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mrmmartin

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I second the Congratulations -- and yeah, I suppose what's behind the Nostalgia for the games is actually nostalgia for what we first felt at the time, or actually due to how life around us was at the time.   We can't re-capture it, the game itself is just an illusory (and in the end, empty) experience...  This rings true, I think back even to my first D&D experiences - it was all about my friends having fun, being imaginative together - not really the game itself.

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18 hours ago, The_Creative_Quitter said:

I second the Congratulations -- and yeah, I suppose what's behind the Nostalgia for the games is actually nostalgia for what we first felt at the time, or actually due to how life around us was at the time.   We can't re-capture it, the game itself is just an illusory (and in the end, empty) experience...  This rings true, I think back even to my first D&D experiences - it was all about my friends having fun, being imaginative together - not really the game itself.

So true! Yesterday I reached out via email to 3 wow gaming friends and told them I was walking away from the game as of yesterday. They all knew I was having having an internal struggle about my time spent in game and they all commended me.  Of course I am retired teacher and they are adult men in their 40's (which makes them 20+ years young than myself). But it still felt great to have their friendship and support. At one time or another, they have walked away from gaming as well. I did too while I teaching; my work and my students' needs always came first. Retirement, while glorious in some ways, combined with quarantine gave to way too much time to sit on my ass and game. That's why I am here.

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6 hours ago, Luny said:

So true! Yesterday I reached out via email to 3 wow gaming friends and told them I was walking away from the game as of yesterday. They all knew I was having having an internal struggle about my time spent in game and they all commended me.  Of course I am retired teacher and they are adult men in their 40's (which makes them 20+ years young than myself). But it still felt great to have their friendship and support. At one time or another, they have walked away from gaming as well. I did too while I teaching; my work and my students' needs always came first. Retirement, while glorious in some ways, combined with quarantine gave to way too much time to sit on my ass and game. That's why I am here.

Glad you are here.  You aren't alone - I'm in the "older" age groups as well.  While I never thought I had an addiction the way some of the younger crowds get it (24/7 etc) I still realized I was using it as a crutch to avoid spending time doing things I should be doing with what spare time I have.  We're all human, I think every one of us has that temptation, a need to fill.  I'm glad you're here and hope you keep going - I'm not going to stop.  Only one month in and I'm already seeing drastic life changes - for the better!   That said, it's a process.  :8_laughing:   Sleep patterns still suck, but working on it.  Keep going!!!

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17 hours ago, The_Creative_Quitter said:

Glad you are here.  You aren't alone - I'm in the "older" age groups as well.  While I never thought I had an addiction the way some of the younger crowds get it (24/7 etc) I still realized I was using it as a crutch to avoid spending time doing things I should be doing with what spare time I have.  We're all human, I think every one of us has that temptation, a need to fill.  I'm glad you're here and hope you keep going - I'm not going to stop.  Only one month in and I'm already seeing drastic life changes - for the better!   That said, it's a process.  :8_laughing:   Sleep patterns still suck, but working on it.  Keep going!!!

Thank you for your kind words, The_Creative_Quitter.  I am trying. I felt a little "shaky" yesterday, as in not solid in my detox.

Edited by Luny
typo
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@Luny@The_Creative_QuitterThank you guys for the support, I really appreciate it. I could only imagine how difficult retirement would be in terms of gaming. I wish you guys all the best with your progress.

Day 84

I find myself more and more thinking about games and watching twitch daily. I haven't played anything but I did download a game launcher and nearly jumped on for a game during the weekend. I am glad I didn't but I am really struggling at the moment. I need to keep going strong I want to reach my 90 days.

I haven't sat down and drew in awhile because of uni study but I am going to buy a sketchbook and some new pencils so I can regularly draw in my downtime. I have been pondering on the thought of what is next for me after I graduate from my Masters. I often come back to after a break I would like to invest sometime in animation but I think I will find it really hard to be in that industry and not play games?

I hope everyone is doing well. Stay safe over the holiday period, have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

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  • 1 month later...

Day 90 to Day 1

So I did it I reached Day 90 of my detox on the 20th of December. However, I fell through the cracks and went back to gaming soon after. To be fair, it hasn't been a negative on my life as of late. When I returned to gaming I gave myself strict guidelines to only play after 9 pm and be in bed by at least 11pm. That way my son and wife would be asleep so I wouldn't neglect family time and it wouldn't affect my sleep schedule because that was around the time I went to bed anyways.  Unfortunately, those guidelines eventually evaporated and I found myself playing whenever I had free time.

I am going to restart my detox because these next few months are incredibly important to me and I have a lot that I want to achieve in the new year. I have my own class this year which is exciting and nerve racking to say the least, I will be eligible to graduate in less than five months, my son is growing so fast and achieving a number of milestones so quickly that I do not want to miss out. My wife and I are finally debt free so in the next few months we will be seeing a financial advisor to try get on track to buying a house hopefully by the end of this year. 

There is a job opportunity at a private school with applications due in the next couple of days, I am not sure if I want to add the stress of a new job but we will see what the next couple of days brings. I am undecided if I will return to the Army part-time in the next couple of months which will add even more to my plate but I feel that is when I find it easiest to not think about gaming. 

Fitness has been going awesome, I have made it a habit of waking up around 5 am and commuting to my gym and training for around an hour to two hours. Training around 4-6 times a week. I find that my fitness has drastically improved I am back to a standard that I am happy with. I have begun participating in sparring and honing skills that I have learnt in classes in practical situations. 

Very big year ahead of me.

Happy belated New Year to everyone and I wish you all the best in achieving your goals in 2022.

Goals for 2022

Maintain a high level of fitness.

Read daily consistently.

Hand all assignments in on time.

Spend a lot of time with family.

Dedicate more time to drawing.

House deposit hopefully in a year to two years.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, mrmmartin said:

 

Goals for 2022

Maintain a high level of fitness.

Read daily consistently.

Hand all assignments in on time.

Spend a lot of time with family.

Dedicate more time to drawing.

House deposit hopefully in a year to two years.

 

 

 

May I ask if you have tried this result oriented approach in the past? What was your experience?

 

what is your take on Process oriented, identity oriented goals?

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  • 3 months later...

Day 1

I'm back once again, unfortunately I relapsed however I put in place a freedom block on my computer so I was only playing around the times of 8-10. Which is a step in the right direction.

I'm here to start another 90 day detox because I am within the last 3 months of university and I really, really want to finish strong. A lot has happened in the last few months. I ran an entire term of my own class, it was challenging to say the least. My son is now 8 months old, how time flies and my relationship with my wife is doing well. My fitness had improved, I was attending a Muay Thai gym around 3-4 days a week however I've really dropped off and only go like 1-2 days.

Some simple goals for myself heading into this next detox:

  1. Train physically 4-5 days a week
  2. Write in my journal weekly or daily depending how I go for time
  3. Meditate daily
  4.  Complete assignments before their due date
  5. Spend quality time with family
  6. Work out financial goals

Hope everyone has had a great day so far.

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Day 4

Feeling quite stressed at the moment have a lot on but I am working on some of those simple goals that I mentioned. Today I woke up at 4:30 am, had a decent breakfast and meditated for 10 minutes. I am now just working on catching up with some work and assignments from uni before heading to work. After work I will head to the library for around 2 hours before heading home to spend some quality time with my wife and son. 

Tomorrow I am going to aim for 4:00 am and hopefully head to the gym at 6am before work. Little steps. Have a nice day everyone.

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Day 7

I haven't started back at the gym yet however I have caught up on all my uni work and almost all of the my teaching admin. I have booked in my last teaching placement and it starts in around 10 days. I am a little bit anxious, simply because its a new workplace and my teaching practice will be observed for 6 weeks. But, I have to have a positive mind set and hopefully this will be a good learning experience, developing me into a better teacher. 

I have been waking up at 4:00 am which has been a shock to the body but I really like how I can sit relax, meditate and get some tedious things out of the way before I start work. I am hoping that I can build this into a habit and coupling this with adequate sleep I think it will really be beneficial for my body and my state of mind. I will use this weekend to finalise any outstanding admin, finish any pressing uni assignments, prepare for the week of teaching and come Monday have 0 excuses not to attend the gym.

One week down, hope everyone is doing well.

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  • 1 year later...

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