And the best part? I'm now starting on my 8TH MONTH!
Of course that's not official until midnight tonight, but I think I can get there.

I'm allowing myself a little bit of 'cocky attitude' to celebrate. If there's one thing I know, it's that I can get to tomorrow without gambling, so what the hell? We all deserve a little swagger every now and then, right?
What a great feeling. All this time behind me & all I did was take it one little day at a time. I knew that one way or another, success or failure, I'd be here today, and I am. I didn't think on it, but concentrated on the day at hand, knowing today would take care of itself. At least at the beginning - sometimes I now look forward happily. And my trust that the future comes regardless, came true. Today arrived. And I'm beyond grateful to say I'm succeeding on this date rather than I fell back into the abyss of gambling. The abyss of addiction.
Me. Of all people. THAT'S the power of dealing with just one day, one urge, at a time. It wasn't always easy, and life has a way of throwing curve balls, but if you just deal with the weak moment when it comes, and don't worry about the next one, it's easier to succeed.
I don't have a lot to write that I haven't written before, but I wanted to throw out a little 'Yahoo!' for finding myself in a place today that seemed impossible such a short time ago. Not just financial crisis-free, not just gambling free, but hopeful & happy and (this is the one I feared I'd fail on) DETERMINED to stay clean.
It just gets better and better. I can't stress that enough. Bad diminishes & good increases if you let time be a part of your team, rather than the enemy. No longer do I worry about the future, because I know it's coming with or without my successes, my failures, hell, even my existence. So why worry about something that doesn't require your input at all? The fight is all I worry about now. The rest takes care of itself.
A happy day for me today. I seem to be getting more and more of those. And the trick to getting more?
Today I will not gamble. Never again.