I've got a couple more days before I can 'Woo Hoo!' but I'm just sitting here thinking about the changes in my life and felt like writing about it.

I got my Tax Refund last week and I just realized that in previous , I used to go to a place that would pay me (after a fee) my refund in advance and spend all of it in a day gambling online and by now I'd be depressed and disgusted with myself at 'doing it again'.

I also got paid today and instead of again 'doing it again' (for the umpteenth time) I'm writing in a blog, 3 days away from my 1st year anniversary of being gambling free.

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!

As I read other people's posts - new and regular folks - I'm always struck by how similar our stories are. How we swear we're going to stop. How we didn't stop. Rinse, repeat. But for some reason, each story I read gives me strength. To know that someone else KNOWS what this feels like, is strong medicine. To read about the mistakes they made is as helpful as reading about what successes they made. Sometimes just one sentence in a post can make me sit back and re-think my own ideas and beliefs. Or it can give me a brand new insight into what, for me, can be an incredibly confusing and illogical condition.

Again and again I come back here. And again and again, I find wisdom. Maybe that's the biggest change for me during this past year. I'm actually looking for wisdom. I'm also looking for strength. I'm looking for help, and most of all I'm looking for success.

It's no exaggeration to say that I have found all those things here on this site - and more. I hope you do, too. Life gets better if you get on board and get serious about wanting it. And before you're even aware of it, you'll find yourself facing an anniversary that blows your mind. If it can happen to any of us, it can happen to ALL of us.

Remember, whatever day you're at, everyone who's got several years under their belt, was as that same day, too - even if it's the day before your first day of not gambling. That's the BEST part of realizing how much we are the same. You can do this. You truly can.

Good luck everyone, and all the best.

Today I will not gamble. Never again.