The beginning of a new life. Seriously.

Hello my fellow fapstronauts,

An hour ago I decided to join the NoFap community. Why? Because I feel it's time to start living a normal life! I am a 23 year old male and I started PMO at the age of 14. Man. It doesn't even sound THAT bad compared to some stories I have read on this website. But it actually is quite bad since I'm slowly beginning to realize that if I don't quit now, I will be dead soon (I'm exaggerating of course lol).

Uhm...why?
Acne. The main reason I decided to quit is to improve my skin. I have had acne since I was a little kid. That's like 15 years of psychological suffering: It's taking a toll on me. Today I have very mild acne (like almost nothing really), but it gets worse because of PMO. I will get anxious, even when I only have a FEW little spots. I'm quite a picker as well when I'm stressed, which doesn't help obviously. My diet is pretty clean and I'm living a healthy lifestyle. The only problem is masturbation. I do not think PMO is the cause of acne; it's more of a genetics kinda thing. You get acne or you just don't. People who are prone to acne, should probably fap less frequently or just quit forever because it will aggravate acne. PMO is even worse: it messes up your mind and makes your hormones go crazy. Conclusion: just stick to having sex with a partner.

What else?
It makes your entire day go awkward as hell. PMO makes you feel ashamed of yourself. Telling myself that this will be 'the last time' over and over again... It's frustrating. Abstinence from masturbation is hard! I'm starting to lose my mind if I don't win this battle very soon; I do not want to drop out of school because of this shit. I'm starting to lose my friends as well....my relationship with my family could, and should, be a lot better. PMO turns me into a weak person, with a weak body and mind - and zero confidence. I am actually a quite decent looking guy with good social skills. I'm not that great with women though, so hopefully I can turn this thing around.

And finally...
Well, think I have tried to quit over 20 times now. Today I will put myself to the test and try to quit for good. My current NoFap record is 33 days. Right now, my first new goal is to get to 100 days of NoFap. I already know all the little tricks to get my mind off of sex so hopefully this time I will succeed.

Being a member of this amazing community will definitely help. Thank you all.
I'll keep a daily/weekly journal btw.

- ShieldofAchilles