DAY 39...How You Got Here
"I think the best movements are fueled by a joyful vision of what could be." - Kid President
When you're young curiosity is natural. It doesn't matter if you're three or 13, you're discovering the world around you and you have questions and desires that you're not exactly sure how to handle. It's especially difficult when there are very few guides and people struggle to talk about sexuality. In some cases it's all labeled as bad, and you're warned to stay away. But our Orthodox Christian experience is that sex in the right context is a beautiful thing. Some parents don't talk about it at all and pretend it doesn't exist. Some do. Most, however, don't talk about pornography at all.
So imagine a 12 year old boy seeing beautiful women in underwear in a Target catalog that showed up in the mail. It's literally there to sell clothes, but it brings on natural desires and curiosity. That's not abnormal. This is why it's important to have conversations about how we view men or women as people, not objects. Even from a young age.
Who knows where curiosity goes from there. If a young kid, male or female is aware that he or she has instant access to naked bodies, doing things they don't even understand, he or she is prone to look, get a weird feeling, and go back again for more until the chemicals being shot off in the bring give them something that keeps them coming back for more.
Perhaps that's what happened to you. It's not your fault.
When you're young curiosity is natural. It doesn't matter if you're three or 13, you're discovering the world around you and you have questions and desires that you're not exactly sure how to handle. It's especially difficult when there are very few guides and people struggle to talk about sexuality. In some cases it's all labeled as bad, and you're warned to stay away. But our Orthodox Christian experience is that sex in the right context is a beautiful thing. Some parents don't talk about it at all and pretend it doesn't exist. Some do. Most, however, don't talk about pornography at all.
So imagine a 12 year old boy seeing beautiful women in underwear in a Target catalog that showed up in the mail. It's literally there to sell clothes, but it brings on natural desires and curiosity. That's not abnormal. This is why it's important to have conversations about how we view men or women as people, not objects. Even from a young age.
Who knows where curiosity goes from there. If a young kid, male or female is aware that he or she has instant access to naked bodies, doing things they don't even understand, he or she is prone to look, get a weird feeling, and go back again for more until the chemicals being shot off in the bring give them something that keeps them coming back for more.
Perhaps that's what happened to you. It's not your fault.
There's a beautiful scene in the movie, "Good Will Hunting" when Robin William's character explains to a troubled young man, Will (played by Matt Damon), that things that happened to him in the past, the guilt he's carrying isn't his fault. He has to really drive the point home by repeating it over and over before Will breaks down and accepts that fact.
The guilt that one might be carrying may be part of the problem of why it is difficult to break out of the cycle of addiction. Perhaps you got here because you were an impressionable young kid who was curious. Take responsibility for where you are now, don't keep blaming yourself for your past. It is what it is and you're better than that. In fact, you're so much better that if you seek help, you can break out of this. Because, you can break out of this. And you'll learn from it.
What led you to your habit or addiction may not have been your fault. Your past is past, but what happens going forward, that is what you now have control to change. Accept your past, learn from it, and move forward. Maybe you have an excuse for yesterday, but today and from now on, you have no more excuses. Commit to being the man or woman you know you can be.
The guilt that one might be carrying may be part of the problem of why it is difficult to break out of the cycle of addiction. Perhaps you got here because you were an impressionable young kid who was curious. Take responsibility for where you are now, don't keep blaming yourself for your past. It is what it is and you're better than that. In fact, you're so much better that if you seek help, you can break out of this. Because, you can break out of this. And you'll learn from it.
What led you to your habit or addiction may not have been your fault. Your past is past, but what happens going forward, that is what you now have control to change. Accept your past, learn from it, and move forward. Maybe you have an excuse for yesterday, but today and from now on, you have no more excuses. Commit to being the man or woman you know you can be.
Today's Instructions:
A. Pray for the day, for friends, for family, for enemies. Thanksgiving, Requests, Praise.
B. In the Fortify Program, Update the battle tracker. Go to Week 6. Check out, "Relationship Realities for Non-Superheroes"
C. Go to the daily readings and read today's Scripture.
D. Journal the following: 1. What's your story? What started it all? 2. Now that you've grown up, what steps have you taken to beat this?
Today's Tips: When the urges come get up. Stop. Breathe. Pray. Go outside and take a walk.
God give you strength. See you tomorrow.
Don't ever come back to this page to start over. This is the launching pad. You've already begun, even if you fall.
If you want to review this page, please do, but do not come back here to start over.