Real Stories
3 AM and the Notification
March 5, 2025
It was past three. He couldn’t sleep. The phone was right there.
He wasn’t thinking about quitting or winning. He was just tired, and his mind kept circling the same idea: open the app, tap once, see what happens. It felt small. Harmless.
His thumb moved to the icon. Then a short message appeared—something he had set up himself, weeks ago, when his head was clear. A reminder of the boundary he’d chosen. Not a warning. Not a block. Just a pause.
He didn’t feel judged. He didn’t feel caught. He just … stopped. Put the phone face-down. Lay back.
The urge didn’t vanish. But it lost its grip. By morning he was glad he’d waited. No big turnaround. Just one night where the earlier version of himself got a say.