Pathetic

Well done on the 9 days, keep it going. Count yourself lucky you can still watch and enjoy sport without gambling on it. For me it's just a people kicking or hitting a ball, gambling on sport for so many years has taken my natural enjoyment away. When I try to start watching all I think about are odds.

Thanks Captain keep fighting the good fight yourself. Still in that post blow out period, the thought of gambling again sickens me, what a waste of time, energy, & money. Hard to escape the fallout from gambling, surrounds me every where I turn, it laughs at me everytime I sit in my crappy car, or put on my holey clothes , it took me in, chewed me up & spat me out. I can`t be bothered any more, its got me beat & its time I moved on.

Hi rents11 - well done on your ten days of sanity today. Your description of your car and clothes rang true - I've never seen anyone coming out of a betting shop wearing designer clothes or getting into a fancy car - I wonder why???? (Rhetorical question.)

Keep going - we can do it!

Joanna

ye rents11 a lot of what you have said has rang true with me which is good to remind us so we are continually put off gambling, keep strong ive destroyed my debit card only way I can stop

Rents11,

You know what with all the money i earn i am that guy with old shoes no watch no designer clothes. I have always longed to wear top clothes and strut around town feeling great. Well this month i saved 7000 pounds i make between 8/10k a month, can you believe that. So with your post guess what? this weekend my wife is taking me shopping to go get some really nice shoes and a new top. It's a start i will buy a watch for myself next month only if i stay G free. We can do it both of us all of us.

Your post comes to me hard, how much gambling took from me but no more!! time to look respectable in society again.

CasinoRoyaLoser

Hi Rents11

Well done on 9 days gamble free. I know it's probably boring to hear but you have to take one day at a time and set yourself goals.

I find it astounding how many gamblers lives seem to be similar when it comes to gambling. Most threads I read I think "thats just like me". When I think about what I could have bought with the money it makes me feel sick. But I am fortunate in the fact 99% of the time I look forward to the future. The past has gone and we can't change it (unless anyone on here has invented a time machine - nope, oh well!!).

Keep going and I'm sure we can all beat this!

Chirst21

Good to hear from you folks, hope your all staying safe, I suppose the one good thing to come from being a CG is how frugally I live so hopefully if I can keep away from gambling I can get back on track financially in the not too distant future. You don`t develop expensive tastes for cars, holidays, clothes etc etc when all your money goes to the bookies. I might even be able to afford some new underpants for the first time in five years. Now there`s an incentive!

Day 12 Can`t say I`m having any problems avoiding gambling at the moment but I`m aware that complacency is a dangerous thing & I`m only one bet away from disaster again. Still watching horse racing on a daily basis which I`m not sure is a healthy thing, but as I don`t select a horse in each race & just watch it for the spectacle hopefully this won`t lead to any problems.

Day 14, clear mind not getting bogged down by any thoughts of gambling. Weird how when in the zone its all I can think of for 24 hours a day but when I`m clean for a few days its the last thing on my mind. I`ve been here before countless times & usually fold to the first urge that comes along but hopefully I can find the strength & focus this time.

lets both find the strength and focus this time, ps thanks for your comments on my diary

Day 16 Saturday morning, in work for a 11hr shift, only a couple of quid in my pocket so shouldn`t be any problems avoiding gambling. Grand National day, who cares, no different from the 2.30 at Southwell on a rainy November day, just another race to do my hard earned on. Good luck to the 99% of the population with their 50p E-Ws who can enjoy the race as a one off, win or lose, that will never be me but hopefully one day I can accept that & banish gambling from my life.

'Its just another race, who cares'

Yeap, well said...Unfortunately they'll be plenty more.

Well done on reaching 16 days, like you I have fallen back into it many times. Do you have any barrier's in place? This time round im 4 months free, and a huge part of that was putting barrier's in place.

Don't get me wronf, it's the hardest thing to do, but the peace of mind it give's you is incredible. You can't gamble if you want to, and can then focus on other thing's, rather than just putting your brain into 'No i'm not going today mode' and trying to fight the urges.

Best wishes,

Scambling

Day 18 Rainy days & Mondays get me down. Who sang that, no idea. Day off work, sweet FA to do, all the ingredients to spend the afternoon in the bookies, no inclination to do that so need to find something else to do. The loneliness of the long distance gambler, maybe that's why I gravitate to bookies, at least its company of some sorts. Saying that I was CG when I was surrounded by friends & plenty of things to do so that can`t be the reason I gamble. Anyway onwards & upwards.

ive had these thoughts , was i lonley is that why i gambled but to be honest i think happy , sad, lonley , with company, bored or busy i think i would of gambled either way, ive gave up trying to work out why i gambled who cares as long as i dont go back to it , ive gave up because no matter how i try and work it out why i gambled i do not have a clue apert from maybe my personal greed and the big one just basic addiction got a hold on me , well bye bye addiction see you no thanks not any more , andas for greed well this hard learned exspensive tireing lesson has at least taught me money does not make us happy and has taught me not to be greedy , yes i still admit if i won lottery or something it would be great but i dont believe it would make me any happier it would just make my life a little easier and add a little fun but no going back for me no more gambling , keep strong rents you can do this from what ive read you have gambled in the past for a long time, well to do 18 days is brilliant keep it up mate . thanks simon ps sorry to rammble

Thanks Tryer, greed, boredom, something missing in our lives, who knows why we gamble, I just accept I`ve got some faulty wiring in my head, there`s obviously some deep lying issues, deal with those apparently & I `ll know the answer. Don`t think I want to delve into the dark recesses of my past, so I`ll just have to deal with it on a daily basis. Keep making the right choices. Don`t keep using the s**t life throws at me as an excuse to bury myself in gambling.