SUCCESS - 7 MONTHS

Just hit 7 months -

Overall I can say that any urge can be dealt with at this point because of the rewiring in my brain. Good disciplines have formed good habits.

The tough part is TV.

Television is designed for marketing. To market a product, advertisers tap into the limbic system of the buyer. Some ads are healthy and a lot of ads are manipulating the limbic system of the viewer, namely you and me.

Consider a filmmaker designing a commercial. They will spend hours editing an ad to capture an angle on a woman that will trigger a man to feel good, and hopefully associate the good feeling with the product.

At 7 months, I pick up on things in ads that did not get me before. My brain is healthy and i have normal reactions to a stimulus. Sometimes a commercial will set off an urge and then I'm battling to get back. I do get back, but it's a challenge for a few minutes.

YouTube has a lot of this too. Thumbnails on videos that are designed to trigger and get a view.
Relapse is not an option.
I will be vigilant.

GOD'S PEACE TO ALL

 

Benefits?

Absolutely.

Much more confidence - speaking out my opinion with no insecurity.

Integrity restored. I don't have a part of my life to hide.

Ability to endure suffering without falling into a pity party. Ability to act.

Ability to be decisive.

Ability to stay calm and be less emotionally reactive.

Ability to outlast an urge. (Never thought I would get there)

Laughing a much deeper laugh.

Seeing myself with more honesty. Admitting weaknesses and acknowledging strengths. This was big. I was blind to both ends of the spectrum.

More free time. I consider the time wasted preparing mentally for porn, using porn, post porn resolutions that I knew were a joke.

After asking for God's forgiveness, I am finally able to look backwards and forgive myself. Again - huge jump.

Able to help others and not feel like a hypocrite.

I would have thought that this would be impossible. Not the case.

Tips

I pray daily for an hour.

I exercize my prefrontal cortex by speaking directly to the limbic urge. Saying "PMO is not an option. Not today. We're not going there. " My tone is always the same, like a parent saying to a child "this is not up for discussion".

I did cold showers for 100 days. This was a tremendous work out for prefrontal cortex against limbic system. This limbic avoids the cold. The prefrontal cortex states, "we're going in"..I would grit my teeth , "growl", and get under that shower head. Life changing on this journey. Helped me get real momentum .

I was a slave of porn-triggered dopamine for way too many years. I'm getting my life back.

GOD'S PEACE TO ALL

 

Congrats on 5 months! You've got great momentum at this point. I appreciate the post

 

Back in May, when I used porn, youtube thumbnails were always a trigger. It would set off the downward spiral. Even today I have to be extremely careful when I see a youtube video. I will guard my eyes by putting a hand over the screen on thumbnails below, simply to protect my brain and memory. The most bland topic can have a trigger pictures below the chosen video.

 

Thanks for the post.

It really does work - prefrontal cortex addressing the limbic system. The limbic responds so well.

I struggled with PMO for years, and this technique really does work. I got the "not an option " phrase from another post, and it's been one of the best tools that I have ever found.

Keep going!

GOD'S PEACE