On Sunday and yesterday, Monday, I had some situations you might find interesting.
1) Due to the recent spike in OIL prices from $60 to $90, I wanted to hear a podcast from an Argentine guy (he's got a Twitter account called "rick_decard). Although I don't fully agree wth him on so many things (finances and politics), he's sharp and is one of the best traders I know.
The problem is that he is foul-mouthed to an extreme. For example, he starts to bash people who bought some stock/bond, and he says they get their As* Fuc**, while he begins to give a lot of details of the 'sexual intercourse'. He says it in a funny/jocking way, but that alone was enough to trigger me, while I started to think about sex. It's complicated to explain quickly here, but you get the point.
I mean, finance podcast ---> trigger to think about sex ---> that could lead me to PMO
I share this with you to be aware of it. Journaling will help you to identify these subtle patterns.
2) I logged into Facebook, and I saw a girl in shorts in a reel (only the thumbnail), but thank God I didn't click that reel. That's a really dangerous slippery slope.
3) Yesterday I went to the grocery store, and there was a new cashier. She's been working there for 2 weeks or so. She was wearing shorts, I mean, really short shorts. She was cleaning, and she was in a position that was dangerous/triggering for me. Thank God, I just greeted her and her coworker (as a matter of courtesy), and that I didn't fall into the trap of thinking about sex and about her.
Another story to share with you today is the last "full" relapse that I had in my last streak in late January. I saw a woman in a bikini going to a pool (it's summer here). I’d say she was about 42. Obviously, it's out of my age range, while I'm interested in girls 19-24 yo or so (for long-term relationships). However, you know what I mean; she's a woman, and I'll spare you the details of her body (for obvious reasons). That made me start to think about sex and eventually led me to relapse.
There are two key takeaways here:
1) We should reduce exposure to things that indirectly could lead to PMO (this finance podcast, Facebook, etc)
2) There are situations that we can't prevent (cashier, random stuff out there, etc). Regarding this, while we cannot prevent it, we do actually decide not to further think about it (feeding sexual thoughts). I mean, we must avoid thinking about it for the second or third time (not to entertain the thought).
As they say:
If you don't add more wood to the fire, it'll eventually go out.
Obviously, this is easier said than done. But it's a fight worth having.
