Is Your Path Full of Obstacles? Good!
 
 
  Breaking Free Chizuk #1429  
 
 
In Today's Issue
   
Image of the Day
Chizuk: Working for Nothing
Q & A: SA versus SAA
Daily Dose of Dov: What does being a nut have to do with yiddishkeit?
 
 
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Image of the Day
 
Chizuk
 
Working for Nothing
 
By Twerski, Rabbi Dr. Avraham

The yetzer hara deludes people to thinking that life is for pleasure. Looking back upon one’s life and realizing that it was all in futility, is the despair expressed by King Solomon in Ecclesiastes, “Nothingness of nothingness—all is nothingness.”

A man came across a peasant who was wielding a scythe, cutting a field of grain. ”How much are you paid for doing this?” he was asked. The peasant answered, “Sixty kopeks an hour and a shot of vodka.” The man said, “Come work for me. I’ll pay you one hundred twenty kopeks an hour and two shots of vodka.” The peasant readily agreed.

The man took the peasant to a vacant field. “I want you to make the motions with the scythe as though you were cutting down grain.” The peasant happily agreed, but on the second day, he quit the job. “But I was paying you twice as much,” the man said. “The peasant said, “Yes, but I was not accomplishing anything.”

Addiction may make us feel rewarded with "pleasure" but it accomplishes nothing - and even removes us from accomplishing our goals.

How can we tolerate the "work" we put into maintaining the addiction while accomplishing absolutely nothing?!

Q & A
 
SA versus SAA
 
Someone asked: "I know that GYE promotes SA for those who need it. What does GYE think about SAA? I heard it is even more robust than SA."
 
By the.guard

GYE asked an old-time SA member and this was his response:

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Daily Dose of Dov
 
What does being a nut have to do with yiddishkeit?
 
There was some discussion on the forum about where the idea of "addiction" is possibly mentioned in Chazal and/or various s'farim. Dov responds:
 
By Dov

You may be completely different than I, but maybe not, so I'll share:

Facing the facts about myself is basically the only thing that has been of value to me in getting free - one day at a time. And to do that, I need to be explicit and totally open with other (safe) people.

By contrast, understanding how my problem and its solution fits into my understanding of Torah, was of no use use at all in changing my behavior.

If it mattered enough to stop me, then I would not have habitually and frequently done so many things that I knew were wrong in the first place! After all, I knew in my heart that it was wrong from day 1.

For example, I read Yesod Yosef (the one that the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch refers to, not the one written by the Rebbe of the Kav Hayashar), and knowing the issur and its damage and gravity helped me know exactly how guilty, confused, and afraid of punishment to be. That was all. Those things got me good and desperate.... to act out some more, in order to feel better.

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Do you think you may have a porn addiction?
 

Do you have a problem with obsessive and compulsive porn use? Have you seriously tried the tools on GYE and feel that you are not getting better? Maybe it’s time to consider joining a 12-Step program.

Porn Anonymous (PA)
If you’re compulsively acting-out with pornography and masturbation we suggest you explore joining Porn Anonymous (PA). If you need help deciding whether to join PA, call Michael at 347-699-2368, or email help@pornanonymous.org to schedule a time to talk. For more information visit pornanonymous.org (Hebrew: p-a.org.il / Yiddish: pa-yid.org).

Sexaholics Anonymous (SA)
If your compulsive acting-out has progressed beyond the screen (with other people, paid sexual services, etc.) we suggest you explore joining Sexaholics Anonymous (SA). To figure out if SA is for you, call Dov at 917-414-8205, or email Dov at dov@guardyoureyes.org to schedule a time to talk. For more information visit www.sa.org.

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