Hey everyone,
Ive had serious trouble with gaming all my life, was introduced to computer games in early childhood and from then onwards ive spent a lot of time in a virtual world! To be honest, it wasnt too bad until online games entered my mind. Offline ones tended to have specific endings after which it was a done deal which left enough time for real world activities(hanging out with friends). Unfortunately online games quickly took a firm grasp over me and made me rather antisocial. Ive tried to get over it, uninstalling everything a few times but falling back to the habit later on.
My current exam session in university was an alarming wake up, as I had poor results. Now, at the age of 19 Ive decided that its time for it to end, once and for all. From previous experience its obvious that I, like many others here, have to go COMPLETELY cold turkey, which means no visiting gaming forums, talking about games with friends etc. I realise that reporting here regularly is necessary to keep discipline on a tough journey.
I started with it yesterday, deleting everything. Already today though, i had trouble concentrating on studies with my mind wandering off to the virtual world, In fact I almost downloaded Quakeworld for some nostalgic old school gaming, but luckily stopped and realised where I was heading.
After the exam session is over in a couple of weeks, its important to find things to do in place of the several hours of daily gaming, the most challenging of which will be making friends and "hanging out" with them, I havent done much of it for a long time and it will be difficult to learn it.
Congrats, csorber. I wish you well on your journey of recovery!
The question is....will you be able/courageous/adult enough to sacrifice that which merely pleases you...for that which will truly fulfill you? That is the question of personal growth.
~~~Dem518
~~~wow-free since 8/22/09
Hey again, happy to say Ive been off of games since my first post. Had quite a bit of lust for them for the first couple of weeks, but luckily that passed as my interest for game related stuff like youtube game videos and game forums also passed as i didnt partake in the games themselves. An important thing to point out though is that games sort of got replaced by forums and ive been spending my free time on surfing through a few different forums, posting and reading, which is equally unproductive! Looks like Ive got to terminate any kind of online communication and interaction altogether(spending hours watching funny youtube stuff isnt much better than gaming) so a heads up to everyone else too: actively change your habits and dont just suffer at the computer without games, desperately trying to find a new activity because the internet is huge and if youre in a position for a new addiction to take over your life by replacing a former one, it will
Well 30 + days game free is still 30+ days game free 8) . . Although you may not be where you want to be yet, look at the you tube and forum surfing as a stepping stone. Just your first step away from games. Since you recognize the issue so quickly, I know you will continue to make progress. 8)
" ... don't question it just go" "... where the body goes the mind will follow"
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Borrowed from "Desire to Stop"
Hey csorber. I'm right where you are right now. Quit gaming about a week ago now, and I'm spending much less time online, but still much more than I'd like. Dropped from maybe 8 hours a day to 4. Not gaming, but surfing forums, even gaming ones (!). Bad, bad. The most important thing is to stay away from the computer. I'm going to take advantage of spring break when it comes and swear off the computer entirely. Great to hear how well you're doing. EDIT: Quotes got a little funky on me ;)