2014 Challenge

Just catching up...I'm overwhelmed by my achievement of the week, cheers Mr B and thanks for all hard work you put in Co-ordinating this project. Day 50 today, on something you said, a very good friend of mine who isee as a father figure has always taught me that there is absolutely no shame in saying sorry and admitting when we are wrong because afterall we all make mistakes sometimes and.it's how we respond that shows our true character, it's something I one day hope to be able pass on to others. feeling in defiant mood today, 50 days is noted but not celebrated as there is.much hard work still to do. Best wishes everyone RB.

checking in Day 41 🙂

Just checking in... 21 days gamble free!

Clean for '14!

Hey everyone! I hope you have all be keeping well and gamble free. Im just checking in on day 42. Finished week 1 of my diet and already losing weight- I am starting to feel a little healthier from the exercise and my leg (broken last year)is getting stronger every day- a bit like me! Clean for 14! Linda xxx

Checking in 161 days gamble free, hard work and perseverance pays off folks. For those early on in recovery stick at it there is a better life for you ahead, a chance to rebuild relationships and regain trust from those that have been affected by past actions.

A problem shared is a problem halved, don't be scared to talk when your struggling I assure you there will be times like this ahead. We are a community here although I prefer to think it more of a family.

All the best

Del

Checking in for days 22 & 23 as away with work, no phone and no internet, just what I need as the weekends NFL games made me come close to putting a tiny bet on.

Must add that I am still at the dogs on Saturday for a friends birthday as I couldn't find an excuse to get out of it, plus my girlfriend wants to come too. I will keep my bets to £1 or £2 (over 8-10 races) and to show my loyalty to this forum anything I win (very unlikely) will go to a local children's charity for a close friend of mine.

If anyone objects I will start again on day 1 on Sunday, but just to clarify I only have CG from online betting. I am so determined to go 2014 free from online sports betting.

Good evening everyone!

Firstly, apologies for the 2 day delay in updating total tallies etc. for this week - I’m just back from Tenerife and was keen to get us all sorted before heading to bed!

There’s some good news and some not so good news this week……..I’ll start with the good……

We’ve seen 4 new members join the group this week, so a huge welcome to AmandaG, Unaitsert, Alikat and Fighter_1. For you guys, the rule are simple, check in once a week before 8pm on a Sunday, the commitment is to yourself and the group that you’ll continue to fight one day at a time and together we will support one another overcome the horrors of gambling addiction. Fighter - it doesn’t matter that you’ve not been all of 2014 without gambling - what matters is that you want to stop and we want to help you do that, so welcome mate and hope this plays a part in your recovery.

The not so good is that we’ve missed quite a few check ins this week, some from our key members, and this has impacted quite heavily on our overall tally. I’ve popped a thread onto the recovery forum to remind everyone who’s missed checking in this week and I’m confident that we’ll see a healthy rise in the total number as we hit this coming Sunday. List of the missed checks ins is beneath the Roll of Honour for the week below.

So onto this weeks awards………I’m not going to give out a lot of awards this week, but there are one or two significant ones in there……so here goes…….

The Chumbawumba Award - this award is for someone who has been an inspiration to me in their posts and a great supporter of the forum. I truly hope that you don’t leave the forum after your relapse feetforward, but always know that we are here and that we’d understand your reasoning. I have included you in the roll of honour for having the bravery to check in despite the hiccup. As per the words of the Chumbawumba song - “I get knocked down, but I get up again, they’re never going to keep me down”…….I’m sure will apply to you. Stay close to us if you can.

Milestones of the Week - every one of us reaches a milestone every night we put our head on the pillow following a day of being gamble free. There’s a few of us who have moved into the 40’s, AdamPrice has rejoined us (phew!) and there are some great numbers still coming through. There will be some big milestones this Sunday coming if certain individuals keep up the great work!

Here’s the Roll of Honour for this week then:-

Name / Last Check In Date / Days

Rock_Bottom 19/01/2014 49

Hardtimes 19/01/2014 40

babybluesky 16/01/2014 40

feetforward 18/01/2014 2

Bornagain 18/01/2014 33

Co-ord 45 17/01/2014 43

AdamPrice 13/01/2014 134

2012theyear 16/01/2014 57

ashamed 19/01/2014 21

lostafortune 19/01/2014 22

Maybe 20/01/2014 88

ron81 11/01/2014 59

subox 19/01/2014 19

Mr Brightside 18/01/2014 42

rst18 18/01/2014 19

Delboy79 17/01/2014 159

AmandaG 17/01/2014 22

Unaitsert 16/01/2014 4

Alikat 14/01/2014 15

Fighter_1 13/01/2014 13

And here’s the missed check-ins - c’mon guys, we need you here!!

lec101

Hopeful-Liam

el producto

tono688

leedsv

TheRobman88

Mo

So, drum roll………total days free of gambling in the group……….or as Delboy has mentioned earlier today, our “family”…………..is…………….

881 Days = £88,100 as per our averaged savings!

An awesome achievement with a reduced group, but with checked in family members we are 20 strong in the fight, with 7 hopefully checking in this week to get us back up to our full complement!

One day at a time everyone, keep going sisters and brothers! Usual update will be available late this coming Sunday evening…….our group target is to be over 1000 days, so get onto people’s diaries, offer them the encouragement and remind them to pop into our thread and check in.

Clean for 14!!

Mr Brightside

Hey folks,

elproducto - just saw your check in earlier today........thanks! Will add you back in to the roll of honour this Sunday!

rst18 - I'm really torn about things for this weekend - not for this group, but for you. You are doing so well and I'd hate to see this put you back. However, unless someone has major opposition, I'm going to ask you to do something - can you give your girlfriend your £20 or whatever and ask her to place your bets? At least that way you are not transacting yourself, albeit the principles are very similar. If you can do that and check in on Sunday confirming then I think it's right you keep your days tally going. I just worry mate - please stay strong........and I certainly wouldn't recommend it!!

Right, heading to bed - I'm up in 5 hours for an early shift....aaaaarrrggghh!!!

Be good everyone,

Mr Brightside

PS 44 days for me!! Woop woop!

Can I just say a huge well done to Mrbrightside!!

I remember your first post (correct me if i'm wrong but i think i was the first to reply to you) you were saying how you wanted to beat this habit not only for you but others around you and since then you have really taken a pro-active approach to helping others which in turn is probably helping you i suspect.

Keep it up mate, even if only one person benefits, its worth it.

Your a credit to this site, I know a lot of people see JamesP as a legend of the site, but at the moment your not far behind!!

I notice you have passed 40 days now it's 3 months to your next milestone so keep it up.

That's it, just wanted to congratulate you!

Sound_advice

Thanks mr b for the update and well done on 44 days. I would like to nominate you for achievement award next week as you really shouldn't dismiss the amount you are helping all of us stay strong. Thank you x linda

Totally understand Mrbrightside, if you gave me the ok to go ahead it would be setting a bad example, I'm annoyed with myself that I couldn't find an excuse.

I doubt very much that my girlfriend would know how to place the bets so I will no doubt be checking in on Sunday at day 1. Although I don't think it will put me back and I feel confident I can then rack up another 20+ days, which would be 40+ days for no online transactions :).

Well done everyone on the progress so far.

Just checking in, I'm on day 36 and going well. Thanks for the update Mr B and well done everyone for sticking with this!

Oops, Think I accidentally checked in on my own diary instead of here, by the looks of it. Sorry Mr B! Still clean in 2014. Oh, and more good news, have a start date for counselling.

Hi everyone,

I am very sorry to say that i will have to leave the challenge as i have fallen of the wagon at 130+ days, what a fool! Luckily the slip up didn't hurt me financially as I only lost a small amount but mentally it has hurt a lot.

So here i am back at square one and feeling sorry for myself, not just because i have let myself down but also everyone in the challenge.

I have realised the weakness and put up barriers to stop the same thing happening again. Hopefully i will succeed this time.

I wish the best of luck to you all, stay strong!

Adam x 1 day gamble free

Day 25 and going strong, how everyone is ok and doing well