So I had a clarifying call today with reb hhm. Step 1/3: Gotta go get rid of Spotify now, tho it wasn't an issue for me, why should I play w fire (was his gentle retort)? Gonna get 24six instead, (same music available  that I'm listening to anyways). Step 2 we'll phase in hopefully soon which is to get rid of my (for the most part filtered) browser altogether. Which will mean less gye activity/chizuk. Step 3 will be to get rid of WhatsApp and an old device which I don't use anymore but also doesn't have a perfect filter on browser, gonna keep for now. Its a hassle to switch sim cards and just in case I need to shop etc w a call to a friend b4 and after to make sure I stay clean etc. I hope to hit 90 days w this plan which should conclude by Elul zman next yr. For now.. day 4 is in the books . Feedback, constructive criticism is welcome, thx.

Hey, the way we break ice is not with hammers and axes, we just bring in some warmth!
My friend, you write that you'll have less access to GYE, which will minimize the chizuk. Many people have stopped coming here but keep up with the friends they made here! So, you can do the same.
Dear friend, make your life a whole lot easier and get rid of the old device. I've been around the block, with the YH walking alongside me...

eerie wrote on 05 Jul 2024 15:44:

update: step 2 complete. As for step 3 I wanna wait (or so my yh tells me) for a certain friend to come back from Israel to states to have a smashing phone party. Also it would be mightily convenient to have WhatsApp for summer, only wanna get rid of it bec its a massive timewaster and its against the yeshiva rules (duh). Gonna hold off on step 3 for a little bit, if only it was a "whole lot easier" to get rid of as Reb Eerie put it. Good Shabbos!
P.s. something I heard recently that inspired me was the gemara in Bava Basra 11a: כל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל כאילו קיים עולם מלא my point is if you have the ability to help save even one person from this מגיפה, then אשריך!

עיין מהרש"א ח"א ריש פרק השוכר את הפועלים דף פ"ה וז"ל:  ולוקח נפשות וכו' אמר נפשות בלשון רבים כי על ידי שנעשה בעל תורה מתקיים בו לא ימושו מפיך ומפי זרעך ומפי זרע זרעך גם נפשות שיבואו ממנו יהיו כמוהם כדלקמן מכאן ואילך מחזרת התורה על אכסניא שלה:
p.s. if you heard this recently as well, feel free to pm me

Icebreaker wrote on 05 Jul 2024 19:45:

Amazing work!
Keep it up!

I must second and be מחזק that which Reb Eerie said. The power of friends is inestimable, especially ones who get it.
I know the thought is daunting, and makes your heart pound, but I beg you, please reach out to some people from GYE before you lose access.
You wont regret it!
KOMT!
(Think back to your conversation with HHM; do you regret that one? How hard was it to call him?)

Lol, I beat the system at its own game, w my browser I got the gye .apk file then deleted browser, and updated my phone thereby preventing me from getting new .apk's. So I have gye (tho daily tracker is blocked, still have forum and chat. Besides some ppl say not so good to focus on streak and update everyday) but no browser

EDIT: p.s. working on material for a "What works for me" Thread.

My biggest concern on this new streak of (I can't update, that feature of app is blocked on my phone) 6 days so far is not if I fall or even when I fall (ל"ע), rather its me telling myself "practice what you preach", קשוט עצמך ואח"כ קשוט אחרים etc. and who am I... So for now I'm not really posting on other (peoples) threads, OTOH, I think it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe who said: " if you know אלף (as in the letter), teach אלף" as well as Rav Chaim Kanievsky writes in the Hakdama to his Mussar Sefer (specifically written for this דור) אורחות יושר, that since we're all lacking so much nowadays and no one's perfect, a person has a חיוב of הוכיח תוכיח את עמיתך nonetheless. 

Another point: I gave a basic sketch of what worked for me on my path towards my longest streak, aye... why/how did I fall? Answer is: everything in life is easier said than done, and those guidelines are not meant for a speed-dieter but rather its about making lifestyle changes, it's a lifelong commitment towards bettering one's self. And people make mistakes (which I've hopefully grown from).

Icebreaker wrote on 05 Jul 2024 19:45:

I didn't say it's easy to get rid of. I said you will make your life so easier, you'll make your living with purity and cleanliness so much more attainable, if you take the not so easy step of ridding yourself of your old device. Keep truckin'!!!!

I mean I guess I could give it to a friend who doesn't know the passcode for now. I can just imagine me trying to explain to this guy why I suddenly need it... "So you see, I kinda need it for um.. er... something ya know.."  

eerie wrote on 25 Jun 2024 16:05:

Aight here goes intro pt. 1: I'm a single yeshiva bochur not yet in shidduchim, FFB. I may be typical but... [In other words, although it could be most people on this site are like me (for sure our type don't post on the forum), and GYE does cater to the whole spectrum, from my experience I feel like I'm the waldo in the crowd, whatever. If you're in a similar situation feel free to pm me.] I struggled with P & M for a bunch of years and only had one really good streak (500 or so days, worded as such bec. any streak even one day is amazing) I've spoken to hhm twice and picked up a thing or 451 about how we should look at our victories and how don't focus on the schar v'onesh aspect along with many other interesting tidbits on the sugya. (For more on my mehalech, read my thread under "what works for me" called road to 500 (not clickbait)) I guess you could say I became addicted to the stuff/feeling at a tender age and lost sensitivity to the extent that I used every rationalization under the sun to not be bothered by the fact that I was oiver issurei chamuros almost daily, for years. Sigh. New meaning to "נעשית לו ההיתר" was achieved. One day corona hit and I was tempted to kick the habit which I did temporarily (for a couple of months, total stop to all problematic behavior a.k.a. P & M, that was the extent of my issue, BH) and then I fell and had some short streaks before my big streak and now I had to restart and I'm at day 8. A compliment from hhm (who doesn't get one when they call?) to me was that I basically was in a great place, I had the components necessary for REAL change etc (k, maybe I had a fall...) and what struck me was that he kinda said that he thinks from his (albeit not-so-detailed) perspective on my struggle that "I have it soooo much easier" comparatively to some other guys who he deals with and that really has me thinking: either I should get off the site, or kick this habit for good bec. what's my excuse gonna be??    (I hope to choose the latter option)

Icebreaker wrote on 09 Jul 2024 20:05:

Thank you for sharing. 
Don't want to put words in his mouth, but no one gets to tell anyone else how easy or hard something is.
Perhaps what he meant was that you have an objectively simpler solution, vis-a-vis you got 500 days under your belt and with perhaps a minor bump in the road, you're already very much doing it. Give yourself a lot of credit and do both. Stay here AND kick the habit for good 
Hatzlacha

Icebreaker wrote on 09 Jul 2024 20:05:

Wow sorry bro editing other people's posts is really addictive.

Thank you for the honest share. Sounds like you've done amazingly well.

If the streak count is motivating, keep it up. If it's demotivating, then forget about it.

Hatzlacha and keep on trucking!

chosemyshem wrote on 09 Jul 2024 20:19:

Although sometimes I get the feeling that everyone exaggerates a little to make their fellow feel a bit better (in due measure, a great thing), some of what you edited is eerily accurate...