"Free January" challenge

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changemylife

Guest
I've relapsed. For me, the challenge is a failure. I'm fucking ashamed cause I've started it. I gave in to edging. I feel like I could never beat this addiction no matter what. Don't listen to me if you want to recover cause I'm a shit example and I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about. I'm the guy who relapses once every 5 days, constantly. The porn junkie. That's how I should change my username.
 

joepanic

Respected Member
Change it back man  than get back up on your feet and try again  I fought this for over 30 years  I really got serious over a tear ago and it has taken me this long to finally feel I could win over it  Keep coming here  and take inspiration from the other fellows  Were here to support you weather your winning or losing  A reboot in not a straight line  a curvy  and hilly road  with a detour is still going to get you to your destination

        Post often it helped me it will help you
 
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changemylife

Guest
joepanic said:
Change it back man  than get back up on your feet and try again  I fought this for over 30 years  I really got serious over a tear ago and it has taken me this long to finally feel I could win over it  Keep coming here  and take inspiration from the other fellows  Were here to support you weather your winning or losing  A reboot in not a straight line  a curvy  and hilly road  with a detour is still going to get you to your destination

        Post often it helped me it will help you

Thanks man.
 
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Psyc Ops

Guest
Pornjunkie.  It is because you have not made the decision, and the decision, for guys like us, is incredibly difficult to make.  I know.  You are still trying to control porn.  For a junkie, porn cannot be controlled.  That must be accepted.  Accept that you have no control over it.  It is no tragedy.  Your situation is not tragic. Porn addiction is not something that just happens to us, it is a trained, learned, conditioned behavior. It is not like catching a cold; we train our brains over years to become addicted, it is just that we do not understand that at the time.  So, time to start understanding the way your brain works.

Accept that because you have no control over porn, the only way to have any control is to eradicate if from your life.  Once you accept you cannot control it in your life, but are just giving it up, as in forever, impossible becomes merely incredibly difficult.  You are a member of the alpha species on the planet.  If you try, very hard, you will eat incredibly difficult for a mid morning snack.  No easy way out, but, there is a way out.  Quit the challenge, quit counting the days.  The days do not matter if you are quit forever.   
 
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changemylife

Guest
Psyc Ops said:
Pornjunkie.  It is because you have not made the decision, and the decision, for guys like us, is incredibly difficult to make.  I know.  You are still trying to control porn.  For a junkie, porn cannot be controlled.  That must be accepted.  Accept that you have no control over it.  It is no tragedy.  Your situation is not tragic. Porn addiction is not something that just happens to us, it is a trained, learned, conditioned behavior. It is not like catching a cold; we train our brains over years to become addicted, it is just that we do not understand that at the time.  So, time to start understanding the way your brain works.

Accept that because you have no control over porn, the only way to have any control is to eradicate if from your life.  Once you accept you cannot control it in your life, but are just giving it up, as in forever, impossible becomes merely incredibly difficult.  You are a member of the alpha species on the planet.  If you try, very hard, you will eat incredibly difficult for a mid morning snack.  No easy way out, but, there is a way out.  Quit the challenge, quit counting the days.  The days do not matter if you are quit forever. 

That's right, man, but it seems so fucking incredibly difficult.
 
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Psyc Ops

Guest
It is incredibly difficult.  Before you take the first step you have to have made the decision to suffer.  In a sense, for a junkie, the decision to quit addiction is the decision to suffer.  It is a hard choice.  That pain will, eventually, lessen, and go away, and there is a morning in your future where you wake up and don't even miss it, porn and the dopamine euphoria it brings.  But, between now and then, there is pain.  Pain is the price we pay for freedom.  Pay it, or stay in the chains.  If you pay it, you will one day conclude the price was a cheap price to pay, in return for what you get.  If you don't pay it, you keep your chains. 
 
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changemylife

Guest
Psyc Ops said:
It is incredibly difficult.  Before you take the first step you have to have made the decision to suffer.  In a sense, for a junkie, the decision to quit addiction is the decision to suffer.  It is a hard choice.  That pain will, eventually, lessen, and go away, and there is a morning in your future where you wake up and don't even miss it, porn and the dopamine euphoria it brings.  But, between now and then, there is pain.  Pain is the price we pay for freedom.  Pay it, or stay in the chains.  If you pay it, you will one day conclude the price was a cheap price to pay, in return for what you get.  If you don't pay it, you keep your chains.

You know, one of man's biggest fear is the unknown. With this addiction, I have no idea when the pain ends. I don't know how much I have to wait and how much withdrawal with urges I have to go throw. But you're right. If you never start, you never reach the finish.
 
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Psyc Ops

Guest
Do the hard 90, and dedicate yourself to it. Don't use porn for 90 days. Plan on suffering and plan on avoiding the dopamine rush from artificial sexual stimulation. Think of the hard 90 as training wheels. By the end, if done right, you won't need them anymore to ride that bike.  Are you going to wreck it a couple of times?  Maybe, but no one forgets how to ride the bike.
 
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changemylife

Guest
Psyc Ops said:
Do the hard 90, and dedicate yourself to it. Don't use porn for 90 days. Plan on suffering and plan on avoiding the dopamine rush from artificial sexual stimulation. Think of the hard 90 as training wheels. By the end, if done right, you won't need them anymore to ride that bike.  Are you going to wreck it a couple of times?  Maybe, but no one forgets how to ride the bike.

That's right, man. I've calmed myself down a little bit from how pissed off I was after the relapse, now I can think more clearly. Alright, I will commit myself to the hard mode. After all these years of artificial pleasure, I can't avoid the pain. I just want to end the circle of: Suffering (urges) -> Relief (relapse) -> Suffering again. I might as well go through the suffering once and be done with it than encountering it every time. I can't believe I let the edging throw me down today.
 

BKM

Active Member
I'm in, I have not used porn for  couple of years now, but every little incentive helps to keep on the straight and narrow. I am currently trying to swear less too, so I am going to add that to my free January. I think swearing as much as I do, especially at work, harms my character, I think it lessens peoples respect of me. I also think it quite a immature thing to do and is kind of another addiction I want to leave behind. For me it means maturity and personal growth. I want to bury it with my porn addiction.
 

imaquitter

Active Member
I'm in!

I'm currently on day 80 free of PMO, but only day 9 hardmode.
January will be my new hardmode streak!

Thanks changemylife.

And you can do it!  :) :) :)
 
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Psyc Ops

Guest
6.  Clear. No porn, no use of artificial sexual stimulation to reach a dopamine high.  I did have sex yesterday. I got no complaints. :)
 

joepanic

Respected Member
Day 6 for me too day 34 of my current clean streak  things feel pretty good  had a slight trigger last night but it did not lead to any sort of urge  more on that in my reg journal  This little exercise is really helping  to keep my mind on a little  fact  "I have done 34 days so far  the Jan challenge of  30 days p free should be an easy one for me to add to it as I have done it alread"

    Post often it helped me it will help you
 

HandSolong

Member
changemylife said:
That's right, man. I've calmed myself down a little bit from how pissed off I was after the relapse, now I can think more clearly. Alright, I will commit myself to the hard mode. After all these years of artificial pleasure, I can't avoid the pain. I just want to end the circle of: Suffering (urges) -> Relief (relapse) -> Suffering again. I might as well go through the suffering once and be done with it than encountering it every time. I can't believe I let the edging throw me down today.
Hey changemylife, I've read your last few posts....don't be so hard on yourself. After 20 plus years of smoking cigarettes I finally figured it out for myself and I'm currently 15 months cigarette free. I failed a whole bunch of times but I would never have gotten to enjoy the 15 months of freedom I currently enjoy if I had quit trying. I'm right here with you trying to quit this PMO addiction. I'm determined to keep failing until I get this one right too! I'll tell you this much though, you've got me beat in the sense of your NOFAP got off track because of edging. I could never edge. If I start....I "O".

Keep the faith.
 

jjo7

Member
I?m in on this as well - much better than ?dry January? to just avoid alcohol...

Had a relapse today after 17 days clean (and on top of many similar/longer breaks over the last few months).

Here to permanently stomp out the small flames and embers that continue to burn as I?ve worked to control and tame the raging fire that has been the porn/maaturbation addiction of my life the last many years.  I am finally at a place where I feel....I know....I can control my urges and that porn no longer dominates my life.

BUT, I am also aware how dangerous this addiction can be and how one slip here and one slip there can easily lead to a cascade of more and more binging and craving and dopamine desperation.

So here?s to all joining in this challenge - Jan 31st here we come!!
 
Techincally Day 5 for me, as I began the New Year with a hungover relapse  :'( (note: hangovers a definite trigger).

However, as soon as I had finished, I was determined to go the rest of the month clean. Since then, I've been going well, no porn, avoiding trigger situations, keeping myself busy outside and with family. Around the 5-10 day mark is when urges are strongest, and when I am most susceptible to triggers (yesterday just seeing a hot newsreader on TV almost sent me over the edge!).

Good luck to everyone else for the rest of the month - and beyond!
 
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changemylife

Guest
Okay, I'm 7 days too late, as I've failed the challenge but, anyway, today I started my hardmode experiment. My first goal is 1 week.
 
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Psyc Ops

Guest
7.  No porn. No use of artificial sexual stimulation to boost a dopamine high.  It will be this way, every day, this month. Period.
 

joepanic

Respected Member
Day 7 for  me  and day 35 of present streak    got up early  good workout  feeling really good about the day  cheers to everyone rebooting
 

HandSolong

Member
Day 7

Today's a good day. I had been battling some strong urges over the weekend but today it feels like my mind, body, and soul are at peace. I'm really starting to believe that I'm going to look back and think getting rid of the internet at home and using software to keep the mobile devices in check were the best things I did for myself in 2019.
 
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