General

Dear Chaveirim, Lag Ba'Omer is only hours away. This day is, be"H, a very special milestone for me - six years clean! I have had amazing Hashgacha regarding my anniversary dates. The day when I was three years clean (May 18, 2012) fell on Yesod shebeYesod (the 41st day of...

I am so deliriously happy with reaching 180 days sober!I remember reading a post a short time ago of a GYE member who is also a Ba'al Koreh in shul. He said that when he read Shir Hashirim in shul he got quite emotional. I really relate to that. It shows the stark differe...

I want to tell you this story. I worked as a rabbi in a community so many people come to me for sholom bayis or advice. There’s this couple I am dealing with for many months. He behaves very badly with his wife. No-respect, calls her names, locks her in the house, yells, ...

I had a VERY SIMILAR experience 2 nights ago to when Rav Amram climbed the ladder and shouted "fire, fire!" before he sinned. B"H(!) By reaching out to friends only minutes before it happened, can I rejoice about it today! I was 30 min away from the sin. There was no $$$ involved. It was mutual. The real thing. No web image. I 'had to 1st daven ma'ariv and count sefira'. I felt a bit of teshuva. Then I sent a text to 7 friends asking if they were "awake still". 4 replied. We schmoozed over the phone and texted. I told the girl "my wife found out" (a lie). Now I deleted her contact info. B"H I'm still 'here' to talk about it. I felt like $10,000,000 the next day. Wow... TO BE A YID!   Yosef.

It has taken years in recovery to appreciate that my greatest defect in approaching 12 step recovery for lust addiction was my desperation and panic-driven obsession to 'figure' this program out and do it 'right'. The simplicity of the solution has blown me away. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous can be used for lust addiction recovery. I've taken out relevant terms like alcohol and drinking and replaced it with lust and acting out. I've left the rest of the book exactly the same way, then I sat back with my sponsor, relaxed a bit and read it. When it suggested I take an action I took that action. I found that the more I let go of the wheel and let the Big Book drive, the more I've gotten out of the process. When I do Big Book work with a sponsee, I try to the best of my ability to leave myself and my analytical mind behind and approach the book like it's simply one big prayer for us addicts crying out to Hashem to save us from this terrible affliction. I am seeing miracles.

I wanted to drop a thank you note for the wonderful thing you are doing. I am going through a very difficult time in my life right now, and the worst part is that the battle of shmiras einayim came back with such vengeance that I thought it was unstoppable! That is, until I saw a little ad in the Hamodia that said, "try us - you have nothing to lose". I did! The main chizuk I get from you is the chizuk e-mail - but it's every single day. There are times when I'm up and feeling I might make it through alive, and sometimes I realize that the yetzer hora is a very formidable foe. But there's always that reminder that there are others out there who have been (and are) in much worse places and still have the time to send out chizuk to us mortals.  I can't thank you enough for what you have started. (And for the handbook that you guys mailed me).

We get hundreds of letters from Yidden each year, but this one is particularly interesting because it's from a non-Jew and it highlights the impact of GYE in that even someone who doesn't understand much of the GYE terminology was still so effected... He writes: Greeting...

I grew up in a Modern Orthodox home. During my childhood, I spent many hours in front of a television and watching movies which exposed me to a constant barrage of sensual images. In high school, I was able to access movies of a very explicit nature and I became obsessed ...

As my wedding day approaches, I feel it as an obligation to tell you a bit of my story and how GYE came to the rescue and brought me to where I am now. I would like to fill you in on a bit of my story briefly so that you understand where I'm coming from. I was born and ra...

Dear GYE administrators, I have no words to express my thanks and gratitude towards what you are doing here; you saved my life. Not only my life, but the lives of my children and grandchildren as well, you saved my generations. How would my children grow up with such a fa...

One member wrote: "I used to lust after everything and my mind was full of fantasies all the time. I thought i just had a huge yetzer hara but as I learned to control my eyes and stop masturbating, I felt the lust just fade away. I don't even want to get aroused any more...

A beautiful post from "Chasdei Avos" on the forum (after not hearing from him for a few months): I am indebted to everyone here for all eternity, because bli ayin hora with ezras Hashem always, I have been clean almost as a whistle, since rosh chodesh Elul. Hashem should ...

"GettingHelp" posted on the forum: It is truly amazing to see that when I stop and think before doing anything, good or bad, the few seconds of really thinking through of what I am about to do or want to do, helps put me in line. If I could only think before I act, I woul...

Today, Ephraim posted on the "Wall of Honor" section of the forum: I'm not that new to this site, but I finally have the courage to commit myself to this project. I am single and have been trying to overcome this for many years. I just started going to SA meetings and hav...

Yakov provides tons of Chizuk and inspiration for so many of us on the forum, and we are truly blessed to have him with us. May these "90 days" be merely a first step for him, in a life-time of Kedusha and divine service. May he truly merit to fulfill the words of the Tor...

Here is "Me's" very inspiring e-mail to us (edited for clarity). There is much to be learned from it: Shalom, B"H, tonight is my 2nd arrival at 90 days. The first time, I was running fearfully from the Yetzer Hara until I ended up falling. The second time around though, I...

Hello to everyone here. I am truly humbled to be here. It is the most wonderful thing.I can not believe that today is my 31st day without any assur internet whatsoever. Without any bittul zeman on the internet. I can't believe it myself, I am so happy.Just four weeks ago ...

B"H I have reached 90 days. Mazal Tov. I can't begin to express my gratitude to you and your web site on helping me reach this stage. The way I look at 90 days, is like finally finishing the first step to healing from this disease. I see this as being the first step of a...