Hi Soulsearching,
I have written about there is no such thing as a coincidence on my own thread. Amazingly today also I gave the lady selling the big issue a bigger than usual donation on my way to the coffee shop. As I sat having coffee I noticed her leave to go home .
I was so sad to see her shabby shoes, and how her feet seems to lean over for lack of support. She is elderly and we communicate with smiles, due to the language barrier. I keep meaning to say come with me to the cafe but somehow I have not managed to pick up the courage to do so..(actually for ages I couldn’t afford to !!!!!)
Interestingly this lady has been for years, part of my “big win dream” .
So SS, we are good people, who for whatever reason have developed a gambling disorder. We need to find new behaviours to replace this, and we really need to start believing that we are truly worth spending our money on.
I would say keep telling your self that you are a kind,generous thoughtful person , who happens to have a gambling disorder.
What has helped me most is refusing to be a “cg”! Refusing to label myself anything negative and refusing to accept when others do it. I am a person with a gambling disorder. It is a tiny part of me… So tiny that I can control it.
When I finally really internalised this , all my gambling urges disappeared .
Please continue to write about all the good stuff you do, think and want .
I think we felt so ashamed and so full of remorse we ended up gambling in the hope that a big win would put everything right.
Blow your own trumpet on here. You are a wonderfully caring person…so much so that you have tolerated people in your life who are detrimental to you.
You are in recovery. You are managing this disorder. Yes you paused for a few lessons along the way but here you are, now, today , gamble free.
Well done .. Never change the caring person you are.