This has to be the last

Day 1 gamble free, I've made a decision not to play free online slots anymore, I know if I'm going to beat this I have to stop fooling myself and cut all ties with gambling! The problem is that my life is sooooo mundane, I have a 12 yr old son who doesn't like going out, it's a fight to get him to leave his room, so I find myself a virtual prisoner at home, the only time I feel excited is when I'm setting up to play slots, I'm really lucky with winning and find myself constantly going up by hundreds and then saying "I'll just play down to £300.00", then, "I'll just go down to £250.00" etc... and then before you know it it's all gone! Wish I could just take a pill that would stop all the urges!

2nd day of not gambling, I had a moment of weakness where I wanted to buy a scratchcard but thankfully decided against it and put the money in my savings jar, I'm pleased that today was a good day

Hi D62 ,

You are on the good way with this ! Stay strong and take care , try to make every day a good day !

Thank you I wanna do better, today is my 3rd day of no gambling, I'm really hopeful that I'm going to beat this addiction, I'm tired of lining someone else's pockets! all the best to you on your journey!

Thank you Never_give_up,well today is day 4 and I already see a bit of a difference, I am feeling really positive, yes I'm upset about the tens of thousands I've lost and am drawing a line under the losses, no more dreaming of the big win, I've been gambling for over 10 years and have never been lucky enough to win a really big sum of money, the most I've gone up to is £1300.00 which I then played to zero!

Hi there and welcome to the none gambling world. Set your self goals, I am on day 188 today and I started with aiming for 21 days. They say it takes 21 days to break a habit, and I agree with this. Find other ways to fill your time, like get into a TV series, I found that Breaking bad helped me in the early days, it gave me something to focus on. Everyone is here for you, keep posting your feelings, as you will find it a good way of ridding the stress. Good luck, and stay positive!!

Thanks Davebs26, I realise that I have to take my gambling problem seriously and not let my guard down, it's so easy to fall into the trap again, it's a big mistake to become complacent. I've been watching The Sons of Anarchy, I've completed that and have started on Trollied! My hobby in Cape Town was painting ceramics but they are so hard to get in England, especially as I don't drive over here so can't get to Stoke-on-Trent where they sell most of the ceramics. It's still early days so know I need to keep my head down!

Back to Day 1, after excluding myself from all bookies in town and closing my online accounts I get a brainwave, why not ask my daughter if I can give her cash and she can put money into her online account for me to play out, what next! I've told her to never allow me to do that again no matter how much I beg! it's ridiculous though, the lengths I would go to.

debrarose62 wrote:

Back to Day 1, after excluding myself from all bookies in town and closing my online accounts I get a brainwave, why not ask my daughter if I can give her cash and she can put money into her online account for me to play out, what next! I've told her to never allow me to do that again no matter how much I beg! it's ridiculous though, the lengths I would go to.

Not suprising is it the lengths a gambler will go to?

Well done on coming back and day 1. Keep learning.

Hi Deb , just read through your blog !. Look on it as another door that you forgot to close , lock it and move on !!.

One day all the doors will be locked , secure and watertight and nothing will be able to get in !!

Your doing well , keep it up . Best wishes .................................Alan

Thanks for comments Triangle and Alan35, I had another bad slip, I know this is getting really boring now! I went into a bingo hall that has slots machines on the 31/12/15 and left there with £850, I had an awfully restless feeling in my gut and ended up going back on the 02/01/16, I walked out with another £350, that made it £1200 won in 3 days, I still had the restless awful feeling in my gut and went back yesterday and ended up losing not only the £1200 but also another £250, the thing is, as soon as the money was gone the horrible feeling in my stomach disappeared! I actually felt relieved that I couldn't gamble anymore. I have made a promise to myself not to gamble for 1 year (I have been gambling for over 12 years straight), today is day 1 gamble free!

Hi Deb , Youv'e just shown yourself what we as compulsive gamblers know , "We can't win because we can't stop ".

£ 1,200 and it's not enough , Iv'e done exactly the same in the past so I know that feeling all too well Deb , just makes me wonder what I did want , would any amount ever really be enough ?.

Get your Time , money location triangle sorted girl , because your making it far too easy to gamble , all that said, well done on getting back up and carrying on , just make sure yiou shut those doors?.

Take Care Deb !

Thank you for your comment Alan, no matter how much I win it wouldn't be enough, I don't think it's even about the money anymore, today is day 3 and I am sticking to not gambling for 1 whole year, hopefully after the year is over I'll be able to see the improvement in the quality of my life and make the decision to never gamble again, for some reason the thought of never gambling again scares me, that's not good, is it!

Take care

Yep ! Scared the craaaap out of me too ! , It's just the fear of change , fear of the unknown , gamblings been a part of our live's for so long we don't know how were gonna cope without it ?.

But the good news is there's nothing to fear except fear itself , we do change , we take on the unknown and we do cope but try not to look at the big picture , just concentrate on the one day at a time aproach , that way you deal with it in bite size chunks and it doesn't look half as scary , the days mount up and pretty soon you end up a long way from where you began !.

Take care Deb just remember , "Little Steps " !