Manga fast?

[choklit]

I realized lately that my love for manga and anime have been having an affect on my life. I'm idealistic, and I can't go a day without spending an hour or three reading manga and anime, time probably better spent on something more productive. As much as I love what I do, I decided I'm going on a one month fast of anything anime/manga. It's going to be hard, for the past 2 years I loved and obsessed over this, I am as avid a fan of this as anyone I know here on CAA, but I think I need a while to refocus.
I'm going to continue posting in this thread, marking my progress and how things go. I want to see how my attitude, spiritual life, and relationships change without anime. And so. Let's see what shall come of this experiment, shall we? I'd love feedback, advice, anything.
I removed all my manga books (which was quite a load), and blocked my manga sites, to avoid temptation. Oh, man. This is going to be one interesting month.

[Saint Kevin]

Something I think would be of great help to you would be to try and read the bible at least a little bit every day of this fast. If you throw yourself into the Word with as much fervor as you were into manga and anime, I have no doubt you'll experience more joy, peace, and spiritual growth in your life.

Best of luck on your fast, and make God bless you to see it through to the end. I'm praying for you.

[ADXC]

Yeah I agree with Saint Kevin. Take that time that you would normally use for anime and/or manga and fill it with Bible reading time.

Also Id recommend staying away from book stores, libraries, and stores from which you can buy anime. And as it pains me to say this, stay away from the anime and manga forums on CAA.

[choklit]

Thanks you two. I'll remember that.
Okay, day three of this.
It was kind of rough the first day, I was so terribly bored and missed my manga time. The second day was better, my study time was a bit more productive, and I was in a much more cheerful mood than I had been in a while. But of course, temptation had a way of finding me. I found my sisters asking me to help them find some anime online, and I was on the verge of watching them when I realized what I was doing. Thank God, I stopped. But that sure was sneaky, catching me just when I was off guard.
I wonder how I'll do today.

[ADXC]

Good for you! Temptation is very hard to deal with. But I know that you can do it if you put your mind and soul to it.

For me, I usually only watch anime once a week. That's on saturday off of CN, so I don't have too much problem with it(And sometimes I buy it.). And I rarely read manga, mainly because Im not made of money. At $10 a pop, I can't afford a whole lot of manga.

[termyt]

It's healthy to fast from the things that fill your days to focus on the things that need to control your life. I'm sure you will benefit greatly from the experience.

If you are having trouble, you may want to consider investing in a modern paraphrase of the Bible and read books like Samuel, Judges, Ruth, Joshua, Esther - the books that contain good stories or narratives.

Knowing these stories will also help you evaluate the other manga and such you read to determine if the ideas being expressed there are uplifting and edifying or are more likely to cause confusion and doubt.

[choklit]

9/3

It's getting easier. I flinch when I have to go past the manga shelves in my library, where I go frequently, but it's not so bad anymore. I was moodier today, though. Brooding, almost. Maybe I should switch my music, it tends to affect my moods more than I like.

Termyt, I take your suggestion to heart. Lately it has been getting more confusing trying to evaluate the decency and morality of manga. What crosses the line of good manga and bad manga? And I unfortuantely, I think I'm giving it way too much leeway. That was another factor of the fast. Reminding myself of Bible stories I love should help me.

and thanks, animedude. ^_^ I usually borrow manga, or get it from the library, that's how I get mine. Anime's not too much of a big deal, though. Most of it is on adult swim, and so yeah.

[termyt]

It all depends on priorities, but I would suspect it will get easy for a time and then get really hard for a time.

I'm glad everything is going well. It's important for us to prioritize our lives and fasting can teach us a lot about ourselves and re-enforce that the only priority we can't do without is God.

[Kunoichi]

Hey sis,

well i read this and i agree that your anime/manga fast is good. I had to do the same thing because it was taking up all my time and really, how productive is it?

Hopefully after this fast, you will limit your time that you invest in manga/anime. And not to say that manga/anime is BAD cuz its not..but things in it can affect you. I personally try to stay away from manga where witches and gods/goddesses are in (if its more of a modern manga versus like a fantasy) cuz it affects me.

I wish you luck sis *hugs

[choklit]

^_^ been a couple of days since I was on.
Getting easier all the time. Reading a couple of my favorite classics like Little Women during my manga time helps a lot. My moods have been more predictable, and my thinking has been clearer. Much improvement. My prayer life and bible-time has been tremendously more fruitful.
Thanks to you guys who have been giving me encouragement, I truly appreciate it and you.

[choklit]

Ho hum. Another day done.

Avoiding manga and anime has become surprisingly easy now. Though I do get annoyed by not being able to follow my favorite series, (I have some catching up to do now) I'm very pleased with this experiment. My moods are considerably better, and avoiding manga has actually given me material for my own.
My prayer life has slowed down a bit the past two days, I'm a bit sheepish about that. But now I have plenty of time for everything, and I'm very happy with this fast. ^_^

[termyt]

It feels good when you refocus your priorities. When your priorities are out of whack, it seems like something is wrong, but you can't quite finger it.

When I fast, or even just change my habits a bit, it is mostly just to reinforce what is important over what it is I like to do.

I'm very happy for you.

[Song_of_Storms]

Choklit-chan, you're a wonderful inspiration. Your reasons for deciding to fast Manga and Anime are the very reasons I've wanted too, also. Thing is, though, you're going through with your decision... I didn't. (Yes, I'm a wimp! )

I'll be praying for you! Keep up the good work! ^.~

[choklit]

Hey again you guys,
five days left! I feel more like my old self than I have in a long time. I feel more energetic, more creative, more motivated.
Since I have taken a step back from all this, I can say that my relationships, with God and other people, has definitely improved. Even more than the last time i logged in.
Thanks again for all your encouragement. Can't tell you how much it meant to me, and with all the moments of frustration, it helped me. I'll be back in 6 days to bring this to a conclusion. thanks for sticking with me on this.

[termyt]

I had little doubt about the benefits you'd receive if you stuck to it. Way to go.

[choklit]

Yesh! I did it!
A month has past, and I'm definitely much more focused. I still love my manga, and I'm so happy I can read it again now, but I know that I can have so much more conrol over it, and not the other way around. It's pretty hard, but with the Lord's help, and all of your encouragement, I made it! yay!
Thankies to who encouraged me, I appreciate it so much.
i recommend this too, to anybody who finds things a little out of control. It's surprising how much more aware and alert I am, not to mention un-moody.
Again thankies. I made it!!!

[Saint Kevin]

I'm glad you made it all the way through. Congratulations!

I used to fast more regularly myself, and just recently did that again.

I have to say, it did a lot of good, and it's something I'm going to go back to doing. Something about devoting a day to fasting and prayer are powerful (like realizing about lunchtime that prayers haven't been as big a part of it as you hoped). As you get hungrier, you pray more fervently. At least, that's the way it works for me anyhow.

You see more clearly how much your heart is given away to unimportant things when you deny yourself those things.

God is good though. He has blessed Americans like myself greatly (though I take those blessings for granted a lot). Thinking of the hungry around the world, I pray for them. Provide for them Lord, and provide for them the Bread of Life. Save them Lord.

In Jesus name I ask, Amen.