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What is an 18 year old supposed to do?
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TOPIC: What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 479 Views

What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 21 Feb 2021 05:16 #363830

I posted this 6 months ago on the Wall of Honor, and one of the users suggested I post it here; I really look forward to responses!

I am 18 years old; Ben yud ches l'chupah. It is just not fair! My desire is so great with no where to put it, and I have at least 3 years to go until I get married! I will not act out, and have not in a long time. In fact, I used to be immensely addicted, for a long time not able to go for more than a few days without acting out, and it was terrible. And now I am free and in control. For several years, I think from age 15 until shortly after my 18th birthday, he simply didn't bother me! And then RANDOMLY, I just totally spiral out of control shortly after my birthday this year, back to my old ways for a few months. I have gained my grips already for 4-5 months now; I know that I am free and in control if I choose to keep putting one foot in front of another. But what is a teen supposed to do? So great a desire, and nothing to do about it! Although I haven't acted out, and a few months ago I bought myself covenant eyes for all my devices, the urges don't just go away entirely. Once in a while, for a fleeting few moments, sometimes a full minute or two, I dwell on what I am lacking, and what I could have one day. And sometimes, things that I honestly have no business thinking about. But I always stay in control. A few moments ago I thought to myself, something along the lines of "The temptation is so great, and I have nothing to do about it for another few years, I should just go all in; I can't take it anymore!i Hashem knows how it is and he will understand." And then my mind went to the phrase in the kinnos "ubachurim b'beis zonah nimtza'im", and thought, "But really, how could you hold it against them? What are they supposed to do? It is quite a predicament. " It is indeed quite the fight. What is the proper outlook? I have asked several questions in this post, and would love to hear insights.

Update:
I have stayed clean since then, and I am 8 days away from level 10! Being 100% honest, I came here as a final destination before I was ready to throw in the towel. Seeing that I was 8 days away from leveling up gameified keeping up the fight, and I said to myself, "There is no way I can give up - I am 8 days from getting to the next level! 365 days straight!" Why that should logically matter to me beats me. Someone asked me on my last post if I realize how much nachas ruach I am giving to Hashem. I wish I could see it, but I am stuck in the mindset of "This is normal. There is nothing special about what I have done, nor the fight that I still fight - every single day. All of those pshatim I used to hear and see about how great it is are for people who are really stuck, not me." Unfortunately, the fight has not gone away. I still struggle with fleeting thoughts. Today (I am writing this motza'ei shabbos) during shachris and Mincha I had worse fleeting thoughts than I have had in a while. I almost never have them during davening, even less on shabbos, and even less with the length and intensity that they jumped on me today. It is quite a difficult battle which I struggle with almost every day, and which has been getting more and more intense as the days pass, and I win every single time. I found myself thinking today that if I just learned a lot of Torah with incredible ameilus, then the yetzer harah would go away. I was surprised to find a tiny tiny part of myself saying back, "But I don't want it to go away." I am so torn! I keep finding myself further torn by the thought that, on the one hand, I wish I was just married, and on the other, that I am glad I am not, because I don't have the middos that it takes to raise a family (e.g. punctuality, consistency, etc.) I am really happy in Yeshiva, but by the same token of being in Yeshiva, I cannot be married. What do I do?
Last Edit: 22 Feb 2021 04:04 by cubingbachur441.

Re: What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 21 Feb 2021 06:28 #363837

  • oivedelokim
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I can relate.
All I have to say is hang in there. Focus on growing in other areas and Hashem will help you overcome your challenges and eventually have a wonderful marriage.
I am a bochur with a passion for meaning and truth, searching to remain clean and live a holy and fulfilling life.

If you are reading this-you have a friend in me.
Feel free to PM me and I'll share my offline contact information, so we can call and text. I'd be honored if you'd trust me with your story and promise to support you in any way I possibly can.
I've been on GYE for over 7 years. "I may walk slow, but I never walk back" (-Abraham Lincoln?).
(For the background and meaning of my username- see Tanya chapter 15).


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Re: What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 21 Feb 2021 06:32 #363838

  • oivedelokim
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Also it’s amazing that you got so far without acting out. Wish I could say the same about myself...

Also-the yetzer doesn’t go away. Even Torah doesn’t take it away. It weakens it, and serves as the ultimate distraction. But it will not remove the struggle.
I am a bochur with a passion for meaning and truth, searching to remain clean and live a holy and fulfilling life.

If you are reading this-you have a friend in me.
Feel free to PM me and I'll share my offline contact information, so we can call and text. I'd be honored if you'd trust me with your story and promise to support you in any way I possibly can.
I've been on GYE for over 7 years. "I may walk slow, but I never walk back" (-Abraham Lincoln?).
(For the background and meaning of my username- see Tanya chapter 15).


My current thread 

Re: What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 21 Feb 2021 14:05 #363855

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Please check out this ebook: The Battle of the Generation https://guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation. It will help you reach the right perspective and excitement that you want in fighting this fight.
In the place where ba’alei teshuva stand, even pure tzaddikim who never sinned cannot stand. (Rabbi Avohu, Brachos 34b)

Great free resources:
My favorite book for breaking free: The Battle of the Generation 
https://guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation. Change your attitude and change your life!

Rabbi Shafier's incredible lectures on breaking free: The Fight. Download here: 
https://theshmuz.com/series/the-fight/

If you're only ready to try something small, check out an easier way to do self-talk here:
https://guardyoureyes.com/forum/4-On-the-Way-to-90-Days/378128-Captain—Shtarkemotionals-Secret90Day-Challenge

Re: What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 21 Feb 2021 14:51 #363860

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You're very popular up there...
שלשה מכריז עליהן הקדוש ברוך הוא בכל יום על רווק הדר בכרך ואינו חוטא
(פסחים קיג ע"א) 
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?"
feel free to reach out @  ahavayirah@gmail.com

Re: What is an 18 year old supposed to do? 03 Mar 2021 20:39 #364654

Yes, the Torah does take it away - when you learn it with serious ameilus; 367 days ago I fell after a 1830 day streak. I fell because I had slowly stopped learning torah with real ameilus, and eventually the yetzer harah caught up. I can say from experience that when a person holds on to the Torah and really sweats their kishkes over it (only the parts which make you think very hard), the taavah simply goes away. That is the only way I was able to keep up such a long streak. There are a number of reasons:
  1. "A person only has one koach of taavah in them - not two. Either they are directing it towards torah, or they are directing it towards Olam hazeh." - Rabbi Daniel Glatstein. If you are directing it towards Olam hazeh, you can't feel the geshmak in torah or tefillah. If you redirect your taavah towards torah then your Olam hazeh side won't have any left to work with and it will go away.
  2. When you have an urge, the blood from your brain goes down to your "small organ" in order to inflate it. This is also why people say that they can't think so clearly when they have an urge: because their brain doesn't have enough blood flow. I have heard that when newton used to have urges he would do mental math to ward them off. I can attest to the efficacy of such a practice, because you are forcing the blood back into your brain by making it require more blood, hence drawing away the blood from your "lower brain" through which you were thinking beforehand.
  3. It makes the mind rule over the heart - something which you should be familiar with considering your evident knowledge of Tanya.

I could go on a whole day. I gurantee you: if you learn gemara with real effort, you will see the yetzer harah leave. (I have a number of sources - kabbalistic and otherwise - that gemara is the only chelek of torah which can help with this process, and I have personally found that even very difficult ma'amarim in chassidus have not gotten to the level or effectiveness of gemara, and kal vechomer just light hashkafa or halacha, etc. will not take the urges away with as high of a success rate, because you cannot put in as much ameilus, and because that is not what Hashem created it for. One of the purposes of gemara was to be a tool to break the taavah through this effortful process. It is one of the reasons why yeshivos learn gemara primarily, because you can put in the most amount of ameilus compared with other parts of torah.)
Last Edit: 03 Mar 2021 20:45 by cubingbachur441.
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