Post Number Of Days Gamble Free

Thanks Snaga !

You're very right in that I feel like it's all behind me now but I can't allow myself to believe that it's over . I have to accept that this addiction is with me for life and it can rear its ugly head at any moment . There are times in life when things get bad enough , when the things we're facing just become overwhelming and the promise of "escape from it all" is excruciatingly tempting . These are the moments that addiction is waiting for. All I can do is make it wait some more .

Stay strong , my friends .

NewSunRising wrote:Thanks Snaga !

You're very right in that I feel like it's all behind me now but I can't allow myself to believe that it's over . I have to accept that this addiction is with me for life and it can rear its ugly head at any moment . There are times in life when things get bad enough , when the things we're facing just become overwhelming and the promise of "escape from it all" is excruciatingly tempting . These are the moments that addiction is waiting for. All I can do is make it wait some more .

Stay strong , my friends .

Gambling is not in my DNA, but I well know what you mean about when things get rough, addictive behaviours start calling to me- just because it's not with money, doesn't mean I don't know exactly what you mean. The lure of escape is always waiting in the shadows.

400 days.

Hello all, it has been a long time since I stopped by. I haven't gambled in about 8 1/2 months. I have been staying strong and have been rebuilding my life. This is the longest I have stayed gamble free since I was 12 (I am currently 47). Things are getting better but to be honest i am scared. This seems to be the point where I have failed in the past. I recently took a small hit with an investment and my gambling brain is telling me I can get that money back by betting on the superbowl. Obviously that is a horrible idea. At this point in my life I can not afford to fail again. It scares me that I had that thought. Any advice is welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.

Bravo Sconced ! What an awesome milestone . I hope you're as proud of yourself and we are of you !
Are you doing something nice for yourself ? This is an achievement to celebrate .

Congratulations to you too , UnluckyHank . 8 1/2 months is fantastic ! You're dong great and you deserve to be proud of that .

UnluckyHank wrote:Things are getting better but to be honest i am scared.

Hank , this addiction is no joke and I was just as scared in my first year of recovery . Hell , I'm still scared sometimes and it's been 10 years BUT ... fear has kept me from relapse . I know what waits for me if I give in . Explore that fear , let yourself imagine what will happen to you if you gamble again and consider this question : Why would you do that to yourself when you don't have to ? . You have the strength to refuse it .

At this point , the addiction doesn't have an iron grip on your life anymore . You said NO and it stuck - for nearly a year ! Although the urge to gamble is no longer an uncontrollable compulsion , it has moved into persuasion tactics - the screaming voice in your head is just a whisper now and far easier to ignore . In my opinion , it will never give up - at least that's what I've found in my own recovery .

Those rare and pathetic attempts by my addiction to lure me back into a life of pain and misery are laughable to me now . It takes zero effort to shut it down and move on with my gamble-free life - no matter whether that life is being good , bad or ugly . There is no day so bad that gambling cannot make it worse .

This will happen for you too . You control your addiction now , not the other way around .

You got this !

UnluckyHank wrote:I recently took a small hit with an investment and my gambling brain is telling me I can get that money back by betting on the superbowl. Obviously that is a horrible idea. At this point in my life I can not afford to fail again. It scares me that I had that thought. Any advice is welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.

Hi UnluckyHank,

congratulations on joining the 8+ month GF club! Nice to have you here.
We all have those occasional strong urges. Mine are at the beginning of the NFL season and around the Super Bowl. What helps me to say is the following thought: "Do I want gambling money?".

You see, the gambling is a net-zero game: somebody's win is another man's loss. If people are not loosing money, the gambling industry will shut down because it won't have money to pay the winners. And I know how much it hurts to loose your money to gambling. And I know that a lot of people loosing money have a gambling addiction that they can't overcome. It's not even their free will to participate in the gambling. Lives are ruined because of those money. A lot of suffering and anxiety is connected to that money. All of this makes me think of the gambling money as a "cursed money". And I don't want it. I will not feel good if I take this money, therefore I don't start playing at all.

This perception helps me a lot to stay GF when the occasional urges hit. If this doesn't work for you, think of something that has an impact on you. Keep that thought as a mantra so you can fall back to it in times of urges.

Wishing you all the best,

NewSunRising wrote:10 years .

Looking forward to seeing more success stories from our community and wishing us all many healthy , happy , gamble free years to come !

Oh wow! That's a huge one! Congratulations NSR, I'm so happy for you!
I hope you were able to treat yourself something nice. Even if you didn't, have a piece of mind for 10 years is already the best treat.
Thanks for all of your support and inspiration.

NewSunRising wrote:Bravo Sconced ! What an awesome milestone . I hope you're as proud of yourself and we are of you !
Are you doing something nice for yourself ? This is an achievement to celebrate .

Thank you Newsunrising. I done nothing for my 400 day milestone. I’ll buy a cake for hopefully my 500 days. The 2nd year can be quite difficult as the first year you can get through on adrenaline. The bad feelings are there more and make a return to gambling less likely. These bad feelings begin to fade away during the 2nd year so it’s important to remind yourself of these with notes etc, if you are thinking of relapsing. Today I am 467 days gambling free.

506 days