Male, 21: Been Looking for Something Like This for a Long Time

Hello, NoFap community.

21-year old male college student new to this community. As probably a lot of people before me, I'm here because I saw a TED Talk. Before I saw the talk (I forget which one it was specifically), I had been struggling with PMO for years. I think I first encountered porn all the way back in 7th grade and have struggled to kick the habit ever since my parents found out in 8th grade. So that's been what? 7 years?

It's a frustrating battle and hearing all the facts about the effects PMO can have on my brain and hearing about NoFap has brought me here. Generally, I don't think I'm addicted, as I usually can do alright until the surge happens. I also realize that the habit has been around so long in my life that I probably don't have any perspective on the effects it has on my life. I'm curious and eager to see the improvements I can make in myself by kicking the habit and I'm hoping NoFap helps provide that extra bit of motivation I need to get me over the top.

As I said, I've been fighting this habit for quite a long time, mostly due to my Catholic faith. I don't want to go to into detail about the specific teachings of the Church, so I think it should suffice to say that my faith is incredibly important to me & getting rid of PMO is not only a personal, but a spiritual goal for me. It's easy for me to understand the logic behind the Church's teachings, but logic struggles against the raw power of the physical urges. I am much more motivated by people, and so I'm hoping to integrate into the community here to keep myself accountable and motivated.

My longest streak came back during my junior year of high school, when I had a sort-of-girlfriend (long story). During that period of time, I found myself much more able to resist PMO, mostly because (even though she didn't know about it) I didn't want to let her down. Our relationship wasn't physical in any way, but just having the mental support of her relationship was a huge help. My second longest streak came a couple summers ago, when I spent 7 weeks with a small group of the best people I have ever known. Once again, the encouragement of not wanting to (in effect) make myself "unworthy" of them, contributed a lot to my ability to avoid PMO. All this is merely to say that people motivate me far better than any stats or scientific facts ever could. Which is why I am here.

I've spent sometime already looking through the forums and the reddit, and I've been encouraged and happy to see how supportive and great the community is. I'm looking forward to getting to know others, being supported and having a chance to support.

Pray for me, if that's your thing. If not, your words are good enough.

See you all around!
flamingsongbird (fsb)