My FOBT recovery

Thanks Suzanne , its now onto another milestone I hope , dont want to get ahead of myself.

Day 11 , day 11 , now building into double figures and trying to make some serious progress.

Feel more focused on life , life now seems to have more purpose , more smiles , more laughs and better family time.

I never realised quite how rewarding the small things in life were , we go chasing the endless dreams gambling when in reality happiness is right before you.

I wish everyone a gamble free happy weekend.

Day 12 - Saturday and the weather is horrible.

Saturday was the main day to basically gamble your brains out on anything that moved , horses , dogs and the famous football bets fooling yourself you were close to the million.

The £50.00 I would have spent today is going in the savings wallet and off to spend some quality time with the family , thoughts of gambling surround me but staying strong.

When you see before your own eyes the money of 12 days of gambling you realise how much you threw away , having withdrawn some money for another purpose I realise £2000.00 in your hands is a hell of a lot of money , it makes me sick to think id blow these amounts regularly

Hi
John

If Bradford Ga isnt an option why cant you go to Leeds or even Wakefield

To be honest GA isnt a place I want to consider at the moment , the thought of slipping back into the hole I was in just 12 days ago is spurring me on , I need to deal with this one in my own way , try and help the first time people on here , point them in the right directions , its rewarding passing on the blocks , stops and experiences I have been through , ive hit rock bottom I cannot sink any lower and the only way im looking is forward and to the future.

Never looking back always forward.

Day 13 - a massive day today.

Trip to Old Trafford to watch the reds , beer fueled coach and hopefully three points.

The only thing that worries me is the bookies in the ground , one on every concourse trying to rope you in , today I need to stay strong very strong , today is the test and I will walk away from the ground bet free.

Here is to another day gamble free.

Day 14 - major hangover from yesterday not good.

However went to football yesterday and didn't even have the urge to gamble was just happy to be there , its strange how differently you view a game when you not just focused on the next goal scorer you have £20.00 on.

Onwards and upwards - 14 days is huge for me and feeling positive.

Day 15 , nearly half a month of non gambling which for me is amazing.

I often wonder if it is the January marker , new year resolutions or some kind of bench mark , but for me I know gambling must stop for good , for the good of me and for my family.

Life is good , onwards and upwards

A big well done John. Keep it up!

Day 16 - over half a month done.

It isnt often I look back and people say not to look back including myself but I found myself soul searching last night and came to the conclusion a lot of problems in recent years all stemmed from gambling.

I thought to myself what would it feel like to be gamble free for a year , admitedly there is a long way to go but my mind did wonder and the curiosity and excitement of getting one year under my belt really seemed to spur me on.

Financially and mentally I am in a much better position and when a friend suggested a weekend away I realised after 16 days I have enough saved to be able to do that without even thinking about it , my little pot im saving through not gambling.

Hi john,

Well done on 16 days, keep going forwards.

Suzanne xx

Day 17 - massive for me.

17 is my lucky number so im hoping this can spur me on to greater things , more days.

I have to remain focused on recovery , few thoughts of gambling lately having had a bad time of things but when I read Duncan's recovery posts it hits home that even though you have a bad time of things it shouldnt; push you to gambling , its better to deal with the problems rather than adding to them with the roulette.

Finding different ways of dealing with the stress caused by work and need to look at other ways I can combat that in the future , I get bored very easily which is another issues and need to fill my life with other things.

The up's and down's of recovery , onwards and upwards.

Hi john,

Well done on 17 days, stay strong, because what would you want to go back therefore, absolutely nothing but more misery and stress.

Take care

Suzanne xx

So day 17 wasn't so lucky.

The only betting account I have used once and had forgotten about emailed me £50.00 free bet no risk , I used the free bet and then watched the match , it was just like my old ways willing the other team to score - not good.

I think if it had been a small amount they offered me like £5.00 it wouldn't have triggered anything , the reason I chose to do it was because £50.00 in any day and age risk free is too good to pass up.

The only thing this morning is it put a dampner on my recovery , guess it is back to square one.