Get busy living... Or get busy dying..

Happy birthday! Hope you have a lovely day with your daughter. You're a Scorpio like moi.

Take care

Steve

happy birthday to you

happy birthday to you

happy birthday dear

blondie (and daughter)

happy birthday to you's

hahaha

hope you have had a wonderful day and as you

say gamble free and happy what more could you wish for?

thank you for the post on my diary i'm being strong, and actually starting to realise thanks to you guys that the money is gone,

and i cant get it back by winning but by paying the overdraft off, feel happier today i cant thank you enough for your support

iv'e got a £1400 over draft down to £464 just go's to show you what you can do when not gambling sorry i'm going on a bit now lol

enjoy your birthday evening,

ps.......i'm sorry to hear about your dad but he will be very proud of your 6 months bet free,

Hollie xxx

Hey Trouble,

Happy Birthday! As you said the day is slightly tinged with sadness but your dad would be immensely proud of you and I think you know that!

You have come a hell of a long way in this last 6 and a half months and it is so very much deserved because of how much you put into your recovery!!

You half mentioned a move away from here and as I always say the end goal is to stay gamble free but the ways we do it can vary greatly! I run with the theory gambling beat me, it beat me far worse than anything or anyone ever has! Can I live the rest of my life without it? Yes I think I can but only with support!

I'm not saying ill post here forever but I certainly won't be edging away anytime soon, gambling beat me up pretty badly for many years, I have been in recovery 7 months so gambling is still in credit big time! I would never attempt to over sell my opinion but I would give it some serious thought before moving away! Something is working for us both which hasn't worked before and I would suggest it is this forum playing a big part!

Sorry if that's a ramble or too much of an opinion I hope you see it as me just caring!

Enjoy the rest of your birthday 🙂 if you are 21 I'm 40 lol!!!!!

Flagg x

Yo,

Happy birthday Hun.

You should be oh so proud of yourself , first birthday gamble free , I recon having retrieved Dusty ( and her mysyical powers) for this special occasion that it will be first of many 🙂

Big fat fairy hugs

Shiny xxxxxxx

happy birthday blondie

Carl

Day whatever and no gambling.

Its funny isnt it I post to other people and then I get my lightbulb moment, yesterday I thought maybe it was time to leave this site, today I know that I wont be going anywhere just yet, its the only winning formula that I am trusting in.

This is my safe place. I support people unconditionally I dont expect a post back just because i post to you, If i can help one person in the time im here then thats good enough for me.

Have a bit of a washing machine head today, I hate it when that comes and I cant seem to switch it off so im off to do something really technical and complicated which should distract me.

On the plus side I had a great birthday and had a nice take away tucked up in bed with my princess last night watching cr** tele.. some times those nights are just what you need.

Progression not perfection.

Blondie xxx

Sorry I missed your birthday - belated happy birthday to you and your daughter, I'm glad you had a good day albeit a sad one too. hugs x

Hiya Blondie,

Missed your Birthday...Hope you had a good one. Happy Birthday for yesterday.

I too feel the same way about the site, I have days off then when I get stressed or feel bad, I go on a reading/posting rampage! I feel it helps a lot and just drums that "I never want to gamble again" back home.

So I guess, as long as I maintain a gamble free life I will have to be even if it's once a week a part of his community.

My posting spree starts tomorrow! lol Watch out!

Hehe.

Have a great day!

JP

Yo,

Someone posted to me once , do not know if you remember , the washing machine has to go through its cycle before it comes to a stop. That made a lot of sense to me having said still often wish for a power cut !

Take care Hun , day older day wiser

Oh I bought my outfit yesterday , black tailored suit , 1920 style top , red lining with a shear black beaded bit over the top . My bestie tried to get me to top it off with a pair red of dimontie encrusted DMs but best not hay .

Shiny xxxxxxxx

thank you everyone for the posts xx

6+ months gamble free and im still here still determined to never let gambling back into my life. When i post to people i find it heals me, this is just an extract that i wanted to put on my diary as even though i dont read my diary back, it tells my story. Sharing my experience/strength and hope with other people on this site heals me. I am very grateful for that.

Gambling for me was a place to hide a dark dungeon where i could slip away to and forget.

I hid from life, from how i was feeling, from problems i didnt want to or couldnt deal with, you name it I hid from it.

When i came out of the dungeon the light was blinding and for a bit i couldnt see anything or think straight after a while when the novelty of being blinded had worn off I began to see things some of them really good others not so good in fact i looked at aspects of my life and thought "Thats s**t "

I thought gambling was my safe place but it wasnt it was just a place to hide from life, a place where i didnt need strength or courage it was the easy option for me.

Being out of the dungeon i have had to face things and some things are still really s**t and i still dont know what to do about them but Ive decided that im not going back in that hole anymore .

I was never able to do it on my own before so now i have help.

What i tried to do was find a real safe place, a place where i could talk about how i was feeling, could dump my worries, get some good advice and support, be honest with myself and others and be inspired by people who were following the same path, for me that safe place is G.A , Gamcare, councelling and now my family and close friends.

This place really is safe its not a black hole that will destroy me.

For me the catalyst for me being here was my dads death, I learnt a very painful lesson, how fragile and precious life is.

I quickly realized I had to get serious about stopping gambling and changing my life.

I wanted my outside circumstances to change but I was still depressed on the inside.

Through my counseling and also G.A I have realized that before I can change things on the outside I had to change and heal on the inside and actually once that happened my life changed by default.

This was a terrifying thought at first because I had no clue where to start and didn’t think I had the strength, motivation or the energy to do it.

My counselor once asked me how do you eat an elephant? (I thought he was a lunatic lol)

But the simple answer is one bite at a time.!!

For me it was so important to heal on the inside first , I had/have lots of things im still working though, nasty horrible things that happened in my life defined the person I was and contributed to my gambling I think, but I decided that it wasn’t going to define the person I will become, so I had to let it go.

I Talk about it, try to understand it, forgive them and myself and LET IT GO , I could hang on to it forever if i wanted to torture myself till i die or i could let it go.

For me I have to try and keep a positive outlook and continue to press forward through the tough times in order to enjoy the greatest moments of my life as I missed so many because my mind and heart were closed to it all because I was in so much turmoil.

Today my heart and mind are open, they are open to love and this wonderfull thing called life Im following the light and never going back to that dungeon.

Just for today because thats all we have.

Blondie xxx

Yo,

What a beautiful post . Brought me close to tears .

Thank you for posting it , it will stay with me all day .

But in a good way , no more dungeons for us Hun .

Shiny xxxxxxxxxxxxx(((((((b)))))))))))

Blondie.

Ditto my friend,I think I may dig up shiny's Amazing posts thread,today through your endevour my friend you gave a corker!!!

Inspired,humbled and very proud to have you on the "gamcare team"

I doff my battered old flat cap to you.

Thankyou,step 12 I do believe.

Duncs merrilly stepping forward never back.

blondie

Carl

Hi Blondie

Great post emphasising what exactly what life is for , living it to the full with the past well and truly behind us

Long may it continue

Castle2

Hi Blondie

So pleased your doing so well...your holiday is just round the corner. I have read some of your lovely posts to others on here especially those who are at the start of this battle. Your inspirational!

Keep strong and busy

Forwards not back

Jewels x