Welcome to Day 39 of the Wellbeing 9-a-Day blog! Over the past week or so, we’ve focused on Your Journey and how Setting Goals, Being Mindful and Letting Go help you to move forward in life. In today’s blog, I would like to focus on a habit I have been letting go since the start of my journey with The Wellbeing 9-a-Day Journal.
Gambling Through the Avenues of Time
Since my days at university, I have always enjoyed betting on football matches. More for fun than for winning money, as proved by my overall lack of winnings over the years, I would look forward to the week’s accumulators.
Over the course of the weekend, I would monitor the scores, hoping that one of my bets would win big.
The appeal of accumulators is immediately apparent. For a relatively small sum of money, you can take a punt on a selection of results and potentially win a large amount of money.
I witnessed first-hand when one of the guys I lived with won over £1,000 off a £7 stake during the Europa League qualifying rounds. I still remember his unadulterated glee when Fernando Llorente scored an injury time winner for Athletic Bilbao against Tromso to win him the money.
My betting history has never had such a tale of victory. Lured in by the enhanced odds, I invariably add one too many matches to my betting slip and end up with nothing. After all, the reality of long odds is that they are very unlikely to actually happen.
For me, the price of gambling was more than the stakes I placed, which were often a quid here or a fiver there. The real problem was that I shaped my weekends around the games, constantly refreshing the feeds to see if a goal had gone in.
Winning Big at the World Cup
Though it had been a while since I had gambled, I found myself drawn back in by the World Cup in Qatar. My girlfriend and I both work at home, and I was delighted to find that she actively wanted to watch every match.
For a month, we had football on in the background, and it did not take me long to be lured back in by the appeal of a punt on the outcome of the games. Game by game, day by day, I placed my bets in the hope of winning some dosh and making the games more exciting in the process.
Unfortunately, I forgot that the World Cup can be very difficult to predict.
To begin with, I bet on the favourites, only for teams like Saudi Arabia to beat eventual winners Argentina. I then shifted my tactics to back the underdogs, only for the favourites to start winning.
After a phase of hedging my bets, I realised that I was not only wasting money but time as well, with none of the supposed benefits that I convinced myself I was getting.
By the end of the World Cup, the habit had tipped over into the shadow and it was time for me to take a prolonged period off gambling.
This period lasted 46 days, during which time I didn’t miss gambling at all, and only ended yesterday because my beloved Newcastle United were in the League Cup final. Having lost all of my bets by half time, it is safe to say I don't feel much desire to recontinue the habit.
Call to Action!
Do you have any habits that have tipped over into their shadow expression? Whether gambling, alcohol, social media, or anything else, it is important to become aware of habits that are having a negative effect on your health and wellbeing. Taking some time off for a reset is a great way to find balance and ensure that you are making decisions consciously.
This blog was written as part of a 90-day blog writing fundraiser for Live Well with Cancer, a volunteer-led charity serving North Tyneside and the surrounding areas. If you enjoyed this blog, please show your appreciation by donating to my JustGiving page. Every penny raised from donations or sales of the journal will help deliver workshops, events and support groups that empower better health and wellbeing for those affected by cancer, including family, friends, carers, and healthcare workers.
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