Fighting Pornography

[john78]

I had started a thread awhile back titled the Rosary Works,

and this is a follow up for those who may remember , or are still fighting this battle.

My Spiritual Director shared this with me and after reflecting on it, I agree with him that it is a bad habit, and bad habits take time to break.

And it is also a form of sin, a form of emptiness , a type of demon.

Recognition is a key to destroying this, I am personally learning things about myself on a daily basis and journaling as well, with the intent to have my S.D read it maybe a week or so before my next visit, so he can get a better grasp of who i am to help me in my discernment…

Things in my life have happened recently that has led me to turning back to pornography, and i even doubled up on praying the Rosary today before tonight, and i still fell.

Not giving up is the first key, comparing myself from years of this habit/demon, i have succeeded by leaps and bounds and usually when you have an enemy on the ropes or fleeing they get desperate and usually put up a few good final fights, so i am realizing i am nearing the end.

Second I am noticing that being alone physically alone was part of this fall, being in an empty house was not helpful for me, and what I should have done when i had these temptations to view pornography was to get out of the house, and go to adoration, a public place, with people, in the presence of our Lord.

Self recognition is also again something to consider, know yourself, have you had healthy relationships with women, if not how bad did they get and why ? take everything into consideration from childhood, teen years, to where ever you are at now, and reflect to see where the connections are . I have had to play detective with myself to connect the dots and some might find this helpful as well.

and don’t beat yourself up over it, it happens we are human, once you recognize the problem you can start changing it.

So The Blessed Mary did not fail me nor praying her Rosary, I failed to recognize what was happening, why it happened, and in turn i gave into being led to pornography, had i just been a little mentally quicker, i would have high tailed it outa the house and to adoration which is literally 5 minutes from my house.

i know there are links on fighting pornography i saw one today, and understood why my mother had put at one point religious items on the computer desk, and this is another step i have taken just now. It is a great reminder of the path i want to be on and to keep fighting my demon. If anyone finds any more links on fighting pornography feel free to drop them here, and feel free to share anything you have found that helps in this battle as i might not have thought of it either and could benefit from it.

I call pornography a demon because for me that is what it is in my life, and of course demons come in all shapes n sizes for different people.

This one though,
It starts with a little bit of lust and the thought is psh no big deal, and it grows from there.

I look forward to the day when this lust and pornography is out of my life completely; i have a goal and i wont let these final battles destroy me and I hope others facing the problem I have been facing for years can find something useful here.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

You really are fighting the good fight! Keep on, you’re on the right path!

But may I ask, why haven’t your parents helped you out by installing blocking software so you can’t access porn on their network? I know you could always access it away from the house, so it’s only a deterrent while you are at home, but it can help with your self-control perhaps, until the habit of chastity is firmly re-established.

 

[Stratocatholic]

The thing I would remind people is that while pornography is a sin, it’s also an exploitation of others. These women that are featured in this pornography are human persons with lives outside these images and those lives are probably nothing what is depicted in the images and they are probably not happy lives. Each of these women are someone’s sister, someone’s daughter. Someone is very likely making money from the exploitation of their bodies and most of that money is probably not being made by them. Although, I should probably add that it’s not only women who are exploited by these pornographers.

It’s good that people admit to struggling with this. It’s human and it’s common and thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever. People can feel like they are alone. Ironically, feelings of loneliness can often lead to all sorts of temptation. It is not good the man to be alone as God has told us. But, when we are alone, we must fill our time with constructive things, like prayer. Prayer is important when we are alone, and attempts to deepen our faith. Perhaps the next time people feel tempted to view an image they know they shouldn’t, they might simply search for another image. Christ crucified.

 

[Gods_Peace]

I had started a thread awhile back titled the Rosary Works,

and this is a follow up for those who may remember , or are still fighting this battle.

My Spiritual Director shared this with me and after reflecting on it, I agree with him that it is a bad habit, and bad habits take time to break.

And it is also a form of sin, a form of emptiness , a type of demon.

Recognition is a key to destroying this, I am personally learning things about myself on a daily basis and journaling as well, with the intent to have my S.D read it maybe a week or so before my next visit, so he can get a better grasp of who i am to help me in my discernment…

Things in my life have happened recently that has led me to turning back to pornography, and i even doubled up on praying the Rosary today before tonight, and i still fell.

Not giving up is the first key, comparing myself from years of this habit/demon, i have succeeded by leaps and bounds and usually when you have an enemy on the ropes or fleeing they get desperate and usually put up a few good final fights, so i am realizing i am nearing the end.

Second I am noticing that being alone physically alone was part of this fall, being in an empty house was not helpful for me, and what I should have done when i had these temptations to view pornography was to get out of the house, and go to adoration, a public place, with people, in the presence of our Lord.

Self recognition is also again something to consider, know yourself, have you had healthy relationships with women, if not how bad did they get and why ? take everything into consideration from childhood, teen years, to where ever you are at now, and reflect to see where the connections are . I have had to play detective with myself to connect the dots and some might find this helpful as well.

and don’t beat yourself up over it, it happens we are human, once you recognize the problem you can start changing it.

So The Blessed Mary did not fail me nor praying her Rosary, I failed to recognize what was happening, why it happened, and in turn i gave into being led to pornography, had i just been a little mentally quicker, i would have high tailed it outa the house and to adoration which is literally 5 minutes from my house.

i know there are links on fighting pornography i saw one today, and understood why my mother had put at one point religious items on the computer desk, and this is another step i have taken just now. It is a great reminder of the path i want to be on and to keep fighting my demon. If anyone finds any more links on fighting pornography feel free to drop them here, and feel free to share anything you have found that helps in this battle as i might not have thought of it either and could benefit from it.

I call pornography a demon because for me that is what it is in my life, and of course demons come in all shapes n sizes for different people.

This one though,
It starts with a little bit of lust and the thought is psh no big deal, and it grows from there.

I look forward to the day when this lust and pornography is out of my life completely; i have a goal and i wont let these final battles destroy me and I hope others facing the problem I have been facing for years can find something useful here.

Pray the rosary constantly

Stay away from the television, I know that sounds weird but it’s true, their is a lot of sexually explicit material that could cause you to have those thoughts. Read the bible, meditate constantly on scripture; any passage that pops into your mind. Also, say “Jesus I trust in you” whenever you feel dragged into temptation.

You are in my prayers

God bless you