Markz,the new guys don't get your jokes.

What can you do? He was probably born after the iron curtain fell...

YeshivaGuy, the streak is part of the 90 day chart. You can sign up for it on the homepage.

You know the joke about the Russian that walked in to a Jewish bar?
No?!
I don't know it either, but the Russian definitely considered the Jewish bar a joke.

YeshivaGuy wrote on 08 Sep 2020 03:26:

Awesome to hear! Now to your question. If you mean the little streak calculator next to your name, then you can use it for anything. Why not? You can count you days on a diet if it will work. Just restart the count with whatever intention you have, and update it accordingly.

Been clean bh from masterbating/ever stimulation for the last 2 days.
Still haven’t had taiva yet to do it so abit nervous waiting for it to hit...

Anyway, I started working out last night after maariv which will bezras Hashem be helpful for many thing including this.
Hatzlocha!

Amazing! Just plan ahead. Prepare a game plan how you will respond to it when the desire attacks you. 

Sounds like you're doing great!

Working out is a tricky area - sometimes it can lower taiva, but unfortunately sometimes it can do the opposite. I'm not saying you shouldn't work out (I do) just leaving a quick warning.

And your lack of touching the aver at all is a smart move. Even when being excused try and avoid it. Hopefully it should help.

Much Hatzlocha.


Was that before or after the ice age?

Been doing great Bh, I can’t believe I haven’t done even any “stimulation”!
Motzei Shabbos has been hard in the past though...
Going to sleep soon. I will be matzliach bezras Hashem.

Grant400 wrote on 09 Sep 2020 15:02:

So that’s what I don’t understand. Once a person gives into his taiva and allows himself to be “taken over” then what can he really do?
Theres been times I’ve layed in bed and I didn’t stop the desire and wasn’t sure what to do

Just say no. Simple as that. Tell yourself you re like the baal teshuva who is driving past Burger King and really wants to go in. It is not available any more. Of course ask Hashem to help you with this particular tough moment, and ask Him to help you fall asleep without this disgusting stress relieving pacifier that you already put in the garbage.

Obviously the ikur avoda is to fight the thoughts from even coming in the mind. That I get. Which is why i have a sefer beside my bed to learn before sleep.
I just don’t fully chap the eitza once you have in to the thoughts. In the bais Medrash I understand, I can keep learning, or take a short walk outside etc.
But what’s the eitza if I’m in bed and exhausted?

Hashem Help Me wrote on 13 Sep 2020 03:37:

Maskim.
But is this the “Plan” that grant is refering to? That’s my question.
It seems “just say no” is the only eitza, and not sure what Grant means by “having a plan”

Ah! Baruch HaShem the yetzer hara has come,
Gevaldik! Now I can show HaShem Yisborach how much I love Him!
Bezras Hashem may I, and all of us be matzliach and succeed  in repairing our relationship with Avinu Shebashamayim

I hope the nisayon is over.
Dovid hamelech wanted hashem to test him so he could prove his loyalty. At that point he had never done anything which could count as an aveirah. He had had a very trying life. Yet, asking for a nisayon did not end well

So the way see it, a nisayon an indeed attest our love for hashem and it shows that we are ready to do hard things to repair our side of the relationship (hashem has always loved us just the same) and that should be appreciated but not welcomed.
Afterwards we should be grateful to have had it but until it's over, I think we should try and get rid of the nisayon ASAP through distractions or really in any way

starting wrote on 13 Sep 2020 05:08:

Maskim maskim obviously of course!
Im not happy for nisyonos, just expressing a thought that goes through my mind sometimes which I believe is good and positive.
Shkoy

It’s part of my personality to say things sarcastically as well (like if I break my leg so while in pain I’ll say “ah! Bh! This is spectacular! Gevaldik!”) which is hard to chap if y’all don’t know me, but I understand how it seemed to an outsider
we’re on the same page buddy

YeshivaGuy wrote on 13 Sep 2020 03:31:

What I mean is something like this.

I think about how I will feel after acting out. I know from past experience that I will feel horrible for a while. I will feel upset, guilty, like a traitor when davening or learning etc. It becomes crystal clear to me that I am only shooting myself in the nose to spite my face. This helps to lessen my desire, and helps me see it in a clearer light. I say to myself it's not worth it at all, forget about the sin, my own feeling like garbage after is a deterrent.

 I think about the actual pleasure I will have instead of the blown out of proportion fantasy promoted by the yetzer hara.

Think about it, the desire for the pleasure of the indulgence is greater than the actual pleasure. We all experienced that. We act out and say to ourselves "So that was what I drove myself crazy about? That's what I gave up so much for"?

You can create a program with anything that helps you when overcome by desire. Think about what I wrote above, say a perek of tehilim if that inspires you, whatever you know that has helped in the past. This way you are not totally helpless when presented with an urge.

                                    Grant