I have noticed in myself a small voice that's quietly tucked itself into a narrow recess of my mind.
"As long as I don't fail the same way twice, it's fine; I'm growing and getting stronger!"
Or
"Last time I made it to x days, so if I can just make it to x+1, that's progress!"
It's a lie that my goal is progress. The tools we institute to quit porn give us a sense of achievement through progress, but let's not lose sight that the goal is to overcome porn, and in order to do so it's necessary to learn to punch up, not just on-level and down. We have to be able to overcome novel and more challenging situations at some point in order to master ourselves.
If my goal is infinity, counting streaks at some point loses meaning. There are also infinite ways to fail, I'll never exhaust them all.
Not sure who else needs to dwell on this a bit, but I found it helpful to consider it and increase my resolve to be ok with never experiencing the pleasure of masturbation again in exchange for also ridding myself of the pain, burdens, and limitations it puts on me, not to mention the foundationless mess it melts me into. My goal is a pursuit of moral uprightness, a disciple of God, not mere incremental progress.
Keep up the good fight men.
"As long as I don't fail the same way twice, it's fine; I'm growing and getting stronger!"
Or
"Last time I made it to x days, so if I can just make it to x+1, that's progress!"
It's a lie that my goal is progress. The tools we institute to quit porn give us a sense of achievement through progress, but let's not lose sight that the goal is to overcome porn, and in order to do so it's necessary to learn to punch up, not just on-level and down. We have to be able to overcome novel and more challenging situations at some point in order to master ourselves.
If my goal is infinity, counting streaks at some point loses meaning. There are also infinite ways to fail, I'll never exhaust them all.
Not sure who else needs to dwell on this a bit, but I found it helpful to consider it and increase my resolve to be ok with never experiencing the pleasure of masturbation again in exchange for also ridding myself of the pain, burdens, and limitations it puts on me, not to mention the foundationless mess it melts me into. My goal is a pursuit of moral uprightness, a disciple of God, not mere incremental progress.
Keep up the good fight men.