Day 31 - checking in. Things are calm right now which is about the time I let my guard down and act out. Stay strong everyone.
I am focusing right now on constantly convincing my mind that PMO is not an option for me anymore. Shutting out those thoughts and it feels good.
Day 34 - I had a real challenge yesterday, big emotional upset with the wife. I wanted to sneak away and escape from my pain with a PMO session. I managed to avoid acting out. I PM'd a comrade here; wrote a lengthy note about what I was going through and that helped break the urge, and avoid the old pattern of addict behavior. All I needed was a few minutes to re-orient my brain, and kick the addict out of my head. realize what the consequences would be if I went down that same awful path again. Writing my feelings down gave me the time and space to get right. Thank you friend. Thank you all. Stay strong.
I’m up to 5 days again. Had a weekend where I got to spend very little time by myself, which is a good change. Working out regularly is really helping me improve on this and other areas of my life.
I’m at 14 days. I am fighting my body’s urges and reminding myself that I am not my body and I do not have to give in.
Hello, are you MrWhite551? I would like to know if you changed your name to update the post zero ranking
More than 500 days and still ... I am very grateful to God for having exceeded 500 days! It is an achievement that I never thought I would achieve. However, and almost coinciding with the 500 days, I had some flashbacks of the fleeting pleasure that I felt in the PM sessions and I became a little more sensitive to the images of female bodies ... the alert level rose a little and by that is what I want to do this exercise, to remember what I came out of. Negative effects of PM on my life GUILT. Every time a PM “session” ended, an almost unconscious guilt invaded me, which I only surpassed by convincing myself that M was something normal in animal and human biology. But deep down inside I realized that it was something that dominated me, a vice. LIE. It was necessary to hide my private sessions from everyone else… a gigantic effort to hide everything. And a horrible feeling, because I had something in my life that I could tell no one for being very embarrassing. DEMOTIVATION. After each session and for a while, I did not want to do anything. I didn't have enough drive to get the job done or the initiative to start new projects. My inner strength was devastated. LOW ESTEEM. It occurs naturally when you cannot exceed PM even by proposing it. You fool yourself by saying that it is not a problem, but unconsciously you know that it is. And then, when you realize that you can't, your self-esteem weakens. This ends in insecurity, lack of confidence in your own abilities, social isolation ... RESENTMENT. I thought I was turning to PM because my sexual activity with my wife was insufficient and unsatisfactory. Without realizing it, I blamed her for not having more frequency in our intimate encounters, or for not being as "creative and spectacular" as those I saw in P. I was filled with anger and resentment with her, and many times I was sparing and tried to avoid her so as not to have to reveal the cause of my anger ... at most it said that I was tired. DECONCENTRATION. In the moments when I was alone, my desire for PM was so intense that I couldn't think of anything else. My heart was racing, my breathing changed, my mind became dull ... just like an addict. Furthermore, when I knew that I was going to be alone, the same thing happened to me. My PM sessions could last for hours ... And after the PM session, I was so exhausted and my mind so overstimulated that I didn't have much strength left ... I had to try twice as hard to get half of it. (I have to be careful because writing this, I feel again part of that desire for PM, that internal excitement) DISSATISFACTION. Nothing could compete with PM, the emotion was so strong, the super stimulation of both P and M was so much that nothing else could reach the level of pleasure that I felt. So when I wasn't doing it, everything else just wasn't satisfying. I enjoyed intimate couple relationships, but they were shorter and with less stimulation. The other satisfactions of life (duty accomplished, family affection, helping others) were there, but not the intensity of PM. Therefore, most of the time I was dissatisfied. As I always say, this is not entirely over. Still writing this, I relive some situations and it brings me an internal excitement, in such a way that a part of me wants to re-experiment with PM. I consider myself a recovering addict, so I must stay alert and aware of the harm it caused me. I don't trust my strength, it has already failed me. I will take precautions. Faith in God has been decisive for this time of victory, I have to thank the Lord. Well this is all for now. It was good for me to write it, and I hope that whoever reads it will help too. Greetings!
This is superb! I shall read this every day as a way to reaffirm my intention to overcome my addiction. Thank you.
So much truth in what you say. I am 14 days clean and it already feels like 500 days. Thank you for showing us this path and creating this for us. You’ve given me a safe place to keep coming back to and be honest despite my struggles.
I believe that being honest with ourselves and opening it up to people who can understand it is an important part of the recovery process. I'm glad it helped you. I appreciate your telling me because it encourages me to know this ... accountability groups are very good for this type of communication! Greetings!