*** Join The Guru Challenge! ***

Great job Mixer. You know that we all appreciate your help and support.

re: The above post- don't write a post like this next month. I know that it's annoying reading posts like this, but personally I don't buy it!

I think it's either a bogus post or sum numpty. Sorry, but nobody says it's all the gambling operators fault, and don't worry I've got the sympathy from gamcare every month!

Hi changemylife,

It was an entirety made-up post, written by me. It could have been written by me, though, in the past. I'll go back and make the situation clear. Thank you for your comments; and I'm sorry that you thought I might have copied it from somewhere. I would never do that, or make a judgement of a fellow poster's words in this way,

All the best

Mixer

Thanks again Mixer for the weekly roll call; I look forward to sundays and seeing how everyone in the crew is doing in your condensed but thoughtful posts.

Sorry, missed the roll call, checking in, all good still gamble free. Difficult time with business finances but staying strong.

Great job as always Mixer with roll call and keeping this challenge going.

Cheers

Thanks for the clarification Mixer. I get it now - the sort of stuff going on inside a gamblers head. Lame excuses, nievity and justification. But yes, let's hope that none of us follow this path.

No problem, changemylife - and you've got it in one 🙂

Amt, well done for hitting a solid 40 days today. I'm on a similar trajectory on 46 days. Whilst businesses finances will be tight for now, they will get better as you are now devoting your time and energies more profitably and thus guaranteeing yourself a much better result than otherwise.

Hi Mixer - yes the confusion with the dates, I had realised my dates didn't match up as I gambled after I initally signed up to this forum, I wanted to be honest so I fixed it.

However, as I've wrote in my diary, I placed a £10 bet two days ago and I am treating it as a relapse, so back to sqaure one. I am happy to a certain degree as it's identified certain holes in my recovery plan which I am fixing this week. Despite this... I am immensly proud I stopped at £10 - as a typical binge can be £200-£500... so I feel there has been some sort of shift in my mind. However a bet is a bet no matter how small... and I have to be honest with myself so I am starting again from scratch as I want this forum to be an honest space. Onwards and upwards.

Day 1

Hi Adam,

Thank you for your update, and your honesty - which is always respected.

You're right - back to Day 1 (or Day 2 now) you must go, because of your relapse. Ok, it was "just" a tenner but it's like the snowball rolling off the top of a mountain - it could have triggered an avalanche.

This time, I just know you're going to double down on your efforts not to gamble. You need to put some blocks in place too. No more relapses - you don't have to do this, because it will only bring you misery. Life's too short - my goodness, the people I know who are not in the best of health at the moment. Let's celebrate what we have, Adam, and not waste our time and money gambling it all away 🙂

Let's see you rack those days up again - and those days count more once a payday has passed 🙂

I'm on 42 days and having the first sign of urges entering my head. I have fought back and will remain strong. I lost so much in my last binge that thoughts of having another go 'you can't lose' this time have emerged. I now appreciate that my fight against this addiction is going to take one all mighty effort and I must remain in the right frame of mind and not get complacent. Need to have patience, a quick fix of winning the funds back is not a consideration anymore.

If I had not joined this challenge and had the weekly roll call maybe the 42 days would be back to 0. I enjoy a challenge and am a stubborn sod!

Thanks Mixer for your continued support to all on this challenge.

Hi amy722- Absolutely delighted to read you're a stubborn sod. That's great to hear. I'm the same, so let's both smash through the 50 GF day barrier, right? With me..? Thought so!

Mixer wrote:

Hi Adam,

Thank you for your update, and your honesty - which is always respected.

You're right - back to Day 1 (or Day 2 now) you must go, because of your relapse. Ok, it was "just" a tenner but it's like the snowball rolling off the top of a mountain - it could have triggered an avalanche.

This time, I just know you're going to double down on your efforts not to gamble. You need to put some blocks in place too. No more relapses - you don't have to do this, because it will only bring you misery. Life's too short - my goodness, the people I know who are not in the best of health at the moment. Let's celebrate what we have, Adam, and not waste our time and money gambling it all away 🙂

Let's see you rack those days up again - and those days count more once a payday has passed 🙂

Thanks Mixer man - silly mistake really, but got to be honest, and got to learn.

New checks are now in place. The remaining "spending money" has now all been withdrawn as cash, and I've ensured that next payday all future bills are going to be paid manually on the day, so I have full control over funds. This means I can basically pay all my bills, order a few things online and withdraw everything as cash to have my bank back to zero within 3 hours of being paid. In addition, I have removed Safari from my phone - and await the release of the GamBan iPhone version.

I'm annoyed, but proud I didn't gamble away the £200 odd that I had set aside to spend on myself this month. Next month I am going to make sure I don't spend a PENNY on gambling. Now the checks are in place, I can focus on recovery and start to pick apart my urges and reasons for doing this.

Hi Adam and delighted you've put extra safeguards in place. Your target this month is a realistic and manageable one; not to spend 1p on gambling. Remember , you don't have to gamble - you can live a much better life, instead of putting yourself and others through misery.

With you all the way, shoulder to shoulder Adam!

4D checking in on 25 days gf. I'm catching up to you mixer halfway to your Hawaii 5-0 lol!

Checking in 65 days gf xxx

Light-heartedly but with a serious undertone I have hit double guru status!

Almost 21 months ago I made a decision to stop gambling and some how I have managed to stick with it despite initially having no confidence that I could stop even for a day.

2016 was a very tough year for my wife and I with bereavement, my operation, her health problems and family issues but we got through it as a team which would not have happened if I had continued to gamble.

I always remember my mum explaining to me how she managed to stop smoking - she talked about manageability and taking it one day at a time.

I have used the same approach to gambling - ODAAT to me is not an empty expression or sloganeering or something I got from a meeting. I've also had a lot of support from specific forum users - thank you.

I've made a lot of mistakes, said things here I shouldn't have, reacted to provocation from people who should know better but hopefully in my own clumsy way have supported and encouraged other forum users.

This post is not a commemoration at all - just recognising as a double guru how far I've come since February 2016.

Best wishes, Phil.