Well, guys, 2 days into my 90 reboot to remove P from my life I relapsed. HARD. Here's the backstory. A girl liked some of my pictures on instagram, I then browsed her page, and clicked her website link in her description. And it turns out she's a amateur cam model. "No sweat, right? It wasn't intentional"... but then I couldn't help but to scroll against my better judgement. "Oh, 14.95 30 day membership? Well, I'm gonna have to reset anyway" So, now it's 5:37 AM, I'm in my bathroom typing this after just having PMO'd and blown $15. (I cancelled the membership so it won't charge again.) I'm just angry that I've done this. Can my fellow fapstronauts offer anything to help me come to terms with this and not beat myself up over it to the point of depression? Any tips? Similar stories? Encouragement? Comfort?
You will relapse many times. But you need to learn from it each time. Instagrame caused you to relapse? No more instragram...etc..etc Indentify your triggers and get rid of them
Ask yourself what you learned. Apply it to your next attempt. Forgive yourself (I know...that's a lot easier said than done!), and don't give up on yourself.
Learn from it. And look for the ROOT of your problem. You probably had some emotional stress, or no focus, or you were bored, or you were scared of something ... Also, why are you putting photos on Instagram? Do you want to SHARE something with the world, or are you fishing for compliments?
Sorry bro, I can imagine that it must be very disappointing to come so close and not reach your goal. Well done for going for those 88 days which is really a great achievement. It is a matter of perspective for me. Either your glass is almost full (88 days) or lacking the top part (2 days missing). I think you should focus on the 88 days achieved rather than the 2 days missed. So, for me you have not failed at all but has had a stumble. This recovery journey is all about progress not perfection.
two days is better than one. don't dwell on it, replace your negative feelings about it by going and doing something fun...outside of your house. if you don't feeling like going and doing something...tough s***. get out and go play a round of golf (or mini-golf)...hit up a movie...or even better call a buddy or family member and talk about something positive then go do something with them. if you keep concentrating on how addicted you are and about how you failed, that concentration is going to reinforce the fact that you miss that computer screen...and you'll fail again. I'm new here, I haven't made it long. But I'm done thinking negatively about things...because it really and truly has lead to repeated relapses. Don't measure success in your life by how long you've gone without PMO (measure how well you're beating back the addiction with it though)....measure your life by how happy you feel. If you are unhappy, change it...or fake it until you make it. Your addiction is only one part of your life, so don't let it dominate it. Instead let everything else you do in life dominate your addiction. Well that's my attitude now...can't say I know if its working or not but its a change I made yesterday...one day into a reset.
Don't dwell on your relapses, learn from them. Look at what went wrong and try not to do it again ("try not to" as opposed to "don't" as it's not always that easy. From my experience, I've learnt what my triggers are (laptop by the bed in the morning) so I have learnt from them (laptop in another room). Perhaps a rest from instagram for a while might help, at least for a few days. Just don't give up, and keep smiling (it does make you smile inside too!)
Mate, just so you can feel some comfort... I once asked dad to sleep with my smart phone next to him cos I was so tempted all the time with it being in my room. Anyway one night I decided to go and get my dad's phone from his room, sneeking in and grabbing it stealthily haha. I looked at P and then through the phone so far down the bush because of my anger and frustration. It cost me some money to get a new phone mate. Be thanful it's only $15 haha. Good on ya champ. Chin up and know we have all done the same things.
