Positive benefits to quitting

[Dominus]

Hi, Quitting porn isnt easy, and it can be tempting sometimes to think it just isnt worth the fight, do the ends really justify the means? well it would be nice to have a thread to list some of the positives aspects that we have experienced by making the effort.

For my own part I feel:-

1) I have much more self respect and can hold my head up, I feel good about myself and my conscience is not troubled.

2) I dont feel embarrassed to let others use my computer, nothing in my browser history or temporary internet cache is anything to be ashamed of.

3) I feel qualified to advise my teenage children about pornography and masturbation without feeling like a hypocrite.

4) Far from despising my weakness, my wife respects me for my resolve and we have found healthier intimacy.

5) I get a better nights sleep instead of staying up till 2am looking at porn., I have more time to do things.

6) I feel like I am in control of the addiction, not the addiction controlling me.

These are some of the benefits I have found after 56 days without porn, whats your story?

[clog]

Dominus,

I notice all the same benefits, plus:

7) much more pleasant atmosphere in the family, as I'm a more pleasant person now (less grumpy), with more time and attention for my wife and children

8) I feel more in control of both my work and personal life, because I have time to sort out all those things that were pending because I 'never had the time'.

9) more at ease with myself because I'm overcoming the cognitive dissonance I was experiencing (left-of-centre ideology, including strong views on gender equality, but at the same time giving custom to an industry in which women are exploited, abused, debased)

10) no need to worry about what I've signed up for with my credit card in my P binge, and whether there were any dodgy sites amongst them that may lead to credit card fraud, etc (yes, this HAS happened to me in the past).

Clog.

[Light]

11) I feel more comfortable around members of the opposite sex, I'm not constantly "checking them out."

12) Intimacy and improved sex life with my "real life" girlfriend.

13) Not rushing through life to get some porn time in.

14) Eat healthier, work out more, and all round improved health. When I would use porn I would tend to binge on bad food afterwards, and neglect working out. This combined with the other negative feelings to create more opportunities and reasons to look at porn, keeping my in a downward spiral.

15) Probably the biggest one, I am a whole person, not a split personality. There is one me to know, not the other side that is sneaking around or trying to hide from people.

16) This might sound strange, but if I die, or something bad happens to me, nobody will find a stash of porn somewhere.

[Dominus]

16) This might sound strange, but if I die, or something bad happens to me, nobody will find a stash of porn somewhere.

This doesnt sound stange, I often felt like that even going to the extent of carefully covering all my tracks. Even now I feel like buying a new hard disk as I hate the idea that there may be residual magnetic traces of old erased porn on my hard disks that a james bond type could discover.

[ThisWontBeMe]

17) The determination and resolve that we have is a great thing. To overcome something like this (or be in the process of doing so) takes a huge amount of willpower. Our strength in this mental war really defines who we are as people.

[Medium]

18) Realising that I was only fooling myself.

[FoolishMind]

19) Re read points 1 - 18 and realise your are not quitting anything. You are GAINING EVERYTHING!

[HalfPint]

20) No more depression. Since quitting depression hasn't been a problem in my life, and it was a problem for a long time and it would always be there. I always thought that it was a problem and that I'd need drugs but I don't.

21) Strength. Overcoming porn and masturbation is showing me that I do have the strength to do anything or to overcome any obstacle, no matter the size.

[verminty]

wow this really resonated with me. Excellent point!

16) This might sound strange, but if I die, or something bad happens to me, nobody will find a stash of porn somewhere.

[cyberpunk]

Well, today is day 1 of being clean after a binge and I can tell you that I haven't experienced the positive benefits (which I am looking forward too). However, in my binge I have experienced the following:
- a diet consisting of pizza, donuts, soda, and fast food in general.
- my house is filthy. It looks like I haven't cleaned in weeks (oh yeah, I haven't)
- totally bummed out
- afraid to see my gf today for fear that she might ask me "how are you doing"

I am very grateful for this post though. Reading through it has given my encouragement to keep clean. I want to trade these negatives for that 20+ list of positives.