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...
Besides the emotional triggers that caused me to gamble, there are also that feeling of " today will be the day that I will hit big" yesterday I had that feeling/ strong urge.. and it was as simple as making a right or left turn litterally... I was at the intersection for a moment until I went right and found my way to the grocery store filling my freezer and fridge..
After leaving the store, I felt luckier than ever because I still had money in my pocket.
It's one day at a time for me, and yesterday was a good day because I took steps, such as setting up automatic bill pay, limitation of assessable cash.. I have set up times twice a week to study with a friend in getting certified in our proffession..
I see a positive future without gambling, regardless of the mess I may be in now. And that lucky felling is really a blessed felling because I am truly blessed with what I have and what I will receive.
After leaving the store, I felt luckier than ever because I still had money in my pocket.
It's one day at a time for me, and yesterday was a good day because I took steps, such as setting up automatic bill pay, limitation of assessable cash.. I have set up times twice a week to study with a friend in getting certified in our proffession..
I see a positive future without gambling, regardless of the mess I may be in now. And that lucky felling is really a blessed felling because I am truly blessed with what I have and what I will receive.
But gambling has a way of making us forget our losses and remember our wins. The high degree of emotion sends all kinds of chemicals into our limbic system of the brain. The result is that we remember the high of the wins more than anything. That lucky feeling sticks with us. The pain is more fleeting. Somehow I don't remember the thousands of times I made the wrong call and would lose $10, $50, or even hundreds on a single wrong call nearly as vividly as the wins.
I hope that you're able to continue to recreate the winning and lucky feeling with other feelings of accomplishment, like leaving the store with money in your hands. Other ideas include online banking regularly and seeing the money grow in the account; taking on additional part-time work, like selling on eBay or etsy or at local maker's fairs or flea markets; or volunteering. I'm currently losing weight and seeing the scale go backwards is creating a "winning" feeling for me. I have about 35-40 pounds to lose, and I'm down 15 in six weeks. No doubt this has to do with the fact that I also quit six weeks ago today.
I'm cheering for you :)
cause, I definitely remember the losses.
Recently I've been volunteering at a local food bank which gave me clear signs of one day where I could be on the other end if I my gambling continued.
I have two paths infront of me and I choose living without worry, savings, bills paid, little stress, etc.
It's a long, rocky road ahead, however the rewards at the end of the road are worth the bumps and bruises that I may get along the way...
Gambling isn't about luck. It's about science. The games are designed that in end, the player will always lose. The worse one's addiction, the quicker they wind up a loser.