My Experience with Gambling Addiction

Gambling is one of the most popular risks people take in our world today in their bid to acquire wealth quickly without going through much stress. While gambling always seems to promise cool enormous returns, it's worth noting that it is a game of luck and chance, and given the huge amount associated with winning, those behind the games usually do all it takes to make winning difficult, and if you aren't conscious and set a limit for yourself in gambling, then one might end up spending all their life earnings on it, because they've put all their hope and prospect of making wealth on gambling.

I used to be a regular gambler during my school days, and I remember the first form of gamble I indulged in was dice rolling. I had stumbled on the place students from my high school used to play it while searching for a shortcut that'd get me home on time, and out of curiosity I decided to join them. At first I was observing, and I couldn't help but notice how one particular student used just a token of 50 naira to win over 750 naira after winning consistently.

Looking at his luck, I decided to give it a try myself, and at first I won twice in a roll, but after that, things went south, and I ended up losing everything I had on me that day. It was a very disappointing experience for me, and I made up my mind not to ever visit that place again, of which indeed I kept to my world and never participated in that again till I graduated from high school.

But looking forward to my college days as an undergraduate, I once again found my way into gambling via the influence of some of my friends and a hostelmate who plays football betting. One way or another, I found myself also playing, and before you know it, I became a regular myself, winning on a few occasions, but yet addicted because I've believed that one day I'll win big.

I did win frequently for some time, but it got to a stage when I had to sit myself down and analyze my life through the years, especially in the aspect of finances, and after thorough analysis, I realized gambling is doing far more damage in my life than good because I can remember I even at a time used part of my school fee to gamble and losses, leading to me having to set a heavy duty job to acquire that money back and pay my fee.

After that self-reflection I had with myself, I decided to stop gambling, and since that very day, I've abstain from everything that has to do with gambling because I've seen its dangers firsthand in my own life and don't really need a counselor to talk me into stopping, because I myself know if I don't stop, then it will jeopardize not just my channels of graduating from college but could go on to ruin my life and my future.

My advice to those who gamble is to do it consciously, have a limit, and have self-control to never go above that limit, because gambling is a way of punishing us beyond our initial stands, and if you don't have a strong will enough, you'll find yourself going against your own limit, which might lead to bigger losses, because I know it can also lead to a huge win, but you and I know that chances are lower than that of wining, so be conscious and use your brain by knowing when to stop or take a break.

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Here is my entry for the Cleanplanet weekly prompt and the octorberinleo prompt for day 10, you can read this post to get details and participate, shout-out to @nwothini335

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All photos are taken and edited on canva.

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