DГ©sormais......

Hey golf ball ☺

Just touching the base and sending my well wishes for your ongoing recovery!

Keep on keeping on dear friend

S x

Adeee,

300 days whoop whoop, fandabadozy :))))

You are doing fantastic walking not one walk but two :))) even if some days you are wearing stilettos 0))))) lol.

You are coming through so strongly now, and an inspiration because of your long journey :)))))

Suzanne xxx

Never mind I am sending you a big pat on the back with my extra extra long broomstick, 0)))) because it is a great milestone Adee.

Take care

Suzanne xxx

Thanks for the posts Weldy, LB, Sandra and Suzanne.

Very cheeky Suzanne!! ;0)

Yep 300 days for me today. It's a nice milestone for sure, and I am quite proud that I have after many years arrested my decline into utterly pointless manic gambling.

But, It is something that I could not have done by myself. It is down to all the recovery diary forum members that have dropped into my journey over the years. Not just in this diary, but in my previous two diaries, which I think are lost in the deepest depths of the Gamcare archives!

Since November I have gradually found my old self. That was the thing I wanted most when I first came to this site back in September 2008. Obviously I needed and wanted to quit gambling, but my real goal was to get my old personality back. I flitted in and out of gambling, for the first few years of 'recovery', but I never really accepted just how bad my problems, and indeed underlying issues were.

Gaining that control of my decision making was a key element in getting to this point in my recovery. The addiction was controlling me before, even when I was attempting to compose a recovery diary. I would all to easily fall back into gambling for whatever reason back then. The engrained habit of football gambling mainly was so deep that I just couldn't leave it alone.

It took me a good few years to understand addiction. Understand how the brain works in regard to the 'Dopamine effect'. There was a big struggle going on in my head, and it needed sorting out. Gaining the tools to combat this was a lot harder than I'd anticipated. In the early stages, I just thought that I could just stop, start a diary and within a few weeks of willpower alone, and cold turkey i'd be sorted. Now I know that was never going to be the case for my own personal case.

All that is in the past now. I am 300 days into my reclaimed happy life. It's not all perfect, but it's so much better than where I was this time last year. I am living, rather than existing. That for me sums it all up. I am in control once again, and I will not entertain any fleeting thought of s******g all that up again.

I have friends that gamble, and I pass several bookies on some of my walking routes now, as I recover from my heart op. I see the same old faces around these shops. I sometimes glance in, but I never stare. I feel disgust at times that I got 'scammed' into gambling in a way. Nobody held a gun to my head back then, but the marketing these days is even more saturating than it was back 10 years ago.

Day 300 will be pretty much the same as days, 298 and 299.....and most probably days 301 and 302.....but it is satisfying to get to 300 all the same.

Keep fighting all.....Recovery is Possible......One day at a time...

Special thanks to all the posters on my diary since the 26th of November 2014, when my recovery journey really started for real......Sandra, Suzanne, Juuuuune, Ginge, Gazza, GT, Gregg, Duncs, Curly, Ryan, SA, Joan, Dan, Shiny, LB, Change, MichaelS, Bluebella33, Cheryl, Pellekanin, Taximan, Jenilee, Rach, Poblwc, Libby, Rockbottom, Dino, Gingermotty, Amt1974, Milkman, Jane42, Rob1234 and StoneRoses.... Thanks x

Journey
"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end".
Ursula K LeGuin

Ade ;0)

300 days is such an achievement. Well done to you.I love that "recovery is possible"....you're there proving it for newbies like me, so thank you.

LifeBegins x

Well done on 300 Adrianne ☺

Keep on keeping on and claiming your life bk!

Ade, well done on 300 days. Many thanks for your kind words on my diary. Wouldn't it be nice to meet up for a pint? Maybe 1 day!

Continued strength my friend but hey, the oil tanker is turning!

Take care, Gazza

Hi,

Congratulations on a fantastic achievement. Keep up the good work and keep posting.

Best wishes

Way to go Guv'nor...Another cheeky little milestone under your belt 🙂

Now, since you're not able to pat yourself on the back yet & I'm not too clever with physical contact do I need to bring my gloves with me on Monday to do the honours or shall we give it a miss?

You are right about these days all being pretty much the same but hopefully as your body starts to heal from the surgery, your mind will go from strength to strength too! You're never gonna play first XI anymore (no-one your age can with or without heart surgery) but no-one can take away your memories or achievements, you earned them!

Thanks LB, Sandra, Gazza, Balvaird, GT and Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuunne for your kind posts.

Keep strong all

Ade

Nevermind the broomstick...Have you had a word with the council & got the ASBO lifted 😉

Running jumping hugs rarely end well but OUCH 🙁

Hi Ade

304 n/o..well done fella..Ade I presume you'll be out of your silk PJ's when you have an audience with the WAGS...otherwise they may start calling you the HOG..Hefner of Gamcare ;-)) ....hope your post op recovery is treating you well mate...OAU..Ginger

Hi Ade,

Long time no speak! Hope recovery treating you well, - both, emotionally and physically.

KOKO & look after yourself

S x

What a fantastic recovery diary.

Congratulations Ade! We are all behind you!

Hey Hun,

Came on the forum to read some diaries and guess whose name i saw straight away.

w*f open heart surgery, hope your ok although i had a quick flick through and you seem to be on the mend.

Life not great for me at the moment ,slipping back into the old gambling ways and managing to P**s off everyone around me, including myself.But like you been here before and im determined this time this is it. NO MORE.

Anyhoo,just popped in and had to leave a post for my biggest supporter.

Stay Strong

L xx