Yes. It is important to learn to be in the moment. Being mindful of what is going on in one's life. Not to shove it under the rug so you can get on with it. We must learn to deal with our emotions and forgive ourselves for past mistakes. But also to learn from those mistakes. I too have had to learn patience with this disease. It isn't easy but can be done.
Wishing you all the best.

So very true and a good reminder to slow down, breathe, and let things take care of themselves in due time. Must constantly remind myself to take 'one day at a time'.

@espnbart - OMG, I know exactly what you mean! I'm on day 30 -- it was one month today -- and I swear, it feels like it's been at least six months, if not nine months to a year. I cannot believe all I have gone through in such a short period of time, from insomnia to a lack of appetite to feelings of depression to fatigue. In only that brief period of time, I've had "good days" symptom-free, and I've had "bad days" where I could barely pry myself out of bed. I wish I could press "Fast Forward" and accelerate through it, like in that Adam Sandler movie.

On another, more rational note, I will say that I think that recovery is like weight loss: Studies show crash dieters almost always gain the weight back within a year, but those who lose 1-2 pounds per week under the care of a dietitian and/or trainer tend to keep the weight off for longer, if not forever.

I think gambling recovery is like that. The best way is slow and steady through the 12 steps. You start to surrender. You go through the emotions. You start to deal with life without the stimulation of gambling. Then you start to deal with the triggers, and more importantly, why the triggers are triggers for you in the first place. You heal, one step at a time.

Sometimes it's three steps forward and one step back. Sometimes you wish you were ten steps ahead. But like the 500-pound woman who wishes she fit into a size 2 dress, you can't skip ahead. You have to go through being a size 28, then a size 16, then an 8, then a 2. It's a process. This mammoth addiction has to go from being a huge balloon to something small and manageable. And though progress in recovery from our addiction is not as easy to see as a 300-pound weight loss, it's every bit as gratifying. Make sure you celebrate the small milestones along the way.

So I definitely understand why you want to accelerate the process. I wish I could too. But this is how I rationalize it (when I am feeling well enough to think through things).

God bless.