Some here are aware that I am finishing my Bachelor's degree at age 62, a frequently stressful task. I am taking summer classes which condense 12 weeks of material into 4 weeks. I have a final paper and another paper to finish today. My financial aid is late, my roommate gave  30 days notice that she is moving, (I cannot afford place on my own) and the landlord gave me a no-cause, 60 day notice, to move. I cannot afford any of the tiny places I looked at yesterday. And to make things all around tougher a friend who is dying is near the end, while we knew it was coming, it is hard to see her no longer able to talk and barely lucid any more. It is days like this that make me want to run, not walk to the places to gamble.

But when I play out the scenario of spending the last $ I have gambling, and NOT getting my final paper done, AND then continuing to gamle with the financial aid that finally arrives, AND then dopping out of school when I have only 2 terms left to finish - no better off than I started with a larger mountain of debt....... I don't think so....that is NOT the path I want to go down again.  I must give myself some credit, that now I at least no longer fool myself with the concept that I might win enough to take care of all my problems. I know in my heart now that an inkling of wanting to gamble is just a sign that I need to do something to let my stress out in a healthful way. Ten minutes of doodling, 3 minutes of prayer, and a 10 minute conversation with a friend, 5 minutes of posting on D/S and I feel like I will get through the day. Take care fellow travelers, we just need to get through today.