Dear all
Welcome to “the first day of the rest of my life” thread.
I aim to quit gambling for good and move forth with what I have left in my life. I have a girlfriend who I love dearly, a family I respect and love, a small number of friends left because of this. I have missed out on so much and this is the end of the road for gambling.
I starter gambling when I was younger playing Golf with friends, for a mars bar or a can of pop after the round of golf. By the time id reached 16 I was sneaking my pocket money into the fruit machines in the golf club. At 17 I was betting on FOBT and football in the local betting shop. The past 6 years have been mainly consumed by wasting large sums of money on FOBT and the occasional visit to the casino with pals. I am the one who always loses 500 quid and everyone talks about.
A friend who I used to visit shops/casinos with, my best friend from school took his own life a number of weeks ago at the age of 23. We hadn’t spoke for about 18 months due to an argument after too many beers. Another regret in my life.
So today I took my first steps into making the right decisions. I have self excluded from 6 online bookies. Step number 2 will be self exclude from my local WH – this will be hard and shameful as I know a lot of people in that shop.
1 day down – I can do this
Hi Underdog, welcome back 🙂
I guess you didn't finish what you set out to do last August then 🙁
I'm sorry to hear about your friend but the regrets you have for letting the friendship go & not being there are not fair on you! Be sad, miss him but don't take on the guilt because it takes 2 to tango & he gave up on the friendship too!
Well done for taking the 1st steps & don't put off getting down to your local...There's nothing shameful about wanting more from your life!
Time to leave gambling behind you now & move forwards - ODAAT
day 2
no gamble yet, no urge to gamble as i have no money to do so
big test coming up tonight when i actually do have money in my hand and need to resist in order to fund my life until payday (25/08)
been reading a bunch of other people diaries and its so comforting to realise i am not the only one fighting the demons.
Many thanks for your kind words ODAAT - i am sure to fight this and i will get round to reading your diary and offer some words of praise for yourself.
another day not betting is another winning !
Underdog
Hi GT
unfortunatly i have not got round to self excluding from bookies, i will though. It is 1 main shop which is between my parents and my girlfriends house, next door to the shop where i buy cigarettes and next doo to the chip ship i use, its in the area where its a problem. I know all the staff so once i exclude that should be the end of it.
I did however go through the motions of banning all my accounts online, some was far more difficult than other. I have actually got 1 or 2 left to do as i need to fill in forms and scan into the computer (work scanner) so need to wait for the right time.
1 day at a time....
Keep your head held high as you continue on this journey, that self exclusion from your local will be a weight off of your mind & hopefully nowhere near as scary as you think it is going to be (take 2 photos in with you)!
I'm not saying don't do it because that is your choice but I wouldn't rush to read my diary, it's so crazy I can't even make sense of it...Try Mr Brightside's exit post on the 2014 challenge that I think is a must instead maybe?
Can you hand over your money to a loved one? You may have no urges now but this addiction is sneaky & will suggest all sorts of rubbish about 'one last dance' & before you know it you will be living on pennies again! Please stay strong especially tonight @ your 1st real test & remember we are here as a distraction should the devil start whispering!
You can do this - ODAAT
Stay strong and focused, exclusion is a must. Remember lots of people self exclude daily and the staff are trained to deal with it, no one will say or do anything. Good luck
davebs26 wrote:
Stay strong and focused, exclusion is a must. Remember lots of people self exclude daily and the staff are trained to deal with it, no one will say or do anything. Good luck
thanks Dave
big test in an hour ,collecting over 100.00 cash from a customer.
no problem though, mental state is great.
Get the money and then put it in your bank or give it to someone to look after for, don't risk walking around with it!!
Good evening all
All is well here, took the cash home as I need this to survive 3 weeks until payday.
Was tough, the demons telling me I could win a couple hundred which would make life easier
3 days tomorrow!!
Day 3
So last night collected money, drove past a load of shops and laughed at them. No temptations and no urge to spend it. I don’t want to waste my money and life doing this
Today is going to be easy also, busy at work all day then playing golf after work, maybe a pint or two.
Cant wait until my next pay day, ill be over 20 days into this process, will have had atleast 2 counselling sessions and well on my way to doing this
21 days to break the cycle? Cant wait!
Good luck to all today and over the weekend
check in for days 4 and 5 over the weekend
very busy and no gambling!!!
🙂
Day 8
to be honest i feel very positive will little temptation. Need to try and remain focused and not get complacent.
I have a counselling session tonight, anything i should expect?
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