Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group
Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...
I used to let fear motivate me, either in a good way, desperate way, or negative way. Today, I try not to let fear become one of my daily emotion. When I would gamble, of course, fear was constant, and most of the time, it drove me straight to the casino. It was important for me to let that "emotion" go. Although, to be honest, it wasn't easy, it was almost a safe feeling, being in fear. I had to learn, and to be true, I'm still learning, to let fear go, and to turn my fear, worries, etc., over to my higher power. I remind myself, almost daily, that God hasn't brought me this far, to drop me on my ass. Even when I was at my worse, there was a reason for it, in my recovery, I've had a chance to look back, at some of my "darkest" days. And I see now, that even then, I was being taken care of. It may not have been what I wanted, but, there were lessons to be learned.
I lost my job, in May, and rather than put myself through a fear mode, I took that one day, to cry, to go to sleep early, and to have a tiny melt down. That was it, from that point forward, I stayed positive, I let go of the fear, and I didn't run to a casino, to feed my fear.
Isn't it funny, how we hold onto fear? I mean, really, it used to be my driving force. Today, my driving force is staying in recovery. My driving force is staying positive, no matter how hard it gets, and we all know how hard it gets. I don't pray for "stuff", I do however pray for the strength to get through some days, I thank God for what I have, for where I have been, and for being humble. I am NOT a super religious person, trust me on that, but, I do believe in a higher power.
Fear, has to go. I am moving in another direction, called life, and I'm doing life, on life's terms, without living in fear.
Hugs.
Terri
I lost my job, in May, and rather than put myself through a fear mode, I took that one day, to cry, to go to sleep early, and to have a tiny melt down. That was it, from that point forward, I stayed positive, I let go of the fear, and I didn't run to a casino, to feed my fear.
Isn't it funny, how we hold onto fear? I mean, really, it used to be my driving force. Today, my driving force is staying in recovery. My driving force is staying positive, no matter how hard it gets, and we all know how hard it gets. I don't pray for "stuff", I do however pray for the strength to get through some days, I thank God for what I have, for where I have been, and for being humble. I am NOT a super religious person, trust me on that, but, I do believe in a higher power.
Fear, has to go. I am moving in another direction, called life, and I'm doing life, on life's terms, without living in fear.
Hugs.
Terri
After living most of my life in fear and anger, now fear, anger and negativity only visit me in short bursts. It has taken me most of this year to turn off the critical voice in my head, and to truly befriend myself. Many thanks to people here, my support groups, Louise Hay, a book called "Rescuing the Inner Child", my gratitude diary, adding artwork to my life, meditating, and gaining a sense of a higher power.
Thank you for this post - it is gaining acceptance of all of my emotions and ultimately of myself that has helped me gain 19 months of abstinence.
I've been through some dark times in my personal and professional lives. Recently, I went through a few bumps with my professional life, and it really was hard on me.
Everything in me wanted to escape and run to the casino. But I didn't. I learned that playing video games (not to excess) has the same effect as the casino once did. So I did that for a while.
But then I also realized that escaping is not the answer. After a few hours, I started using the tools I have learned -- journaling, praying, meditating, using affirmations, visualization. Talking myself down from the edge, if you will. And I've learned how to self-soothe from anger, from fear, from things I used to think I couldn't handle.
We are all so much stronger than we believe. We are champions of our own lives for even venturing on this forum to begin with. There's something ferocious in us all that can handle all of this.