Well it seems I almost made it through the weekend. Feel so stupid, walked into a bookies after gym today. Now left myself in a bit of bother until payday. So so pathetic of me. Tomorrow is a new week, and I’ll try again.
Sorry to hear that. Nothing you can do but dust yourself off and start again this week.
Do you have any way to block yourself from at least the bookies near you that you pass regularly?
Went into town near me with my wife on Friday night, turned a corner onto the high street and just came face to face with a whole strip of various high street bookies/casinos/arcades. Even my wife who is obviously not as sensitive to them as me was shocked at the number of them near the bars and restaurants. Sickening when you imagine peolpe a bit later in the evening after a couple of drinks.
Good luck
Muststop123 wrote:
Sorry to hear that. Nothing you can do but dust yourself off and start again this week.
Do you have any way to block yourself from at least the bookies near you that you pass regularly?
Went into town near me with my wife on Friday night, turned a corner onto the high street and just came face to face with a whole strip of various high street bookies/casinos/arcades. Even my wife who is obviously not as sensitive to them as me was shocked at the number of them near the bars and restaurants. Sickening when you imagine peolpe a bit later in the evening after a couple of drinks.
Good luck
Unfortunately not loads I can do against physical bookies. Going to take a lot of will power. Got all blocks in place online wise though. Taking each day as it comes from now.
Day 1 - All I’m going to be on here is honest from now on. Either I don’t want to stop, or I do. And I f*****g do. Now is the time. I’ve had to take out a £200 loan which will last me the month which is fine. I can pay back on payday. I need all the support I can get. This is the first time I’ve had to take a loan and WILL BE the last. For my futures sake.
Day 2 - Staying strong, keeping busy, going to the gym after work. Will be walking straight past 2 bookies. Will not phase me.
Day 4 - Very upset with myself for my last relapse, very annoyed with myself.
A bit of upset and remorse over a relapse is possibly not a bad thing. If you can bottle the feeling and remind yourself of how bad you feel now when you get an urge to gamble again, maybe it will help to fight the urge?
However, in my opinion, you do need to forgive yourself at some point and keep looking forward. We can't change the mistakes of the past but we can change our futures.
One point, you mentioned there was not a lot you could do about physical bookies but had a quick look at the Get Advise tab at the top of this page and they mention a scheme to allow you to self exclude from one or more bookies in your area. I do not know the details because all my damage was done online but might be worth a look especially if you have bookies near work, gym, home etc that you have to pass by?
All the best.
Muststop123 wrote:
A bit of upset and remorse over a relapse is possibly not a bad thing. If you can bottle the feeling and remind yourself of how bad you feel now when you get an urge to gamble again, maybe it will help to fight the urge?
However, in my opinion, you do need to forgive yourself at some point and keep looking forward. We can't change the mistakes of the past but we can change our futures.
One point, you mentioned there was not a lot you could do about physical bookies but had a quick look at the Get Advise tab at the top of this page and they mention a scheme to allow you to self exclude from one or more bookies in your area. I do not know the details because all my damage was done online but might be worth a look especially if you have bookies near work, gym, home etc that you have to pass by?
All the best.
Thank you I will have a look at this. All my damage was done online but I have since signed up for Gamban and now thankfully can’t access anything. There are so many bookies near my work and gym so I will look into this. Starting to forgive myself a bit. Looking better
I understand why I gamble. I think far too much and too deeply about my finances, start getting worried about it. Then gamble to try and make some / get it off my mind. Obviously a pathetic way of thinking. Going to make a money plan and try my best to stick to it. For my own benefit. Any advice please feel free to share. I wish everyone all the best.
Just another litle update, I've made a little spreadsheet so that I can keep track of my spending and savings, and also keep track of days gambling free. I've done it for up to the end of the year. If I manage to do it until then I'll deem it as a success. I've included monthly goals to make it easier to keep track. If I manage to do it until 2019 I'll do it again for another 4 months and so on. I really hope I can stick to this. I'm excited to get it underway. Bring on the rest of the month!
Day 5 - Friday today, not out drinking tonight, saving the money I have for the month. Think I’m going to go to the gym. Still gamble free
Today was a really good day, I didn't think about gambling much throughout the day. I had no real urge. On the way home from work one of my friends asked if I wanted to go with him to the bookies. I declined.. Twice. Stuck to my word. Went to the gym and went home all without having a gamble. Happy days. A step in the right direction.
Day 8 - I had a good weekend. Feel quite stressed today though. I have a lot going on this week and it seems as nothing is going my way today. I will not use gambling as an outlet.
Day 9 - Feeling a lot better in myself today, staying positive and still gamble free. Going to be a long week and think I’ll have a quiet one in on the weekend. Going to Greece in August so very much looking forward to that! Hope everyone is ok!
Day 11 - Still going strong. Updating my money plan as I spend money, I'm still on track. Excited for the time ahead, but still need to take this just one day at a time. I am FOCUSED.
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