Dilemma

Thanks Brian, wp, jeff, Paul, lucky jim, londonbloke. Just imagine how much we have all lost together.....best not to look back though. We can't change the past but we can be positive about the future.

I had a roofer come around the other day. He had done work in the past at our house with his dad. I asked him where his dad was? The response was that he doesn't speak to him anymore. I asked him why? He went on to say that his dad was keeping more than his fair share for each job. He had also remortgaged his house and stolen from his family. He then stated that his dad had come clean about his gambling addiction......he said he never saw it coming...'you would never have known'. The addiction destroys another family.

Life at home is good. My only addiction these days is stored in the fridge....chocolate, I just can't stop myself. I'm so pleased I'm away from it. I enjoyed wp, jeff and seano making it to two years. I'll be there in March during the most famous horse festival in the world. I'm so pleased to be out of it. Russ

Makes me realise how lucky I am that my family has stood by me but also I guess a stark reminder of what could happen should I ever relapse!

glad to hear things are good!

best wishes

Dan

Hi Russ

Thanks mate for the post on my diary..

Its great to read that you are doing so well and have claimed your life back from this terrible addiction.. I'm really pleased for you, keep at it and i look forward to reading of your 2 year milestone in March..

I do sometimes think just how many "secret" addictive gamblers that there must be out there..

With gambling shoved down our throats everywhere we turn nowdays there must be hundreds of thousands if not millions of people like us that are just suffering in silence without anyone knowing just what they are going through....Its terrible, it really is..

Gambling destroys everything as we all on here know..

Anyway All the very best to you Russ, well done to you mate for saying enough is enough..

Takecare

Hello Russ and fine fttle marrah...

Have just read a fantastic post of yours on wp's post and superb to see the 'good' Russ out and about....

Enjoy the choccy but save some for the kids 🙂

Have a great day

Hi Russ

This addiction will infiltrate anyone that will welcome it in as a friend and then destroy them from the outside in. The roofer guy, I guess, appeared a normal guy and we would all envy his lifestyle etc. This is a stark reminder of gambling and I'm glad you posted it because it reminds me of the dangers this addiction causes. Thanks!

Hello Marrah, good to see you and Mrs in fine fettle. Just read your post to the legend of W.P and thought f*****g fantastic...

The future really is really ahead for you and your dearest, would love to see that post or very similar in ' Supporting a problem Gambler '.. f*****g magnificently Fantastic.....

A Massive strength and honour to You & Fandamily..... ezmug

read your post on wp's diary, just wanted to pop by and tell you how good and helpful I thought it was.

...and congrats on a continued gamble-free life!

I used to be milkman. Why I changed is explained in my entry on this page

http://www.gamcare.org.uk/for…ex.php?tid=186729&page=18

You popped in on my old diary a couple of times in the early days, and it was much appreciated

Morning. Just popping in for an update. I was on the phone to my sister last night. She has no idea of my old gambling antics but she does know I like or liked a gamble. She mentioned that my brother in law had had a stroke of luck. He had put 'a pound' into a fruit machine and won 500 pounds (this is not to encourage anybody to gamble, as we all know that this is HIGHLY unlikely). They had bought a tv with the proceeds. I hope this is not the first of many lies he tells her. The upcoming festival will be two years for me. My wife know teases me about the achievement, which I feel is harsh, but as I've mentioned before she doesn't see 'being normal' as being an achievement, she sees it as her right. This is fair enough. I'm concerned for a few of my old pals. If your reading this just give me a wee update. Take care all. Russ

Hello Marrah..

Just popping bye to say 'Hi', well aware Cheltenham is on its way. We've both got a new Gold Cup to drink from...

Thinking about your bro in laws new tv from heaven. Thinking possibly we can't tarnish everybody with the same brush us c/g's use. A lal radical here but have stopped thinking that gambling is evel, just more of a low life beetch who drags many of us down. We crossed the line from normality...

Completely with your Mrs on that one, normality is our right just as simply as crossing a busy road. Its just that we forgot to read the Green Cross Code of gambling and duly got knocked over...

Now i'm forever looking left and right..

All the best to you and clan... exmug

Like you, I worry about your brother in law. If I were you, I would really keep an eye on him.

Otherwise that 'stroke of luck' will lead to destruction.

GT

thanks for your concerns russ and congratulations on going 2 years bet free.

Al raise a virtual glass off bubbly to you as it means a lot to us comp gamblers.

Unfortunately its a lifetime of bet free achievements that can only make the loved ones happy.

Take care friend,

best wishes,

w.P 😉

Thanks wp, I was relieved to hear from you but saddened to read about your continuing struggle.

Well, it's been 2 years today since the penny finally dropped. As wp mentioned, these achievements are massive to us, but a non event for our partners. Like I've written a few times, our partners just want us to be normal. By giving up gambling we are in effect just returning to normality in their eyes. This however should not discourage any readers. I appreciate that life is not always better without gambling, but in my case I can honestly say it is.

I don't lie, hide bank statements, go into another room to make a sneaky call, waste hours of precious time, get unnecessarily irritable with the kids, have restless night sleeps etc etc etc.

The abuse of trust was a huge issue in my relationship with my wife. I estimate that we are back to about 95 per cent of where we were. This has taken two years of high and lows. She has stuck by me and I appreciate how lucky I have been in this respect.

Running has proved a big help to me. I run three to four times a week and I find it a great way to clear the head, get some fresh air and generally improve my well being. I have my third half marathon a week on sunday.

Life for me is miles better without gambling. I had been in it's grips since I was 15 years old. Bognor amusement arcades. I remember it like it was yesterday. 5 pounds gone in a blink of an eye. Now we are planning on moving house....I could never have got the deposit and equity together if I was still gambling.

Lastly, I've been on these diaries now for two years. I used to get extremely frustrated with diaries that would keep falling and falling again and again. Then I thought to myself, I tried to give up more times than I care to remember, it just so happened to be before I came to these pages. So.....never give up giving up, because one day the penny will drop and a life without gambling will be yours.

Russ

Hi Russ... a big well done on your 2 years free. Like you say, these acheivments are a big deal to us and rightly so. Its not easy to give up any addiction so nothing wrong in marking those milestones as they come and go. I know what its like to go 2 years plus gambling free and I also know what its like to slip back into re-newed gambling... it was as if the time in between had never happened. But am pleased to be getting back in the groove once again.

As with you running has helped me enormously and like you am doing another half-marathon a week on Sunday. Am aiming for under 1 hour 50 on a course with a big hill in it. maybe a tad ambitious.

Anyway, nice one Russ.. All the best... S.A 🙂

Hi Russ.

It's been ages since I logged in here but I had made a mental note to pop by and congratulate you on your two years. A superb achievement. Plenty of food for thought for me in your last post. You don't need to be a genius to work out that my absence from these pages is not a good thing.

I'm off on a golf trip in the morning pal. I will get back to posting regularly when I get back.

Take it easy big man.