Position of strength after years of weakness

Awesome job mate. Congrats.

Just goes to show that it can be done. I see you in the chat room often and love the advice you give. The fact that you are still in the chat rooms 1000 days in shows the commitment you have to staying gf. A good lesson for anyone startling out. You have to put the work in. What’s 1 hour a day out of life? You used to spend hours gambling. Replace it with something useful.

Congrats again mate. An inspiration to us all 💪

So a few things going on and not been on here much or updated my diary. 

Ive been thinking this evening on the early to mid part of my journey and there is something i really need to get across to people at the start of their own journey, as part of my lived journey through this hell something really stands out.

You can not beat this addiction in the first few days, weeks or months maybe even years.........BUT in the first days you can show bravery and determination. In the first few weeks  you can show courage and planning, in the following months show honesty and resilience. The thing that stands out the most and something i read that i can now look back and say without doubt is soooo important is to get clear of gambling and claim your mind back. What i read in the early days is it can take 90 days and beyond to start to feel clear thoughts and to be able to reason out decisions, it is very important to get to that stage and start to feel clear and enlightened thought processes. All of that sounds really head up my a**e but trust me its so true.

The staff and helpers here including outside agencies are fantastic in helping and building us back up, hopefully with a view to us taking back our lives and slowly making better decisions and learning to stand on our own 2 feet again, please don`t rush the process its tried and tested. Avoiding gambling and those types of environments is important but so is curing the mental side and building that up too, dont ever be ashamed of where you are at , as long as you are making the effort then you and i should feel proud of who we are and what we are trying to achieve.

This site has so many good people who know how bad these feelings in the beginning can be, listen to their advice especially about blocks, if you really want to quit dont skip any of the blocking steps they will relay to you.

The very best of luck everyone no matter where you are in your own journey.

Hi mate not seen on for a while i remember you early in my recovery along with Adam and Faith, since then time has flown by im on day 514 g/f i was inspired by you guys for helping me i cant thanx u guys enough my life is at peace now and i wouldnt wish gambling addiction on my worst nighmare im still using the chatrooms regularly once again thanx for your support wish you well

hi lids......missing u on chat...... hope ur well? hope recovery going well? pop in somwhen if u can? just checking in really adam

Thanks Adam and Taz for stopping by, it genuinely means a lot your kind words and comments.

I love these diaries, its a snapshot of a very troubled 3 years (so far) of my life. Reading how bad a place i was in and progressing to the recovery and finally looking forward to life again. Its an excellent place to remember why i came here in the first place. 

Ok no gambling, had a slight interest in how the sites were still luring people in but stopped at the register as a new user bit (it was through face book on my work phone), but im not overly alarmed by it, and obviously wont be following it through.

General life, my health issues are now being addressed and slowly i can see light at the end of the tunnel but got a fair bit of treatment in the coming months, ive dealt with worse so am upbeat and looking forward to progressing with my health. Ive a few holidays and breaks planned which i am very much looking forward to.

My big thing at the minute is trying to sort my pension finances out and ive actively upped my pension contributions by a substantial % of my monthly wage (without knowing it Adam you were probably a large influence in that). Basically Mrslids would now like to turn her semi retirement into full blown retirement and would like me to at least consider following suit in the next few years. Thinking about how much i wasted in the past and the fact i could have retired quite comfortably right now if i hadnt been so stupid is a little depressing but it is what it is. 

So Mental health, either through mindset and outlook change stress is no longer a thing, everything is done at a sensible sustainable pace, and big decisions are now thought about and considered without a knee j**k in sight. Something in me has changed over the last 3 years, its difficult to say what it is but whatever it was it feels good and id like to think my own hardwork on my mental state aided this, or maybe i just gave up on over thinking and analyzing life (lol).

I am going to get back on the chat room, but just feel im taking up resources much more badly needed by others at present, i never ever thought id ever say that but i am in a different faze of recovery now.

Addiction has been horrid , horrendous its drained and broken me down, BUT and its a big but, i have learned so much about myself, have definitely improved on who i am, and i ve found some fantastic advice and people, and the resource of gamcare aided all that.  Turning this horrid addiction mid to long term into a good learning curve  is essential for me, otherwise i would feel i had lost 3 years of my life, which i certainly havent.

Anyway enough of my inane ramblings how is everyone?, if you read this please leave a comment/post saying how you are getting on? (that would be good)

Thanks diary/all see you sooner rather than later. 

@lids19635 Hi Lids.

Lovely to hear from you 🙂. I have never read your diary so will hopefully get around to that this week/the weekend.

All good with me thanks and still remaining on the g.f train - 313 days  today I think!🤔. One year will be almost upon me before I know it! Take a read if you are up to it!🤨.

Take care and have a lovely weekend everyone ahead.

Pink Lady 🩷🍎.