What do I fill this emptiness with?

Hey @EmanuelLimas,

I have found that helping others fills the void quite well. You have a lot of success compared to the rest here. Your addiction made you the center of your life. Making life more about a service to others has helped me.

 

After many years of failure, I'm currently on my longest streak of 9 days. This technically makes me a newbie, but I've grasped on to the mantra of to break a habit, you must make a habit. Any new habit, regardless of what it is, could fill the void. I'm sure you've heard of the popular ones such as exercise, a new hobby, reading, etc. Regardless of what it is, focusing your mind on something new, even if it's just one thing, can help. Countless anecdotes and articles back me up.

For me, the one thing I'm focusing on that I've never done before is journaling and posting threads here on NoFap. I'm an introvert and socially awkward, so I have never done anything like this before. I get anxiety just thinking about posting something on Facebook which is why I rarely ever do it. However, the posts and writing I've done on this forum have truly helped me come as far as I have and focus on something more productive that turning to videos and images to shirk my responsibilities and my life. I know I need to come up with something else to focus my mind on, but this is the first step for me.

Congratulations on 7 months. That is incredible, and I wish you continued success.

 

in case it's depression, then any other activities can't fulfill your loneliness . this may sound crazy to some "filling emptiness with emptiness" what i mean is mediation or mindfulness. put yourself in extreme actively, get stress actively. no food, no water, no sleep. sitting still as long as possible.

 

Very well said bro! We make ourselves the centre of our own lives. Nothing better than helping others out

 

do you have a belief in a higher power? if so, wait to be filled...got to be patient. if you do not believe in a higher power..
read the seven habits by Steven Covey. or you can you tube the subject matter. that should really help you.

 

no. I feel dead inside. Just dealing with it, like always.

 

One word: passion. There has to be something that you love to do. Everyone has passion, it's just a matter of finding it. I am lucky in that I found my passion very early on in my life. I love to play and write music more than anything in the world. When I'm there doing it, there is nowhere else that I would rather be and there is nothing else that I would rather be doing.

Think about what you love:
Play video games? Find out what it takes to make them.
Watch movies? Look into movie production.
Listen to music? Learn to play an instrument / how to produce / engineer an album.
Like to know how things work? Buy kits and build things, learn how to make your own gadgets.
Love computers? Learn how to program and/or build computers.
Love wooden crafts? Learn how to work with wood and build things with it.
Love art? Learn to paint, draw... Hell, learn Photoshop.
Love bullshitting with your buddies? Try stand up comedy.
Love to tell stories? Learn what it takes to write one.

There are so many things out there that you can do other than exercise, meditation or volunteer work. Sure, those things are important, but they may not be your passions. Try different things until you find something that clicks.

 

Exactly. There is wealth of scientific information out there that proves that helping others releases dopamine; it makes us feel good to help others. My favorite place to volunteer is the local Food Bank. It can be monotonous, but you know that you're helping those less fortunate than you. It's a very humbling experience to serve others.

 

Fill it with yourself, your very inner self.
Your inner child.
Take same old pictures of yourself, remember how it felt when you were kid.
Feel love for that kid.
Go through old memories.
Again and again...
Do little things you've always wanted to do but never dared to.
Let yourself become your own parent, and take care of of your "inner child" (I hate those words, but they speak the truth).
Once you've done that, you'll be able to give more to the world than you ever thought.

Yes, I know, it sounds woowoo.

One helpful book (if you want to) : "Taming Your Outer Child", by Susan Anderson.
That helped me.
A lot.

You'll feel empty until you've done that.
That's what happened to me.