Open letter

Hi John, Congrats on a year gamble free!! It's great to see the success stories and hear how you have changed your life around. Don't stray too far from this forum and you will stay on track. Life must be so much better for you than it was 12 months ago. I am delighted for you. Stay posting and let us know how you are getting on. Suzy

Thank you Suzy,

i see this forum/community as an integral part of my continual recovery. I'm not very vocal but I humbly draw on the collective experience and wisdom of this special community.

My recovery seeds were sown a year ago and today I am reeping the benefits of a daily choice to abstain from a destructive habit.

Its such a simple concept but it rewards so richly.

I'm not giving up what I've got now.

Best wishes on your personal journey.

John

John.

Fella I have just returned home from a grueling days graft, I wanted post on your thread this morning but tonight will satisfy my soul.

Fella your first post brought tears of joy, the mere fact that my recovery could inspire another compulsive gambler to follow the same suit compelled me to keep writing.

So my dear friend lets put the spotlight today where it belongs.

That's on you fella.

One years continued abstinence, one year which has seen you take control of your life, gift your mind the ability to make a decision that will doubtlessly have a profound effect on those you hold dear.

We stand as equals john, two men gifted recovery by fellow compulsive gambler's who had found recovery before us and simply wanted to hand recovery on.

You joined that club the first day you posted here, be proud of that because other folk will embrace the gift through what you bring to the party yourself.

Recovery astounds me, it is truly compelling, I believe that you feel the same, if I have added to your belief in the value of recovery then it simply makes my presence here wholly worth while.

Keep stepping forward, keep your belief growing, keep inspiring and being inspired by your presence here.

Tonight I salute you john, because your words mean equally as much as the words I pen in return.

Abstain and maintain my friend, welcome to the 3% club, statistically the percentage of folk who arrest addiction for a continual calendar year, don't under eestimate the emmense value of it.

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Thank you Duncan,

For it all.

I read the statistic about the 3% a while back and it really saddened me.

Yes recovery amazes me. Proper childlike awe sometimes. Ha ha.

It is a magic cape.

I look forward to future encounters. Best wishes to you and yours.

Your friend, john.

Hi John,

I hope you had a lovely Easter and that the sun shone down on your beautiful county!

Your diary paints a picture of a devoted father who loves his daughter dearly. It reminds me of the lyrics to "butterfly kisses".

You deserve every happiness that not gambling can offer. Never beat yourself up with what went on when you were in the throes of gambling mania. Tell yourself " for everything I did wrong, I did many things right" . And yes you did many things right.

Hopefully the gambling urges will give you a break for a while and you can enjoy yourself.

Take care and wishing you well on the job hunting,

Suzy

Hi John and big congrats on the year mark, it sure aint easy but you got there! Have a pint on me sir, keep it up!

Hello diary,

I've been absent for a few weeks as due to less employment I decided to 'prune' my bills instead of trying to live beyond my means as this has caused obvious problems in the past. So I've been living without broadband, sky and it's going well.

I do miss this forum and also listening to Alan watts on YouTube. 🙂 I will survive.

Currently at my sisters house and am happy to report that my recovery continues.

I tgink one of my friends has developed a gambling addiction.

I have spoken with him about the enormous f###ing mess that my addiction caused and showed him how I'm still working on rebuilding friendships, relationships and my mental well being. He believed I was being dramatic and he says he has it under control.

I've told him of the forum and urged him to come with me to a meeting. I hope he will.

I see in him what I lived for a decade.

I will spend the next while catching up on old and new diarys.

I'm in a good place as the yanks say. A Simple life together with abstinence and A conscious gratitude for what I have. I sometimes wonder how I still have my family. Makes me shake to think that I could have chose the other path when I was at that fork in the road last April and if I had I know for certain that either, I would have lost everyone dear to me or/and I would have committed suicide. Blunt but 100% honest.

Choosing recovery has changed my world. The rebuilding work continues daily.

recovery is MAGIC and it's there for EVERYONE.

I wish everyone well.

John, addict in recovery.

Hello Stranger...What a great day to pop back & say Hi 🙂 Thanks for dropping by!

400 wonderful days of winning 🙂

Not great that you have had to give up so much but I am certain that this is a much wider decision than ones you have made in the past!

Keep wearing that magic cape - ODAAT

John,addict in recovery.

Fella that's the best thing any addict can have as a mantle.

My friend keep gifting yourself therapy, never stop searching for a better life for you and yours.

I would take great pleasure in meeting up with you, a pint would be in order.

Abstain and maintain

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Hi John,

Thanks for your lovely message and to see you are now on 400 days is a fantastic achievement.

I wish you the very best on your continuing recovery journey, and as you say we are addicts in recovery.

Suzanne xxx

Hi John and thanks for looking out for me, hope all well with yourself and your still doing ok ! day at a time fella

Thanks for your post lad.

Hope all well John?

Hello diary and forum. no bet since 02/04/2014.

My life has been completely turned around by abstaining from gambling. I am amazed by it.

For years I was deceitful and ran from all responsibility. I was a bad case. I did bad things, made a serious amount of bad choices. Repeated a horrible nightmare cycle every week for years.

Wasted so much time. Wasted opportunities, ruined loads of great friendships and hurt people.

I have worked hard since at repairing my damage and the warmth I have received from people has woken me up. Honesty is everything.

People have been good to me. Dear old friends I thought were gone are friends again. I never saw it coming.

Much more work to be done. More hard conversations to be had with good people.They deserve the truth.

It's about other people now.

I will catch up on diarys soon. Best wishes to all. Recovery is magic, give it a chance.

John. Addict in recovery.

Hi John and thanks for your post. Recovery really is amazing we both can vouch for that, the inner peace and tranquility it brings.

From your reading your last post are you following the GA Steps? Keep posting and look after yourself.

All the best

Gavin