Hey guys I hope you're well!!! I had the merit of finding an awesome awesome book called, "The Battle Of The Generation." It's wealth of knowledge on the topic and life in general has helped me tremendously and continues to help me fight the fight with the RIGHT mindset constantly inspiring me. I highly recommend it to anyone. There's a free PDF available on GYE already but I'd recommend the physical book so you can take notes/highlight/underline etc sections. It honestly has been a game changer for me and I'm forever grateful to the author. It is also HIGHLY recommended by a humble genius in todays generation Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier founder of TheShmuz.com (Reason I'm religious from the heart today.) Here is the link guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation?category_id=149

I also read this book and I found it so helpful! Check it out. It's life-changing!

Loved this!

The truth is that any negative self-image we have is probably inaccurate. Our battles are challenging, and as long as we are trying to succeed, we should not be too hard on ourselves. Although we might think that if others knew what we were struggling with they would look down on us, that is not true. Most people would empathize with us, and though unfortunately a few people might belittle us, it is only because they have never experienced our challenges and can’t understand what we are going through. If they had been challenged, they might have fallen worse than we have. It is impossible for them to know they would do better, and they are making a mistake when they belittle our challenges. Ultimately, however, Hashem created all challenges, and He knows exactly what goes on. He knows we want to do good, and He never looks down on us or rejects us.

(From Chapter 5 of The Battle of the Generation.)

It may also be that there is awareness that so many people struggle or have struggled with the issue that they would not dare belittle one dealing with these issues. In fact they themselves may have "tasted" it too, albeit to a lesser degree. Secondly, my little experience speaking with people here has shown me that the fellows in shul or elsewhere who mock the rabbonim pushing filters, or cracking jokes about guys who "need GYE", are often broken souls who themselves are deep deep in the pit. Due to their yi'ush they don't believe others can stay clean or become clean; hence the need to "knock". 

Thanks. I'm new to GYE but I'm loving it and I'm loving this book. I'll post some more exciting snippets later.

This was great! So inspiring!

(From Chapter 5) 

Hashem values all our efforts to do the right thing despite the extreme difficulty we face. He is even impressed (in His way) by what we have accomplished.

            This point is stressed by the Gemara (Sukkah 52a), which relates that after the arrival of the Moshiach, Hashem will slaughter the yetzer hara. The yetzer hara will appear before the tzaddikim as a mighty mountain, and they will cry and say, “How did we ever conquer such a mighty mountain?” And Hashem (if it could be) will wonder along with the tzaddikim, as the posuk says (Zecharya 8:6): “So said Hashem, ʻAs it will be wondrous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, so too will it be wondrous in My eyes.’” Hashem is amazed (if it could be) by the good we have accomplished in battling the “mighty mountain.” Hashem approves of all the good we do and is immensely proud of us.

It's called The Battle Of The Generation. I love it! It really changes your perspective on fighting tayva.

Check it out here:
guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation?category_id=149

Another inspiring piece (from Chapter 20 of The Battle Of The Generation.
guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation?category_id=149):

We must remember that overcoming difficulty is the main purpose of life!

Hashem put us in this world for us to accomplish while we are here and then enjoy what we have earned in the World to Come. Hashem’s goal in creation was to give us the greatest pleasure in the next world. So why did He make it so hard for us to choose right? Why didn’t He give us a huge desire to learn and do mitzvos? Why did He create us with bad character traits? Why did He implant within us such strong desire for sin?

            The answer is that the point of life in this world is to succeed in the face of challenge (Mesillas Yesharim, Chapter 1). If there would be minimal or no challenge, doing the right thing would not be impressive. That’s why it’s no big deal when angels do good. Nothing pulls them in the wrong direction. Facing spiritual challenges is an opportunity reserved for man alone, and overcoming these challenges is the point of life. . . .

            We must . . . realize the profound significance of this teaching. In Avos D’Rebbe Nosson (3:6), Rabbi Yishmael the son of Rabbi Yosi relates that a mitzvah done despite difficulty is worth more than a hundred mitzvos done without challenge. Again, a mitzvah done despite challenge is over a hundred times as great as a mitzvah done when it is easy! What an eye-opener! We see that the real greatness is when a person succeeds despite challenges. This is good news for us, because when we win our difficult battles, we acquire numerous acts of greatness and reach astounding levels in the next world! Amazing!

I found this very insightful:

            It’s the most important phrase for self-control. If we believe it, we won’t ever give in.

            “What?” you want to know. “What could be so powerful?”

            All right, I’ll tell you. Here it is:

            “I don’t do that.”

            That’s right. “I don’t do that.”

When we hold ourselves back from sinning, it’s not usually because we think about the consequences. It’s not because we remember about Hashem and the Torah. Desire has a way of making us forget about the future and about what really matters. We can contemplate these ideas and strengthen them until we can use them, but even so, they’re not usually what stops us. Maybe we hold back because it’s wrong. But listen carefully, and you’ll notice that most of the time, it sounds like this: I don’t do that!

Our rabbis teach that our feelings of morality — what we won’t do because it feels wrong — are influenced by how we identify ourselves. I am a person who doesn’t do that. It is wrong. What could be stronger than that? It is real, and it doesn’t disappear the second desire strikes.

Thus, the way we perceive ourselves has one of the strongest influences on what we won’t allow ourselves to do. If we view ourselves as people who don’t sin, we won’t (Rabbi Shafier, Shmuz 73: “Self Respect: the Basis of it All,” www.TheShmuz.com).

            This is a major reason behind so many people’s spiritual struggles. Full of tricks to convince people that they are failures, the yetzer hara tries to make them identify as people who don’t control themselves. He causes them to think, “But I do commit these actions! I am a person who does these things!” This destroys their will to hold back, with devastating results.

            The most extreme damage caused by this dirty tactic is when it makes the person feel hopeless. The yetzer hara tells him that even if he doesn’t indulge this time, his identity won’t change — he will still be a person who does these things. This crooked outlook gets the person to brand himself negatively if he notices any blemish while ignoring his successes and hard work. Knowing that he won’t think better of himself anyway convinces him that the exertion and pain of deprivation isn’t worth it. If he will still be a disgrace, what does he gain from trying? Naturally, he feels it’s not worth missing out on what he craves for nothing. . . .

(I skipped a little here.)

            But even if the yetzer hara can’t convince him that all is lost, the person is still susceptible to the big trick. The yetzer hara tries to persuade him that the temptation can’t be so wrong by reminding him that he has done it many times. Once the person remembers that he does this action, it does not seem so bad. It becomes harder to feel its severity and easier to make excuses.

This effect is magnified because it’s so hard to live with the realization that we did something wrong. Deciding that this action isn’t so bad eases the pain, so it seems like a great solution. But it leaves us vulnerable to giving in again.

(From Chapter 32 of The Battle Of The Generation.
guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation?category_id=149. See the full chapter there.)

I found this piece very inspiring for Elul: 



If a person puts himself in a challenging situation, or even if he strengthens his lusts by constantly giving in and now faces overwhelming battles, he still receives the same reward for struggling to overcome his desires as if it had not been his fault. Although bringing the struggle upon himself adds to the gravity of his earlier mistakes, it does not take away from the greatness of his accomplishments.

            The Gemara (Berachos 34b) relates: Rabbi Avahu taught that in the place where ba’alei teshuva (people who have repented) stand, even pure tzaddikim who never sinned cannot stand. This means that pure tzaddikim cannot reach the level of those who have done teshuva. This is hard to understand. Why should a person who never messed up be lower than one who ran after sin and only later repented? A person who never sinned should be far greater than someone who repented!

            The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 7:4) explains that by sinning, ba’alei teshuva activated their desires and became more susceptible to the pull of sin. Their desires are many times stronger than those of a person who never sinned. For them to win their battles, they must exert much more effort.

            People who have gotten caught up in the web of desire face extremely difficult battles. Seemingly innocuous situations awaken their desires, and suddenly they feel, “I want it! I need it! I can’t live without it!” The intensity cannot be fathomed by one who has never faced such desires. It takes much more strength for the ba’alei teshuva to win, and that’s why they are higher than those who never sinned.

            In a similar vein, the Tomer Devorah (Chapter 1) answers that because their challenges have become so strong, ba’alei teshuva cannot get by with the safeguards of those who have never sinned. Ba’alei teshuva have already breached those barriers. They are susceptible to urges that others don’t experience, and their desires are more powerful. The safeguards of those who never sinned are not enough to hold them back. They must set up fences that go far beyond those safeguards, and they must be careful to avoid situations that might trigger their desires. This extra effort to implement these safeguards puts the ba’alei teshuva on a higher level than those who never sinned.

            At this point, it should be clear that the lower we have fallen, the higher we can reach. We should never be discouraged by where we are holding or think it is too late. We shouldn’t think of ourselves as lowly sinners, doomed to bear our scars and be inferior forever. Rather, we should be excited about our opportunity, because we can reach much higher than those who haven’t fallen and don’t experience the challenges we face. We can become great! Though it takes great effort, if we appreciate our opportunity, we will be excited to succeed.

            The posuk in Michah (7:8) says, “My enemies should not rejoice over my fall, because I have risen up. Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light for me.” The Midrash (Yalkut Tehillim 247) relates that this posuk contains a secret message: “If I had not fallen, I would not have risen to where I am now. If I did not sit in darkness, Hashem would not have been a light for me.”

            Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, zt”l, (Sichos Mussar, 5032 Ma’amar 37) applies this Midrash to our battles against the yetzer hara. After we fall, we can rise to incredible heights that we could never have reached had we not sinned. When we realize how low we have fallen and cry out to Hashem over straying so far from Him, this spurs us on to dramatically change our direction. Quickly, we fly way past where we were before we sinned, and we soar to the greatest heights. We gain strength that we never had before, and we start serving Hashem with emotion and meaning.

            Our failures present an opportunity for greatness. They are not obstacles that hold us back, and we must not allow them to. Not only don’t they make us incapable of greatness, they can even become the sparks that bring the most growth. They can spur us on to reach amazing heights that we would never have aspired to had we not fallen so badly. Not only that, the added difficulty of having tasted sin gives us the opportunity to achieve incredible acts of success. This is another way our situation enables us to reach astounding heights! We should not be depressed by where we are. Rather, we should be excited because the lower we have fallen, the higher we can reach!

(From Chapter 21 of The Battle of the Generation:
guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation?category_id=149.)

hey!!!!! captain, any exciting snippets from the book in your signature?!?!