Professional Gambling: How to Control Your Emotions?
I don’t know about you, but as a child I could associate with David Banner and the demon within – The Incredible Hulk.
He used to say: ‘Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.’
I think we all have days like that. When people if not the world transpire to make us angry.
The 6:00 Windsor could easily become one of those moments. I’ve placed a big bet and I’m looking forward to a win. However, horse racing, gambling, as in life, there are no guarantees. You would think the best horse always wins the race. That’s often a fair statement but it doesn’t always lead to success. There are many and varied reasons why a horse wins or loses and they are often simply down to circumstance.
I guess each person has a distinct temperament. It’s a combination of nature and nurture. Before they had any ethics in psychological studies Little Albert was traumatised because some wicked psychologist banged two pans together behind his head to see his reaction. Later in life he struggled with any loud noises.
Personally, I try to keep calm. I try to detach myself from the emotions within especially when gambling because emotions don’t really do us much good at times. If we get caught within that mindset it seems to take us further down a shadowy path. It often sees us take someone with us too which is unfair because most people in life are truly innocent bystanders. David Banner could never control his emotions.
Emotions are enemy number one. If you get caught on a tide of emotions when gambling, especially losing, you are in for one hell of a roller-coaster ride. You simply cannot allow that to happen where you focus on a combination of anger and greed. Not to say keeping calm or balanced is an easy option when you’ve had a bad week, month or gambling year. But somehow you have to keep calm. If only we could all keep calm. Yes, it’s easier said than done. But what is the other option, arm wrestling with David until he gets really angry and you notice your arm has gone.
My approach to keeping keeping emotionally balanced when gambling is to have guidelines and rules. Simply put, if you have an answer to a given question it is probably better than plucking something out of the air or the depths of your mind when you are consumed with emotional overload. A knee-jerk reaction is rarely a winning decision. It’s a recipe for disaster. Like letting a three-year-old child make your Pot Noodle only to find after the first mouthful they replaced hot water with bleach.
Perhaps Little Albert had good reason to get his own back.
Think pretty thoughts. Count to ten. Hold your breath until your face turns blue. Stick a lavender pillow under your pillow. But stop yourself from opening that door which sees you enter the world of disturbed emotional thinking.
In truth, gambling isn’t the easiest path to walk. Even for a particularly calm individual it can be traumatic. But when you consider life, it is a test of character. Our emotions can change from being Mother Teresa one moment to Freddy Krueger the next. You know the latter was just a fictional character and the former some have said was a money launderer.
I hope those words didn’t make you angry.
We are all at the mercy of our emotions. Even the person who is told they are emotionless is at the mercy of being told. If they flew into a rage it would be held against them.
Learning is the key to keeping calm and subduing those emotions which bubble up like a witches cauldron.
We need to think through our thinking, making notes in a journal or sitting quietly to consider our strength and weakness with introspection.
Perhaps if we save our good emotions that’s the answer. Let them shine brightly for the world to enjoy.
If you meet David, Little Albert or a distressed bloke walking out of the bookmakers after a losing run we don’t need to say a word but act kindly as we should to ourselves in appreciating why it is important to keep calm in the face of adversity.