We CAN and we WILL - Join the 100 day and 2017 Challenges!

Hi guys.

This is a great idea mix. A focal meeting point for us and anyone who wishes to join and share our collective support.

We CAN and we WILL.

Can I join you folks? You are a few days ahead of me in your recovery and I would be honoured to become part of that both for myself and any others.

I've tried and failed so many times over the years but I've tried alone and I think that that is my downfall...I've always been fiercely independent, ridiculously private and find it extremely difficult to admit to others when I need help....well no more.....I need help, I need support.....and if I can return that support to others then even better....

Let's stick together and do this....

We CAN and we WILL!

M xx

Welcome SC, an absolute pleasure to welcome you on board!

We have all tried in the past, goodness me how any times have I tried, but this time - it's for real. You are doing brilliant as you get into your stride. And we are right behind you, every day, when you're feeling weak and when you're feeling strong and want to shout it from the rooftops!

You are making a great start. Keep it going and blast away another Gambling free (GF) day!

KP has it in a nutshell. We CAN and we WILL!

Yes of course your welcome to join us.

All I ask is that you check in daily like we do and write on your own diary or others, or if you wish you can post here.

We are trying very hard to support each other and if you so relapse we will do our utmost to pick you up.

Please also attend the chat rooms when you can. I find just chatting even about general stuff with people suffering the same ailment is so helpful. I'm on day 9.

We CAN and we WILL

Exactly right KP, and this is where the hard work really starts.

It is now time to dig in. This is serious. We want LIFE, not MISERY.

WCAWW.

KP, Katiecoo, Chance, Rhoda, SC - We are united and strong and with each other all the way.

Hey xx I'll get in on this thread. I'm back to day one again. I could use a little extra support and offer mine.

It's nice to have some poeple to chat to and check in with. I was regularly reading others diaries and giving encouragement, and them me, but we sort of drifted off after a few weeks/months and stopped it.

So, hello everyone. I'm Angela. 🙂

Hi Angela! Welcome aboard and great you're on Day 1! Tomorrow it will be Day 2. Here, we rack up the days together. We have no respect for the destructive boxes, computer programs, horses, football or whatever gambling devices that have enslaved us.

No more!

You are choosing life instead of misery. And that starts NOW. We are all with you. Keep posting Angela. We will be following your journey as you get to Day 7. We know you will because you are saying to yourself: Enough is Enough. You are going to take practical steps to help you and avail yourself of the fantastic resources on this site, which includes dedicated free counselling, chat rooms, forums and more, as you probably know. You are sick to death of being skint and wasting time engaging in this solitary, wasteful pursuit.

We now have 7 of us on this thread. The Magnificent Seven!

A rollcall of those most determined: KP, Katiecoo, Change, Rhoda, Angela, SC and Mixer.

We are deadly serious and want to stop this nonsense forever. I cannot over-emphasise this point enough.

KP puts it best. We CAN And We WILL.

P.S. This diary isnt going to drift. You have my word.

Fellow friends and kindred spirits,

I have been a very heavy gambler for years, and I don't know about you, but I have been gambling like a prince but living like a pauper!

If I buy something, like a pair of shoes, they are inevitably the cheapest. (And wear out quickly so false economy.)

If my family goes out for a meal, inevitably I check the prices and it's a cheap one all round. I've even nagged if someone buys a dessert - "we can have an ice cream later for half the cost". My wife's put up with a lot.

I even turn down the heating down and turn off unnecessary lights at home.

Now, the last one is good practice, no-one wants to overpay their bills, but here's the point.

I've been saving pennies on life but spending pounds on misery!

To perfectly illustrate, I would go to a casino, blow hundreds and walk an hour home to save £10 on a cab!

Can anyone resonate with this? And, of course, it's not just me affected; it's my loved ones who could have had so much more. The relationships I've lost over the years, not because I've been unnecessarily mean, but been seen to be irrationally pumping more cash in the slot rather than on them). -m-

Now, here's a suggestion. When we reach Day 14 (when, not if) how about we treat ourselves a little, and/or our loved ones BUT only if it's wise. Your loved ones may not be receptive; if you have confessed to crippling debt, then this will not probably be a good thing to do.. Or it might be seen as 'buying' an apology. (These last few comments have been added at a later date, thank you Lethe for the heads up and great advice).

Lethe also suggests the best gift we can give our loved ones is honesty, transparency and reliability - I couldn't agree more!

If you think it wise, consider what you would have lost in the last two weeks, and spend 50% of the sum saved on treats. Buy those decent shoes! Get that haircut or new style! Get that decent present for your partner! Buy those branded trainers for once! Perhaps save the other 50% for debts, or simply save it towards that decent holiday that may be within reach.

Now, I fully understand that what drives some gamblers to stop are the debts; they've gotten so high there is simply no choice but to stop.

Even so, give yourself a small treat, even its a couple of quid. The treat could be telling your loved ones (if you think it would that you haven't gambled for 2 weeks. And starting to make inroads in any debts is immensely satisfying. One day they will be gone and it's all systems go.

We should be allowed to enjoy ourselves as we enjoy gambling free status. And Day 14 is a marker that says we mean business.

Now gambling is often linked to underlying issues and problems that need to be brought to the surface; if so, our clearer heads are quietly starting to work on these, and what a better way to reward the brain than with a treat!

I'm hitting Day 14 in a couple of days. Katiecoo likewise, and KP in the slipstream! Change is there, Rhoda on her way and Angela and SC out of the blocks.

There's a lot of hard work and soul searching going on with all of us as we adopt our decision to embrace life. And we can actually enjoy it too; gambling free has an upside that WILL come through in the end, even if things seem very dark at the moment.

WCAWW.

Day 6 done:-) . Often I would be sitting in front of a machine at this time...instead I'm home, and feeling ok. Hope everyone else is having a good evening. I so identify with saving pennies and wasting pounds; I have always been so careful with money, but once I am sitting in front of a machine £20 notes lose all value. I don't understand why...I don't understand how when playing the machines I can be sensible for a while, but then a switch is flicked and I just don't care any longer how much I am putting in. I almost feel driven to play until it is all gone. R

I know exactly what you mean....I'm so mean with money in every aspect of my life EXCEPT the gambling....I'll scrimp on food shopping, stay in too much because going out always costs something whether it just be the bus fare or whatever, I've recently moved home and need so much but yet I do nothing about it because "I can't afford it", I moan and groan when my Son asks for a wee lend of a few quid until his payday....all of these things are nothing compared to the thousands I've thrown at online Slots...I never ever treat myself to anything, not a single penny but I'll blindly hit that "deposit" button over and over again, first on the debit card and when that's gone....the credit cards 🙁

But....no more....nope...not today!

And hey you Mixer....no mention of me in rollcall...lol....

We CAN and we WILL

M x

Hi SC, firstly I am so sorry I missed you off at rollcall (I've edited my posts above and you're back!) You are of course a fine, decidated and most welcome member of our group. I wont miss you off again! I'm pleased my post resonated; and how we can change our lives for the better QUICKLY, if not financially, psychlogically and happier. The rewards of not gamblng are multi-faceted.

We are all delighted that you have stormed this weekend. Fantastic achievement and I know this week there will be more of the same. Atta girl !

Rhoda, well done for seeing through your first weekend. You have chosen life over misery. We have all stopped on this thread, that's 8 of us. We are sticking together, and reaping some rewards already! Day 7 tomorrow, and double digits in a few short days. Really great stuff Rhoda, one of our 8 founder members on a thread that is going to make history; because its participants are good people with utter determination to enjoy the new-found non-gambling destination and stay there.

WCAWW - PK's words that will always be the cornerstone of this thread.

Hi all.

This diary absolutely will NOT trail off. I will post here every day of my life if need to.

With respect to what mixer said, I am the opposite. I buy expensive trainers and clothes. I shop well and buy good food.

HOW EVER........when I sit in front of a flashing box I'll quite happily pound the paper in aswell when I can spend that money on far better things, like my kids.

Personally I'm quitting because my partner had enough of it.

I went home one night last week in a rage because I was dragged away from the machine and threatened to beat her.

That is disgusting. Albeit fuelled by alcohol aswell that is absolutely no excuse.

I've lost the best thing I ever had because of gambling.

I've got to fight like hell to try and fix things but at the moment it's still raw and no I don't blame her at all.

That's my honest story.

I have to stop. I can stop. I will stop. I HAVE stopped. Day 10 tomorrow for me.

So can you.