with it. I just walked straight up to the manager and got myself barred. I walked out, and went into the other 6 in my area and got barred. It felt amazing, it's the first time in a long time that I've been proud of myself.
I can't tell you how good I feel right now, I never thought I'd see the day to be strong enough. This is all thanks to you Bryan, without you pushing me I'd never of done it. I write this with tears of happiness in my eyes right now.
On Monday when I go to work, I'm going to do the same with the bookies close to my work, and the casinos also. If I want to gamble now, I'd have travel out of the way
Thankyou Bryan, you're a good man 🙂

Brilliant that’s major progress . With gamblers it’s an all or nothing mentality . You can’t play at this and cherry pick what blocks you may put and what you don’t . Either you are committed to stop or you aren’t and today shows me and more importantly yourself that you are committed . You should be very proud of yourself . Your mind won’t now be playing tricks on you and your urges should subside a lot more. It worked for me when I excluded online . Once you make that decision then things do get much better very very quickly . I’m so happy right now

.

Hi Jamanalol,
You have decided to stop at the right time, just like me you're young and not in debt. Sadly, many people on here are decades older with debts through the roof. Once we move out and start renting, we won't be able to cope if we keep gambling. So let's stop now so we can be prepared for the future 🙂
I can't tell you what to do, but if you won't be GF you have to self exclude yourself from all your online sites, local bookies and casinos. I can't gamble for fun like most people, so I've realised I must find a new hobby and go to college to keep myself busy. Gambling is fun, but if you think of the misery it brings it's not worth it. One of the main reasons people gamble is because they're bored, I know in my life I need to improve in many areas. All my friends are gamblers, so I'm going to try and make new friends and start saving my money. Don't have too much money in your debit card, just have enough to pay for the tube and for food when you're out. Keep most of it in a bank account that you have to go into the bank to withdraw, or better yet give it to your parents. I know it can be embarassing to open up to them, but I did it for the first time today and they're going to start looking after my money. Most importantly, don't carry cash on you.
I never thought I would be strong enough to exclude myself from the bookies, I feel so free right now. I never would of done this without the help of Bryan, this could be the defining moment that has changed my life. I hope you can make it too!

I wish you the best of luck, and please keep my updated on your journey. You've decided you want to quit at the right time, if you push yourself now you won't have any pieces to pick up. I'm rooting for you 🙂
Jereimah

Great words Jeremiah if you can help someone it makes all the pain worth while . Gamblers are selfish and just by helping someone else and yourself you are making amends . Keep it up , great advice

Crossroad,

I’m so excited for you and proud of you for the steps you’ve been taking to be GF! I can tell that you’re really ready to be done now, so props to you! Soon enough you’ll be able to say that 26 days wasn’t a stretch for you and you can’t wait to do 26 more. (: It’s no problem, thank you also for rooting for me! I’ll be here if you ever need someone to talk to!

Bryan wrote:

You just mentioned something that you can control- the bookies . Tomorrow go with someone you trust and once and for all end this by barring yourself . It’s scary but the right course of action . Make that block and then your mind won’t play tricks with you . Make sure you update me on your progress I’ve got your back

I will remember this post for the rest of my GF life.
I'm the happiest I've been in a long time, smiled so many times today which is rare for me. Not only did I bar myself from the bookies, I also opened up to my parents today. They always knew I gambled but didn't know it was a serious problem becuase I did a good job hiding it and never asked them for money over the years. My parents now look after my money, and I'm going to change my hours to part time at work and book a part time college course to keep myself busy and try and make some new friends. I'm also going to my first GA meeting on Tuesday which I'm really looking forward to.
Thankyou Bryan, this all happened today because of you 🙂

Hi Amanda, I hope you're keeping well and everything is getting better. You're coming up to 1 month GF, that's just amazing well done 🙂
I'm going to do it, there's no going back now. I will not let my parents down, I will beat this and remain GF.
Thankyou for sticking around, and I'll always be here if you need to talk 🙂

Thanks for you post however all I can do is take credit for a suggestion that was the easy part . The rest is all you. It’s a life change that you are doing and it’s your eureka moment . College sounds a great idea , it will pay off in the long run. Doesn’t make sense to just work to fund these large companies who wouldn’t give you the time of day. Why do you think every other advert on tv is for gambling ? They are getting richer and richer and it’s people like us who fund it. If you can see it for what it actually is, it can help you feel more negative about gambling again. Well done also for admitting to your parents, not an easy thing to do I have done it a few times .

Quite emotional reading through the past few posts. It fills with a great amount joy that you’ve seen the light and taken actions to regain control of your life. I hope to stand by you on the road to recovery and not crumble this time.

It’d be great if we can look back on these times in a few months with our sense of well-being, belonging and integrity restored. Gambling has taken a lot from us but each day we chose not to gamble we are victorious.

Hi Progress,
Thanks for stopping by mate I hope you're keeping well and that life is looking brighter. I made some big changes yesterday and it's going to give me better chance of staying GF. Gambling is the only vice that I have no control over, with everything else I'm sensible. What I've come to realise is that I gamble to fill a void in my life, a big reason for why I gamble is because I'm bored and don't have much going on in my life. I'm confident that if I keep myself busy my urge to gamble will get weaker. I know it's not going to be easy, but I'm going to give it everything I've got.
I wish you best of luck, and I'll always be here if you need someone to talk to 🙂

Jereimah

Thanks mate, it’ll be good to stay connected with someone who is of similar age to me and understands the trails and tribulations of this BS. I’ve caved multiple times and have been stuck in the relapse cycle for a long time, I’m hoping this time can be different and you could contribute to that. I can go periods without betting but then I step back into the firing line and feel hard done by when I come out messed up. I shouldn’t feel hard done by as I’m aware I run the risk of this happening every time I decide to cave in to the addiction. It’s terrible that you can read posts from many years ago with similarity’s to the ones that are unfolding today. I do feel like the progress on offering a blanket ban service has been painfully slow. But I can’t blame solely that, it’ll come in time and I must remain focused for now. Thing is I had a chance to walk away from this about a week ago after a few ‘wins’ debt free and I didn’t, that summarises the *** that this has over me. My life will never be fruitful if gambling is a part of it and I know that. I’m a all or nothing guy and with betting it just has to be nothing.

Hi Progress,
I read your thread and I'm sorry to hear about the debt you're in. I would never want it sound like I'm trivalising your situation and if sounds like I am I'm sorry.
I just don't want you to beat yourself up too much about being in debt because you've got a really good head on your shoulders and pushing to make a change at the right time. So many gamblers are in severe debt and have lost more than just money along the way, you're not in deep and you can get out of fairly quickly. You just have to be 100% committed and push yourself to make some big changes to give yourself the best shot of getting out of this.
I'm only 2 days in so I don't want it to sound like some know it all, but I'm really confident I will do it this time. Opening up to my parents has given me the strength I needed to beat this, I have them depending on me and if I relapse I know I'd let them down. If you haven't opened up the ones love and trust, I'd really advise you to do it as soon as possible. I know it sounds scary and can be embarassing, but it's so easy to do and feels great afterwards.
As I've self excluded myself from online and the bookies it's going make it harder for me to relapse. My home is now a safe space where now gambling will take place, I can surf the web on my phone and computer without the temption. I'll now have to travel out of my area and go down different streets when I go to work to go into a bookies.
I know change is tough, but if I can do it you can do it.

We're young and can get out of this and still have so much time left to enjoy our youth. It's good pick up a new hobby, start a part time course in a subject you have an interest in and or something as simple as starting a new tv show.

Hope I didn't come across like I'm telling you what to do, I'm just giving you my 2 cents. We're all on this journey together, just want you to make it 🙂

Jereimah

Thanks man, I’ll take your advice and open up to the people around me when I’m ready. I don’t live with my parents anymore and my relationship with my mother isn’t exactly brilliant, long story. Anyway I could tell my brother who I live with and his girlfriend, I could also ask my dad to check my monthly bank statements for me and tell my closest friends. My family do know as I’ve lost big sums of money beforehand. I told them after gambling a months paycheck away after getting sacked over a year ago now, sucks how gambling can destroy you at your most vulnerable points. They were mildly understanding but have never been very emotionally available so I couldn’t get the support I needed from them if you understand me. At that point at least I was losing my money and not credit though, that is where I’ve realised this has gone way too far. I’m currently working to obtain money I’ve already gambled away.

Stay active on the forum bro, it’ll be good to hear from you from time to time.

Progress I hope everything is going well and you're staying GF. Everyday you're not gambling is a winning day 🙂
Hi AssignmentStar, thankyou 🙂
I went to my first GA meeting on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to go next week. Tomorrow will be 7 days GF it feels great! If anyone is reading this and wants to quit, do what I've done. Open to the ones you love, self exclude from your local bookes and online sites. It will make it harder for you to relapse.
Stay strong everyone 🙂