Hi Alex,
Great to see you still going great miles! As you say, maybe that one small bet?..you know yourself best and you know how much pain gambling coused you...is it worth risking it? We all have urges on a way, and sometimes just thoughts, a little tiny bet wont hurt...you see i know myself, and i wouldn't dare risking it...and i am away from this desease for 88 days....and you my friend - over 200 mark! That's fantastic!
That's where you should stop, look back how much more at peace you are with yourself, how you can keep your hard earned money for yourself, how you can have that honest smile and no worries over night about how much you hav lost, how appreciated you are around your friends and most important - how much stronger you become in yourself...
Is it worth it?
Day at a time Alex, you was one of the first ones to give me helping hand at the start of my recovery, and i'm still going:-) Thank you
Take care
I wish you all the best
Sandra x
Hi Alex
I suppose its about reflecting back to your gambling days and considering the costs and benefits of you gambling again. A fiver each week/fortnightly might not be the problem - your self control on the other hand may be??
It's a difficult one to answer. You have come a long way and done so well and felt much happier without gambling so far. Like I said, maybe if you weigh everything up, looking at what would be good and what would be bad about gambling again.
You take care.
Feb.
Thanks for the feedback on this. These sports betting urges have been bothering me greatly. I like being bet free, so aim to stay bet free, but that 'one more bet won't hurt' rubbish creeps in my mind and I get carried away.
Fortunately, I don't think I can open another betting account. Every time I have done that I've lost money. Seems silly to start that stupidity all over again.
Whilst I'm happier for not having gambled for 200 plus days, I think the rose-tinted memories of wins cloud losses and gambling comes to forefront of my mind. Should be said though, any rational person who has lost more than they have ever won, probably by to the tune of 4-5k for me should not gamble. At the moment, the idea of gambling again troubles me. I aim to stay bet free.
Posting here has helped though. It clears my mind and I feel fairly confident I don't need to gamble.
Thank you again. 🙂
Hello atk85,
I am only 11 days into what I hope will be the last time I ever gamble.
I hope to be where you are in 200 days time.
I am already worrying about future complacency. Which is why I am posting on here as much as I can.
I have lost alot more than 3-4k in the past 5 years. I think you got off quite lightly.
It was always the big wins that triggered me to lose lots - you need to remind yourself you can never gamble again.
Things can get far far worse than losses of 3-4k. No matter how much control you think you have.
Dont just aim to stay bet free, at 200 days plus you can say with authority 'I will stay bet free'.
Read the calamitous things than have happened to all the people who relapsed on this site.
Just remember - a £1 bet is as much a relapse as a £2000 loss. Its just the first one will SEEM harmless and the second will make you realise what the former actually was.
James
Thanks James. I'm not going to be gambling this weekend. No worries. You're right about me getting off lightly, but I still had a problem and to start again would be madness. Something we lack is that control, so it's better not to gamble. I'm proud of myself for getting this far, so don't really want to balls this up with one stupid bet that could lead me back into that cycle of misery.
Thanks for your feedback and all the best in your recovery, James.
-Alex
Happy non-gambler. Tested at the moment. Yet, not gambling anytime soon.
Alex.
Fella a huge well done for posting your way through those urges, our addiction will live somewhere inside for all our lives and it will always remind us of the 'happy times' those winning days. For me those winning days were always temporary loans from the bookies to which would punt it all back and more.
The question I ask myself regarding these sports bets is where is the end game?? there is no end game for me, my addiction would compell me to carry on searching for a bigger win, to which I know the consequences greater losses.
You are doing something through abstinence that has an end game.
Each day you decide not to give into those urges you win, ironic I know the thing addiction made us believe we were chasing was for us there through not having a punt.
yor winning streak is 200 days.
My advice enjoy that, as it is something to behold.
Well done my friend.
duncs stepping forward never back.
Thank you. Duncanmac. Your words kinda struck me, as what you're saying is so true. There is definitely no end game and it's something I need to bare in mind when these stupid thoughts of 'one more bet' come up again. Nope, not gambling. There I'm saying it. I will stick to my word and look forward to completing this year bet free.
Thanks all. 🙂
Managed to get through the weekend in the end. It's been very hard, I must admit. However, I did not gamble and am very relieved. I came close, but my rational mind sprung back to life. Thanks to everyone here also.
Don't know if anyone has seem this article that's on the mail online website, but if not it's worth a read.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne…led-away-750-000--family.html
Just goes to show, as most of us far too easily forget, that in gambling you can lose far more than a betting stake.
Bye for now,
Alex
Hi Alex
Just wanted to say, well done for getting through those urges this weekend and continuing with your abstinence.
Take care.
Feb.
Thanks again, Feb. Really appreciate your support.
Today is 8 months since my last bet back in December 2012.
A good milestone which I'm aiming to extend for the full year and beyond.
-Alex
Again I'm being dogged by urges to put on a sports bet. This is tough. Part of me wants to, but the better side of me keeps thinking back to here and what a hypocrite I'd feel if I gambled again. Also I can't not forget my past troubles with gambling, which although minor compared to some, caused me a great deal of bother. Do I need that again? No. Yet, would I ever get like that again. Probably not. I honestly feel I have control, wouldn't squander money and would be sensible with my betting. Yet, thinking like that it feels as if I have a demon in my head saying "Go on, bet. You know you want to."
Again, I'm very confused. I feel I shouldn't, but part of me aches for the odd bet every few weeks.
Okay...again. I will not bet today.
Head cleared. Big deep breath.
Get on with the day.
-Alex
Well done Alex.
Not sure if you have read my diary recently but after what I am calling "a moment of madness" late of Tues evening, I gambled for a couple of hours!! A couple of hours after 7+ months. I am now feeling not disappointed in myself but sad and stupid. I am confident that this was just as I say - a moment of madness and I will continue as normal. I am however, gutted to have to go backwards and start re-counting!!
Just wanted to tell you this in the hope that this may encourage you to remain doing what you are doing. I do understand though how you may want to have the odd controlled bet - I know others do it and so did I at one time but it would undo all your hard work and I know what that feels like and it is not a good feeling to say the least.
Take care - I am rooting for you.
Feb.x
Hey Alex,
Well done for fighting those urges. I am like you, just stop doing what i'm doing, few deep breaths and it takes that horrible intentions away.
You doing great
Keep it up 🙂
Sandra x
Thanks to all for the support over the last couple of weeks when the urge to gamble came back with a vengeance. Thankfully I haven't gambled and I can definitely say my feet are grounded right now. I have to be sensible, rational etc. Gambling will not help me move forward. It only brought me nothing but trouble..always.
Even when I won what to me were big wins. Truth is, as many have said here, as a gambler, wins and the money doesn't make you content, you just carry on. In fairness, my losses are small to many on here and were only relative to what I could earn, which in truth wasn't and still isn't all too much. The biggest problem with hindsight, was that gambling just got in way too much. Just like these last couple of weeks, there have been moments where my mind was on gambling or a bet and not much else.
Worst of all, with hindsight, it ruined my work routine and now I've probably lost 1k's as a result of gambling through that being completely ballsed up. Indirectly through gambling, I didn't just lose money on bets. Then of course, I have all that wasted time to reflect on.
I don't realize sometimes how lucky I am to be free of gambling. I need to.
As Sandra puts it, we have to fight the good fight.
A rambling post here. It helped me though 🙂
-Alex
Hey Alex,
Been awhile my friend, sounds like you and me are going through some of the same thoughts. Been some real trying weeks for me also, almost gave into the idea of gambling and figured to myself i'd go down to the boats. I think these are real tests of our minds, can we fight it back, and realize how far we have come, and will continue to fight the good fight for ourselves and loved ones. Sometimes i feel the farther we get into our journey of abstinence the harder it gets to not relapse. Will get through this, and i'am never giving up this quest we are all searching for, a life that is gamble free. Take care my friend, and stay strong!
Chicagoguy
Last day of action Jan. 7 th 2013
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