My Nearly 19 Month Journey

Hello everyone. I have been wanting to share what nofap has been like for me over the past year and a half a great deal.

I remember around 2004 when I started using the internet at age 13 and the eventual easy access to explicit content. But instead of porn, I watched hentai and viewed related erotic artwork on a daily basis. But then on 5/5/2017 (Cinco De Mayo of all days for some reason) I really wanted to commit to nofap so I did some research and found out about semen retention and bramacharya and with that I was convinced enough to quit. It has almost been 19 months and I never intend on going back.
I realized that the primary reason we partake in sexual activities is because they are an escape from not only the work we need to do on ourselves, but I also learned that I may have kept doing it because I was running from all the neglect and pain that I went through as a child, but it was thanks to an event that happened this past September I was able to come to greater acceptance in myself and am grateful that I did not have as terrible a fate as certain others from my past.
Other benefits that have come to me:

*The universe finally blessed me with a full time job promotion that I acted upon.
*I let go of all my friends who I realize had a negative influence on my life.
*I was finally able to get my financies/spending in check and have so much more money in savings.
*I finally gave up the last of my material collections. I used to collect DVDs, BluRays, Music, Video Games, Figures, Books up until my mid twenties until 2017, though I do admit I still purchase new Switch games every once in a while as well as a couple new manga books every month but that is about it, I believe the reason I saw value in material possessions is because some part of me was shown that they were a source of love back when I was given toys as a small child while the parents went off to watch tv, talk on the phone, or do whatever, but material items only really have value at face.
*I have learned that abstaining from the organism is the highest form of self respect and because of it other people show greater respect around me.
*I have learned to let go of labels that I was attached to.
*Toxic people slowly keep disappearing from my universe.
*I learned more of the value in self love and not needing to seek it from those outside of myself, and also to just be patient and have faith in the mean time and wait for the universe to send me the ideal woman/soulmate that I will share alot in common with.
*I started exercising and consuming more protein to build muscle and confidence (prior to october 2018 I was such an unmotivated person).
*I finally gave up eating unhealthy food that was high in sugar.
*I quit social media because like before I no longer seek verification from other people, I feel enough, but also we are only benefiting the millionaire founders and putting even more money in their pockets when we use it.
*After exercising I spend my free time writing down and drawing out the new ideas that I have in mind for fictional series that I hope to one day become incredibly successful off of.

There are some other bits I probably forgot to mention, but I believe this is generally what benefits I have noticed.

 

Yes, there have been more instances where I have noticed women noticing me more when I go out in public, because I abstained from the orgasm all this time and have more of my life energy inside of me.

 

I am grateful for the current state of life that I live. I never intend on going back and no longer feel as though I have any real reason to.

 

There have been many instances where prior to making to November 2018 where I always looked at sexual content as well. Ultimately setting long term personal goals is the key to getting even further away from sexual thoughts and filling up your free time with as many activities as possible. And along with getting a piece of paper and writing down all of what you want in life, I also highly recomend one of the 2 following:
1-For the first time in my life I started exercising for free by doing 150 pushups every other day and 1 month later 200 pushups every day, and consuming more protein through foods. If you set a goal on wanting to see your body improve then there will less of a reason to partake in short term gratification like looking at erotic content (though me being into Cosplay this also sets another goal of wanting to be able to cosplay as male characters with more muscular physique), and because you’ll be more invested in wanting an attractive body of your own there will be less reason to want to look at others.

2-Find out what your passions or talents are, this ties into what you loved doing or wanted to do as a kid, adults and others who criticized us are the reason why we stopped following our dreams, because they also were told they were not good enough, but that is actually what we are all meant to do in life. For me it is drawing and writing, since elementary school i loved drawing out my own characters and telling stories. So whatever you know personally you love doing follow that path, and you don’t have to put yourself out there right yet either, just wait some time and keep planning things out until you know you have a product or idea that will definitely make you rich and successful.