@ineedhelp:
First of all, the conflicting advice here is all pretty much on the same page (i.e. common goal), but looking at the topic from different points of view. Different things works for different people, and you can/will find a ton of variety.
What I mean by fight, in the context of your last question ("to be convinced somewhere deep in me of the purpose, idea, goal, hope, intent, mission, objective or something") is that there may not be a magic button that one can hit and become "healed". There is no convincing logical argument that can stop a person from stumbling to
spam just because it makes sense to do (although I think you've figured that out by now
![](https://guardyoureyes.com/components/com_kunena/template/default/images/emoticons/new/wink.png)
).
Everyone here, in some capacity or another, is in the same boat - were all born with a Yetzer Horah. You will find many people here talking about their struggles. Even R' Dov who claims to be clean for 14 (!) years consideres himself to be "in recovery". Ain Apitrupis L'arayos means that were always struggling to stay on the right side of the fence. And that is what I meant by fight: there is no one that can MAKE you stop, if you dont want to stop on your own. And there is no one that can be more successful at helping you stop than your self if you try hard enough. Fight, fight, fight!
As far as some practicality? Your a security guy - so you tell me: is there really such a thing as 1000% secure? Even the most hardened linux kernels can be susceptible to some random buffer overflow or memory leak that has yet to be reported. Heck, look at the BSD kernel rumors (where someone claims the FBI paid him to install a backdoor). On the other hand, it would be silly to put all your servers in the DMZ, kill the firewalls, remove the anit-virus (oh wait, your on mac/linux? ok, no AV then
![](https://guardyoureyes.com/components/com_kunena/template/default/images/emoticons/new/smile.png)
) and sit back and say "Eh, its not 100% safe anyway, so why bother trying"!
Even if, say, internet filters dont do much good, there are still Gedarim that can be implemented to help minimize "the threat". Is your computer in a public place where you can have Yiras Basor V'dom (i.e. the fear of people catching us red-handed)? Do you keep a healthy work schedule and try not to hit stressful situations that can trigger spam reactions? The 12 steps talks about four common triggers: HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). While sometimes we can end up in weird situations, every attempt needs to be made to ensure that we stay away from these and other triggers. Chazal tell us "Va'asu Syag Latorah". That means that we need to place safeguards on everything and place fences around fences to make sure that we dont even get close to a forbidden area. Back to technology - do you really on one "line of defense", say the firewall? Or do you have rules in host.allow/hosts.deny as well? Do you really on "safe" passwords or do you use keys? Fight, fight, fight!
Another point to consider is that your not alone. Its very easy to give up when you think your helpless. People are surprised to learn that just like physical anatomy is the same as the next guys, so to their biological/physiological/spiritual anatomy is the same as the next guys. As you can see from hanging around here, your in pretty good company. Your are NOT problematic (quite the contrary - when I hear people claiming that they DONT have struggles, I wonder if they are OK). Hashem created you (and me and everyone else) with a YH. The gemara say that the YH is so strong that if Hashem wouldn't help us fight him, we wouldnt stand a chance. Look around though, and you will see that Hashem DOSE HELP! There are people ehre that have been clean for the longest time. There are others that have fallen very recently. Either you, your still "normal" and I have come to the best place for help.
You mentioned the chazal of Ruach Shtus. I once heard a nice p'shat in that: Ruach Shtus can refer to over-self confidence/haughtiness (the person is "full of hot air"). (Not to suggest that your a ba'al Gavay or anything) we need to remember ALL the time that without hashems help WE CANNOT SUCCEED! There is no amount of davining that is ever too much. Plead to hashem to give you the strength to keep on truckin' and not stumble.
The first step towards getting help is admitting that we have a problem. The second is actually seeking help. If the "help" you need is 12 steps, SA groups, learning SHL"A/Rashis Chochma (NOT suggested for most), or just
talking to others here and getting chizuk from that - you've taken the first two steps! Your on the way to recovery.
Haba L'tahair M'saim Li!