Winning Every Day

Good to read you're going strong again Brum32! What hobbies are you working on? I think that is so important to help to quit, best of luck!

i have started going to the gym again regularly and a friend of mine who is a personal trainer is helping me to get in to shape before the start of the new football season.

Secondly I have booked for us to go to Disney World next year. This is helping me in 2 ways. I know that if I gamble there won't be enough money there to pay for it and my kids will miss out. Apart from that I really enjoy the planning side of things so I have been spending a lot of time on a Disney World forum. This has meant that I haven't really thought about gambling as I have more fun things to do with my time. Day 16 today!

Day 18 and still going!

Today is day 21. 3 weeks since I last gambled which I feel is a big achievement considering how down I was when I last relapsed. Still taking one day at a time and working hard to beat this addiction.

Well done brum on 3 weeks gamble free, that's a fantastic achievement! Disney world sounds amazing, much better use of your time and money than gambling, just imagine your kids faces when they get to experience it! Keep up the great work!

Up to day 23 and day by day it is getting easier to forget about gambling. I just realised that it is nearly 11.30pm and I haven't thought about gambling once today and don't think that I did yesterday either. I won't become complacent but will keep focusing on the things that really matter in life.

Day 25 today and another day gamble free. It's nice to see a fairly healthy bank balance left at this point in the month as usually by now I had pretty much spent whatever I had left over.

On top of that I have managed to save a good chunk of money towards our holiday which I would never have been able to do if I was still gambling. A quarter of the way towards my 100 day target.

On to day 34 today. Seem to be coping quite well so far. Even though I have had one or two stressful days my mind hasn't really turned to gambling like it has done in the past. Next target 50 days!

Hi all.

Something very strange happened this afternoon. Despite my recent strong will I managed to relapse. I logged in to a site from my phone which I thought I had self excluded from. I made a deposit and I began to play slots. Although I am gutted to have been so silly, something happened that suggested that I may be on the road to recovery. After I had been playing for a few minutes I began to feel sick. Not in the way of being annoyed at myself etc, but in the way of the spinning reels etc made me feel physically sick. I stopped and I self excluded.

I don't know whether this is my body telling me that this isn't good for me or what but it has really made me not want to play anymore. In the past when I have relapsed I have spent a whole day playing and lost a fortune. This time I genuinely couldn't play anymore.

It may be cheating but I really can't bring myself to reset my countdown so instead I have adjusted it by one day. I have been gamble free for 37 of the last 38 days. I promise that if I gamble again I will reset to 0 but I am really hoping that this never happens.

Boo to the relapse but great that you came to your senses quickly, just don't get complacent, it may not happen if you relapse again & you have an important holiday to pay for!

& on that note, plan, plan, plan 🙂 Make sure you know how the fast pass systems work (if the Parks have them) & where possible, get to them for when they open & make straight for the hell rides as these are the most popular! Also, if you are using the dining plans or wanting to go to a character breakfast, book the meals online before you go as they can be done months in advance! I'm excited just writing about it, you have to make this happen & if that means putting up extra barriers then find a way - ODAAT

Thanks for that. I've done so well up until now so I'm trying not to beat myself up about it and to just move past it. As long as I know it was a one off I'll be fine. It's when the one off turns in to a week that I know I'm in trouble.

I have been keeping myself occupied by reading Disney forums to help with the planning. We have been before but it will be the first time with our new baby. I enjoy the planning side of things but because it's so far off there isn't a huge amount that I can do at the moment.

I'm going to keep myself busy with work, family and then some holiday planning when I'm at a loose end.

Feeling good so far today. I'm pleased with myself for not dwelling on what happened yesterday. In the past I have found that if I relapse I get really down and this then has a knock on effect which has seen me then continue to gamble for days or weeks.

I did not gamble again yesterday after my little slip and I will not gamble today.

My family are so excited for this holiday that there is absolutely no way I can let them down by handing my money on a plate to the greedy casinos.

Just thought I would come back and add a quick update. After going through a tough few weeks where I kept slipping I am now 32 days gamble free and I fully intend to keep it that way. I'm not sure how often I will be on to update as I find that sometimes when I come on here and read or post about gambling it makes me want to gamble. However I will provide the odd update when I'm on a good day.

Day 39 today. Feeling so much happier not gambling. Onwards and upwards.

Loved reading your posts.Im at day 20. Get a set back move on