Yet never did? So i was thinking back to the past and when I was 16 I did infact have the thought to quit watching porn when i was thinking about approaching a girl for the very first time. I dismissed the thought, but here I am 15 years later wishing I never did. I think its very important to listen to your thoughts even if they sound dramatic, because usually your first reaction to something is the truth.
You can't change the past. I'm in a similar age group like you and I was thinking thousands and thousands of time "What if..."... What if I'd have quit porn when I was 16 and instead asked real girls out one after another? I had several opportunities but never ever acted. Instead I spent 8h a day on porn for years and contemplated my suicide. Luckily I didn't do it. What if I'd have put all the money I spent on alcohol the last 15 years in stocks instead? What if I'd have quit my boring, totally senseless and expensive business studies after 1 semester and have started my own IT business 10 years ago? Well, I tell you what'd have happened. I'd probably feel like freakin king of the world compared to the way I feel right now. But you can't undo the past. You (and I) have 2 advantages though. First. We are still in the physical peak of our lives for another 10 years, if you regularly visit the gym. Second. Once you overcome PMO addiction, you have a much stronger resilience to other addictions and potential mid life crises because you know how it feels to hit rock bottom. Use your time well in your 30s. I'm trying to do the same.
Of course we did, if we're here it is because we have regrets, but every single decision you've ever taken in your life lead you here, just here. So you know I thought about quitting porn since I was 20 I joined here when I was 23, but maybe if I acted before, I would never joined here and just lowered my porn consumption but never improved like I am doing since I joined here. Every single decision cause thousands of possible scenarios. So yes I should have done this years and years ago, but life lead me here and that's okay
I'm going through something kind of similar, and it actually warms my heart a little reading your posts in this thread! Yeah, I used to have a lot of thoughts like "what if I did *some work/studying* instead of jacking off for four hours?", now, instead of that; I force myself to do something productive, or at least something that brings me the feeling of satisfaction. And I agree with fg4795 with what he said about the improvement. Thanks to my mistakes, I'm discovering each day a little more the beautiful person I am. Cheers!
My history is what helped me to develop into the person I am today. Sure, I do regret my choices every now and then and feel like I've missed out on something, but ultimately I have to accept what has happened and focus on the now.