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Thank you Stephen, godo and mixer for the posts it means a lot that you'd put that much thought into keeping me on the straight and narrow gambling wise. I've come to realise that my gambling addiction is a beast of an addiction that if given a reignition of a light will explode into flames and be very difficult to put out. Ive spent this week tossing and turning over my predicament and then the correct answer was come to today . I'm going to stop going to the club and stop for the time being going to pubs. Today ive bought Russell brands book on addictions with the 12 step recovery and hope to read it over the coming weeks with an insight into recovery and finding goals for my life, realistic ones and ones away from gambling. Ive come to realise that my social groups however large they are mostly contain friends that are all addictid to something be it gambling, alcohol, weed, coke etc and that I'm now 37 id of thought we would be past this phase of our lives by now. I hope making this correct decision will in turn make for a less stressful

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Life.ive managed to go through this relapse episode luckily without losing any money and as a result I would like to make my goal for 2018 not to be gamble free which I would have loved but to remain gamble free for eleven months of the year and to not have lost any money through it. Life is a rollercoaster and if it was easy to make the correct decisions throughout there where would the challenge be and the fulfillment when you've work hard for something and got the right result. Adam

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tara2 wrote:

congrats on the tires bigmug!

Thanks tara2

Checking in 45 days gf

Checking in on day 37, this is the place to be, glad I discovered it!

Checking in on day 30 gf glad those world cup ads finished now still going good got blocks f*

Checking in 313 gf :))

Good morning everyone. I'll have a catch-up either today or tomorrow; was away for the weekend (took my young son on a seaside holiday break).

And now off to work. Working hard; what's the point of handing my hard-earned money to the bookies? Or stuffing it in a fruit machine? Or sitting on my phone gambling losing while walking along? It makes zero sense.

Keep strong everyone - the alternative is the worst of all worlds.

Catch-up later... 🙂

Mixer

Checking in 89 days GF

edging closer to 100 AGAIN!

Keep fighting guys, dont give in!

Time for a CATCH-UP!

Good afternoon all. I hope you're enjoying the weather and over the World Cup (big positive: the terrific attitudes instilled and demonstrated by our players; it makes you proud).

So. Let's all look ourselves in the eye. Have we all put sufficient blocks in place so that we can't gamble even if we wanted to? We need to be wary of weaknesses in our resolve - weaknesses are part of our condition; they happen. If you do gamble, then it's because the blocks aren't good enough - pure and simple. We have to accept that our willpower is weak at times, and faulty.- we use it to conive to gamble again.

Amazon is having its summer sale on at the moment. Usually to shift all the c*** it's not been able to shift, but there are some genuine bargains. I bought a Phillips razor (£45) and rucksack (£15). All reduced. When you're not gambling, you are very likely to have free cash left over to take advantage of the deals this time of the month. Another reason not to gamble - it costs us more in every way.

Let's catch up!

Mitch91 - Edging to 100 days again, as you say, but this time, wiser, calmer and more focussed. What a time to stop - enjoying the summer with your loved ones. Keep an eye on those blocks - not just the sunblock 🙂 You're makng great progress, Mitch.

4D - You've sailed through 300 days and that doesn't mean it's been 'plain sailing' either - being gambling-free is hard work and requires thorough preparation. Doing great 4D!

Christer - Yup, those cynical World Cup ads can 'do one'. The bookies had a massively successful World Cup so just as well we didn't gamble on it. Great to see you hit a month and not wasting your time and money. Not only that, your attention to more fulfilling pursuits and friends and loved ones 'ups' a notch - this is what life's about.

WhereIsMyMind - It's a pleasure having you here as part of our group, WIMM. As a team, we're just that little bit stronger and that can make a world of difference. Keep going - this is for life; one day at a time!

BigMug - heading towards 50 days gambling free but with no complacency whatsoever - that's the spirit and correct approach. We've got to be strong and put those blocks in place. Doing great guns!

Adam123 - I'm glad to see that you've reflected on your decision to go to the poker school at the pub. You've put it exactly right - "we (should) be past this phase of our lives by now". You're starting to look at your 'old' self and comparing it to your 'new' self; one that's fed up with all this s*** and wants to live a better way, a more fulfilling way. You're making a good decision here.

Godoicul - 200 days, smashing through that milestone and not stopping. And pacing yourself, at the same time - being gambling-free is a marathon, not a sprint. We can jog along quite contentedly, whilst, at the same time, telling gambling to 'jog on' !

Wardal - thank you for checking in and great to see you've gone past 50 days gambling free. These early milestones matter - they prove committment. 'Stickability', underpinned by as water-tight as set of blcoks as we can, is the key to our success!

Tara2 - thank you for checking in and glad to see you're 'steady as the ship sails'. Keeping on the level - in balance - keeps our natural 'karma' in place and leads to good things.

Egdam - thanks for checking in. Good to see you're gambling free 'still' - but remove the word 'still' as it implies a possible relapse in the future; one we must avoid at all costs. (I made the smae mistake - I said I was 'still' gambling-free, but that's a negative connatation we must avoid.

On a final note, I like to look at Youtube and am often browsing through. Of course, sometimes gambling videos hover into view. My advice? Steer clear of them. They are not what they seem. Whether on-line gambling, or in bookies, arcades, or pub, they are not what they seem. There are professionals who DO win - but, remember, we are NOT professionals. DO NOT get hooked into thinking you can become a professional from watching these videos. If anything, they should warn you NOT to gamble - you're just fodder providing easy money for the experts to win!

Just steer clear of gambling videos; they are there, pure and simply, to suck you back into gambling. They are mostly run by affiliates hoping you'll join an online casino you've never heard of and you're chances of winning are zero. Because - if we do win, we give it back, then then more.

Enjoy the heatwave - let's have sunshine in the sky, and sunshine in our lives. Gambling? we're worth more than that.

All the best,

Mixer

Thankyou mixer yes going well just wish i could sort my daughter out but im doing gd now
. Everything in my life is small steps.

Morning Guru Challengers around the world. I feel blessed that I can walk alongside you all on this noble journey. We are a worthy group of men and women sharing our hopes and dreams coupled with a desire to be rid of an insidious addiction which robbed us of our sanity and messed up our lives.

What's really strange is that people like ourselves can at times still look upon gambling with a certain sense of fondness !!! How crazy is that ??? I think it is similar to a victim of domestic violence who has been battered and bruised constantly but still harbours affection for the perpetrator.

Anyway enough of that. Stephen checking in, rocking on and rallying to the call - Yehaaa, woohoo and yabba dabba dooo

Brilliant post Mixer, I really enjoy reading your updates on here and isn't it just great to have the spare money in the bank to shop on Amazon Prime days and the like. For many years the bookies took every lasy penny, this last few weeks I too have had the spare cash for a few treats. Keep up the fight!

Checking in on day 222 ..... life is so much better without gambling and nice to be back in control of things, but always on my guard as i know how easy it can be to slip back to my old ways .... one day at a time.

Morning all - checking in GF 🙂

No relapse to be had from me Mixer!!