The rebirth of me

So ive done a saturday without gambling.quite proud.i know its only the start but im determined to beat this.1 week gf now and i already feel better for it.1 day at a time

Hey mate

Just caught up on your other diary. 

Please be proud of the days you've racked up so far... Stop doing yourself down. The early days are so tough mate, and you're knocking down those days one at a time after almost 20 years of doing the same thing over and over... You should be dead proud of your achievements.

Sounds like you've put some great mechanical blocks in so that's a great start. Urges will come back... The blocks will see you through until the urges weaken. Before you know it you'll be racking up GF days for fun :o) you're life can and will be better.

Sounds obvious, but sounds like you need to avoid watching the horses for the interim - can gambling trick your mind into engaging in an activity so it opens the door again? YES. if horses are your weakness then avoid them like the plague. Roulette is and was my killer... in the past when I have relapsed i used to channel hop and the live stuff would be on telly... Thought it would be no harm to just watch the numbers come in and guess for fun... I invariably gambled the next day after doing that.

Avoid the horses bro... Even when your mind tells you not to avoid the horses ;o)

And lastly... The whole idea of this is to come on here and 'bang on'! Don't apologise for it! You bang on as much as you want to mate... Guess what, it's healthy. Understanding your need and desire to gamble in the first place is half the battle won in my opinion, and the only way to do that is to engage with your behaviour, if we want to stop dancing with the devil then we need to come up with enough reasons not to and talking out your situation, what it has done to you and what you aspire to change/achieve now is the way to generate those reasons. So you keep banging on mate. We are all ears here ;o)

Keep going. You can do this

Thanks mate.means so much to know other people have your back and are supportive.really helps.monday morning and feeling great with my 1st gf weekend behind me.i know ive got a long way to go still but i cant do much more than ive already done so far.blocks are in place and keeping as busy as possible.hopefully will get a phone call this week to arrange my 1st 121 meeting.have a great day everyone and stay strong.

I echo about avoiding horses, I never look at results /bookies/ the tv whenever they are on now, the only slight wobble I’ve had was when the end of the grand national was on in the pub, I was gutted because I thought the winner was a good thing, but I remembered I was the winner by not betting, you must understand that to beat this you must not gamble on anything ever again.good luck

Thanks holycrosser.ill bear that in mind.i must admit ive found myself watching less tv since i stopped.trying to avoid the adverts as much as possible coz they are everywhere!! Just ordered 2 books so that should keep me busy 4 a while

I’m not saying don’t watch sport but it’s best to avoid most of it at first, all sports I’m fine with but I avoid horses like the plague on tv, I’ve also stopped listening to talk sport on the radio, if you must watch the footy only put it on when the match is on, cuts down a lot of the adverts they bombard us with.

Sounds like a good tip.cheers.i aint stopping watching footy.its my favourite sport but horses were my big downfall.im not gonna let the beast that is gambling dictate everything i do.besides i love utd 2 much!

Second holycrossers advice re talksport and only watching matches when they start/end. Just think of these things as another block in your armoury?

I was a talksport addict for 10+ years. I knew the station back to front. After destroying my life through gambling (some of which was heavy sports gambling) I was too frightened to turn it on.

Have listened to it once in 8 months. Turns out you can actually live a fruitful life without radio dependency. Also as I venture deeper into this gamble free life my view has shifted from it being a topical resource to just an infernal racket / waste of my time.

Today I'll take a motivational talk or an Eckhart Tolle self-help speech over a talk radio show each and every time... If they weren't so keen to dance with the devil every few minutes (having special guests on who draft bets for betting operators? To discuss bets? Behave!) then I would probably give them another look in, but to be honest the wind blows in a different direction for me these days and I can get my kicks elsewhere. 

Anyway point is... Keep your guard up AT ALL TIMES right! Keep going ✊?

Hi all.so im 14 days gf now.not been easy but im staying strong.having all this support on here really helps.i dont feel so alone anymore.weekends are always going to be the hardest for me but im changing my routine so i cut out the temptation as much as possible.i still watch sports but only put the footy on when the match starts.cuts out the betting adverts that are on constantly.trying to keep busy and trying new things to fill my time.its working so far.just gotta stay strong and keep going.thanks for reading and stay strong everyone 

Hi everyone.im 21 days gf now.feel so much better for it.been really busy at work and trying to keep busy out of work.its far from easy but im determined to keep going.was a big test yesterday as it was payday but all good so far.still waiting for a 121 meeting but hopefully will hear from them soon.have a good weekend everyone and stay strong