Saturday, September 27, 2014

Facing My Inner Demons

The lyricist has me pegged so accurately...







JEKYLL:
Lost in the darkness,
Silence surrounds you.
Once there was morning,
Now endless night.

I will find the answer.
I'll never desert you -
I promise you this -
Till the day that I...

HYDE:
Do you really think
That I would ever let you go?
Do you think I'd ever set you free?
If you do, I'm sad to say,
It simply isn't so.
You will never get away from me!

JEKYLL:
All that you are
Is a face in the mirror!
I close my eyes and you'll disappear!

HYDE:
I'm what you face
When you face in the mirror!
Long as you live, I will still be here!

JEKYLL:
All that you are
Is the end of a nightmare!
All that you are is a dying scream!
After tonight,
I shall end this demon dream!

HYDE:
This is not a dream, my friend -
And it will never end!
This one is the nightmare that goes on!
Hyde is here to stay,
No matter what you may pretend -
And I'll flourish, long after you're gone!

JEKYLL:
Soon you will die,
And my silence will hide you!
You cannot choose but to lose control.

HYDE:
You can't control me!
I live deep inside you!
Each day you'll feel me devour your soul!

JEKYLL:
I don't need to survive,
As you need me!
I'll become whole
As you dance with death!
And I'll rejoice
As you breathe your final breath!

HYDE:
I'll live inside you forever!

JEKYLL:
No!

HYDE:
With Satan himself by my side!

JEKYLL:
No!

HYDE:
And I know that, now and forever,
They'll never be able to separate
Jekyll from Hyde!

JEKYLL:
Can't you see
It's over now?
It's time to die!

HYDE:
No, not I!
Only you!

JEKYLL:
If I die,
You die, too!

HYDE:
You'll die in me
I'll be you!

JEKYLL:
Damn you, Hyde!
Set me free!

HYDE:
Can't you see
You are me?

JEKYLL:
No!
Deep inside-!

HYDE:
I am you!
You are Hyde!

JEKYLL:
No - Never!

HYDE:
Yes, forever!

JEKYLL:
Good damn you, Hyde!
Take all your evil deeds,
And rot in hell!

HYDE:
I'll see you there, Jekyll!

JEKYLL:
Never!



Monday, September 22, 2014

Coming to Terms With Discontent

I am trying to come to terms with what is driving me to do the things I do. I really don't want to do them, yet I continue to make bad choices.

There is a fierce strain of discontentment in my life.

I was robbed of a normal childhood and youth due to my abuse. I didn't date as a teenager. All I wanted was normalcy. I wanted to have girlfriends, and friends, and just to be accepted. I wanted to lose my virginity in High School like others. I am jealous of people who had those experiences. Fucking was normal. I wasn't normal...and so fucking has become an obsession. That along with the chemical dependency developed from repetitive masturbation..

I lost a good job due to company bullshit. I have yet to get myself pulled back up to where I can properly support my family. I have a wife who is constantly telling me how I need to get a better job (as if I can just DECIDE to do that and it magically happens). She looks at nice houses and asks "what do THEY do to make so much money?" when she says that it is like a knife in my gut telling me that I am a failure as a provider. 

Despite the fact that sometimes she drives me crazy (and she would say the same about me), I DO have a wonderful wife whom I love. She is indeed a gift to me. And yet, rather than be content with what I have, I desire more and different experiences. I want to be with other women, not because I don't love my wife, but because I refuse to allow myself to be satisfied with her alone. She should be enough. I want her to be enough...but for some reason I can't be content with that. 

I ha e to learn contentment if I am going to break this chain. I am a slave to my lust and passions....I am a good person who has had some shitty things happen to me....but I can't seem to break this. 

I must...I will....

I have to own it!

I will one way or another.

I have friends who are supporting my efforts. I need to find contentment.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

One More By Nate Larkin- He Tells His Story



I admire this man so much. I want to have the same freedom and transparency that he has. I need to learn to trust in order to have it. Its going to be hard because I dont trust easy....

It's 83 min....but worth it.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Another Message By Nate Larkin

I hope someday I can be like him


STEP ONE

I am working through the manual "A Gentle Path Through the 12 Steps"

Step one is giving me plenty to reflect on...

STEP ONE: I admit that I am powerless over sex addiction and that my life has become unmanageable.

Affirmations:

  • I accept that the life I have known is over
  • I accept pain as my teacher and problems as the key to a new existence for me.
  • I realize that I have had a hard life and that I deserve better
  • As part of the surrender of my pride I will let others give to me as an act of faith in my value as a person
  • I appreciate that in the chaos of the now, my instinct and beliefs may work against me. My friends help me sort out healthy instincts and beliefs from unhealthy ones.
  • I do not blame or search for fault. It sin not who, but how and what happened.
  • I accept that life is difficult and that leaning into the struggle adds to my balance.

Consequences Inventory:

  • I have had suicidal thoughts and feelings in the past and have been on the brink of attempts in the past.
  • I have failed in my own efforts to control this addiction
  • I feel like I have a double life (public and secret).
  • I have lost self-esteem as I see only my addiction
  • I have failed to pursue my life goals in favor of feeding my addiction
  • I act contrary to my own values and beliefs in my failure to control my addiction
  • I experience extreme guilt and shame
  • My addiction does not bring me closer to others, but isolates me from those I care about and those who care about me.
  • If I do not control my addiction I risk my own mental and physical health.
  • Preoccupation with my addiction has played havoc with my ability to sleep.
  • Despite my intellectual knowledge that I am an accepted child of God and saved by his grace, I feel emotionally disconnected from him and fear his anger.
  • I risk the disintegration of my family, losing the love and respect of my spouse and my children.
  • I have wasted money on my addiction, spending funds that could be used to better our family situation to feed my lust and need for sexual expression.
  • I risk my future career if I should be discovered
  • As I continue to indulge my addiction I lose opportunities to engage in helpful, enjoyable, and productive hobbies.
  • As I continue to indulge my addiction I fail to adequately prepare for my responsibilities and keep my commitments.

Family Tree and Addiction

My father used to bring home movies that were highly sexual in nature. He would not let me watch them, but knowing that he did made me more interested in wanting to obtain similar movies for myself.

My sister is an alcoholic and drug addict.

Addiction History

I discovered masturbation at 13 or 14. The euphoria of an orgasm was instantly addicting. I found that the loneliness, hurts, and feelings of inadequacy were suspended when I experienced an orgasm. I became preoccupied with having as many as I could in order to make myself feel better.

Abuse History

I was sexually abused often when I was 5 and 6 years old by an older boy in the neighborhood. He forced me to perform oral sex on him. He urinated in my mouth on one occasion. He forced me and my best friend to perform oral sex on each other.

I was beaten up almost daily by an older boy when I was 7. I was hit, punched, shoved, and “white washed” frequently. Older girls in the neighborhood provided comfort to me in the aftermath of the beatings.

I was picked on, teased, and verbally abused by my peers throughout elementary and middle school. I was pretty much a social outcast by the time high school rolled around.

I left my childhood with little to no sense of self esteem.


Do I obsess or fantasize about my addictive behavior?

  • I continue to replay scenes from pornographic movies that I have seen in my mind.
  • I look forward to alone time so that I can watch porn and masturbate or engage in cybersex online.
  • I frequently fantasize about sexual encounters with people I see or know.

Do I try to control my behavior?

  • I have made repeated attempts at sobriety.
  • I have tried willpower
  • I have gone through cycles where I purchase porn, purge it, and go back and purchase it again…like a sexual bulimic.

Do I lie about, cover up, or minimize my behavior?

  • I continue to lie to my spouse whenever I have been acting out. I have told her that I was not doing anything when I have in fact been masturbating on cam, engaging in dirty chat, or watching pornography.
  • I use the “incognito mode” on my web browser to hide my internet activity from my family
  • I refuse to allow my family to use my computer and mobile devices out of fear that my activities would be discovered.

Am I frequently trying to understand or rationalize my behavior?

  • I have read books about sexual addiction in an effort to understand why I am the way I am.
  • I attend meetings of the Samson Society, though I can not bring myself to be truly transparent there.
  • I often will act out and then blame it on my addiction rather than a choice.

Have my behaviors affected my physical health?

  • On one occasion I masturbated so much I blistered my penis.
  • I suffer from insomnia

Do I feel guilty or shameful about my behaviors? (Or the other extreme- feel defiant or prideful about my behaviors?)

  • I feel ashamed when I act out because I can not control myself.
  • I feel guilty when I act out because I believe that God does not approve of these behaviors.
  • I feel powerful when I am acting out because I can bring pleasure to another and be the source of that pleasure- and yet feel ashamed later because I know that I really belong with my wife and not another person (whether virtual or in person).


Do I feel that my emotional health has been affected by these behaviors?

  • I feel shame
  • I feel guilt
  • I feel out of control
  • I feel empty

Have my actions affected my social life?

  • I fail to have transparent relationships with people I know
  • I lead a secret life.
  • I choose to spend time alone rather than with others who care about me
  • I seem recluse and unfriendly when in fact I am just anorexic.
  • I live in fear of the opinions of others
  • I am isolated

Have my choices affected my character, morals, or values?

  • While I still hold to my Christian values, I fail to live up to them.
  • I could not say I have good character because I continue to fail to make good choices with regard to sexual integrity.

Has my spirituality been affected by my behaviors?

  • I fail repeatedly in my prayer life and the spiritual disciplines which should characterize a Christian
  • I feel guilty before God because of my behaviors.
  • I look in the mirror and see a hypocrite.
  • I fail to live transparently before others, in fear of judgment and condemnation rather than as authentic and encouraging.

Have my choices affected my financial situation?

  • I have spent nearly $50,000 over the past 25 years on pornography, strippers, or other activities related to my addiction
  • I have failed to exercise proper financial discipline because I am more interested in spending time with my addiction than paying attention to our family finances.

Has my preoccupation led to destructive behavior against self or others?

  • When my son was still an infant, I forgot to pick him up from daycare because I was preoccupied with getting home to watch porn and engage in sex chat online.
  • I have had suicidal thoughts in the past.

Am I able to share my feelings? Why or why not?

  • I am more able to share my feelings with strangers than people close to me. I can not be transparent with people I know. I live in fear of judgment, abandonment, and condemnation.

Have I made promises to myself that I have broken?

  • I have promised to quit several times, but never able to keep it.
  • I have chosen forms of sexual gratification that I never thought I would ever do.

Have I made promises to others that I have broken?

  • I promised my wife that I would get help. I went to one counseling session with a pastor of another church that I don’t attend. It was all I did and did not go back for more.
  • I saw a professional shrink about 8 years ago. I lied and lied and lied so I never got the help I needed. I was sorry I got caught…not sorry for the deed.

Have I denied that I have a problem?

  • I have never denied that I have a problem, but I have lived in denial of how serious it is.
  • I have denied myself the help that I really need in order to break the addiction
  • I have a love-hate relationship with my addiction. I do not want to let it go, and at the same time I do.

Has my addiction affected my self esteem?

  • I look in the mirror and see a hypocrite and a pervert.
  • It is when I am acting out that I feel better about myself, but then afterwards I feel terrible.

Have I tried to relieve my pain about my behavior?

  • The only way I know how to relieve my pain is by acting out, and so it becomes a crazy cycle.
  • I have had suicidal thoughts when I was a teenager.

Have I tried to manipulate people into supporting my addiction? How?

  • I have tried to get my wife to bring porn into our sex life
  • I have tried to guilt my wife into having sex.
  • I have used my addiction as an excuse for my behavior.

Have I given up my hobbies and interests? What are these?

  • I do not read as much as I would like
  • I do not spend the quality time with my family that they need and desire

Examples of my powerlessness

  • When I first started masturbating I promised that I would stop. I have never been able to stop
  • As a twenty something I was caught by a member of my church coming out of the porn room at the video store. I was never confronted about it, but I promised myself that I would stop. I didn’t
  • When I was taking care of a special needs gentleman when I was 28 I would leave him in the car while I browsed and purchased at the adult bookstore, leaving him alone in the car for an hour.
  • I forgot my own child at daycare so that I could look at porn
  • I developed a cybersex relationship with another woman while I was engaged. I was supposed to end the relationship after we got married, but never did.
  • I was caught by my wife masturbating on webcam in the middle of the night. She threatened to leave me. I promised to stop and get help but I never was able to stop.
  • I tried to give up porn by throwing away my entire collection, but then went out and bought a new one, with many of the same titles that I originally threw out.
  • I have done the above on at least 5 different occasions.
I will add to this list more as thoughts come to me.

Examples of Unmanageability


  • I neglect my wife and kids in favor or sexual encounters online or porn
  • I neglect my finances in favor of spending time seeking sex
  • I neglect household chores in favor of spending time seeking sex
  • I fail to meet my commitments in favor of spending time seeking sex
  • I continually procrastinate everything so that I can find sex online or porn.
  • I put off finding full time employmnent so that I have more time to pursue sex
  • I fail to build positive relationships with others out of fear that my secrets will become exposed.
I will add to this list as more thoughts come to me.

Even as I complete this exercise in the first step....I want to act out right now and get on a chat.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Transparency



I met Nate Larkin about 5 years ago. He told me his story and how he plunged into the depths of sexual addiction, how it nearly destroyed him, and how he managed to find sobriety. I was impressed. I knew that I could relate to some elements of his story, saw the path that I was going down, and realized that I too could hit rock bottom like he did. If I didn’t seek and find sobriety I was going to lose everything.

We started a branch of the Samson Society shortly after meeting Nate. I have enjoyed talking with and listening to other men who struggle with sexual addiction or even just proclivities to sexual excess. It is similar to a 12 step program, but I have found some drawbacks to it.

Here is my problem….I go to church with about 2/3 of the men who attend. I have to look these men in the eye and they know me….but because I have relationships with them outside of the Samson group, I do not feel the freedom to expose the deep, dark struggles of my soul. If they could see the depths of my struggles, the severity of the hurt that I have buried deep inside, the perversity of my desires…could they truly respect me? Maybe they can…but I just don’t feel the freedom to be transparent.

I envy what Nate has, the ability to be truly transparent with everyone. He is the most transparent person I know. I don’t have that freedom. I peel back a few layers in the meetings…but they will never be able to see the core.

I know that some of these men who attend are good men, well intentioned, and want to be supportive, buy they don’t truly struggle in the same way that I do. They were not abused, they are not addicted. Yes, they face the same temptations of lust, pornography, and fantasy that all of us have…but not to the same degree that I do. I doubt that if an opportunity to cheat on their spouse was ever presented to them, that they would succumb to the temptation. Yes, they would entertain the thought, but they have the strength and the willpower to say no. I do not. If an attractive young girl wanted to have sex with me I would be right there in her bed without hesitation. And that is my struggle…not theirs. I don’t think that they can truly relate to me, nor do I feel comfortable sharing EVERYTHING. I throw a few crumbs out there…but I am not transparent.

I think I have found a pair of friends who are close enough to care deeply about me and don’t judge me…yet distant enough for me to have some transparency. My only hope of recovery is to be transparent…I hope that I can.

The online SLAA meetings are going to help. I need to get back to them…90 meetings in 90 days is the suggestion. I am really going to try to do this. I want sobriety….but my desire is still for my addiction. It is going to be a long haul…but I will do it.


My friends said that I need to OWN it! I sure will try.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Letter From Sober Me to in Crisis Me

Dear M_________________,

If you  are reading this then it means that you are facing a crisis moment of temptation. It may be due to anger, stress, boredom, opportunity, withdrawl, or just plain horniness....TIME OUT!!!

Ok...Take a moment to pray to God to give you His strength to get through this.

Did you do it? LIAR! DO IT!

Now take a moment to remember why you are on this road to sobriety. Your life was unmanageable due to your addiction. You were out of control. You squandered incalcuable time, opportunities, and money in the pursuit of your addiction. You are risking the love and respect of your wife and children. REMEBER THEM?!!! You love them so much and this would break their hearts. Not to mention that you know that this is wrong and contrary to the will of God.

Got it?! Do you really?!

Now remember the last time you slipped and gave in to temptation? You thought it would be easy to get back on track. YOU WERE WRONG! Remember that it is a lot easier to STAY SOBER than it is to pick yourself back up and hop back on the wagon.

Now...take a moment to think of the promises of sobriety....

1. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.

2. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.

3. We will comprehend the word serenity

4. We will know peace.

5. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experinece can benefit others.

6. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.

7.We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.

8. Self seeking will slip away

9. Our whole attitute and outlook upon life will change.

10. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us.

11.We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.

12. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Finally....Take a moment to pray AGAIN...This time tell God what you are thankful for.

YES!! DO IT!!!

If this hasn't worked...call your sponsor or get to a meeting.

With tough love...

YOUR SOBER SELF!


Friday, September 12, 2014

Why do I keep needing this fix?

All I can think about is getting laid. I want it so bad and spend all my time in pursuit of it.

I think part of it may be that I have a crap job right now...it's only part time and I just don't feel like a man anymore. I need the fix to feel like a man.

I hope that if I can get back into the work force full time that maybe, with a restoration of some dignity that I can pull myself back out of this funk.

I need to feel masculine, in charge, and whole. I don't feel that right now.

Monday, September 8, 2014

No Control

I am totally out of.control. I know that I should stop, but I can't. I am obsessed to the point of excluding everything else. All I want is to get laid and get off. 

I know I should try to stop....but I don't want to. I wish I did.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

My Story



Since I erased all my previous posts when I had my spiral….I thought it important to tell my story once again…

Among the earliest memories I have is when we moved our mobile home from K to a trailer park in MV. I was 5 years old. I met Kelly…another 5 year old. She became my girlfriend (as much as 5 year olds can have a girlfriend) We held hands and exchanged pecks. It was all rather innocent, but I was on the way to a normal, well adjusted, and socially normal childhood.

The problem was her older brother, Mike. He was 11. He lured me behind a rock and made me suck his penis. That wasn’t enough….he pissed in my mouth!! Can you imagine what that does to a 5 year old boy??? I was treated like a toilet. It said to me that I didn’t matter. I was worthless. I died that day! Over the course of the next 2 years my best friend and I were abused by him on several occasions, forced to perform sex acts on him and each other. In fact, he tried to play strip poker with me while our babysitter just sat there and watched!!! She didn’t do anything to stop it.

I never told my parents.

We moved to M when I started second grade. This was a chance for a new start in a new town….away from Mike. Of course I had very little self esteem and was stunted in my social development due to the abuse I suffered. There was a 4th grade boy named Kurt. He was a major bully. For some reason he received enjoyment from beating on me. I endured regular beatings at the hands of this boy. He was bigger and stronger. I was helpless and couldn’t fight back. I would be hit, punched, kicked, thrown into snow banks, and have ice and snow shoved into my face and hair and shoved down my shirt and pants. It was horrible. My glasses broke several times.

There were some 5th grade girls who took pity on my and would often come to comfort me and help me back up after these beatings. The police were called on a few occasions, but it never resulted in any change.

I have a difficult time to this day trusting and bonding with men. I have found it easier to befriend and trust females (despite some negative experiences I will explain in a moment). I don’t even like it when a male touches me in a non-sexual way. It makes me very uneasy.

I would occasionally act out and throw tantrums at this time in my life. In some ways it was typical for a child to do that. In some ways it was a cry for attention and help. My parents didn’t understand what was going on with me. They became frustrated. My father would occasionally threaten to call the police and have them take me away because I was a “bad boy” and needed more discipline than they could provide. One day, after a particularly nasty tantrum my father said that he did in fact make that call. He was just threatening me to try and get me to behave. I know that he did and does love me, but it gave me a bad case of abandonment issues. I was already filled with feelings of self loathing. I was told by Mike that I was no better than a toilet. Kurt thought I was a punching bag, and now my Dad (unintentionally) was telling me that he didn’t want me.

We stayed in M for a year. After that we moved back to K. I was leaving Kurt behind and thought maybe….just maybe I could make some friends….to be finally accepted. But because of the abuse I suffered I was unable to mature socially along with my peers. I found myself the object of social ridicule. While Mike and Kurt told me I was worthless by their actions, now the words of ridicule confirmed it with a whole new set of peers. I was teased mercilessly. I was definitely not one of the cool kids.

When I entered junior high school I was experiencing the normal attraction to girls. All I wanted was to be normal. There were occasions where I would find myself attracted to a certain girl, I would ask her out, and I would get shot down. Sometimes they were nice about it, sometimes they ignored me, sometimes they would laugh…or their friends would laugh. I believed that if they got a chance to really know me that they would like me, but nobody gave me that chance. I was not cool. I was the outsider. This haunted me through junior high and high school. Every girl I ever liked broke my heart. (April, Lynne, Holly, Julie, April, Sherri, Amanda, Melody, Angie, Michelle). Any hope of normalcy I ever entertained was gone.

At the age of 13 I discovered how to masturbate and had my first orgasm. OH MY GOD! Some people turn to alcohol or drugs to kill their pain, I found my drug. It was the endorphin rush of an orgasm. The dopamine shot killed the pain….for the moment. I began to masturbate a lot. Sometimes 6 or more times a day. Whenever I had time alone I would be looking for that hit. Whatever social problems I experienced would be gone in that moment of an orgasmic high.

I still had self esteem issues though. By the time I was 16 I was frequently finding myself on the top of a bridge debating whether I should throw myself into oncoming traffic and ending it all. I was clinically depressed. I had no self worth. It was my fear of hell that kept me alive.

I would sneak peeks at the porno magazines whenever I could at the local corner store. When my parents were asleep I would try to find movies on cable that featured nudity. I would even turn on the scrambled porno pay per views to try and make out what was happening.

By the time I turned 18 I would go to the video store and rent porno movies….lots of porno movies….almost 4 or 5 at a time and I would do that several times a week. I later started buying them. I went to strip clubs when I could. Between the ages of 18 and 30 I estimate that I had spent nearly $50,000 in adult entertainment….feeding my addiction.

I got married at the age of 31 and thought that it would solve the problem. It didn’t solve anything.

Let me say right now that I absolutely love my wife and always have. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It is just that I still have the patterns of addiction that I have not been able to shake.

I still find myself struggling and fighting my addiction. I still hit up webcams, internet pornography, strip clubs on occasion, cybersex chat, adult theaters. I am still an emotional and social anorexic. I connect better with people online than I do with people in real life face to face. I know that I need a shrink real bad, but I don’t have any insurance to do that. I have never professionally dealt with all these issues. I have been to SLAA meetings, but I have not gone in a few months. I know I need to go back, but I am so caught in the grips of my addiction. I know I need to let it go, but I don’t seem to have the will to do so.

I am fighting back tears writing this. Reliving the horrible details of my past is pure torture. I know that it is an important step in healing, but it hurts nevertheless.


I know that I need to reach out for help, but I don’t have the will right now. I am hoping that by returning to my blogging that I might find the strength and will to find my sobriety.