Day 1... Came clean

Yes long day for me I'm.work today for next 2 days. Not thinking of gambling at all

Keep going everyone.

I'll be on tomorrow.

Night all.

Be strong.

Hi KP.well done !! How are the urges? I find I am not thinking of gambling as much, unsure if this is because my brain is adapting or because I have no money. Pay day will be a huge test for me over the Xmas break

Hi Katie, they say to do something well is all in the preparation. You are getting paid any day; and as you say this is the acid test.

You have put the groundwork in and are ready for the challenge. You have chosen life over transferring money to a soulless computer program; that's all online gaming is.

You are going to have money to spend for other things. For treating you, your family and loved ones, wow!

Want to buy something special or a bit better quality than usual? You have the cash for it!

Treat yourself! Buy something that would make you happier, or for someone else that would make them, and you!, feel good.

You are choosing life Katie! 1st December 2016 will go down in history in the story of your life. It was the day the real Katie was reborn!

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Morning Katie, and beyond delighted to read about your lightbulb moment. Whilst this is about saving ourselves, it is also about saving those around us. You have vowed to keep to the solemn promises you have made, Katie, and all of us, your nearest and dearest, and here, are four-square behind you with 100% support.

This has been a great post fir me to wake up to, especially given you are a founder member of WCAWW - like I say, so proud of you.

We are both in Day 12 and there isn't a word to express our extreme resolve, is there?

We CAN and we WILL.

Well done on day 12 mixer !! How are things your end? 2 more days and we hit 2 weeks, who would have thought

Well done Katiecoo, I have struggled massively with addiction to online casinos (especially slot games) over the past 2 years and really need to find things to do to replace my time gambling. My biggest concern is how withdrawn I have allowed myself to be from family and friends. Has anyone else had that problem - Anything you can recommend?

Hi Katiecoo and so delighted you're on Day 12. You are doing amazing and so proud of you. 2 days time, as you say, it's 2 weeks. How rosy Christmas is going to be for us this year, because we're not stopping this are we. As you've said, we are choosing a Christmas of peace and calm. Priceless. WCAWW!

Hi JBar1980, here's an idea. Try and get some counselling through this excellent site. Just phone Gamcare up. The sessions, taken by counsellors who really understand gamblers, will help you figure out how you can spend the time in a much more enjoyable way, that you may have been blinded to because the gambling's always gotten in the way. Your mind will clear and the pennies start to drop - there is so much out there instead of talking to soulless, electronic boxes. Congratulations to you for starting the non-gambling journey: you are choosing life instead of misery. Brilliant !!!

Calm feels nice doesn't it ! WCAWW

Things do get calm and even serene after a while. A perfect day you have spent gamble free feels serene

You will get feelings and they are natural at any stage but you learn over time to calmly dismiss them or indeed immediately counter them with reality. As your mind heals it is like a learning experience as it finds other neuron paths of family enjoyment for example

Then it becomes why would you even do it? Youve got your hard earned money and you have better things to do.

I am determined to try and help others on the forum and its the only time that gambling is at the front of my mind as Im discussing recovery.

I had to let any anger go because it was eating me. Im just seriously concerned about what gambling does to the good people who join the forum in despair.

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

It doesn't rule you, your rule it... I found the best thing for me was studying! Quantum physics I really love, Also research into energy and the spiritual side of life helped a lot to, gave me more strength, control and understanding in the things i have done/do! My next thing is learning an instrument, I beleive us gambling addicts are a clever bunch and if we find the right things we are good at we can put that energy into it! Instead of gambling!

And so today I get an email from a casino telling me how special I am . They even tried to call me today ? . Determined but not as determined as me !! Close my account please ( I thought it was closed?). WCAWW

Hi guys, Just wanted to say well done on your recovery so far! I have recently made the decision to give up gambling for good aswell. Its been a month and 13 days since my last bet! My Vice however became online sports betting. I really dont think that matters though as I now believe its all the same. A load of dissulusional rubbish. Im 25 now and had previously wasted a good 6 years of my life gambling my time and money away. Things seems clearer now but still tough. I find myself looking at life negatively sometimes but I know its only my addiction wanting to creep back in. I think tobyhunt21 you make a very good point that learning is a great distraction. I had tried to stop on numerous occasions before, I had counselling, went to rehab breifly and even tried hypnotherapy. But I now feel more determined than ever this time, mainly because I know now that I want to stop but also because I am now at university studying something that really interests me ! Being a compulsive gambler would never allow me to have the clear mind to do this or to be the person I really want to be. A good way of thinking that helped me was to imagine channeling all the effort and stress that I once used for gambling on something useful, something that you or someone else can benefit from. What a good thought that is eh. Anyway Keep strong guys, Lets beat this together !