Addiction

convert wrote: »

Total respect for you, not only for coming to terms with your addiction and doing something about it, but also for being strong enough to share here with us. Thank you. And best of luck with your recovery.

Ditto. Always enjoyed your posts Jingle. Wish you all the best in the future. Hope you never have a punt again. Godspeed.

Mr J , your first post prompted me to register here to wish you luck. When I saw you were back posting and saying you were betting in a controlled manner I despaired for you. I did not post anything negative as you were in a better place and I did not want to jeopardise your improvement but I thought you were playing with fire. I now feel guilty that I did not post something earlier. There is no grey area here and thankfully you now seem to have arrived at that conclusion. I genuinely wish you the very best in the future. Fill your life with other interests and know that all of us here are fully supportive of what you have done. Stay strong and keep well.

Sorry for the bump but its been a while!

Ive resurfaced the odd time but just wanted to post on how things are going. This was something that very neary cost me my life. I am the artist formerly known as mr.jingle just in case you didnt get it.

Nearly a year off them now and don't miss them to be honest. Its been tough at times but as time has gone on it has become easier. Still look at the odd race and still have a little interest in whats going on around the courses. I recently wrote a little piece for A Lust For Life, I'll post the link for anyone interested in hearing of the lows of gambling.

A lot of new names on here probably not familiar with the original post but take it from me if your losing on a constant basis and it doesnt have to much money either you need to get out. Its difficult to stop but not impossible and I'm a testament to that as believe me it was the one thing I ever thought about for the best part of 12/13yrs.

Nice to post here again so talk again soon. Mr.j shhhh

mytime wrote: »

I tip my hat to you. Its a terrible disease. Could you post the link to the piece you wrote I'd love to read it.

Little steps and stay strong

It wont let me post a link as im only a new user. Its on the A Lust for Life website. Its under Gambling with Life in personal stories. There is a pic of a man and a few chips on a poker table just click that.

http://www.alustforlife.com/personal-stories/gambling-with-life

Delighted to hear you are in a good place Jingle. Without sounding like a preacher you would be far better off not looking at the odd race or having any interest in what's going on around the courses. I believe that it would make the road that you are travelling a bit easier. Keep well.

Fair point Mr J. Whatever works for you is good. Delighted that you are doing so well.

I posted a review of Cheltenham on another thread and someone mentioned in a pm why I didn't back horses anymore and it brought me back to this, something I forwarded on to them!

Suppose there is no harm after such a week to show the dangers that gambling has and the effect it can have on you. I rarely watch racing anymore but I watched pretty much all of Cheltenham this year, bet free I might add, and enjoyed it. I used to find this week hard but now its just another week. In the past I have made mistakes and fallen back into gambling, St.Stephens Day was always the hardest as it was our lads days out in the pub, the guys would be betting, we'd be drinking all day and last year I relapsed mildly.

It has had its tough days, I still do get small urges but very rarely. I sort of hit a milestone this week in just how far it had gone. I work an average job, an average weekly wage so to find yourself in debt of just over 40k because of mainly gambling despite never being a heavy gambler wager wise, its a hard road back. This week it becomes less than half that total. So still just over a couple of years left of paying back what my counsellor calls my mini mortgage.

At the time of my worst gambling, I was one of the top players of pitch & putt in the country but would always fall short and could never really get that winners medal. Since I stopped, I've won 2 All Irelands, one individually and one with my county, travelled to South America to play in the first ever Ryder Cup of Pitch & Putt between Europe & SA which we won, playing with Ireland in winning a World Cup and European Championship, of which I was captain and honestly would never be where I am without giving up on gambling. I live for pitch & putt now, not losing money on gambling like it was before.

Sometimes change takes time, I knew I needed to change but didn't want to believe it. Thanks for reading, this thread brought back so many memories but also showed me how far I have come.

Love ya's boardies :P

Itziger wrote: »

Great to hear that, lad. Delighted for you and of course congratulations on the sporting achievements. Best of luck with the mini mortgage repayments!

By the way, is there any alternative you could find for St Stephen's Day?

The way things are with growing older, friends drift away, some have kids, get married and people lose touch, using social medua & whatsapp to communicate rather than going over to see them like we all once did. Due to that St.Stephens Day became our one day every year, where most of us actually meet up and have a laugh together. Their is an alternative though, quite simply don't drink. I rarely do anyway but definitely one to consider