Each of these is in my Relapse prevention plan so I have thought about them and I have lived through each of these triggers, gotten a thought, that turned to an urge and stopped. Each time I can live through an urge and still not gamble, I am stronger.
Medical issues, at my age 60, we are stuck with them as routine part of aging. I am just recouping from a serious illness. Sometimes the urge to gamble was at my weakest point, when I was delirious with fever and could not sit up longer than 20 minutes. It was almost laughable as I am 10 out in the country. I realized that one method of dealing with a thought or urge is waiting for it to pass. It will in a few minutes.

Serenity Prayer helps me not to worry about what I have no control over.

Art work, hypnosis, guided imagery help me with anxiety.
Feeling overwhelmed, I do one little piece of big piece that needs doing. Try to figure out priorities and just do what I have to.
Boredom, I go to a park in the county I have not gone to before, go for a hike, go to a restaurant I have not gone to before, get out the art supplies, meditate, work at being okay to be alone and to be quiet with myself. I listen to audio books which I get at the library. I volunteer for a non profit 3 hours a week. Which helps with shame as well.
Hiking. doing creative things, photography, finger painting, collages, bicycling, gardening all relieve anxiety, boredom and shame for me.

I also will use journaling, phoning a friend, posting on D/S, phoning someone in my support group. Phoning the toll free number in my state for problem gamblers help line. Getting out my "Good-Bye to Gambling" letter and rereading it. I will keep trying something else if the urge or thought to gamble does not go away, and keep trying until it goes away.

Thank you nancyzoman for posting the meat and potatoes of relapse prevention.

Nancyzoman,
I know you have mentioned your surgery before and that got me to thinking, after my surgery two years ago my addiction kicked in big time. The anxiety kicked in then to. I wonder if being put out would have anything to do with it?

One of my triggers is the hole I crated. If I focus on it I think I could fix it by winning. Nope that did not work

Another is boredom--- I schedule my life now. Even if that mean I am schedule to lay around with no make up and watched Netflex all day. It is on the schedule and it must be done. This way I don't look at doing nothing as boredom, it is an activity.

Today was filled with triggers for me which are always stress and anxiety and just when I thought I couldn't handle another one I got a call from my cousin saying that my mom's sister has stage 4 lung cancer, same as my mom 3 years ago :( but here I am typing to you Nancy because you asked the perfect question that I needed to see tonight and write about, so thank you. I keep envisioning Lloyd Bridges in the movie Airplane "Wrong week to stop sniffing glue" :) Any other week I would've been on my long drive to the casino by now but I now have 4 days under my belt and only hope that I can get through this weekend.

And it's not my mom's passing that is a trigger for me, it's that my darling hubby was having an affair while I was taking care of my mom in my home on hospice that is the whole enchilada of my downward spiral into my gambling becoming my huge and giant numbing agent of pain, so yeah, any of that crap triggers me hugely and whether or not we'll still have a marriage after this has yet to be determined because I know I've been self medicating with the gambling instead of dealing with it all so only time will tell
please keep your hands inside the ride at all times :)
And Nancy I truly hope the triggers lessen for all of us over time but currently they seem so huge

My main trigger lately has been family issues. I feel like I'm angry at my family in some ways and I used gambling to zone out/ forget about it and also in a weird way to get back at them. I mean, "I did everything I was supposed to do in life, so I'm allowed to gamble if I want to!" < that kind of thinking. I recently when I relapsed realized how much anger I actually have for them and so I am seeking counseling to work through that. I do love them, please don't misunderstand!

As for boredom, I have been working more than usual, which is great because I'm busy and earning money. I also scheduled a massage for myself on my day off, and I have dinner plans later in the day. Making plans I want to keep helps a lot.

Not carrying cash. The thought crossed my mind tonight to go to the casino after work. Only had 10$ on me and home is 45 min the other way! So the thought passed quickly.

I also love to write and love photography. I'm thinking of starting either a blog of some sort of social media account for that purpose. Maybe a new goal or hobby would help you?

Prayers for you Nancy...I hope you are healing well and staying strong. Remember to think about how great you have done in this tough time. You should be very proud.

Wow thank you for the responses. @hopeOpera I hope you are hanging in there and dealing with your pain in a healthy way.

Pain is certain in life, but suffering is optional. I have filled my life with so much pressure to be, do, and have a certain "perfect" life and so much Shame around doing the wrong things that getting out of bed was always a struggle before and is a struggle sometimes now. Realizing that there is a whole new life out there if and when I can control my suffering-inducing thoughts is huge.

I've come a long way, but I have a long way to go. I've been realizing in the past year that something is better than nothing, that being curious about myself is more valuable than being self-critical, that no accomplishment will save me from pain in life, that progress is more important than perfection, that being real and a mess sometimes is better than being fake and perfect-seeming, that compassion and awareness and gratitude for the simple, often seemingly meaningless things in life are what will save me -- this is getting me by.

Yes! Being real and a mess IS way better than being fake and "perfect" seeming.
As much as I used gambling to deaden the pain, which it barely did, but somehow made living in pain bearable. Sadly, when we seek to deaden the pain we cannot deaden just the bad feelings, we deaden the joy as well. In fact, for me, the pain was still there, just under the surface, but I could no longer find the joy.
Big trigger for me is pain, or even discomfort, especially emotional pain. When ever things are not going smoothly it seems it would be easier to give up and run to the machines and "zone out". It may be easier, but it is the behavior that has plagued my whole life. Wanting to avoid pain, oddly has only compounded the pain.

Striving to avoid pain is not only childish but likely impossible. So all the walls we build to protect ourselves usually are not good at protecting out emotions. Secondly, we learn from painful experiences, so pain is not necessarily bad. Going through painful experiences, surviving them, is what builds character and strength. (Not the good times.) A big part of my recovery is growing up on the inside.
I think triggers will be with me forever, stress certainly will be lurking, it is my reaction to the trigger that I have some control over. The more I like myself, the easier it is for me to get through the stress without giving in to the urge to run away and hide. The more I get through without caving in, the stronger I get. Recovery has not made stress go away, just given me different pathways to go in my reaction to it.
It sounds like you have an excellent therapist nancyzoman.