Considering Lifestyle Changes.

[Off2College]

Well I mean, sex is awesome man. If you have a hot girl, everything is good.

[Tdubby]

Funny,, since i'm like you but opposite. I'd rather stay home a watch movies and play my video games than spend money socializing.

[lovesjoyajm]

Hey Fras, I was feeling pretty crappy about the amount of time I spent online for a long time, so I first cut out online forums (ok, now I'm back, but not permanently) - that helped a LOT. (Then I escaped to the land of no internet for 3 months. that helped even more.) And last week in an attempt to deactivate my facebook account, I ended up deleting it entirely.

What I've found is while it's important to replace your "addictions" with things you'd feel better about doing, just getting rid of them is an important first step too. In the week since I deleted facebook, I have had to fill my time with other things - it's not as if I'm about to just sit around doing nothing in the hours I used to spend stalking people. I've read about 2 books and am starting another, I've practiced violin (haven't done that in years) and applied for an internship. I've cooked, looked into more social activities, etc. So not only has that frustrating internet addiction been removed to an extent, I am also doing more "real life" things that I feel good about - it's like a two-for-one deal.

I think your idea of giving up video games partially or altogether is a great one, and I think you will feel really good about the decision. I guess you have to decide how to go about doing it - the most important thing is that you've realized for yourself the disadvantages it has and you see the appeal of "real life" things. I think a lot of people addicted to video games don't see anything better about social life/reading books/hiking.

Good luck!