"Sadness by itself is no sin, but the apathy (lit. 'numbness of the heart') that sadness brings about, no other sin can bring about. Mikva by itself is no mitzvah - since Tvilas Ezra was annulled - but the goodness that mikva brings, no other mitzvah brings.

What are the halachic guidelines when it comes to thoughts during sex? Is there any way for me to rewire my brain and stop this? I feel helpless. Thank you so much. 

You all give me tremendous chizuk, so I wanted to give chizuk back to everyone who’s part of the GYE family!  I used to think I was alone in this struggle and I was such a rosho and I would suffer for the rest of my life for all the terrible disgusting aveiros I've done. I could never go more than 1 day clean, and every time I fell, it gave me more and more despair and sadness.

We need to differentiate between a false sense of entitlement and a justified one. It is reasonable to feel entitled to an adequate payment for the job you had hired yourself out to do, as it is reasonable to feel entitled to undamaged goods when making a purchase.

The things we absorb in childhood unfortunately continue with us, unless we make efforts to change them. One thing that is universal among children, is that they compare themselves to other children, and are always jealous of what others have that they don’t. You're always looking at what somebody else has that you want. First, it’s a doll, then it’s a dress, then it’s a husband, then it’s a baby carriage, then it’s a vacation.

"Please Hashem, within all my defects, my sins, my warts, my hurts, my huge mess,  lies a specialness that you put in me. Why did you create me? Because you say I have value. Otherwise, I would not be here in this world.

It wasn't until I walked into a room of fellow addicts and admitted my utter defeat and the unmanageability of my life (step one), and got a sponsor to help me work the 12 steps that I was given the gift of sobriety.

Yes, we know that during the Chagim, he tried to stick his foot in many times, because when there is greater kedushah (the yom tovim), then there is greater tumah, i.e. Mr. Menuval.  But, now we have finished with the chagim. Let us not forget that on one hand it was the Chagim that helped us. We tuned into the kedushah and ran from the tumah.