[koko5]

First off, I’m disappointed with the work of the moderators here. On my first gamble-free day, I wrote a long post about my story that didn’t contain any explicit content or anything that could possibly be offensive, but it was deleted. Today is day 15. Let’s move ahead.

[koko5]

Even though my first message in this thread included some criticism of the moderators, I appreciate the people who run this website and their work. I don’t want to focus on the negative side anymore.

I created this thread to declare my fight against gambling, and I believe this step is already significant progress that should be appreciated. So, I appreciate myself for stepping up, and I’m confident that everyone here who has created their own topics to share their stories should appreciate themselves. You have done what 99% of gamblers, unfortunately, haven’t done yet, and that’s a giant step.

I invite everyone who reads this to join me in this thread, participate in discussions, ask questions, give recommendations, and criticize me for things you disagree with. I believe that our synergy and cooperation will help us overcome common struggles. From my side, I’ll read your topics and will try to help with what I can.

Today is my 17th gamble-free day. Even though it is true that I haven’t gambled for this period, I cheated a bit: I couldn’t gamble because I didn’t have money. So, the real challenge will come next week when I get money.

I have tried quitting gambling around 20 times, so I know the mental processes that will start. I’ll negotiate with myself, convincing myself that I’ve figured out how to win, and that betting will help me earn money to accelerate my move to the new city I’m planning.

Due to my past failures, I believe I have a cheatsheet on how to act now. I’ve planned how I will spend my money, so at the end of the day, I will invest in good things and won’t have money for gambling. Not the greatest strategy, but it will be alright for now.

I plan to write a new message next Friday. Until then, I will focus on my daily commitments by reading some scientific papers on gambling addiction.

By the way, I’ve already read Anna Lembke’s „Dopamine Nation”—a great book that I recommend to everyone here. If you haven’t read it, you should. The book is small, doesn’t require much time, but is very beneficial and insightful.

[koko5]

I made a decision to write once a week, so my next post should’ve been on Friday, but then I thought it would be better to do it a bit earlier, on day 21, marking three full weeks gamble-free.

Finances: I’ve been focusing a lot on my approach to finances, and I’m evaluating whether I’m right or wrong in this approach, but I believe good money discipline is helpful. As I mentioned in my previous post, I got some money, and fortunately, I even had an opportunity to earn a bit more than I expected, which makes me happy.

So this was the first point in my gamble-free journey when I finally had enough money to gamble. I know it can become a problem, as having money always triggered processes in my mind that led to betting on sports. So, I paid for the hosting of my website (something I could have done at the end of the month but decided to do now), set aside some money for basic needs, and the money problem is solved until next week.

Mind: I haven’t had any urges at the moment, but a few thoughts about bets crossed my mind, which I cast aside. Again, I don’t know if I’m right or wrong about this; maybe I should develop those thoughts to be able to deconstruct my way of thinking. At this point, I’m considering starting daily meditation to train myself to approach my own thoughts.

Sports: I used to get information about sports from five sources. I removed two of them, and now there are three that I still use to get news. I’ve read recommendations about totally removing all sports, but I don’t think that’s the way to go for me because I loved soccer and Olympic sports before betting. So, my goal now is to return to the way I approached sports before betting: not reading sports news or social media, not visiting statistic portals, and not caring about odds. Sometimes I just want to watch a few teams and individuals I care for.

Good habits: I read some active threads here, and I have much respect for everyone sharing their stories. Kin’s approach of focusing on one day at a time is great. It sounds simple, but it has depth. So, as a sculptor, I try to take the bare stone I get every morning and give it some sexy form. I’m incorporating good habits into my life. I have a decent diet, do workouts, started training my abs, and take cold showers.

Also, I’ve started to put more effort into intellectual work, slowing down on taking in too much information and focusing on the quality of my studying process and the quality of the product I deliver.

Let’s get through one more clean week. It’s simple.

[koko5]

I’m thankful to this website for the opportunity to start a new life and grateful to everybody in this forum for sharing their stories. However, I don’t find anything useful beyond this. The 1:1 chats are broken, and I don’t see any support groups or assistance. Because I want to be as responsible about my healing as I can, I decided to join the https://www.gamcare.org.uk community. It provides all the help that this website doesn’t.

I believe that three gamble-free weeks is already a great result, but I need more engagement and commitment. If anybody feels the same, I invite you to try this website.

I believe in everybody here. Guys, you will defeat gambling and build a great new life.

• Acest răspuns a fost modificat acum 3 luni, O săptămână de către koko5.

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