2015 Challenge

hey

I blog every day and now 9 days gamble free

Please check me in..

Thank you

LEST-WE-FORGET

Morning everyone,first check in,not been on the forum for a few days as I've been mad busy,it's actually helped to keep my mind off gambling,all is good and the few urges I've had were quite easily brushed off,I'm not going to get over confident though,I've had a few opportunities to gamble since day 1 but the pain is still there from my last big loss,I know as time fades this memory it will be ever more important to keep strong,good luck to everyone,keep at it!

MehGameOver wrote: Hi Phil. I would like to become a member, at this moment in time I am extremely unhappy and I feel that I need to turn my life around to ensure I am happy again! I am 21 years of age and I feel that my youth has been taken from me but I still have time. I feel this challenge will help me a lot in trying to overcome this horrendous addiction. I have remained gambe free for a shameful 2 hours and I am now going to say no to gambling. I hope I have everyone's support. Thanks Steve

everyone has to start somewhere. seeing that you have a problem and taking the first step is the hardest. we have all been there. this is a fantastic group to be a member of. i joined the 2014 group as well. we are not here to judge, we are here to help and support. best wishes for the future

mjc1974

morning everyone. i'm checking in on day 224 gf (32 weeks).

i think that the contact list is a fab idea. i'd be happy for my details to be passed on. i wouldn't be where i am now without the support of my hubby, kids family and friends, and it doesn't matter how strong a person you are we all need to lean on someone at some point.

so as we are at the beginning of the new year (ish) i hope you all have a year full of will power, love, laughter, happiness and health. stay strong everyone and remember together we can do it.

Bornagain wrote:

Welcome to annie67 and luckybhoy34 you have been checked in and added to the front page. I have to say I'm absolutely delighted that Stephen2105 has checked in after a tough few days! Made up to see you have put so many blocks in place qprloc12 its the only way to beat this, I myself have blocks that annoy me, but if they stop me gambling they are well worth it. Honk take another look at my update and read what a year free from gambling did to two soldiers, its good you have come back, try to work out exactly what made you slip and put as many barriers in place to prevent it happening again.

Pauric (Ringerbell) there isn't much interaction at many of the bookies I have wasted so much of my life and money in. Just a load of zombies staring into a machine or at a TV screen. I too can feel alone, but theres better ways to interact with people than a bookies. Maybe you could look into some new hobbies or societies where you will met new people or maybe some voluntary work? Theres a website called meetup, maybe you could try that and meet new people local to you. Stay positive, fight hard and don't let the lure of a bookies drag you back.

triangle, I have used the chat rooms in the past but sadly as I work 2pm til 10pm I miss out. I think it would be a good idea for a few troops from our challenge to maybe pick the same day and time each week and have a catch up in the chatroom. Maybe you could suggest a time and day and I will put a reminder in this Sundays update.

Good idea

The check in is on a saturday night

Why not put the catch up mid week so if someone is struggling they have somewhere to go to get support

so a wednesday night at 8pm?

Welcome to robrob1988 and mac09 I have checked you in and added you to the list of soldiers, can you please post another message with some more info about the forms of gambling you struggle with.

Thanks for the offer mjc1974 if you could email the group address I will keep your number there for a time someone needs it. If anyone else is happy to have their contact details available for fellow soldiers in need please send a message and your number to the [email protected]

triangle I will put something in this weeks update about the Wednesday chat room. Its a great idea and I think it would be good if you pushed it on here and encouraged people to join in. Its clearly helped you so it could help others.

Cheking in after my first week complete. This challenge is exactly what i have been looking for. Completed 200+ days in 2014 without any support or help and with everyones support on here feel as though i am ready to acheive my first full gambling free year

Lemon25 signing in

So determined to do something about this vile addiction. Love this forum, there is something so reassuring about other people in similar situations, all be it not very nice ones on here, but the love and help from people is excellent.

My story is just similar to many others. Sports betting is the main thing and this Xmas was just a horrible episode of sneaking upstairs and spending so so many hours just betting on c**P I had no idea about, just purely for the buzz. If I lose any amount I basically lose the plot and keep upping stakes until I get it back. I look back at some of it and just cannot believe how irrational and mental one can be. I lost £500 today after losing about £80 on a couple of races and football I then went on roulette and just slowly lost the lot, thinking 'oh well my numbers havent come out yet so they are likely to now, can't stop yet just about to get hot'. I mean I have been doing this for about 15 years and I still think like that. When I bet on sports I don't look at form, it's bang bet and see if I get lucky. I work in the betting industry so this won't be easy but that is no excuse. I am lucky enough to not be in any debt but dread to think how much iv lost over the years. Enough is enough, I can't win because I can't stop and I really really can't, I must realise that. My advice to anyone is self exclude, dont set limits like £25 a week as it won't change anything and you'll just spend even more wasted life looking for sites to open new accounts. I could go on and on here and have just rambled about my feelings but I loved reading these posts and others and hope we can all help each other. I know it's hard for those that have big debts and lost big sums but lets try and put a line in the sand now and I think the amount of time we waste betting is far far more valuable than any money lost. Hope to do this for as long as I can, today 6th Jan is the day I stop. Cheers

Great to see so many soldiers here! We can march through 2015 gamble free one day at a time!!

Sure you have worked it out but I am new to the challenge so please add me and will be checking in on Saturday to say 4 days clean :). Just excluded from every site I can think of from oddschecker, feels great. Gonna attempt to learn guitar with my spare time 😛

It's been a bad day for me today. I looked at my online banking first thing this morning and could see a stream totalling £ of deposits made to Coral bookies. It's affected my mood most of the day with me feeling, angry, mildly hostile in my outlook and feeling very uncomfortable in myself. Not nice. I've never gone more than 30 days without gambling in 27 years with the only exception being when out of the country in places where there are no means to feed my FOBT or online high stakes slots Achilles heel.

I read on a post here about the triangle - time, location, money - so it figures my location was the preventer at those times.

I really want to stay gamble free and repair the damage to my finances, remove my debt which I can credit fully to my gambling and build up some savings for the future, that is my focus.

I accept that I can never have control of my finances, I am very comfortable with this as I don't trust myself or the strange hold/urge that gambling has over me. I think my gambling is escapism form of gambling, I get myself lost in a thrilling and exciting zone of hits and near misses but it's total illusion the result is always the same.... Lose, I play until I can't play any longer, even when my eyes are stinging and I'm hungry and feel sick already at what I've lost I keep going. :-/

I do seem over last couple of years though to remove myself before I fully ruin myself, like I used to do.

A bad day, I can't wait for those deposits to not be there, and I can't wait to be able to say I am 60 days gamble free!

1 day at a time! I read on here a brilliant line, I think it was in the 'favourite quotes/lines thread' it was 'the person who has not gambled the longest is the person who got up the earliest this morning' haha love that.

I identify with the safety in numbers philosophy and I feel better knowing there are others here fighting the same 🙂 and reading and seeing people's success with gamble free days does fortify me and gives me strength and resolve to resist and like I read on here, to step back and observe the temptation but not be controlled by it, that works for me.

I see see my temptation as a sailing boat, but a grey, miserable and very un inviting boat with its sails filled with - to use a phrase - an ill wind that blows no good!

Keep strong people and just for today and everyday!

Thank you to all of you who post so honestly with your own personal struggles and wisdoms about this strange, but arrest-able, affliction, thank you to the Phil and his predecessors who run this site and thank you to the founders who generously cared enough about the misery this activity causes to people and decided to make a difference. It's not just me they (you) have helped/helping it's my nearest, dearest and dependants - I've just got to stay focused never let my guard down and mine and their lives will get much better in time. But I will be patient and allow time to fix this without further distress to my finances or health - staying strong!

best wishes and thank you.

TFT

hi everyone.

first post on here. my name is paul, im 29 years old and my main issues revolve around in play sports betting, i find myself in a mountain of debt (approx 10k), and my problem gambling has not only caused me a lot of stress and pain, but the person i care most about, my girlfriend. In the end its caused the break up of our relationship and its heart breaking to realise that my inability to tackle this issues long ago has been the primary reason.

I've been gamble free for only 7 days, since the 30th december 2014. but im determined to take every step i can to overcome this, and i think this community will be a great help.

thanks,.

Hi All,

Checking in on day 8 😉

Mel

Hi all,

I'm on my second day gamble free!! I've kept myself busy again and avoided looking at any of the football scores tonight!

Thanks for the advice bornagain and triangle. I've not called gamcare yet but will do when I get chance. Anyway, looking forward to Day 3. Will defo be too busy to gamble anyway but starting to worry about the weekend already as I'm not playing golf and won't have any distractions! Although, on a few occasions having a couple of beers after golf has led to me dropping my guard and ending up in the bookies on the way home!

Honk

Keep the barriers up Honk it's good to be able to identify in advance what can cause problems! put as many barriers in place as you can think of and you will get through it and at the same time remember we can only beat this one day at a time so don't put too much pressure on yourself!