Day 51 - After a series of mini-successes and failures since my declaration in June, I'm now back on track to No-PMO again. All I could say is that quitting PMO is truly difficult, but it's worth it. This current streak has again validated my belief that No-PMO is really beneficial. I'm not sure about all those proclaimed benefits such as boosted mental clarity, creativity, etc., but one thing I can be sure of is that No-PMO helps my mind to become more grounded in reality. What does it mean? Well, since I can no longer gain the ultimate life pleasure of orgasm easily by doing PMO, I can only derive happiness from living my own reality well enough. This gives me a lot of motivation to improve myself, in order to not suck in the society and become more attractive to women (So that I can get orgasms with them). Of course, quitting porn may not be enough, I've also minimized my exposure to many porn substitutes, such as TV, internet, video games, etc. As a result, I've used the gained motivation to start regularly exercising, meditating, sleeping and waking up early, reading and learning new knowledge, etc. Believe me, it's a lot easier to decide to do these things now, than when PMO was still an easy pleasure outlet. Daily pleasures such as interacting with friends and girls, or simply listening to a good song and looking at a beautiful photo, becomes more enjoyable when the sensitivity of my brain's pleasure center gradually resumes to normal. I can feel a broader and intensified range of emotions, not only positive ones, but also negative ones like grief and pain. You may argue it's bad, because life is ultimately about pleasures. But I would say it's not, because by numbing your emotional range, yes you cannot feel a lot of sadness, but you won't be able to feel a lot of happiness as well. That's why a lot of people feels empty inside after watching so much porn, I believe. So TL;DR, By removing an easy access to strong pleasures (Orgasm by PMO, Fun from playing video games, etc.), your brain's pleasure center shall readjust itself overtime, and the outcome is that you are more sensitized to daily pleasures, which naturally also leads to higher motivation to better your own reality. Here's a great video which resonates with a lot of my thoughts on why No-PMO is so great:
Good for you! Reading experiences like this confirms what I have been suspecting for a while - that the intense high of pmo dulls the senses which diminishes the quality of our life. What a crazy thing! Good luck to you.
Hey, man, thanks for posting congrats on your current streak. I agree with you even when I have been able to quit porn for a short bit of time, it allows you to focus so much more on improving many aspects of your life.