Reboot Journal: A path to freedom

espresso123

Member
Day 5.

The usual start to the morning. Woke up, got the coffee, took the country drive, talked to the friend and now getting ready to log onto work. Feels good to be at day 5, but at the same time, this is around the time, for me at least, that the cravings really come on. It is what it is. Gonna focus on work and hit some exercise afterwards, then off to my friend's for the weekend fishing trip. Gonna have to break this day up into segments and take it a chunk at a time. For now, let's just get through the morning.
 

GBS

Respected Member
Good job getting to 5. Not going to hand you the answer as to how you get to 10 and 15 except you will start to notice some changes that you could latch onto. Also you will know that from a scientific point of view you will have started to close those neural pathways a bit.
keep going, man, you’re a hero.
 

espresso123

Member
Thank You!
Good job getting to 5. Not going to hand you the answer as to how you get to 10 and 15 except you will start to notice some changes that you could latch onto. Also you will know that from a scientific point of view you will have started to close those neural pathways a bit.
keep going, man, you’re a hero.
 

espresso123

Member
Day 6. Whew. This is hard. Really hard. I have to keep it incredibly simple and keep identifying these horrible mood swings as just withdrawals. I am sooooooo depressed and sad.

Yesterday felt so ugly. My mind just kept going there. I have to remind myself that it’s just part of the process.

Day 6 is really a milestone. It’s been a couple months since I have made it past 5 days.

I’m ok expressing this in its rawest form. Otherwise I would try and act like everything is Ok and get caught up in sounding better than I actually am. Kinda feels good.
 

GBS

Respected Member
Keep remembering you’re not alone. You’re not broken, you’re not abnormal……..because if you are then I am and many others too. We’re the Guinea pigs in this problem. Let’s be an example. Let me know when you get to 7 days. You’re doing brilliant.
 

espresso123

Member
Keep remembering you’re not alone. You’re not broken, you’re not abnormal……..because if you are then I am and many others too. We’re the Guinea pigs in this problem. Let’s be an example. Let me know when you get to 7 days. You’re doing brilliant.
Thank You GBS! Starting Day 7 right now! Feeling some optimism and gonna just enjoy that feeling. I am making to 2 hour trek home from my friends house. Gonna grab a coffee and listen to some music on the way home, then go from there.

Cheers!
 

espresso123

Member
Well I made it 6 days and 20 hours. Wish I was writing Day 8 today but it’s Day 1 again. I think that is the longest I have went for a few months so if I had to pull something positive out of it, it would be that. I guess progress isn’t always pretty.

I think I need to make a plan right now to be around people when I go through that stretch of days, again. I mean, I was with a friend throughout the weekend, but when I got home on Sunday I was by myself.

That’s about it. I don’t want to get bogged down in it. Get up and try again.
 

GrateClips

Active Member
I like your journal. You look to have started just a bit before me (brand new today). Your brutal honesty is refreshing to hear.

All I will say to you at this time is-- please don't be too hard on yourself. Probably advice many of us could use, myself included. Its those days that are super hard and you don't turn to your bad habits that make us much stronger the next day.
 

GBS

Respected Member
Being alone is possibly number 1 trigger. Try looking at the journal when you’re first alone. That has worked for me. Keep writing your journal and if you need to write loads of times a day. Anything that distracts you is good. Call a mate up, do some cooking, read a book. Avoid a screen if you can (except for this forum).

You are NOT alone I promise you.
 

espresso123

Member
I like your journal. You look to have started just a bit before me (brand new today). Your brutal honesty is refreshing to hear.

All I will say to you at this time is-- please don't be too hard on yourself. Probably advice many of us could use, myself included. Its those days that are super hard and you don't turn to your bad habits that make us much stronger the next day.
Thanks for the support @GrateClips. I always need to hear that. Take Care!
 

espresso123

Member
Being alone is possibly number 1 trigger. Try looking at the journal when you’re first alone. That has worked for me. Keep writing your journal and if you need to write loads of times a day. Anything that distracts you is good. Call a mate up, do some cooking, read a book. Avoid a screen if you can (except for this forum).

You are NOT alone I promise you.
Thanks @GBS. I agree with you. Being alone is probably my number one trigger. That and the weekend. During the week I am busy enough, once Friday arrives I start getting very squirrely. I like your idea of writing as many times as you need too.

I just picked up a second job doing something I love. To me I look at it as volunteer work, because I do not need the money. That is just an extra benny. But's it's going to get me involved with the community and I think that is going to help with this thing. Less alone time, and something constructive to do (it's a teaching gig)

Always appreciate your support.
 

espresso123

Member
Day 1 is almost done again. I woke up this morning, with a sense of discouragement and confusion. I let myself shed a few tears, then got up. I realized what other choice do I have but to get up. Boy, I tell you what. This thing can change on a dime. Yesterday morning I felt pretty good about all of this and really thought that I would be making it through yesterday and today I would be marking it as Day 8. But, once I got home and was alone it started to creep in. Coincidentally a friend texted me and asked for some help, which I took as a blessing in disguise. So, I helped my friend out which got me through the afternoon, but then finally we went are separate ways and I went home for the evening. I was so tired and should have just went to bed, but I stayed up and that was my downfall.

This thing just boils down to one decision. The decision to go to bed, or call someone, to put myself around people. These types of decisions literally change the course of the day. Do I make it another day, or do I have another slip. I mean, it is easier said than done, but that doesn't make it any less True. One decision can change everything ... one decision.

Today I started up a second job. It's more of a volunteer position than it is a job. I don't need the money. But it's a chance to teach and help others, and has a community vibe to it. I get to go a couple more times this week shadowing some other teachers, then I'll start up teaching. I don't want to be too specific because I guess anybody could be reading my posts, but I am excited to have this opportunity. Tonight when I left orientation I felt a real sense of cleanness and wholesomeness. I'll be teaching a couple times a week and I think it is really going to help me to fill some of that time on my hands feeling, and also just make me feel good about helping other people learn.

Thank You to all who replied to my thread this morning. I always need to hear others support, reminding me not to be too hard on myself, and that I am not alone in this. Normalizes all of this for me.
 

espresso123

Member
Does anybody know how to change your profile settings, so that your journal in the forum can't be read unless someone signs in to reboot nation? I have noticed that I can come to this website, and not login, and go to the forum, and read everything I wrote. I don't really want it to be public. I don't mind if those that are signed into this site, can read it, but I don't really want it so public that you don't even have to sign in to read someones journal.

If you read this, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 

espresso123

Member
Day 3.

Looking forward to visiting with my friend this morning. Always inspiring to have our morning conversation. Not much else to report, really. It's Day 3 again, and so far so good. The weekend is drawing closer and is a huge trigger. Gonna start making plans today, for the weekend. Something fun that gives me enough fulfillment that I won't seek out the other. A day of shopping would be nice. Lol. Hey, retail recovery is a legitimate option for this guy.

I am trying to give myself permission to just have fun, and don't get so damn "disciplined" with everything (if that makes sense). Now is not really the time to cut down on coffee, penny pinch, eat only carrots and kale, and stress over my 401K portfolio..This, right here, takes enough effort, that too much "adulting" is enough to tip the scales...maybe I'll just buy a bunch of crayons, turn the music up, fire up the espresso machine, and have a color book party. Lol. Shit, I don't know. I'm just trying to change some of the serious attitude that seems to want to stick like glue, when doing a reboot. It's so stupid. It's like "Gee, were rebooting, which is such a serious thing, that I should probably should just be a super hero adult and make sure that I know this is a serious matter man. Probably should just build a bomb shelter, keep drinking tons of shame smoothies, and perform huge gymnastic movements of penance!!". Hard to explain, but I guess I really don't have to. My journal, my entry, my coffee buzz, my life.

Oh sigh...gotta love another day in reboot paradise :)
 

espresso123

Member
Retiring for the night and Day 3 is in the books. I so don't want to curse this, but it does feel different than last time. I know tough times are going to come, and maybe it could be an hour from now, but I feel like the scale is starting to tip toward, I don't wanna do it, more than it is toward I wanna do it (even if I was wanting to do it, I would still not want to do it, if that makes sense. I have a feeling someone understands what I am saying). My inner critic is already telling me "Don't write this stuff, your just going to screw up again, and then you'll look like an idiot", but I don't care. He can go to hell. I'm not stopping writing. I don't care if it feels like everything is better and I am never going to do it again, or if it feels like I could say f*** it at any moment and I hate everything around me. That is what I am going to write.

Whew, feeling a little spicy. Lol. Well, I just got off the phone with someone who tried to manipulate me and take me hostage with their opinion. That is always tons of fun. You know, I would rather have someone just be straight forward and pushy, than passive and clever. They set you up with compliments, buttering you up with attention, then bob and weave through their own vocabulary finding places where they try and insert mind control without their victims knowing it. It's gross. Lol. This dude is the master, only he is trying it on another master. Lol. Yes, I have that in me as well, so I can smell it a mile away.

I swear to you, I am not one of those paranoid uptight dudes where everybody else is a jerk. I'm actually pretty chill. But, that is what he was trying to do. Better luck next time dudeage.

Man, today a lady at the gym tried to convince me that Napoleon Dynamites brother works out at our gym. She is the type that wouldn't just say that either. She went on to build her case about how he came from our town, and has since moved back and is working out at our gym. I actually got excited and said I am going to get his autograph and ask him to kick me in the shin (you'll have had the see the movie). She laughed so hard. I don't think she believed me, but I was totally serious :) Well, after I gathered more data on the situation, I don't think she is right and that guy would have had no idea at all what I was talking about. It was a really funny part of my day. I loved it.

The sun was out today, and I got to exercise with a host of friends, then lie around in a pool of sweat afterwards and take note at how dirty the floors were (visual inspection while lying on the ground....ewe.) Good visits. I love these people. It's good to have people in our lives. It's always been un-natural for me to pursue relationships (not just romantic). Not really all that great at social queues. But, there are moments, more and more for me, where I really love people.

I don't think I have anything else left in my brain, that is worth spilling to this page, so I guess I am done. God, I am going to do 27 backflips (Ok, maybe forward somersaults. I think I could handle that) when I make it to Monday and have survived the weekend. I don't care if my ass falls of this weekend, I am not going to slip and end up on some dumb ass porn site. I want my old self back. There was a time when my sex space was completely normal (well mostly). I never looked at Porn and was really excited about being with other human beings. Then slowly that shit took over, and it has caused so much anxiety in my life, and disconnected me from beauty of being a human being. I want my life back. You all have shown me that it can happen. You can get it back. Seems a little different than say "drugs". They say once a pickle always a pickle. But with this thing, it is such a relief to know that if you just leave it completely alone, then the body will heal and return itself to a normal state. Granted, I know the goal then, would be able to keep that state, but it's such a positive message. Better than the doom and gloom that can surround such situations. I thank you all for giving me a positive message.

I am falling asleep. Really have no idea what I just wrote. It doesn't matter. It stays just as is.
 

espresso123

Member
Day 4.

Feeling fidgety. Deciding not to sit in it. Gonna change the direction. Exercise soon, after work, then off to go see a concert with my Brother. Not completely into the music, but I am into spending time with my brother. He asked me to go. I don't think he has asked me to go to something in years. And, he paid for the ticket. We are close, he has just went through his own highs and lows, and I think he is starting to come out of whatever rock he crawled under. So, I am going to enjoy being with him, and am super happy he is getting out again.

I thought about how I could turn this living affirmation into a positive affirmation. Kinda like they do in counseling. Example, instead of saying "I'm not going to look at porn today", it would be "I am going to appreciate the positive aspects of my day, and enjoy the relationships in my life".

My mission is to get my sex life back to its intended state. I want to enjoy being a human being again in this department, and have whole human experiences. No more virtual fantasy and all the introverted shit that goes with it. So, the mission is no longer "Quit porn", the mission is "Reclaiming my space and enjoying my life and the relationships in it". That is the mission. Now, part of the plan to achieve this is definitely to abstain from the use Pornography, and anything else that is related to it, but now those are just action items within the big picture. They are a part of the things that will need to be done in order to have a happy and fulfilling life. This is a way more positive take on this thing, for me anyway.
 

espresso123

Member
Day 5. The weekend is upon me. I feel a lot better about it than I did last Friday.

I went to a concert last night and felt like a ghost. Watching all the happy couples excited to be there together, the friends huddled up talking and laughing, people just totally engaged in life. It brought the awareness how disconnected I have become over the years and how much porn has played a part of this. It doesn’t seem so suttle to me now, but just how suttle it has been over a span of my life, and how it has affected me, and others, in so many ways. Super yuck! I am really glad for this experience. Contrast is key. Have to get out around stuff like this to gain that contrast.

It was a good time overall. Good hanging with my brother.
 

GrateClips

Active Member
Being alone is possibly number 1 trigger. Try looking at the journal when you’re first alone. That has worked for me. Keep writing your journal and if you need to write loads of times a day. Anything that distracts you is good. Call a mate up, do some cooking, read a book. Avoid a screen if you can (except for this forum).

You are NOT alone I promise you.
agree alone sounds like the devil's time for many of us here from what i read. and the last two years of shut ins, no date nights or sorts of stuff just made everything much worse.
 
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