This was the topic of our meeting tonight and I found it really good to be reminded why I quit and to see why others quit too. I wanted to make a post so we can all be reminded why we quit gaming.
I quit gaming because:
1. I wanted my life back....all I wanted to do was game 24/7.
2. I missed doing all the things I used to love doing before I started gaming.
3. My life seemed to have no meaning anymore and no future.
4. I had negleted my relationship with God long enough....I needed to get it back.
5. I was tired of being out of shape from lack of exercise.
6. I realized I was addicted and knew I had to do something about it.
7. I felt guilty about wasting so much time on gaming.
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~Maria Robinson
I quit gaming because
I was sick of having the game control me and not me control the game.I was sick of thinking about the game 24/7I was tired... from sleep deprivation I didn't want to lead a double life anymoreSick of the liesI wasn't giving my work my best... infact my attitude and effort at work had slipped a lot.I was sick of the dramas happening in game.I was sick of spending every moment I could sitting in front of the computerI was feeling incredibly guilty that my relationship with my husband had deteriorated to the extent that we had zero communication and zero love.I was sick of always trying to get better gear and always trying to be the best, then feeling like i'd let the raid down if anybody diedI hated my messy houseI wanted my life back
I quit gaming because I needed to. At the time I really didn't want to. But my life needed me back.. So I went...
i have why i wanted to quit gaming, and then why i did quit gaming
i wanted to quit gaming for years.... many reasons of havoc in my life, i don't think i really can explain to a active gamer what the problem with gaming is.... to much denial.....
and i don't think i need to explain a ex gamer what was wrong with gaming, if there were a real gamer... they know...
why I quit gaming has less to do with wanting to quit, as it did finding a life style that didn't make it necessary for me to game.
gl hf all in finding a way to quit that works:)
leveling in steps, serenity, sponcys, sponsors, exercise, and sleep, (sanity has been downsized) sober from all electronic games since 11/19/2010
I'm trying to quit gaming because:
1. I want a real life.
2. I'm out of shape.
3. I want a better job, one that actually has a future.
4. I've spent way too much time and $$$ on video games.
Stopped Gaming: June 22nd, 2014.
I Quit Gaming Because:
1. It is a necessary step in my anxiety and depression recovery process. Gaming was only enabling me to ignore my issues and thus, holding me back from recovering.
2. I need to make friends outside of the gaming environment. Gaming enabled my social anxiety and agoraphobia. It allowed me to have the (false) sense that I was creating a social life without actually having to engage in the real effort to do so in actuality.
3. I'm out of shape, have tension headaches, and have poor posture as a result of long hours spent sitting in my computer chair at my desk.
4. It's another milestone in the journey to taking better care of myself.
5. I don't need the level of emotional turmoil and drama that an MMO social atmosphere brings into my life in exchange for the relatively little real investment on the part of the participants.
*~*~*~*~*~* MMORPG free since April 7, 2011. *~*~*~*~*~*
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." ~William Shakespeare
The Wisdom of Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try."
"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." "Named must your fear be before banish it you can."
" It is a necessary step in my anxiety and depression recovery process. Gaming was only enabling me to ignore my issues and thus, holding me back from recovering."
Yeah, for me as well. I was using the games to keep from thinking about what was too much to deal with in real life. At the time, it was a blessing (or so it seemed). Later, when real life began to improve, it became a barrier to enjoying the real world.
" I don't need the level of emotional turmoil and drama that an MMO social atmosphere brings into my life in exchange for the relatively little real investment on the part of the participants."
That's something I didn't really appreciate until after I got out -- but while I genuinely cared about some of the people who were on line friends, tried to give them emotional support when they needed it, etc. -- as soon as I stopped gaming, not one of them reached out to me outside of the game context. The relationships only FELT real to me, it seems.
Dear Silver,
Thanks for this reminder. This is one reason I keep coming back, because on my own I will easily forget, left on my own. I need to remember what is was like and why I quit in the first place.
- pete
Wow...whata great thread! Thanks, Tabby, for bringing all of us back to square one and the real reason we're here. Lately I've had worries that I'm using olga as my new "game", but somehow your determination (all of you) is telling me otherwise. We share a desire for a real life, not yet another dorky fictional one in pixels.
I left my game because I couldn't stand one more minute the cruelty there...gamers being hurt by fantasies that could never resolve happily. I left because I hated not being able to moderate my game times--I HAD to game every single day (even Christmas--how embarassing). I left gaming because the game hurt my hand injurries. I left gaming because it was repeatitive and boring. I left gaming because I longed to do something more creative with my free time. And ultimately, I left gaming because I came to believe it is a waste of life...and none of us has any life to throw away.
Again, thanks for such a good reminder thread...I loved it.
ElizA
.Left the games behind Tuesday, March 28, 2011...I have a new left knee and a lot more appreciation for the word "recovery"....blessings come in the darndest forms!
.
"We share a desire for a real life, not yet another dorky fictional one in pixels. "
thanks for that hilarious point. Life is so much more gigabits than my dinky computer!
Mario
I quit gaming because:
1. wow seemed like a parttime job that was interfering with my life and REAL job.
2. It was no longer fun.
3. I was gaining weight.
4. I realized that I was an "ends to a means" for my online friends.
5. (graphic) When I was in terrible, agonizing pain and peeing blood(too a couple quick bathroom breaks) while healing people in a raid. After the raid was over, THEN I drove myself to the emergency room. (How screwed up is that????)
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
I quit because I could not let it affect:
my future
my family
my health
I haven't quit yet; I just don't play today, or this minute, or this hour, or maybe the entire day.
I can't say "quit". it's a trigger for me.
True enough Pat
You didn't quit gaming - you "started" living!! Better to concentrate on the positive!!
I was gradual I admit as I did go back a couple of times last year but the magic of it was gone and that was sad too.
Yes to everyone who said it was time to stop wasting precious time in a two dimensional life inside your head and on a screen. I couldn't believe I had let so much slip by even in so short a time I was there. Kudos to those who have spent years away lost and are now found. Let the real games begin!!
I quit gaming because:
1. It had become the only thing I would want to do.
2. I would never do any of my schoolwork and my GPA dropped significantly causing me to be given a forced break from school and the necessity to fight to get back in.
3. My relationship with God had been put on the backburner for such a long time that i have allowed a lot of garbage into my life.
4. I want to be able to let God use me the way He wants to and be in control over my choices.
Like Pat said....I am not playing my game of choice today (or any other games today). And like you said I am finding REAL LIFE. I have moments where I think about playing my game of choice or even some of the games I use to have installed on my computer. I just have to remember that I DON'T WANT TO PLAY TODAY.
Welcome Thomas! Sounds like you found the right place. Stick around, you'll find much support and camraderie in making positive changes and putting some distance between yourself and the games, and distance from the ill effects of addiction.
What you feed grows, and what you starve withers away.
(back to thread topic) 1. ALL that lost ttime, that I KNEW I could never get back... I wanted it back, so I quit actively gaming so the future time that I would have spent gaming I wouldn;t lose like I had before. 2. Time, (again) with my wife, even though it might have been us sitting in front of living room flat screen, me in chair relaxing - her in front of monitor playing Fb FarmTown. (I think she is level 345 now. For the longest time it was capped at 34, then the potential it had to be a real MMO broke free from the yokes and the rest is a confusing jumble, but a jumble tthat is attractingg many persons everyday, still. 3. Peace of mind, quiet time (time again). 4. To garden again. To spend time, (time yet again, sorry) to pull weeds and obseve the labors of my time spent in the dirt, fresh blooms, highly-scented roses blooms, and my plumeria tree blooming. 5. To someday, again, chair an online meeting, (they've become very popular since I stopped chairing them a couple of years ago).
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
And quoted from above mainly because I missed it the first few times I've read this thread, but 6.
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
I know this thread is about those who have quit games and for me I haven't... yet. I have just begun. What makes it difficult for me is the fact that it is an old habit of mine, having started playing since I was 7 or 8 years old starting from my Gameboy, it was my escape. Year later, I realise i'm in high school and everything's changed, people have moved on while I remained the same person as I was. I know Games are ruining my life as it has begun to lose its meaning and become a "chore" of mine that I willingly agree to do.
I KNOW that I can achieve more if I free myself from the grips of gaming. I have come to the idea that I MUST quit before its too late. I know I cannot achieve my goals if I continue and I know I must change. I need to find a way to fill in the voids that gaming fills so well, which is an escape, a challenge, a sense of achievement and socialising. I haven't realised this clearly that most of this is provided with the one single thing inside my house, my piano, which will act as my new escape, giving me a sense of achievement and a challenge. My social skills need working though but I am committed to do so.
Self improvement is what will drive me towards quitting as I know there is more potential in me if stop killing time in front of a computer. I have been putting off studying and socialising more and I know I can change. Its the only way for me to improve.
PS. Sorry for the "essay"
No apologies needed here for sharing, Oparin. We're glad you came and hope to see more of you. I encourage you to stick around, join evening chat meetings, make the most of what we can offer here. You'll be amazed at how simply connecting with others helps us do what seems impossible on our own.
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
welcome Oparin. I suggest writing an introduction (or copying your intro above) to the I Need Help for Gamers forum. You'll get more of a response and more support.
I strongly suggest our 9pm EST daily chat meetings too. If you speak up early in the meeting about your struggles and any questions you have, people will be glad to share their experience, strategies, support and encouragement. Keep coming back!
What you feed grows, and what you starve withers away.
I just started here too. I don't know if I'll be regular at all
Maybe I'll forget about my "commitment" here like anywhere else. It runs in the family.
Anyway. I want to quit gaming because...
1. It's all I've ever done my entire life and I don't think I have a personality, except the few archetypes I've conformed to for various people
2. It's eating up and wrecking my social life, I have **** near nothing to talk about WHEN I get the oppurtunity
3. It's affecting my body, my hands quiver when I hold things even if it isn't difficult to pick up. My hands are to used to motion to stay still when I hold things.
4. I'm the family dissapointment, my father uses the words "at least" all the time when he's talking about me and whenever college comes up my parents look away. I'm a D average student from a family that has always gotten all A's. I don't do sports, my dad was a wrestler in high school and my mom in gymnastics
It's so intertwined in my life though I don't know if I'll ever get anywhere past making this post.
Console Hopper,
Welcome to OLGA. If you want to pursue a better life away from games you have come to the right place. We can provide you with support.
I encourage you to come to a nightly chat meeting, held in our chat room at 9 p.m. Eastern US time. You will meet some other people who understand where you are coming from, for sure. And keep posting your story and your thoughts and people will respond to you.
Keep coming back....see you at the meeting.
I am a recovering computer game and gambling addict. My recovery birthday: On May 6, 2012 I quit games and began working a program of recovery through OLGA No computer games or slot games for me since December 12, 2012. No solitaire games with real cards since June 2013.
I was quit game because I was very addicated
1. the game has rule my life
2. I almost have loose my husband and especially the relationship with Jehovah God and my another friends in my real life and was almost very alone.
I must still think on the time of gaming and am m still not healed about these.
I'm starting to live my life because:
-I was spending an excess amount of money and time on video games and fees to play those games
-I'm obese thanks mostly in part to a lack of exercise and sitting around on the computer eating junk food all day, every day.
-I want to rediscover myself and my life. I've played video games for most of my life, but I'm sure before I started playing online games that I had other interests as well.
I quit gaming because:
1: I needed to: for myself, for God, for my Family
2: I was tired of being two-faced
3: I was just TIRED from no sleep and waking up early for work.
4: God had slipped into the background which is completely unhealthy.
5: I have a love for the outdoors, and it isn't the same pixelated.
I love reading these.
I quit gaming because:
1. I'd had enough.
2. I woke up before real life was over.
3. My God said,"There's so much more for you than this."
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
I quit gaming because:
1. I spent more time gaming than anything else, including sleeping, eating, going out, working.
2. because my husband insisted I moderate gaming or else, which I could not do, couldn't moderate or play casually, and I tried for over a year to do that.
3. because after I had quit playing for a month (just to see if I could), I began to realize that I was eating better, sleeping better, and got more real rest.
4. because now I dont want to game my life away.
I quit gaming because:
1. It was interrupting my study and didnt leave me to do the things right and with effort.
2.I felt very bad physically and Im not in shape.
3.The guilty of wasting all the effort of my parents to make me a good person.
4.My dream of becoming a musician.
I quit gaming because:
1. My life was unmanagle, I couldn't go anywhere or do anything without wanting to be back at my computer gameing.
2. I felt guilty since I was not being the Mom I felt I should be to my two boys or the wife to my husband.
3. I tried to moderate, there was no moderation
4. Found myself lying or hiding to find more time to play
There are likely a dozen other reasons I haven't put down here but the biggest one is that I wanted my life back.