Hi Joanna, hope you are staying strong like me no gambling for 12 days now, no real urges, just a lot of hand wringing and crying with the three people who know about my secret life of shame. Went to see my eldest son to-day, he is a rock, but I can see it has disturbed him fifteen months on since I first confessed to him. How do you recover from admitting gross errors in your life to a sibling?, really tough. So tonight a curry for me (a little treat and some sport on the TV, followed by an early night) How about you ?. Stay strong like you are on this site for others.
Thank you Spaingone and well done on your 12 days of sanity. I do admire your courage and I am sure your son still loves and respects you despite your having told him about the gambling. Parents do not enjoy for very long the total admiration of their children - unfortunately they come to realise quite early on that we are not the cleverest, fastest, funniest people in the world, yet they still love us and remain loyal, just as we do with them when we see them as adults, making mistakes. If respect from your son has taken a dent then I am sure it will be repaired when he sees you turning your life around, as you will do.
Best wishes,
Joanna
Joanna
thanks for the very kind words upon my thread, I am truly humbled by them.
Keep making the right choice.
Abstain and maintain
Duncs stepping forward never back
Thank you Duncs.
Day 28 for me - think I over-calculated yesterday; thank goodness Mr Brightside can add up for me!
Going up The Shard tomorrow - if you live in Greater London, wave!
Day 29 and feeling good. The Shard was fantastic and a salutary lesson; looking down from the 72nd floor (800 feet or so) at the tiny ants scurrying about London it made me realise how petty and pathetic I had become with my desire for the quick fix of gambling. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio..." etc. and so many more worthwhile things to do and experience in life than feeding money into slots. Stay strong.
Joanna
Day 30 - one more day and it's officially a month of sanity. A walk through Marylebone today in the sunshine, and able to buy a few treats with 'real' money. Felt good!
Day 31 - so that's a month gamble-free. But I must not be complacent - dreamed last night I had won £46 million on a slot machine (!) and felt quite elated when I woke up. How easy it is to slip back into that old mindset - but anyway I didn't, and I'm still here, sane and solvent. 🙂
Joanna
Well done from me on reaching a month gamble free, an achievement to be very proud of.
Great foundations to see what life with out gambling can gift you, the damage from the past cannot be changed but the brightness of the future is a choice in your hand.
That dream is one that raised a smile.
A joke that rings profoundly true
How do you make a compulsive gambler a millionaire??
Start them a billionaire!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep making the right choice for you, most of all enjoy it.
Duncs stepping forward never back.
Many thanks duncs - hope you are feeling good.
Day 33 - a third of a century (nearly!).
To all of you feeling you are in a dark place - here's something I've just read in a Peter James thriller (of all places!):
"The light can only shine in darkness."
Keep going towards the light...
Joanna
Jo - you are such a breath of fresh air - hope you realise that!!
I may not have the intellect of someone that reads thrillers and quotes them.......but it the words of the famous Mr N. Gallagher.........
I'm free to be whatever I, whatever I choose and I'll sing the blues if I want.......
No blues I be sung any more - congratulations on the month........gutted you missed the calendar by a day or two......April will be sweet!!
Stay strong comrade!
Mr B
Aaw shucks Mr B.... many thanks for your kind words. :-]
J x
Well done on getting through that first month...another milestone on an epic journey worthy of your moniker I hope!
In three years living in London, I was terrible at sightseeing...I never went up anywhere to get a bird's eye view, not the Shard, not that big ferris wheel on the embankment. I did live on the ninth floor of a tower block though...lovely views of the North Circular!
Keep up the good work Joanna, hope spending a bit of your own money the other day felt great!
Ryan
Hi jo
Just wanted to tank you for your words on the challenge thread. It's amazing how much you all helped me through and it will spur me on to keep going. Thanks again and well done x
Linda
Many thanks leedso and Linda. 🙂
Yes, leedso - still have the burden of gambling round my neck like Frodo, but it's getting lighter! Would still like to throw it into the fires of Mordor though!
Linda - I'm full of admiration for your strength of purpose, not only in sending out a 'Mayday' but in grabbing the lifebuoys thrown to you.
Day 34 of sanity, and still enjoying the pleasures of London; a tour of the Guildhall this morning, and then to see the Cheapside Hoard at the Museum of London - fabulous, but not as precious as the gems on this site!
Good wishes to all.
Joanna x
Hi Joanna,
Just popping over to say HI 🙂 and also well done on surpassing 1 month of being free from this affliction!
Massive achievement, well done! Now aim to double that 😀
Best regards,
Scambling
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