Originally posted on 11/29/2016:

Quote Originally Posted by GoPanthers88 View Post

Thanks for the honest and thought out post. I posted this last night right after losing my final "chips" and was bitter about how things happened. I definitely recognize this is on me and was more curious around what obligations, if any, a book like BOL was under to honor requests like mine.

That said, it has been a long few months with multiple occurrences like this where I run a balance way up only to give it all back.

The rock bottom part is tough because I feel like I've hit it multiple times, but then the bottom continues to change and shift based on my professional life. Example: losing $500 in college when I had nothing was rock bottom vs. now when I am doing very well professionally losing $10k and being unable to pay bills for a couple weeks is the new rock bottom.

I guess I just worry because as I continue to improve my salary into the high $150k+ range, that rock bottom number continues to get higher and higher. It just worries me I'll continue to go down the path I am on now where losing $10k isn't as big of a deal but I'll go until I lose $20k and then be back in the same spot.

In any case, I've tried to GA meetings a couple times but the steps program in a church with religious undertones wasn't a good fit for me. I respect what you're saying about no one can fix this but me, but then you constantly hear that you can't fix it alone either so it's tough.

Maybe not the spot for this but if my comments resonate with anyone and they have any suggestions on things that helped them, I'm all ears.
You sound like you are going through the same thing I did in my mid 20s. Was earning a lot of money so I could blow a thousand or two, or even everything I could get my hands on, knowing another 10k was coming in again soon.

And I felt the same about GA. The program anyway. But visiting a couple of meetings really did help me. Listening to people who had stolen off their employers, parents and even kids to gamble made me sit up and say to myself, I am not like this. I am not one of these people who have totally given up and are being fed this pathetic line that they cant possibly ever control themselves. GA program is insidious imho.

I had to do the cold turkey thing. I really wasn't sure I could do it at the time and had friends also ruining their lives who re-inforced the idea that it wasn't our fault and we couldn't control it.

Me, and most people I knew well from that period all managed to get over it and have zero problem with control today. I can hardly bring myself to sit in front of a poker machine without falling asleep thee days. It's weird how fast the 'uncontrollable urges' go away when you REALLY decide to stop the stupidity. It's a really nice and empowering feeling too. Worth the effort.