Close your eyes for a second and imagine yourself in front of a mountain. Your about to climb this mountain. Feel the determination in your mind. Anticipate how hard this may be but you are going to get through it and imagine how good you will feel when you have reached the top.
Now take three deep breaths and close your eyes and see yourself at the top. See yourself?
Good now go recover from this addiction.
Have a good day!
Hi C43h,
I liked your post. It's an interesting onr and one that sparked a bit of contemplation on my part. When I came into recovery it was all just keep going, keep going. Not unlike you talking about "climbing the mountain" above - you just close your eyes and imagine yourself at the top. But what happens when you reach the top? Do you ever reach the top? Is the "top" a good life and you can now enjoy that life gamble free? As I said when I started in recovery I just wanted to stay gamble free, I didn't care for how long, I just wanted to stay away from spending money on gambling while I turned my life around. The first year was really hard and the second year which I recently completed was equally as hard. Funnily enough I felt that now starting again on my third year in recovery, that was tough, the "starting again" part knowing how tough each year is to complete without having gambling in your life. Maybe the "mountaintop" for me is that few days savouring each year free from wasting money on gambling before I start again. Anyway thanks for the post, I loved the analogy.
Cheers, Happy
Hi Happy.
Thank you for your feedback. Good and interesting points to think about. I think my message is to those who think it is hopeless to start because they are bound to fail. Nothing happens if you do not instigate change. That can be installing gamban/gamstop etc. It can be contacting counseling here and talking about your problem. Changing means doing something. The metaphor is to get you started. To climb that mountain.
In regards to what comes next. Here is the thing. We base all our decisions on the experiences of our past.
So every time you decide to do something you match that with prior data. That means you will always have to be a bit mindful of how you want your future to be and that is why so many forum people here end up at square one because they forget that they are sick. They are influenced by media and they don't think having a little punt i all that harmful. The results though are always bad in the end. That is also why I am a strong advocate against free advertising as we can not defend our subconscious against the information. It goes straight into that part of the brain. So the answer to your future question it is really up to you what your future is. It is extremely hard to navigate it freely and think that it all will go away. It depends very much about your attitude to gambling. DO you think it is fun? Do you use it to dissasosiate from the rest of the world. Do you use it to counter depression or even social inabilities such as just sitting with others in a bingo hall. The awnsers are as indevidual as he gamblers. You need to pick your chefs apron that matches.
Have a good day!
Best
C
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