Living with Addiction - Day 8

So, yesterday I went to a BBQ at one of my friend's place. I had a little trepidation as I headed out. I was supposed to go with another friend but she had just gotten over COVID and wasn't feeling quite well enough to venture out especially with the weather as it was. There were storms and rain expected but I still went anyway. I did not set out to tell my immediate friends yet about my gambling addiction, but I'm glad I did. It turned out the couple of folks I did tell reminded me about their own addiction to alchohol. I had almost forgotten about that as they had shared that with me quite a while ago, and I must have forgotten. Of course I was a little embarrassed to tell them as I was initially afraid they would judge my irresponsible behaviour especially with how much money I've spent.  I also confessed to them that this wasn't my first go around but I was able to pay off the debt.  I explained I can still pay it again, but elected not to for right now.  I really want to get this thing together before I pay that debt down for fear it would be too easy to get it back up again and fall prey to going back to playing the game.

I just love my friends, they were so supportive and those that I did tell, as I didn't tell everyone at the BBQ said they would lend whatever support I needed. So, they will all be giving me like a quick text during the week, not everyday, but just to kind of check in to encourage me to stay on track.  My dearest friend who I've known the longest also prompted me to contact gamblersanonymous as it does work and I can be paired with a sponsor whom I can call anytime day or night, if I run into any issues.  My other friend, I would say I've know her second longest to my bestie even asked if a poker game would trigger stuff.  Normally we would get together once every couple of months and play a little poker.  I said, no, I really don't believe that would be problematic at all as it's more like time with my friends. We always set a limit for how much the buy in is, and we never play for too long a period of time.  Afterwards we switch to board games as I way to continue the night, just hanging.

Of course, imagine my surprise when I came home last night, there was a package waiting for me. It was from the Ceasars Slots group. The package contained some grilling instruments, a cooking apron, a towel and a cutting board. I was like oh my. At first, I kind of felt like I should at least thank them, but then that would mean having to put the app back in my laptop to reach out.  So, I'm proud to say, I did not do that. So, far, so good. It's been quite a few days now and I'm feeling great.  This morning, I was checking my pay stuff like I normally do, played a little trivia game and another game that's called Richochet, it's kind of one of those shooting games, again no costs involved. For the rest of today, gonna continue watching the Sopranos series, which I loved back in the day. Spend time with Merlin my cat as I'm sure he missed me terribly while I was out.

Until next time, stay safe for the rest of the fourth of July holiday.