Give peace a chance

Congrats on reaching 100 days gamble free. Its not easy, keep up the good work.

Congratulations on joining the century club sir ! Well done ! You're the man ! 🙂

SARS

I'm a bit late to the party Stephen but Congratulations on reaching the "Century club " and for all the input on the forum :))

Best wishes and here's looking forward to the next 100 day's :))

Alan

Degenerate , Sars and Alan . Many thanks for the posts on my diary , without the support of GamCare friends I doubt I would have reached 100 Days GF . To me we're all brothers and sisters fighting the same battle and helping each other along .

Having a great holiday at my sisters .

Morning Diary . Still holidaying at my sisters and having a great gamble free time .

Feels good to celebrate every day which passes without a bet , it boosts my confidence and determination to see the gamble free days racking up .

110 GF Days today . This is my time to stop gambling , a golden opportunity which I will hang onto whatever comes my way .

Wishing all my friends and fellow travellers happy days and contentment , thankyou all for helping me on my journey .

Well done Stephen. Your positivity shines on. You've been doing all the right things and the pay off is peace of mind and a zest for life.

Friends unite to keep us in check,
Far away from that last pointless bet,
We may feel pain from losses and strife,
But thankfully now, lead a much better life.

Hi stephen

Glad you are having a fab holiday 🙂

111 days and going strong ,your are doing marvelous, you should be very proud of yourself.your determination is inspirational.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your hols

Annie x

Another very belated welcome to the Century club Stephen 🙂

So lovely to see you spending & enjoying time with your loved ones...I hope they can feel your positivity like we do & offer you the focus you need when you're feeling blue.

Keep on keeping the Peace - ODAAT

Home safe and sound after a great holiday visiting my sister and her family . They always make me welcome , had loads of gamble free fun .

No desire to gamble while away but have had quite a few urges to gamble since arriving home 6 hours ago . Never came close to giving in but was taken aback by the intensity of it all , even had thoughts of gambling but not telling anyone and ' just having a little bet would be ok ' . What a joke , i'm certainly not falling for that old chestnut .

It's passed now much to my relief . Crazy thoughts but happily I was able to see that the thoughts were exactly that ' crazy '. I feel the experience has just made me wiser and more aware .

The support of my GamCare friends has made me better equipped to deal with the challenges , thank you all .

Changemylife . Many thanks for the verse which says so much in just a few words . Very good and much appreciated .

Annie25 . Thankyou as always for your kindness and encouragement .

Odaat. Thankyou so much , always respect your posts on the diaries , you seem to have quite a *** of the challenges we all face and offer excellent advice and encouragement .

The gambling demons like nothing better than a good old game of ' Lets beat the addiction ' . They laugh along with and feed the gullible addict delusions of glory days and big wins .

Good news is we don't have to listen to them ...... WE CANNOT WIN BECAUSE WE CANNOT STOP.....

Some might say I'm deluded because I imagine myself on a recovery road with gambling demons lining the route and ready to pounce . Thing is i'm arm in arm with all my GamCare friends , ignoring the taunts of the addiction and going forward just one step at a time .

Maybe seems a bit crazy but it's not a game and I am in deadly earnest , a sad old man whose life has been messed up by gambling . I have always made excuses for my behaviour and tried all means to justify my gambling . Truth of the matter was I put gambling first and paid the price .

Hi Stephen, you are far from deluded more a realist! Your painful experiences are a constant reminder of why you remain GF. So many here benefit from your words and support, glad you are here with us my friend.Take care and have a lovely GF weekend S:)

Good Afternoon Stephen....... Have just finished reading your diary from start to finish and it has given me great hope and made me realise that there is far better life out there for being gf, it has really spurred me on to find the will to fight harder than ever before.Echo what Sharon has said you are far from deluded and are a great example of what can be achieved., keep going your doing great.

Evening Diary . 113 Days GF , reasonably content but not really sure where i'm heading . Saying that I know where I'm not heading and thats to bandit country . Can't believe I poured all that money into them stupid machines . However , whats done is done , they're not getting any more .

Sharon . Thankyou for the kindness and encouragement . I see your approaching 170 Days GF which is wonderful . I have always admired your no nonsense approach to recovery . You always knew you had a major challenge to contend with but fought your battles with a minimum of fuss . A great role model .

Chartom. Thankyou also for your encouragement and support . My heart really goes out to you , before joining GamCare relapsing was just something I always did , it was the only thing I could count on . Congratulations on 5 Days GF . Great that you have put the necessary blocks in place and enlisted the help of your partner regarding your finances . That takes commitment and shows you mean business , well done . Hope you manage to get some kind of counselling , I found it beneficial .

Should be heading to my bed but not feeling sleepy , it always takes me a few days to settle when I've been away . Wondering if it goes back to the time when my marriage was on the rocks and I was working on ships . I'd come home for several weeks leave but always had to go back early after losing money gambling . What kind of a man would put his wife and child through all that nonsense ! Good that she had the sense to see me off , my wife remarried and my daughter grew up to be happy , well liked and respected . The final straw came one night after a heavy gambling loss . Thinking my wife would get the house paid off through the insurance I took a load of painkillers and alcohol and laid down in the spare bedroom . Don't know if I intended to kill myself but what a terrible thing to do to people who cared about me . My wife found me some time after and noticed I was unwell . I subsequently spent a few weeks in a psychiatric unit and than went back to sea but my head was all over the place . Everything just went into meltdown than and I had treatment for alcohol abuse . My wife had to sell the house and move into a council house whilst I moved into a council flat and managed to get a job with the council .

For the next 24 years I didn't see myself having a problem with gambling . I never went in the casino and only had small bets mainly on football . I even managed to give up alcohol and smoking . However it would appear the addiction was just in a state of slumber . After taking voluntary redundancy at age 60 and receiving a chunk of my pension I had £ 28 ,000 in the bank . When that had gone I went taxi driving but my takings were just squandered in the betting shop . It was pointless so I just made do with my works pension , at 65 I started getting my state pension but that just meant more money for the bookies . I had a few periods gamble free but always wanted to gamble and it never lasted .

Than along came GamCare 114 days ago . Something clicked and touch wood I feel confident about my recovery A window of opportunity had opened for me and I climbed through it .

Just been listening to Gladys Knight singing ' Help me make it through the night ' . I like that song .

Night everyone , hope we all have a good gamble free weekend .