Morning everyone and welcome back to the forum - I was lost yesterday!! I think I'll introduce a "villains of the week" award this week - no prizes for guessing the recipients!!
Really hope that people got through yesterday ok - it wasn't nice not feeling "in touch" with you all, but hopefully the work that was carried out on the site will give us a much more stable and reliable platform.
Check in for this week for Adam ad unruinyourself is extended until 8pm tonight and I'll have the update done later on this evening - it won't be as comprehensive as usual though - kinda limited with time.
It's going to be a good week folks!
Guard up, stay strong - I am Mr Brightside!!
There we have it, my first week done gamble free, am feeling very proud of myself.
So you should be Chalky!! But know that we're very proud of our team mate too!!
Mr B
Of course, that was a bit self centered, Well done to everybody, Keep it up and stay strong.
No Chalky!! That's not what I meant - I was meaning that we are proud of you!! Lol!!
Mr B
Hi checking in yesterday was hard and kinda think any upgrades should have been done midweek. Most people will need the site more at weekends ? Moan over checking in and thanks mr B don't know how you find the time xx
Good afternoon everybody. Couldn't login yesterday so today's total for me is 65 days gamble free.
Have a good week.
Mike
Its day 55 for me and I missed this place yesterday. I hope everyone is good and coped ok yesterday without the forum.
Hi 8days gamble free no cards access to laptops all blocked. Been gambling online for 3 years on slots. Determined to reclaim my life. Congrats to all such an inspiration. Hitthefanx
Hey guys it's me batman, and I have a compulsive gambling addiction. I am 18 years old and have finally faced up to my problem and need all the help and support it can get! I would love to be a part of this team and get through it together ! 24 since I last gambled lets do this !
DAY 15 GAMBLE FREE. Struggled a bit today thinking, i might get a scratchcard or have just one 20 pound note in the machines and set myself a limit. That would be fine if i could stick to that, but i know i cannot, so ive gotta fight the urge to *** money away at these filthy bookmakers. Over two weeks gamble free but been very tempted.
Day 16 feeling a lot better despite midweek expense on car, second payday of this year coming up and feel confident that it will be used only on necessities, paying back debt and then treating myself to something nice if money left. Couldn't be feeling any happier after finally getting in the right mindset. Yes it is going to be like this all year but the rewards and self achievement are worth it. Everyone on here is an inspiration and helping me realise this is a pointless hobby and there is more to life.
Hi everyone, just checking in. Still clean and feeling good this week 😀
Stay strong all,
Adam 19 days gamble free
Checking in 20 weeks free now, it will be 21 weeks on this coming Saturday, good luck one and all
Good evening everyone!!
OK, so 24 hours later than usual, but here’s the update for week ending 9th February. Let me apologise now, it’s a bit weird doing the update when we are already into the next “live” week and there is a huge celebration today……but I’m going to hold the award on that until next Sunday…..you’ll see what I mean as you read on!
As is becoming custom, I’m firstly going to welcome our new soldiers to the family. One of them in particular has really struck a chord with me and I don’t know why….but by the response to his posts on this thread, no-one needs reminding as to how important the team spirit among us is and the speed in which we rallied round to offer support was nothing short of incredible. So the first of our new soldiers is Chalky, who was also joined by garthcrooks. Welcome to the team guys and I hope you are already seeing the benefits of being part of something that is really helping a great number of us.
We will welcome 2 more team mates next Sunday who have checked in today (Monday) - delighted to see you here hitthefan and Batman. I’ll formally welcome you to the thread this Sunday coming. I would ask that you both check in at least once more this week just to let us know how you are doing.
So onto the headlines then for the week - it’s essentially been our best week ever…….we have retained 95% of our soldiers week on week (and I think the 1 out of 20 who missed check in is still ok - he’s had such a tough week but has been posting on his own diary and also been given huge encouragement from many of you in this team). We have broken through the 1000 collective days of having stopped gambling….in fact we absolutely shattered it! As a group, we have stopped for a total of 3 and half years (plus 2 days!)!!! Is that not a fantastic feeling??
Before I move onto the awards for this week etc. I would hope you would humour me for a few minutes? Very often we talk about this being a day to day battle and without doubt it is. However, I have found myself, as I am sure many of you have done, allowing myself to drift off to some point in the future and begin to think about the “what ifs”………now “what ifs” for us CGs are dangerous……well they used to be. My new “what if” centres around………”what if I actually do this this time and I find myself in the future free from gambling”. Just let me temper that thought for a minute…….for me, I still think it will be a day to day battle, my guard will always have to remain up and I will always be susceptible, without the right thinking, support and barriers to gambling. However, “what if” I am a year, two years, three years down the road…..how will life look? You know, I am getting really excited about it…….personally, but also for this group. So, I am going to paint a picture, albeit very aspirational, as to what I want for our family, our team of soldiers and for each other in the future……………….and I would ask that you all, in your check ins this week, would add any of your thoughts to it as well………………………so here is my painting of our future as a team…….
It is Saturday 10th January 2015. There are 50 or more of us in a room in a hotel or a bar somewhere in central England, probably the Midlands or maybe slightly further North like Manchester or Liverpool. We have joined together for the first time to celebrate the success of our team, our collective abstinence and the difference we have made to each other’s lives. We are calling each other by our first names, and the shame of our very first diary posts has long gone, replaced by pride and elation for our individual selves and our group. Our partners (if we have one) are there to celebrate with us and they share our pride - they have forgiven us for our pre 2014 behaviour and can articulate clearly the difference in relationships with them and us. They swell the total numbers to over 100. Our collective abstinence has cost the gaming industry more than £1m based on our agreed calculation of an averaged £100 per day per person. Our retention rate week on week has held at at least 90%. There are at least 25 of us who have gone the full year of 2014 without gambling (that means we need to enlist more soldiers!). We will have celebrated the 50th birthdays of a couple of our team and at least one wedding!
Our group has been recognised by someone beyond the boundaries of the forum - the press, another gambling support site, but our efforts are reported. In at least one of the boardrooms of a major player in the gambling industry, a conversation has taken place about our group - at least one individual has placed our thread or a thread like it on a risk matrix and he or she is concerned that actually there is now a tool being deployed against the gambling industry that may damage their incomes……maybe not significantly, but if it continues to grow with pace then it could pose them a threat.
But most of all…….beyond any of that……….we are together, we are smiling, we are happy and we have begun our new lives………….and we will seek sponsorship from Kleenex!
This is my vision for us…….please add your own thoughts and aspirations for us and we will collectively begin to build our day in January next year.
OK then, onto this weeks milestones:-
While every day is a milestone, we’ve had 2 of the team reach very significant numbers……
The_Rock - yesterday’s forum outage deprived our comrade of the ability to post the claim that not only was he 10 weeks clean of gambling, but also that he had achieved the personal milestone of having gone the longest ever period of abstinence in his long battle with gambling. It also deprived the rest of us of the opportunity to celebrate with him. Congratulations mate - the significance of yesterday and every single day you continue to win is not lost on us and on behalf of the group I thank you for your support, your encouragement, your honesty and for allowing us to share the journey with you.
bornagain - my big mate Phil stepped through the 50 day mark on Wednesday and having had the huge pleasure of his company on Saturday, I can assure you all that we have an incredible man walking among us. Congratulations Phil…….the first of many milestones of celebration for what I can see being a lifelong friendship, not with just me, but many of us in the group.
This week’s “date for the diary” are as follows:-
Today (Monday 10th February), in my humble opinion, is THE most significant of days for our group so far, especially for one of the team…………..exactly 6 months ago today Delboy celebrated his first day on his recovery journey. On Saturday, he posted on this thread one of the most amazing, inspirational posts I’ve ever read about how his life has changed in those 6 months. He is the daddy of the group, he will always set our benchmark and he will always be the guy that we need to follow in terms of our clean days. I can’t congratulate you enough Del………..you are the man!
Saturday 15th February - Mike (HappyDays) will break through into double digits of weeks being clean - the 10 week milestone will be achieved!
Sunday 16th February - lostafortune and AmandaG will celebrate the big 50! I will also be celebrating that day as I move into double digit weeks, hitting 70 days free!
Awards for this Week………….
Heroes of the Week
To be honest I really struggled this week………we have so much to celebrate. Call me lazy or lacking in imagination, but for me, there can only be one winner of this weeks award………and that is every single one of us participating in the thread this week. 3 and a half years collectively stopped, over £100k saved, significant milestones, 95% retention………what more can I say?
This is one of those occasions that you remember from earlier in your life when someone says something that you don’t quite understand, but later in life you actually “get it”………………….
“The whole is much much greater than the sum of all of it’s parts.”
Congratulations to us………………..the Heroes of the Week.
Here is this week’s Roll of Honour:
Name / Clean Days
The_Rock 70
Hardtimes 61
lec101 62
babybluesky 61
bornagain 54
Happy Days 64
AdamPrice 18
2012theyear 78
ashamed 42
lostafortune 43
No Maybe 109
Mr Brightside 63
rst18 15
Delboy79 181
AmandaG 43
NoProblem 14
Strange 17
Redeemed 141
leedsv 137
Chalky 7
garthcrooks 7
So, drum roll………total days free of gambling is……….a best ever for the team for the second week in a row……..
1280 Days = £128,000 in our pockets………………..£0 in the bookies!!!
That means that week on week we have spookily increased our days clean by exactly 33% again!! Yet another reason to believe we can do this!!!
unruinurself - you are our only missing soldier of the week…………finger out ma man! I’ll pop another post on your dairy as a wee reminder.
So that’s the update - here is the challenge - with Batman and hitthefan joining this week we will have 21 active members - we need a minimum check in of 20 to hold our current retention rate. I’ve added the front page to the thread and will update daily so you can see who is in and who is out as the day goes on! Encourage one person who is not in the team to join us - we need another 11 who have not gambled in 2014 to join for us to hit my aspiration of 25 to be “clean for ’14”.
Just a point on administration for this week - if you’ve checked in today, despite the issues with the site yesterday and the extended check in until tonight, I will be counting it as a check in for this week rather than last (except Adam, who I’ll accept the both!).
Have a clean week everyone, stay strong………and bombard Delboy’s diary with notes of congratulations!
I am Mr Brightside and I have been clean for 64 days. I have so many reasons to be thankful…….and I am.
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