Going to keep this thread now!

Hey my girl. Just popped in to say thank you for my pick me up posts. Love you lots. I have written a long post in my diary so won't repeat it on yours. Just wanted to let you know that i'm around again. Do your recovery how it is best for you. If it means odaat then that is how it has to be. I can't do things too far ahead either. Odaat does me. Love and Hugs from me to you. God Bless . Charly/Sabine. xx

Aw thanks guys, you lovely lot!

Im doing good. I have found the answer to gambling urges, and it is flat pack furniture!!!! it takes so long to do, that you wont have time to gamble 😀

Was a nice feeling last night when I conquered my everest, otherwise known a chest of drawers from argos.

I had right stinking filthy gambling urges over the weekend. Done my head in, but yesterday I told em to P*** off and put a fiver in the charity tin instead! That was a buzz that didn't come with a sinking feeling, quite the opposite.

I am taking all your advice onboard lovely people, and taking it ODAAT. Jeff I got myself a nice curry in on Saturday night, instead of gambling! Left a better taste in the mouth.

Day 25 - today I will not gamble.

Curries can be a little like gambling Freda--you mainly end up flushing it down the toilet!!

Give me a good curry any day.

Any more urges--keep giving it to charity as the buzz is better

All the best

Stumper x

Day 26 - I feel really tired and weary today, just not myself. Didn't sleep very well, and just feeling a bit run down. Nevermind, these days come and go don't they?

Just touching base to say I will not gamble today!

Just to say a huge thank you for the last 12 months!

take care Freda and i hope you feel better tomorrow. Keep battling and enjoy life for what it is!

ands xx

Thanks ands!

What a difference a decent kip makes! Im a right moody mare, when Im not getting enough.

Feeling good, life seems so busy compared to 6 months ago! Sometimes it starts to get on top of me, but thankfully I think I am learning my limits.

Day 27 - no gambling urges as such. Was having thoughts about putting lottery on, but not going to. Even that form of gambling is best left just now, although I do feel confident that at some point I will be able to incorporate that back in. I think I rushed it a bit last time. Ive accepted that I need a little longer to really weaken the ties to my gambling head.

Hi Freda,I think it's a good idea to leave the lottery alone for a while....,maybe in the not to distant future you will beable to put a £1 on without it leading to other gambling thoughts,i personally don't do the lottery,i was in a work syndicate once but have never bothered otherwise.I know how you feel regarding getting enough sleep,i am in the process of being weaned off my current medication because i am not sleeping at all well, and my GP says it is a common side effect,can't remember the last time i got up feeling refreshed,usually these days i feel more tired than when i went to bed!!!.

Seano.

Hi Freda,

Thanks for your support as always. Must admit I'm in good spirits as i type. I think its better if I update my diary later in the day rather than first thing as my mood usually lifts as the day goes on. Is daft to write when am still half-asleep or over tired. Like you good self I need to a good nights kip to function properly.

As far as the gambling thing goes, your doing just fine by the sounds of it. As for the lottery, like you say sounds like leaving it for now is a good policy. Maybe as time passes thoughts of doing it may just fade away to nothing or maybe not.. cross that bridge at some point when your ready. All the best in recovery.. S.A

Thanks for your reply on my diary Freda,

I cant help feeling your a jolly soul underneath,LOL.

Keep on doing what it is you are doing,it seems to keep you in the right place.

Regards,

"" A NEW LIFE ""

Day 28 - Today I will not gamble!

Feeling ok today, bit sluggish, got a sore back, s**t happens. Its better without gambling though!

Ive got my last online counselling today. Has been nice to have an outlet.

not much to report really.

Not much to report is good Freda as 'normality' is just that-usually not a lot to report. Glad to see you are coming up to a month without gambling which is a good achievement.

A number of diaries talk about they are struggling to find things to write about as they are having less and less concerns or worries about gambling. Our brains seem to be re-trained into thinking about anything but gambling rather than nothing but gambling. I know that my thought processes have changed dramatically over the last seven months and I think that applies to a lot of people on here as well.

Keep going strong and hopefully you will be able to resist those urges for all time.

All the best

Stumper x

Day 29 - today I did not gamble.

I was browsing on my mobile earlier, to download a new game for my phone, and came across the 'games for cash' section. I was briefly tempted to download one, but didn't.

Im glad its the weekend! Im in my pjs just chilling in the house tonight. Cant wait for a lie in!

I gambled yesterday. The good thing is, I got bored and left with money still in my pocket.

It wasn't a binge, it lasted about 7 minutes before I gave up.

I don't want to go back to saying day 1, so im going to leave it as it was - a weird, boring lapse that I got nothing out of.

So that makes today Day 30 I think. Today I wont gamble.

Hey Freda

You left with money.

When is the last time that happened.

A lot of people gamble because they are bored ,but you were completley the opposite.You got bored with gambling and it only took you 7 minutes to leave.Well done that is a result on its own .All the best Jeff.

Hi Freda,

Yes, ive had that experince before. Its almost as if one says to oneself

"well am bored so i suppose i'd better gamble, cos thats what I do..."

and then like you say, your kinda of going through the motions and one thinks to oneself...

.."whats the point in this??.." and the gamble ends before its even really begun.

Ultimately for me my gambling was about punishing myself because I felt I had failed "as a person" as a "human being".. a big disappointment in everyones eyes. When I begun the on-going process of challenging those thoughts and starting to recognised in myself that maybe this wasnt the case and that i was actually "ok"... warts and all.. I started to see the pointlessness of my gambling and the tedious nature of standing in front of a machine feeding my money into it.

As Jeff says, well done for walking away.. S.A