Positive benefits to quitting pornography. Posted Wednesday, May 28 2008 by ThroughTheFlame.org with contributions by Dominus, Clog, Light, Medium, and FoolishMind
Quitting porn isn't easy, and it can be tempting sometimes to think it just isn't worth the fight, do the ends really justify the means? Here is a list of some of the positives aspects that members have experienced by making the effort.
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 don't 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, instead of the addiction controlling me.
7) There is a 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-center 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 porn 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).
11) I feel more comfortable around members of the opposite sex, I'm not constantly "checking them out."
12) Improved Intimacy and 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 me in a downward spiral.
15) 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) If I die, or something bad happens to me, nobody will find my porn stash somewhere.
17) Realizing that I was only fooling myself.
18) 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.
19) 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.
20) To hear your wife / partner is falling in love with you all over again.
