Recovery Articles

Originally posted at: https://walkinintegrity.com/notoporn-50-reasons-to-turn-the-other-way/

Saying #NoToPorn isn’t something we resolve to do once and then forget about it. Sexual integrity is a daily choice that requires daily discipline. This post is an introductory-level, “motivational-style” post. Like “gym motivation,” it won’t get anyone in shape, but maybe it will supply that little extra motivation. As we know, beating porn–and other compulsive, addictive behaviors–involves things like building relationships with people; addressing traumas and unresolved issues; establishing accountability; changing habits, lifestyle, and beliefs; and creating an environment that sets us up for success. But it all starts with a simple intention.

Without further ado, I present to you a mosaic of 50+ sayings, insights, stories and perspectives, in no particular order, on why a porn-free life is the way to go. Porn used to be “the elephant in the room,” a dark habit that thrived in isolation, but now more people are talking about it than ever before. And many of us have resolved to lead lives that aren’t polluted by it moving forward.

Which, if any, of these reasons resonated with you? What motivates you to live porn-free?

I think we’re just on the dawn of a massive change in the world—the way that the world looks at this. The way that it’s no longer going to be accepted. And, like I said, the men [and women] that are committed to taking action, to taking change, are going to be the ones that separate themselves from the pack.

Frank Rich (Quitting Pornography)

#NoToPorn: 50+ Reasons To Turn The Other Way

I say #NoToPorn ___.

Because porn is energy-intensive and energy-inefficient. Time is finite, and my time is better spent engaged in productive, wholesome activities.

#1 — 7 Powerful Benefits Of Quitting Pornography

Because porn “gives us unrealistic expectations of what life is supposed to be, and certainly what love or sex is supposed to be.” (Gordon-Levitt)

#2 — 5 Celebrities Share Their Experience With Porn (Fight the New Drug)

Because porn weakens my drive to pursue romantic relationships that have the potential to add value.

#3 — 7 Powerful Benefits Of Quitting Pornography

Because porn fuels the demand for sex trafficking.

#4 — Porn Fuels The Demand For Sex Trafficking

Because porn incentivizes free adults to make decisions that harm their lives, even when those decisions are perfectly legal.

#5 — 7 Powerful Benefits Of Quitting Pornography

Because acting consistent with my values increases my self-respect, and self-esteem.

#6 — 7 Powerful Benefits Of Quitting Pornography

Because quitting porn elevates my partner and increases my interest in real people.

#7 — Why I Gave Up Porn (Noah T)

Because porn can increase social anxiety.

# 8 — Porn Increases Social Anxiety (Dr. Trish Leigh)

Because Chris Rock stopped watching porn after going to therapy.

#9 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because porn dysregulates the secretion of dopamine, the molecule of addiction.

#10 — Dopamine: The Molecule of Addiction (Your Brain On Porn)

Because whatever we see with our eyes goes directly into our subconscious minds.

#11 — Why I Stopped Watching Pornography (Ralph Smart)

Because porn “is an intimacy killer. It kills all intimacy. Every time I watched it, I was walled-off. As like another brick that came between me and my wife.” (Terry Crews)

#12 — 5 Celebrities Share Their Experience With Porn (Fight the New Drug)

Because porn can lead people to be more judgmental, detached, and less interested in sex with their partner.

#13 — 10 Things To Know When Your Partner Is Addicted To Porn (Porn Reboot)

Because porn has become so violent, it’s just about hate. It’s just hate and violence. (Shelley Lubben)

#14 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because “there’s a general feeling, isn’t there, in your core, if you look at pornography, that this isn’t what’s the best thing for me to do.” (Russell Brand)

#15 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because I value my spiritual health and relationship with God.

#16 — 7 Powerful Benefits Of Quitting Pornography

Because quitting porn empowers me to deal with other life challenges.

#17 — Life After Pornography

Because the effects of men watching porn “kill women.”

#18 — Flee Youthful Lust (Paul Washer)

Because Matt quit watching porn and he’s never been happier.

#19 — I Quit Watching Porn And I’ve Never Been Happier (Matt’s Story)

Because giving is better than porn.

#20 — Why Giving is Better Than Porn (David Erasmus)

Because sexual integrity is more beautiful than porn.

#21 — Saint Augustine’s Battle Against Lust and Fight for Joy (John Piper)

Because many former porn actors have spoken out about the industry’s myriad ills.

#22 — Most Successful Male Porn Star Of All Time Speaks Out On Porn

Because porn is training in simp behavior. It trains people to run to a virtual woman (or man) to lift them up when they feel down.

#23 — Pornography, Narcissism, And Simp Behavior In Men (Dr. Trish Leigh)

Because porn is highly addictive and can lead to a loss of autonomy.

#24 — How To Heal Your Brain From Pornography Use (Dr. Trish Leigh)

Because porn “almost ruined” Terry Crews’s life.

#25 — Pornography Almost Ruined My Life (Terry Crews)

Because porn brings anger and violence into private fantasies.

#26 — Why I Stopped Watching Porn (Ron Gavrieli)

Because porn fosters narcissism.

#27 — Pornography, Narcissism, And Simp Behavior In Men (Dr. Trish Leigh)

Because Kirk Franklin wishes someone would have taught him about “the repercussions of sex and flesh and lust and vanity and pride and ego.” (Kirk Franklin)

#28 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because porn will “like sap away your libido, and your not going out in real life society anymore, because you got this incredibly stimulating stuff coming at.” (Naval Ravikant)

#29 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because there are healthy ways to transmute sexual energy.

#30 — What Am I Supposed To Do With My Libido?

Because I have to use more porn to get the same effect, like a drug, and it leaves me feeling increasingly dissatisfied after the fact.

#31

Because abstaining from instant gratification is training in emotional resilience.

#32 — Toughness Is The Ability To Go Without

Because my sex drive, when harnessed, can be a “powerful creative force in literature, art, or in any other profession or calling, including, of course, the accumulation of riches.” (Napoleon Hill)

#33 — The Powerful Benefits of Semen Retention

Because porn can drastically change and complexify my sexual interests, as I seek out more shocking content.

#34 — How Pornography Affects Individuals, Relationships, and Society (FTND)

Because porn “really destroyed” Billie Eilish’s brain.

#35 — Billie Eilish: As a woman, I think porn is a disgrace. . I think it really destroyed my brain

Because pornographists are “hacking children’s sexuality, into a sexuality that is predatory, that is violent, that is disconnected. And that reduces humans to just basically sex objects–men and women.” (Gail Dines)

#36 — The Startling Truth About Pornography (Gail Dines)

Because if I violate my conscience, “there will be hell to pay.”

#37 — If You Violate Your Conscience, There Will Be Hell To Pay (Jordan Peterson)

Because the great majority of porn is highly misogynistic.

#38

Because porn is a kind of greed, while gratitude fosters mental health and happiness.

#39 — 5 Mistakes Men Make When Trying To Quit Porn (Rebuilt Recovery)

Because all pleasure with no responsibility is deadening.

#40 — PORN: The Digital Cocaine (w/ Jordan Peterson & Andrew Huberman) (Be Inspired)

Because if people “are pursuing pornography, and they’re not pursuing relationships, there is the potential that they reach their twenties and thirties, and they are truly dysfunctional.” (Andrew Huberman)

#41 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because sex isn’t supposed to be an independent, self-centered activity.

#42

Because porn is based on fantasies. The actors and the messaging aren’t true to life.

#43 — 6 Differences Between Love Vs. Lust (Psych2Go)

Because Cassidy quit watching porn and she’s “never felt happier. . . never felt stronger.”

#44 — My Story: A Christian Woman Struggling With Pornography

Because porn treats women (and men) as objects to be used rather than people to be loved.

#45 — Pornography: An Exercise in Selfishness

Because porn is the high fructose corn syrup of sex. (Dave Asprey)

#46 — Cultural Quote #111: Porn

Because nothing bad will happen if I don’t act on my sexual desires.

#47 — 7 Toxic Beliefs That Keep People From Quitting Pornography

Because porn doesn’t satisfy my deepest desires, even need, to connect with other people.

#48 — Why Giving Is Better than Porn (David Erasmus)

Because porn “warps and perverts our attitudes toward sex, reducing the spectacle of sex to a kind of extracted physical act.” (Russell Brand)

#49 — 5 Celebrities Share Their Experience With Porn (Fight the New Drug)

Because watching porn is like “sh*tting where we eat.” A mind, where we spend ever moment of our lives, is a terrible place for pollution.

#50 — A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Because porn ruins sex and intimacy.

#51 — Elliott Hulse On How Porn Ruins Sex And Intimacy

Because porn negatively affected “almost every choice I made for the rest of my life, from age five to now having to kick the habit.” (Kanye West)

#52 — Celebrities Speak Against Pornography (Smart And Relentless)

Because “only arrogant men [or women] watch porn.”

#53 — 20 Quotes from Finally Free (Heath Lambert)

Because “something greater awaits every step we take in the direction of sexual integrity.”

#54 — Something Greater Awaits

Because porn has “hijacked our sexuality in a way our evolutionary brains were never equipped to handle.” (Jack Fischer)

#55 — Porn is the New Tobacco (Jack Fischer)

Because it is possible to be totally free from lust.

#56 — Is It Possible To Be Totally Free From Lust? (Dr. Jeremy Pierre)

Because porn kills love.

#57 — FTND