Jump to content

NEW VIDEO: The EASIEST Way to Stop Gaming

BrianCook

Members
  • Posts

    6
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

BrianCook's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

9

Reputation

  1. So.... I have had quite a few childhood traumas that I have been regressing deep down into my brain over the last 34 years. Traumas that I have buried so deep that they, without my consent, manifest obstacles that prevented me from moving forward in life in an ethical manner. The human brain does strange things and fires off differently for everyone. If childhood trauma occurs, and there was no resolve or solution, the effects will carry with you through adulthood and cause personality problems. For example, I hid in Computer Games since I was 10. Hiding from my social rejection and fears ever since childhood. A few weeks ago, after researching self-awareness and accountability, I came across a book that has completely changed my life. I am reading it now for the 2nd time and applying the 10 steps again. It is an awesome book. It may be able to help some of you gain control of certain aspects in your life that you have had trouble overcoming. It may help rid you of video games forever. It did for me! The Presence Process - A Journey Into Present Moment Awareness - by Michael Brown. Here is a quote- "It is a simple, step-by-step pathway for us to rescue and renew the unhappy child within us. It empowers us to grow up emotionally."
  2. Wow. 10 more years than me. That is a long time. At least we both know we are more aware and can apply this to out life. I'll check out that Atlas Shrugged for sure. Thanks!
  3. Well Robert.... 3 Weeks today. No video games. Not even a glimpse. I am currently facing my fears now through the use of "offline" social networking. I recently started a new career path as a Network Marketing Professional. Been with the company since Feb 10, and it has been an awesome ride so far. I get my social experiences, challenges, and feeling of self-worth from it. It is fun to engage with new people and establish new friends and relationships with like-minded people. The fun/entertainment factor I had from video games has been replaced with being outside. I have also taken up modeling, art, and architecture to fill the fun/hobby gaps that games on the other hand would create for me. Thanks again for the encouragement and support!
  4. Thank you Robert for your words. YES! I do indeed plan on turning this ship around! You're awesome!
  5. Hello to all of you! My name is Brian. I currently live in York, PA. I have lived here for 10 years, but originally native to Southern California. I have been playing computer games for 34 years since the age of 10. As a guess, I think I may have sunk 40,000+ hours of my life in computer games alone. I am a middle-aged man in my 40’s, and I always found myself continuing to making poor decisions and bad choices that always lead me back to square one. I always knew there was something that was affecting the way I have been handling obstacles throughout my life, but I just could not grasp it. Was I special? Was I doomed? Did I have a mental condition? I had no clue. I never found the answers up until a few days ago, so there was no correction for the impulses in my brain to act differently, which in turn, would allow me to make better decisions in my life as I moved into adulthood. A few nights ago, I thought about changing some activities in my life, JUST to see if it may help me to better myself as a person. I turned to Google, as I always do, and searched the following keywords, “I need to stop playing video games”. After just a few clicks, it led me to an article written by Cam Adair on How to Quit Playing Video Games FOREVER. After reading, and further watching the video of him at TEDx (which brought tears to my eyes), it triggered me to research further Google keywords and find the underlying cause that turned me onto computer games. Social Exclusion in Adolescence Just like Cam, I experienced social exclusion and rejection from 3rd grade on up until I graduated High School. Some examples were that of calling me names, such as "nerd” and “wimp”, pushing me out of the lunch lines, and getting picked last for physical education activities, such as dodge ball. I wasn't interested in sports at all. That would push me to interact with my peers. My mother and step-father were both in the sales field. Due to high demand in the sales field, my parents were most likely not there when I came home from school. Most of the time, I was left to come home after school activities, to a Spanish-speaking housekeeper. In 5th grade, at the age of 10, my biological father bought me a brand new Apple IIc computer that came pre-installed with The Black Cauldron. From then on, my escape from anyone and everybody was computers, and most of all, computer gaming. Sierra games in particular published quite a few titles such as King’s Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry! Those titles and more, such as Zork, and The Bard’s Tale, consumed every waking hour of my time. School was a breeze. I may have physically been at school, but never mentally engaged myself. My mind was back at home in my computer on those games. I had problems even actually going to school. I would absolutely refuse to go. At that time, around the turn of 7th grade into 8th, my father stepped in and made me go. I went… but not really. I remember, in High School, I would go to a payphone, and call the school. Using a deep voice, I would call the school and pretend to be my Dad calling myself sick. Then I have a day to myself to sneak back home and hop on my computer again. There were many days like that. Star Control and Wing Commander were big ones for me in High School. I did make it through High School, but I barely graduated a 1.97 grade average. From there, I went on to City College, only finding myself dropping out, year after year. At the age of 21, I met a girl that gave interest to me, and I to her. She was my first heart felt love and rid me of my virgin status. She ended up breaking my heart a year or so later. I guess after that, my brain said, “To hell with people!”. Back to computer games! Blizzard games were my vice. I spent most of my time on Warcraft, Starcraft, then on to Warcraft 2 and 3. Then it was onto Quake, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and Unreal Tournament. Everquest turned the world for me. I could level up, get more gear, achieve with my character, and made new friends that greeted and praised me for being there! Something that the real world never gave me. From then on, my life got worse. Stealing my mothers credit to buy a new computer. Drug abuse. So on and so forth… On November 23, 2004, I bought 6 copies of World of Warcraft. One for me, and a copy of for each of my five gaming buddies, that didn't even know what WoW was at the time. I knew it was going to be the best thing I could sink all my spare time into and escape the real world. Over time... 4 out of the 5 friends I gave it to, almost ruined their lives. I would probably say that I have invested about 7,000 hours total in my World of Warcraft gaming alone. I have been playing that particular game for 14 years now. Even though I could adapt myself by getting a job, and be self-sustainable, I found myself changing jobs quite often, moving frequently, with further loss of connections to my family. To this day, I still have extensive personal issues. I am a father that pays child support, but I feel as if I lack self-worth to be engaged in fatherhood. I may even need therapy to help repair my brain, as I do not think I can do this by myself. Personally, for me, I have come to realize that video games are an ultimate waste of my time. Time that I could have easily put to use elsewhere in a more productive manner. I could argue that if I quit playing computer games sooner in my life, I would be better off. As my action to quit computer games would have inevitably added more worth and value to my life at my current middle-aged stage. I recently lost another yet girlfriend of mine a week ago due to selfishness and indulgence in myself. And that girl is very special to me indeed. I think that my end of computer games is a great start for me though! I thank my higher powers that be, for Cam and this group! Hopefully I can come back soon and let you all know of my progress. And now, it's time to go engage in connections with new people, see more sunsets at the beach, spend more time with my family and enjoy more quality time with my son. Thank you for reading! All my best wishes and hopes to all of you! Brian Cook "Time equals life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life." – Alan Lakein
×
×
  • Create New...