Time for something new

[Stevec2283]

Here's a little something that I was working on today. My sad attempt at drawing something ????

 

 

And i really like your drawing. it is not a sad attempt. It is a good one . Don't belittle yourself

Thanks... I guess like anything, with practice you can improve.

[Stevec2283]

Here's the finished product of what I attempted to draw yesterday. I'm trying to learn how to draw as another hobby.

[Stevec2283]

Now, where do I start? Over the past few days I've been dealing with a number of emotions but not all of them have to do with just gaming but other things I'm dealing with in my life, this has lead me to think about gaming, but I haven't given in. That being said it can be quite frustrating at times and there are times when I start my day on a positive, only to have it shift and for me to feel down and not feel like doing much of anything. I think that maybe I need to shift my focus away from quitting gaming to dealing with the other things I'm dealing with in life. As I've said previously, I think I may have to try and figure this one out on my own, so after much thought I think I'm going to leave Gamequitters but unlike times past, this time I don't know if I will return or not.

And to all of you who have helped me, I appreciate all that you've done. Sorry that you've had to read through my many rants in which I've sounded like a broken record.

Take care everyone and I wish you all the best

[Stevec2283]

First of all I want to apologize to everyone here because I may not have seemed very serious about quitting gaming, but I am very serious about quitting. Also I'm sorry for you having to read my many broken record like posts.  

It's been just about a week since I said that I was going leave Gamequitters and I wasn't sure if I would return or not but I've decided that I can't do this on my own. On my own I've already failed miserably and have relapsed, but as of last night I decided that I want to keep fighting to reach the goal of a game free life. I've come realize that even though games provide a temporary escape from the things I'm dealing with, they don't change anything and they don't really make me feel any better. If anything, games make me feel worse because I think about the time I've wasted that I could be using doing things to improve my situation. Over the past few months as you have seen from my posts I've been struggling and for a time I was able to reach 34 days game free but then I let my emotions get the better of me and I've been continuing to let that happen.  

Enough is enough and I have to look at what helped me to be successful in the past and learn from it. No longer do I want to be controlled by gaming but I want to break free from it. 

Later today will be 1 day game free and I know that it's a long journey but I'm only going to focus on one day at a time.

[Stevec2283]

Today is Day 5 of my game free life. So far things have been going well, and with the time I would have spent gaming I've replaced it with more productive activities. Apart from work which occupies a good portion of the day, I've been able to start getting active again(ie. walking to and from work). I've been doing some reading and I also been trying to consider some other activities that might be good for me to incorporate in my game free life. There are times that I engage in non productive activities (ie. watching TV), but the main thing is that I'm not gaming. I'm taking small steps to reach a bigger goal, that of first completing the 90 day detox.

Do I still think about gaming? Of course! But rather than allow myself to have temporary enjoyment, I'd rather work towards something that is worthwhile, something that will have a lasting effect. 

The journey is a long one and yes there are going to ups and downs, but I just have to keep fighting.

 

Edited April 21, 2017 by Stevec2283

[Stevec2283]

Just a quick update, it's now a week since I stopped gaming. As I've said before I still think about gaming from time to time but I'm not going to let it control me anymore. Over the past week I've been doing well in occupying my time with other activities and for the most part I try to do things that are productive. 

It's going to take a lot of effort to beat this, but I know that it's possible if I really give it my all. 

 

[Cam Adair]

Thinking about games will go away over time, but it will likely take more time for it to go away than you think! All good, notice the thoughts and let them pass like clouds in the sky.

[Stevec2283]

Today is day 15 of my game free life and it hasn't been easy but I've been successful thus far.

Overall I've been doing pretty good with being productive, but there are days that are not very productive. Some days I find myself wasting a lot of time or sometimes I feel like I'm bored and unsure as to what to do. It's a constant work in progress that I'm sure will get better over time.

Since I've quit gaming I've been able to do more reading and recently I've gotten back into learning Japanese. Also now that the weather has started to get better I've been able to be more active( ie. walking to and from work). I want to be able to drop those unnecessary pounds and get in shape.

Though at times it may seem too difficult and I may feel like giving up, I want to reach my goals so I will keep fighting. It would be so easy for me to give up and go right back to gaming but I know that I'm the long run it won't accomplish anything. If anything I will feel even worse and I no longer want gaming to control my life. 

In the past gaming was a great stress reliever but I struggled to limit the time I was gaming. I would sometimes say I'll only play for awhile but awhile would turn into a few hours or more. Some people might say that gaming in moderation is ok and yes some people might be able to do that but for me, that's not even an option, it's either I game full time or I don't game at all. I struggled to find a happy medium.

So moving forward, what are my plans?

Well first of all I'm working towards completing the 90 day detox and along the way as I said earlier, I want to get in shape. From there I will continue my game free life and set other goals that I will work towards reaching.

"Leave the Pixel World and Enter the Real World."

[Stevec2283]

Well where do I start....I relapsed and have started playing games again. First it was internet games yesterday and today it was console games. I wish that I could break free from this habit.

Gaming has for many years been a coping mechanism in dealing with stress but it's time for this to change. I've been under a lot of stress lately and rather than try to fight the urge to game as an escape, I started to make excuses to go back to gaming and now here I am.

But rather than beat myself up, I'm going to pick myself up and keep on trying. 

[Stevec2283]

Later today will be 1 day since I quit gaming, I really need to figure it out this time. As I've said in a previous post, gaming for me was a way to escape stress or to temporarily forget whatever I was dealing with. I really need to try and find other activities that I can use as a coping mechanism so I can handle stress better.

 I know that this is not going to be easy and it'll take a lot of effort on my part but I know that I can do it. I've been trying since January to beat this and with minimal success, but rather than focus on what's already been done, I will leave the past in the past and move forward. 

[Mhyrion]

What really helped me after my third relapse, was figuring out how many days I didn't game in total and not only look at the last streak. 1 day might sound discouraging, but I bet you have quite a lot already together since starting in January!

Edited May 11, 2017 by Mhyrion

[Stevec2283]

Today is day 7 of my game free life and so far it has been going well and I've had very few times that I've thought about gaming. Even though I'm not gaming, I still struggle with being productive and I often find myself doing things just to avoid gaming. One area I still struggle with is spending hours watching videos on Youtube, and yes I'm not gaming but I'm not being productive either, I'm only wasting time that I could spend doing other things are worthwhile. I'm going to work towards being more productive and waste less time.

Things I want to accomplish:

-Be more active(started)

-Do more reading(started)

-Waste less time(WIP)

 

This journey is not going to be easy and there are going to be bumps in the road but I know that it's possible. Even if I should fall, I will pick myself back up and keep moving forward. Even though I've failed in the past, I'm not going to let it weigh me down...Whats done is done and all I can do now is forget the past and move forward.

 

 

[Stevec2283]

Today is day 9 in my game free life, I've been struggling with other personal matters outside of gaming which has made things quite difficult. There are times that I'm not sure if I can keep going and I sometimes wonder where I should really be focusing my attention, either to quitting gaming or dealing with the personal issues. I really need to think about what's better for me at the moment. 

[Stevec2283]

I've gave it some thought and have decided that right now there are some personal things I  have to attend to, so I will be focusing my attention on these. For this reason I will be leaving the forum and I'm unsure as to when I will be back.

To all those who've tried to help me since I joined, I say thank you and to Cam, thanks for your support as well.

Also to Cam, for right now, please delete my account and whenever I return, I will make a fresh start.

I wish everyone at the Gamequitters forum all the best. 

[Stevec2283]

I've been lurking for awhile now and I've been seeing how well you're all doing. Glad that you're all doing well.

It has been awhile since I've been here and things have been going pretty good for me. I did for awhile go back to playing games. Gaming was almost like a security blanket, something I could go to if I was stressed, but of what benefit is gaming, things didn't change and all gaming was is a temporary escape. 

Today is day 2 of my game free life. I need to face things head on and stop using the things going on in my life as an excuse to play games. I need to find other worthwhile activities and do those instead. 

No matter how many times I fall, I'm going to keep picking myself back up and keep fighting.

[Mettermrck]

Welcome back...I've been in and out too...started a couple years ago. I think I'm on my 4th and 5th try but I know this is my final try.

[Stevec2283]

I've decided to come back again and give quitting gaming another go.

I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to quit. I'd quit for awhile and then I'd start again, it has been an endless cycle and something that I've been really struggling with. 

I'm tired of allowing myself to be controlled by something that is a complete waste of valuable time, time that can be spent doing more meaningful things. I've decided that, starting tomorrow I will quit gaming and use my time wisely. 

I know that this will not be easy but I've seen how some of you have been able to complete the 90 day detox and beyond that, so I know that it's possible for me as well.

[Mettermrck]

Hi, Steve, glad to see you back. Don't give up! Sometimes it can take many tries before it comes together.

[giblets]

Use what you have learned in your last attempts to make this one more successful. Find out why you want to play games and why you want to give them up - that will give you the motivation and tools to get started.

Jason started his detox by writing down all his values in a big list, which helped him focus on what he was trying to achieve and to look for the traps of distracting him from that - this might be useful to you. I used a timeline of things I wanted to achieve, which identified that I don't have any time to waste!

[Tom2]

Welcome back! Let's do it this time  

[Vlad]

Steven, awesome to have you back. You're a true cowboy in a sense that you keep getting back on the horse every time you fall. Great persistence! Always pays. Your relapses were probably due to you not having enough instruments.

I suggest you use an NLP technique Tony Robbins called "the Dickens process" in reference to A Christmas Carol. In short it means that you have to vividly imagine all the costs and losses you have had, still have and are going to have due to gaming and after that imagine a truly beatiful alternative for the future.

Think about your past. What have you missed? What could you have done and gained if it wasn't for your addiction? What could your life be like, but isn't? Think about your present. What gaming is costing you in the present? How do you like it? Imagine yourself in 10 years if you keep on gaming. What are you like? How do you feel? What do you have? Is it the best you can do? Where do you live? Who do you have around you? What are your further perspectives like? In my case honest answers to questions like that were very painful and left me bitter, that's how I got pain associated with gaming. After that you have to imagine a very pleasant future without gaming. A future so nice it makes your heart race and your mouth water. Repeat until you absolutely need that better alternative future.

I found it hard to stay determined while I had second thoughts about the course I wanted. So, rinse and repeat that process until it makes a deep groove in your mind.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like an all-knowing platypus. I just found this technique useful and effective, and hoped you'd like it as well. My name a Borat, I like)

May the force be with you, bro)

Edited July 30, 2017 by Vlad

[Cam Adair]

What have you learned from this previous relapse?

[Stevec2283]

What have you learned from this previous relapse?

That I'm good at making excuses as to why I should play games.

[Stevec2283]

Today is day 1 and so far my day has been going well. I haven't had any urges to play games but then again I haven't really had time to think about games because I was gone all morning and I've been working all afternoon and will work until later tonight. 

I've decided that I'm going to take a look back at what made me successful in the past and learn to use it this time around.

 

DAYS GAME FREE: 1

[Vlad]

What have you learned from this previous relapse?

That I'm good at making excuses as to why I should play games.

 

Sherlock bro