My recovery diary - Last bet 18/02/2012 - Forwards and upwards

DAY 14 - Now back in East Sussex, packing and driving 2 1/2 hours with two young frightened guinea pigs in the car wasn't much fun. Don't think they are talking to me now, it'll take them time to settle into their new surroundings.

Staying at mums for a month or two to give me and my girlfriend a break from each other as it has been very strained recently. The break should do us good as we haven't been getting on and I think we started hating each other. I think my gambling got out of control again because I was very unhappy and I am looking forward to being home close to family and friends to aid my recovery.

Not thought of gambling at all today and not interested. Pleased 2 weeks is up, on I go with another day tomorrow.

I'm glad you arrived ok and remain positive.

Have great weekend and be sure to help with the dishes ; )

All the best

Hi Alexis, I won't be doing any washing up, I am allowed to use the dishwasher here lol

Day 15 :

Really wet, cold miserable day, not going anywhere instead I will stay in and watch the football.

I was thinking about holidays earlier, I would really like to go away and relax for a but, bloody work again tomorrow.

No thoughts of gambling, so coping well.

DAY 16

Getting really bored of working from home now, what with the rubbish weather and not leaving the house yesterday, I haven't left the house today either. No wonder I have gone 16 days without having a bet, I don't go anywhere! lol

Anyway, I think my job is so tedious and boring, wonder if I should do something else, apart from advertising sales, I am bloody fed up with it. Mondays and Fridays are days to write off because nobody wants to take my calls or responds to my emails.

Anyway rant over, 16 days without having a bet, well chuffed with that.

wilsy

well done reaching day 16 fella glad to hear you are still gamble free. It is amazing how much time gambling used up in my life and now between work i have what seems endless amounts of it, I am a chef so have odd hours spare when i get left alot of time alone, last week i made 22 jars of jam with the plums i found in the deep freeze at home and the wife knocked them out at her work and we bagged an extra 30 quid, which ironically is more than i could remember gaining from a days punting!!! So keep at it fella and get out and fish more,you talked it up and now you are by the sea,so no excuse! lol!

all the best duncs. one more day.

Hi Duncan mate,

Cheers, 16 days have passed no sweat to be honest. Its a weird one, I miss the sport and buzz but don't miss losing money and then covering my tracks. Lucky for me I have no debts but have done in the past, the problem I always had was I spent whatever I had left over on gambling when I should have saved or gone out and had fun. So I used to lose between £200-£500 a month, when I should have gone out more.

I do need to get out more but midweek and s**t weather would keep most people in, so I hope the weekend gets better.

Job is s**t at moment, cr** company and I work in sales working from home, so don't interact with anyone and rarely get out the house, still it keeps me away from the bookies.

I would love to be a good cook, I might start getting some books and trying my hand, I don't cook very well. 22 jars is a lot made from plums found in your freezer, I bet it tasted lovely. Where are you based then mate, where do you work?

I used to make £20-30 a day easily but I would always lose my head somewhere in the month and blow £200-300 in one session, so overall I was never up long enough. Still that's in the past isn't it.

I carp fish so don't use the coast line, I would like to sea fish more but never been on a boat or with someone who knows what he is doing. So I fish on a few local lakes but the weather is cr** at the moment, hopefully will get warmer soon.

Cheers for the post bud, I will stay in touch with you, that's for sure, we'll tick along together.

Until tomorrow my friend. All the best

I will let you off making a real mess of my diary Alexis 🙂

wilsy.

morning fella I have to say you have come here to the forum at the right time in your life and keep off the gambling fella and you wont ever have gambling debt!! when i started out on my addiction 20 odd years ago i did'nt have much debt and progressivly it gets worse and the bout of gambling which brought me to my admission as a compulsive gambler cost about 9k in a very short period, but as i have found out for myself the cash is just the fuel to feed our addiction and it is the lying and deciept which is the most damaging,so keep off it fella and you win ironic hey! I am a chef in a hotel in portsmouth were i live,cooking is the one thing i have always wanted to do so for me my job is just an extension of my home life, and in that regard i am very fortunate. For you fella i hope you will find without gambling a drive, a hunger for life without worry and honestly fella if you let that demon back you will end up with nothing other than misery. so today i leave you with this one of my chefs says"treat each day as if its your last,one day you will be right" how true and as for cook books get on some nigel slater and dont buy them to gather dust borrow them from a library

have a good one duncs one day further foward!

Day 17, been out the house to go to tesco, could have gone to bookies but didn't even have the urge, pleased with how things are going but must never be complacent and underestimate this evil B*****r sitting on my shoulder.

Thanks for your message Duncan, trust me I have had debts, I broke up with a girlfriend of 3 years when I was 26 and I was at that time debt free, I pressed self distruct and blew 31k of banks money over 2 years. I was very depressed and saw no relief, thinking it would be easier to kill myself. I went involuntary bankruptcy and wiped the debts clear which saved my life in my opinion but did I learn, no i let it back in and every month I have lost something even if it is my spare money, I've always ended up losing between 200-600 a month.

I know I can't underestimate this curse, I must not be complacent or think it will be easy even if it seems easy at the moment, we are talking about every day of my life.

Cheers mate, hope you had a good day today

Just a quick note to say well done on ur progress. Keep it up mate!

Alexis ur posts are cracking me up, Duncan's jam lololol

Cheers Foolio, I appreciate your comments and will read your diary in a second, I know Alexis made a right mess of my pages, I had to laugh out pretty loud myself, all I could read was him congratulating Duncan on his jam lol

DAY 18

Not had a bet, been out to tesco's to get some food, didn't go anywhere near town, came straight back. Going to the cinema tonight haven't done that in a while, my old self must be appearing from the mist, long may it continue 🙂

Tomorrow I will not bet either!

Hey wilsy.

First of all I want to say "Good one on the jam Duncan"

OK I have broken it down into the following posts. Sorry to go on but I was typing my thoughts, so bin what is irrelevant and use what you can.

Now what really stands out to me after reading many diaries is the continuous message of - GET OUT - DO STUFF! I talk to myself when I say that but your posts suggest that you also feel rather confined with your setup. I wont go into my opinions on sales/advertising but if you are not enjoying it and can't see a future there then I guess it may be time to look for something else. I wouldn't be drastic during these tough economic times, but give it some thought. I don't see much wrong with making changes and jumping into new tests and challenges. I would also say that at times when we are feeling quite down or weak, it is easy to just throw in the towel with a job, or a relationship or any challenge that may arise. Once we truly step out of the haze of our madness, we see things differently. You will see more opportunities, you will look at the world with optimism. I am in a similar predicament to you at the moment.