This Casino stuff started out innocent enough. Just went once with my sister & her husband{who by the way just gamble socially every now & then}. Not like me, I have for the past 9 yrs, gone back & forth to a certain casino. There was long wait before my 2nd time to a casino. But when I went I never stopped totaly. Lady Luck was with me quite a-lot in those days. The largest amt. for a .25 cent machine, that I had won was almost $3,000.00. One time I took my sister & bother-in-law there, I hit on a machine & before they could pay me off, hit on it again. A dream come true!!

Again, thank-you to Shelley, Ravisher, Nana, and Honesty for their input. I assume the rest are passive users. Now, compulsive gamblers have made a lot of bad decisions that have harmed themselves, their employers, friends, and family members. These bad decisions have included lying, manipulating, stealing and other crimes. In order to move forward with our lives we have to forgive other people and especially forgive ourselves for our mistakes and transgressions. If you have any good articles, quotes, or personal techniques you use to forgive, please let newcomers know about them.

More and more, I find myself coming to this site not to talk about the specifics of my gambling past but how I can become a better person.

Getting to know ourselves is a very important step in gambling recovery. To know ourselves, who we are, what makes us do the things we do, what makes us tick, what makes us react one way to a situation while others react in a different way. What makes us angry, defensive, bored, insecure, depressed...What factors determine these emotions that eventually lead us to gambling?

What steps, processes does a gambler have to go through in order to know or understand themselves?

Any suggestions for newcomers?

Admin.

These are the first steps in our gaining freedom from gambling. Stopping is no easy task, I've been trying with all my might for the last couple weeks. Visiting the site and raising my awareness has helped tremendously. I have had a couple slip ups in this time, but feel that I am much closer to success today than I was yesterday. We have to view this as a life change that we're choosing to bless ourselves with. Each day that passes without gambling is a day closer to a happy gambling free life. Your habit sounds very similar to mine and many others on this site.