Hi All
I would love to hear sone stories on here from anyone who is or was in the same place as myself.
I spent 36 years in the media industry of which the last 26 years as MD building a company before I lost the job in November last year.
I've spent the last 80 days in recovery as I gave up gambling the day before I was suspended, working everyday on my recovery. It's been a full time job, coming on here and reading stories, taking part in the chatrooms which really helps, walking miles, counselling from both Breakeven and NHS, watching recovery stories on YouTube, listening to podcasts and research which I've really enjoyed and want to carry on doing.
My question is what to do next ? I'm pretty sure I don't want to be an MD again with all the stress and probably not in sales, let alone the media industry again. So I'm not sure what to do next.
I would love to hear from anyone else and what they decided to do in this situation. I think this situation must happen for a lot of people in recovery
Stuart
I'm addicted to gambling
Hi Stuart.
I have just replied with a huge message, only for it not to have saved!!🙈.
In short, after 20 years serving as a Probation Officer, I decided to call it a day in July 2024. I began agency work the following month in a much less stressful role which took me up until October 2025 when my contract was abruptly terminated!🙈. I believe I was being bullied by my line manager during all this time I was there however. I reported a grievance to her manager. Two days later, I received a call from the agency on my way home informing me that “the clients have terminated your contract”!
I did type a whole lot more in my first post that didn’t save but what I am trying to say is that change can come at any time and sometimes when it is least expected. For me, this was at 62 years of age and so far, I am still struggling to secure employment again, regardless of the wealth of experience, knowledge and skill set I have 👎.
I am just trying to approach this the same way I am approaching my g.f days - “day at a time and tomorrow is a new day”🤞🙏.
I wish you well on any future decisions you make and I want to commend you again for all the continuous support you offer on here on a daily basis 👏👏👏.
Take care.
Pink Lady 🩷🍎.
Thank you so much for the reply Pink Lady and your kind words. I'm hoping some more people will reply as there must be so many that lose their jobs through gambling or go for a change of direction in recovery. You make a very good point of one day at a time. It took a few weeks of GA for that to sink in but for me it works on all aspects of life not just the addiction. It's wasted time and energy worrying about the future and the past, neither of which we can change. I can only make peace with my past from what I do today and only affect the future in the same way.
👍👌
🩷🍎
I didn't lose my job through gambling, but I did lose my wife, my home, and the family space I'd built there. Where did I go next? I picked myself up, committed as hard as I could to recovery, and moved on. I think I'm a better person now, and that's paying me back. I have an amazing place to live. A new amazing relationship. A new found love for life.
Where will you go next? Only you can chose that. Not gambling opens up the world to you. Sometimes not knowing is part of the fun!
Good luck in whatever you end up doing. As long as not gambling is one of the things you choose, the options are endless.
Stay strong 👍
Thank you
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