Regrets, I've had a few, but then again....

Thanks guys, 152 days gamble free. Not really been able to get online for the last few days as I'm housesitting at my parents house while my mum was having a minor operation. Everything went well there so I can return to civilization tonight.

Those few gambling thoughts that have surfaced have been squashed down and trampled, bacause I'm not going back down that road again.

Nice to see you Kyle, I hope I can have a proper look around and catch up with everyone this evening.

Ryan

Ryan

Fella a huge well done on racking up the 150 days continued abstinence my friend.

glad to see life is treating you well and long may it continue.

If I was a gambling man, which today I thankfully am not, I would be prepared to stake the fact that your recovery has learnt a great deal about why abstinence is the right choice.

for it be very proud

hope you get to enjoy the darts tonight, me I can't wait. knocked up a lasagne this morning for energy!! our nieghbours must wonder at times!! lol no more so than this sunday, my two boys will do the night shift for the elimination chamber, something else I confess to enjoy.

My guilty pleasure lol.

Keep making the right choice

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Hey Ryan,

Great to see you in a fine spirits, keep it up!!

Urges eh?? I always carry my bat with me lol lol, always ready to give them a good hiding, good to see you doing the same :-)))

Urges are only thoughts, and you are navigating ur way through to the better future. Be proud and keep doing what you doing, it is working my dear fighter.

Day at a time

Hav a lovely weekend

Sandra x

Monday comes around again. Had a few thoughts over the weekend about maybe having a flutter on football, but the reality is that that is a d**n stupid idea. I'm not letting my guard down, and as you say Sandra, stamping out these thoughts is working.

I had some troubling dreams last night which have left me rather thoughtful this morning, and frankly I'm not usually up at this time anyway. Well, at least it gives me more time to do some freelance work and to get another few pounds in the bank to pay off my remaining debts, which are getting smaller as the months go on.

Hope you all have a good week

Ryan

So according to my fallible maths, today is 159 (edit - those were indeed fallible maths - 162 is closer to the mark :P) days without gambling, and it is fairly pleasing that I'm approaching 6 months without gambling. The fact is that I'm approaching the toughest time of year....its bonus time. I know how much I'm getting on 20 March, and frankly its the worst time of year for me as a compulsive gambler. Over the last few years it is always in the month leading up to bonus time and in the month afterwards that I have faltered in terms of my recovery. This is not going to happen this time.

This year, my bonus goes to pay off my debts, with a small portion going towards a night out with the guys from work. Frankly, a round for all the guys from the office is a much better choice than dropping it on two spins of the video poker machine. This time, the bonus gets used properly!

Hope all is well,

Ryan

Ryan

fella good to see your resolve to continued abstinence grows, those bonus'es all to often seen as gambling tokens/free money, in truth you earnt them so rather than waste them my friend enjoy them!!

Keep making the right choice,most of all enjoy the outcome

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Hi Ryan and great stuff on your gambling free time. Like you say, do worth while things with your bonus rather than fritter it away on a machine. How quickly money goes when we gamble. In your hand one minute, gone the next... its crazy.

Keep going as you are, your doing great. Thanks for your support as always... S.A 🙂

Hey Ryan,

Thank you for your kind and caring words on my diary, as always, much appreciated.

Look at you dear soldier!!! What a fantastic achievement on g free days, keep striding forward, keep making the right choice, you are more than worth all the best things in ur life 🙂

Have a lovely and peaceful Sunday

Day at a time

S x

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for another kind and supportive post on my diary.

Huge well done on apporaching 6 MONTHS GAMBLE FREE!!! WOW! This is amazing mate and so good to hear that you're still very positive and very much in control of this addiction. How good will it be on that night out with friends knowing that you've reduced your debts and not worrying about sneaking off to gamble.

Well done mate

Jimbo

Ooof, I am crazy busy at the moment. There's overtime going at work so I've snapped up an extra 20 hours over the next fortnight, and I've had a bunch of freelance work come in. Feels like I've done nothing but work since Friday, and I'm up again now to do some more.

As for my maths, it is clearly all over the place, so I'm going to let that one go for now. No gambling thoughts, no time to think about gambling. Well, maybe a few regrets about the errors I've made during this time of year over the last few years, but I'm starting to accept that I can't change what's in the past.

All the best, and it's downhill to the weekend from here!

Ryan

Hey Ryan,

Busy busy sounds good..., but don't overload yourself. Try to get the balance between work and yourself. Remember, you and ur health comes first 🙂 .. (I like to give advices but not follow them myself lol)

Thanx for the post. Lol,, I suppose we keep gc swearing filters at it's bussiest lol lol

Great to see you in high spirits, keep up the good work and be proud.

Boxing?? Lol lol,,, yeaaa...I could say...sprained my neck the other day,, so just taking some time off from it lol..all good stuff anyway :-)))

Have a good day, and stay calm and safe

S x

Hi Ryan

Another Thank you for a quality post. It's nice to share my milestone with others. I guess it was reading diaries such as your own that gives us hope that we can do this and beat this horrible addiction for good.

I'm also doing lots of overtime to repair some of the damage caused by gambling. It's a hard slog but feels good when you've got it over and done with, a good sense of achievement.

Keep going bud

Jimbo

I am absolutely out on my feet this morning. Just thought I'd drop in a quick post before heading to work for a bit of overtime, and that feels like all I've been doing over the last week or two. Hey ho, I'm not working this afternoon, and I can kick back with a can and hopefully watch Wales turn in a reasonable performance and beat England later on.

No gambling thought, well, at this time there's barely any thoughts at all. I hope you are all in the trenches winning your individual battles against this disease, as it is a war we must win. Scary stuff going on in Ukraine. 169.

All the best

Ryan

Ryan

great to see your still winning your own battle my friend, long may it continue.

Enjoy your afternoon and the rugby, not a sport of choice for me, I do admire them mind, they do take a battering for their efforts!!

I hope it's a draw lol!!!!

Me I will be enjoying the darts, uk open, don't know if your following it, taylor went out to a 20yr old factory worker!!

He may be regretting that 3 million quid dart deal, seems he cant throw them!

I reckon I could give him a game at the minute!!

Keep making the right choice fella

Duncs stepping forward never back

Been over a week since I last posted, and I'm starting to get a little worried about this. I need this place to keep on the straight and narrow and to keep focused.

My absence was not due to gambling though, just the complete weight of work with a stack of overtime (Friday was the twelfth day in a row at work) and freelance work pouring in too. Burnt the candle at both ends for a few weeks, but its nice to arrive at Monday morning with nothing on my desk, and I can relax, have a coffee and watch some TV before work.

Went for my second ever round of golf on Saturday, and was chuffed to hit a 71. Granted, it was a nine hole course, but I recovered from an 11 over par 14 on the third hole to finish fairly strongly!

Back to work today, but feel as though I've slept well the last couple of nights, and I know there's a bit more freelance work coming my way this week, so time to make the most of my r&r time while I have it. Bonus payday this week, and mine is going directly to the credit card. It's not passing Go, and the gambling companies are definitely not collecting £200.

Ryan