2015 Challenge

Welcome to two more soldiers Lemon25 and paulh85, you are in the right place and very special things can happen this year if you embrace the positivity on here and fight hard!

TickFollowsTock your post is interesting, I think over thinking the past and stressing too much over our losses can lead us back into gambling. We all start this journey of recovery with huge debts, lies and lives full of secrecy. I believe the only way forward is to come clean to ourselves and our loved ones. Set a manageable repayment plan for your debts and try to allow some cash to be left for more positive activites in your free time. Don't beat yourself up about the past, the moneys gone, we have wasted too much time chasing our losses, now its time for us all to have some happiness and in recovery there will be ups and downs, but there will be plenty of happiness ahead.

Honk I've got a football away day on Saturday with the lads and some will gamble so I have to plan ahead to ensure I don't slip. I will also be under the influence of a good few pints. I can say now my mind is in a good place and I won't gamble. One thing I will do is ensure I don't have too much cash on me and don't have any bank cards which will go a big way towards stopping any urges forming. Plan your weekend ahead and try to put as many barriers in place as possible to prevent a slip.

day 10 gamble free :-).........just checking in......

another quote in reference to the one on page 4.........................he who stays in bed longest has less hours of the day to give up gambling .......and achieves it easier lol

Good work Wayne! And on that note, I'm going to try my bed again and when I wake up I will be 6 days clean so right behind ya buddy!

Rachel x

So good to see all these people committing to making 2015 the year they stop gambling for good. Keep strong everyone.

I have just passed 7 days gambling free. Feeling good and motivated to see this through.

Simon

Amazing how many people are doing this. It's so raw when everyone posts, just by words I can really relate and feel people pain.

@mark totally know what you mean about making your partner proud, mine deserves more than the same.

just remember guys the first few days are always the hardest, stay strong everyone and have a good day x

Welcome to somethingsgottagive, you have been added to the list of soldiers and checked in! This is the place to be Rachel so embrace it and make 2015 special.

Just a reminder for everybody that triangle has come up with the brilliant idea of making the Wednesday night chatroom somewhere for our troops to catch up, if anyone fancies a chat I think its 8pm till 9pm. Maybe you could post a link to the forum page on here triangle, just so everybody knows where to go!

Bornagain wrote:

Welcome to somethingsgottagive, you have been added to the list of soldiers and checked in! This is the place to be Rachel so embrace it and make 2015 special.

Just a reminder for everybody that triangle has come up with the brilliant idea of making the Wednesday night chatroom somewhere for our troops to catch up, if anyone fancies a chat I think its 8pm till 9pm. Maybe you could post a link to the forum page on here triangle, just so everybody knows where to go!

Here's the link Phil

http://www.gamcare.org.uk/forum/gamcare-chatrooms-how-join-us

that link gets you to just outside the chat room

you need to sign in to enter the room but once you've done that you're all set

looking forward to seeing a few of you there

Tri

Hi my name is Carl and I am a compulsive gambler.... I am on day 1 of my recovery and would like to join the challenge, I am aged 29 and have been gambling for 15 years, I worked my way up from slot machines to now I pretty much gamble my hand at anything mainly horses dogs and footy... Gambling has ruined my life and 2015 is when the rot stops.... I'm really looking forward to this challenge... Thanks for having me

Carl

So I have now done 1 day. Not in any way wanted to bet but without getting to deep does anyone else feel the obsessive gambling is just a cover for some other part of your life that is out of sync so to speak. I feel like now I have stopped (and in a good way my subconscious knows it could be for a long time) all my emotions come back and I'm just sad and depressed. Tried to book an appointment with the docs to try and get some councilling but booked up for the next week, go figure.

7 days completed... Been a difficult week as my job doesn't really swing into full action until Monday...just need to get through the next couple days..

Hi All,

Just checking in on day 9

Mel x

Hi, I would like to join you all in this challenge. My name is Scott I am 43 and have been gambling on line for 13 years, my poison has been football in general but any sports when chasing. I have always justified my gambling with line " I only gamble what I can afford to lose" while this may be true it mounts up to tens of thousands of pounds and is a pretty pathetic excuse and so I have decided enough is enough. I am now on day 3 of not betting.

Hi Scott, welcome aboard matey. Best of luck and well done for 3 clean days! This is a great site with loads of support available. Hope your journey is an easy one.

Hi all,

Day 3 almost complete. I would just like to say thanks to all the supportive people on this site. I'm amazed at how just one or two messages can make such a difference to how I feel about the whole gambling thing. The silly thing about it all is that every time I've gambled I've realised the odds have been stacked against me. I don't really play on FOBT because they're dangerous and I've been stung in the past but one thing I do know is they are not a con or rigged. They purely work on the fact that if people play them for long enough the bookies are guaranteed to make a profit. I'm not a stupid gambler. I've been careless with my money but don't blame anyone else. When I get in the zone though I think about nothing else. When I leave it for a few days I don't necessarily miss it anymore. The danger is that once I start again after a week or two I'm straight back to how I was when I was at my worst. To put this into context I was almost debt free after being in debt for years from gambling. Then I started again and within 18 months find myself £30,000 in debt. Gambling is a crazy world and one that I need to stay away from. The more you earn the more you lose, the stakes just get higher to get the same buzz. I've worked hard in my job and earn quite a good income but due to gambling I'm probably poorer now than I've ever been in my life! Crazy!!!

Keep up the good work everyone!

Honk

Theres a fair few sodliers not yet checked in, please can you check the front page and if you are not listed as checked in get checked in. Midnight on Saturday is the deadline and I want a high retention rate!

Big welcome to Taxi driver and scotty 1971 you have been added to the front page and checked in. This is a big commitment, but its also a big step in your recovery and successfully seeing out the challenge will be so rewarding!

Lemon25 there is loads of help available on this forum, ask your fellow soldiers for advice and also if you call the Gamcare helpline or use the online chat through the netline link on here you will be able to ask Gamcare to get you a course of counselling, you will probably find it happens quicker than with your GP.