You can do this. Once you make up your mind that you don't want to live like this any more. Giving it to your higher power is a good idea. You have a lot of positive thoughts and attitudes. we are all hear for you, I get inspiration from your posts. Keep up the good work. Today we are not going to gamble.

thank you, i never forget/or realize how lucky i am even w/this disease, i have many things in my life that are going extremely well, i would love to get to the root of the issue and be done w/it, every day is a good day w/o gambling, that much i know

much peace/love.....god bless

For me, especially in the early days of my abstinence, to first, forgive myself, which was very hard after decades of self-abuse in one form or another. The next essential very hard thing for me was to gain patience for myself, to not be critical, belittling or shaming toward myself, but to begin to forgive myself as I would my best friend. Learning to slow down and let the mud settle in the pond so that I could see, in clarity, the next best thing to do was part of that patience with myself. Accepting that progress is the goal, not perfection went a long ways towards allowing me to be happy and not so picky and critical with myself, life in general and my loved ones.

all good stuff, thanks

I have been a serious gambler for about 7 years now since the age of 21. That was when I discovered poker and I was hooked instantly! I remember buying a few lottery tickets here and there at the age of 18+ but I never took them seriously. Recently I have developed quite a bad scratcher habit, buying up to 100 tickets a day, and often times trying to hide them from my gf or roommates. Often times I know exactly what I'm doing and how bad it is for me but continue to do it. I will even tell the cashier at times "I know I'm going to lose half my money but eh I was bored today and wanted something to do..." Every time I pass a gas station my mind goes "DING!!! THEY SELL LOTTO HERE!!!" and I have to resist the urge to pull off and buy a set of tickets. Lottery tickets are the CRACK COCAINE of gambling and you should really avoid them at all costs...

Thank you for sharing GamblingisLethal, I scratch-it fever has gotten many of us compulsive gamblers. There is a little, (very little), etiquette that you may not be aware of, if you respond to a post, in this case about GA meeting/patience, your response should be at least loosely connected to the poster's topic. I appreciate that you posted and shared, but in the future, if it a new subject or thread. a new post should be made. I am not trying to be overly critical or picayune here. You have some valuable information and experience to share in this post, but those who need it most may miss it because they think it part of the "last night's GA meeting/patience" post and never know that there is a fellow gambler with a "bad scratcher habit" just like them.
Please, I encourage you to express your feelings above in another separate post or to make your next post more accessible to those who may be struggling.