Hello there! I am an 18 yr old male ready to leave pornography. I have been a porn addict for about 3 years now, and have been trying to leave it for 2 years. However, it was only recently that I have decided to join the NoFap community. My reasons for deciding to stop PM are partly religious (I am a Catholic), partly personal. I don't think it is healthy and I have noticed that it takes up a lot of time I could employ in more productive things, mainly writing or studying. The longest I have been able to 'stay sober' is two weeks. However, this time I am aiming for the the Hard Mode. In the long term, I hope to stop watching porn and masturbating altogether. May we all accomplish our goals!
It also will make you feel bad about yourself. No one can progress spiritually feeling shame and guilt. The good news is we absolutely can be winners if we keep sharing and stay vigilant about our thoughts. Good luck!
Hi. Welcome to forum! Make sure you create a personal journal thread in Reboot Logs section and blog there on a regular basis. As well as just generally be active participant in various forum discussions. I recommend this to everybody new here because it's the major thing that helped me when I was first starting. Just lurking on forums, reading and learning is great. But it usually is so much more powerful to engage. It helps to keep us motivated and accountable when we are active part of community. And keeps this in front of our minds so we don't forget about importance of it and slip away in our old habits. Sharing is also therapeutic. This is a major reason why AA meetings work so good. But that was developed before internet era. These days we can get most of the same benefits online through communities like this. So don't underestimate the power of active participation. I would also like to suggest you to look into mindfulness meditation. It has helped me personally tremendously to learn how to deal with urges and triggers. It takes a while to get good at it and notice results, so you need to be consistent with it, but once you do it's very powerful. It has been used by sages for thousands of years to deal with various issues of the mind. And in recent decades the science is also catching up to what ancient sages have know for centuries. Meditation these days are widely used as very effective tool by psychologists for treating addiction and by neurologists for supporting recovery of the brain. It is a great exercise for the brain the same way as jogging is great exercise for the body. Check out this Ted talk, it gives a good idea of what's it about when it comes to philosophy. As far as practical side of it there is this awesome smartphone app called Headspace for guided meditations to get you started. Wish you lot's of strength and success in your reboot journey!
