GYE is greatly expanding its services behind the scenes. We hope to have a major announcement in the coming weeks about a whole new division for addicts that is being worked on now. Stay tuned.

An anonymous donor has made a generous offer to donate $5,000 to GYE if we succeed in matching that amount in donations until next Monday, Feb 26.

PLEASE HELP AND DONATE HERE

Tizke Lemitzvos!

I was 35 years old the first time I spoke up to my mother and refused to buy into her games and manipulation. . .I didn't have to start an argument. But I could say what I wanted and needed to say to take care of myself. I learned I could love and honor myself, and still care about my mother - the way I wanted to - the way she wanted me to.--Anonymous

Tonight I celebrate 90 days of sobriety.

I've had 6 months before but this is the first time it's a sobriety with not giving in to lust.

What I've learned in the past 90 days is it's all about surrendering and allowing G-d to do the rest. I would never have believed that I could get to this point in the past.

Watching porn or masturbating were my drug and they were what kept me alive. When I had 6 months I was allowing myself to give into lust. As one who struggles with Unwanted SSA I would sit in a sauna and look at the men and say I'm only lusting I didn't loose sobriety as it wasn't porn. How foolish was I to think that!

BH I was given the gift of sobriety by starting with one day and now I've been given 90 gifts.

I pray for many more gifts for the rest of my life one day at a time.

So, what is your plan, actually? Do you have any actual action-tools (things to do) that you didn't have for the past few years? If so, great. When they work, iy"H, share them with us. But if you are essentially trying basically the same thing and expecting a totally different result, then that's an entirely different matter.

I think we can agree that we are not talking about a mere habit here. We are talking about using a things like lust, shmutz, hz"l, and fantasy. These things engage a chunk of our brains that is (temporarily) wonderfully invigorating, and are powerful enough to create actual bodily sensations that cannot be wished away. For many guys, these things convince them that they are real men, and the center of the universe, at least for a little while. Hey...being a king for a few minutes is nice, no? So we get slapped around pretty good afterward...that inevitability rarely stopped any of us before, right?

What's more, being an addict who has been around that bush a few times myself, I believe that the innocent, well-meaning fellow who goes hunting for sobriety with the same stick-with-a-nail-in-it that he had before actually wants to get exactly what he got before: failure. After all, it is really hard for us to say goodbye to our friend, schmutz. And if anyone says "Ach! No, it's horrible!" then I ask him, "then why has it become so habitual for us?" Because it's evil? Who likes evil? No one I know. Oh, the YH made us do it? Well...I think that's a different religion, personally. I prefer yiddishkeit, myself - the religion that says we bear personal responsibility for our choices and yet can be completely forgiven by Hashem as long as we give the self-destructive behavior up. And I believe that if a man or woman is an addict, they really have lost the ability to fight this and are doomed to descend forever lower - until it hurts so much that they cry out to the only Power that is left: Hashem - the very One they were always running away from! The only 'Ace in the hole'. All the sincere plans, takanos, kabalos, chizuk groups, and white-knuckling eventually just run out. Charotoh is certainly very nice and may be a mitzvah of some sort, but is still basically useless for people like me.

I never stopped because of moral regret. I stopped because of having to make a choice between losing everything valuable in my life or hanging on to that open-ended expense account I discovered I had access to: Lust. It served its purpose for a while, then it turned on me and I still wanted it (and sometimes still do) but fully accept that I can't afford it.

I did it for me, not for Hashem, not for my family, not for Klal Yisroel, nor for my Olam haba. I did it for me right here and now, when the cost just became too much. So I have no interest in any s'char for it - not from Hashem, nor from you or anybody else who might admire me for staying sober....I am sober for selfish reasons. It's enlightened self-interest, that's all. I refuse to be relegated to the trash heap. I refuse to roll over and be road-kill - but I truly cannot stop!! I need a miracle to avoid the very first drink - the only one that really gets me in trouble.

So... it all depends on what you want and what you don't want. There are tools for those who have discovered that they don't have what it takes to win. Like me. And that is where the recovery I know of begins.

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.