Day 375.
I am so proud of myself. I look at that number and think of what it took for me to achieve this so far:
-That Day 1 feeling of saying “Gambling does not serve me any good. I quit”.
-Being honest and open about my problem to close people who matter.
-Asking for support and receiving lots of counselling help.
-A serious determination to stop. If I wanted change then I personally needed to become the change.
-Establishing a new relationship towards how I view money. It comes and it goes. That is life.
-Regular self-reflection which in turn built up my self-awareness; Strong skills to identify what is triggering a gambling urge nowadays.
-All of the things I associated to gambling (money, football, tennis, gifts, treating myself etc) in the past, I had to work hard to create a new association of these things. An example nowadays: Football is my career, football is fun, football is my escape, football connects me to others. But now football is not gambling.
-Having a target; even now I still focus on reaching the end of the day without gambling. But I felt milestones helped too: 1 Day ✅ 1 Week ✅ 1 Month ✅ 3 months ✅ 6 months ✅ 1 Year ✅ and now I’m aiming for 500 days ?
And I don’t always remind myself that in years previous I have relapsed 3/4 times before since I first ever gambled in 2014. I have tried to quit gambling before and given in to an urge, but my real difference nowadays is that I’m stronger in understanding myself inside out through gambling and regular self-reflection. And I’m determined more than ever that I will never choose to gamble in my lifetime again simply because it doesn’t serve me any good.
My life without gambling active within it has given me freedom, peace and happiness. That’s enough motivation to keep going for my next target of 500 days!
Hi, BIG well done on getting this far. Great post showing it takes determination and the will to want to stop. Getting all the help you can and never forgetting where you were. Each day is a new journey away from this horrible addiction so we must never become complacent thinking we have beaten it as it will always be lurking in the dark waiting to pounce. Life is so much better without this squeezing the life out of us with all the lies and deceit that go with it. I tell myself I will never be cured but will not give in to this ever again, 656 days GF today.
All the best and keep going!
Hi azza that’s a great achievement, It’s gives me hope for my future.
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
