#23
Avoiding falls is great, but staying clean is the goal. Avoiding falls means thinking of the problem and trying to avoid it, while staying clean means thinking and being busy with real life and as a result the problem is minimized.

#24
Our struggle is never a big deal. We are not given anything bigger than we can handle. So either its not that big, or we can deal with it. So its never really a 'big deal'.

gyehelp2017 wrote on 15 Jul 2019 14:27:

I think there are many struggles that are a big deal. We need to learn how to overcome those as well. Belittlin' them was never a workin' method for me. 

בא הכתוב השלישי ויכריע ביניהם...

As in during the moment it seems difficult and a big deal, once we look at the bigger picture of things and especially once we overcome it, we know for next time that after all it's not so big of a deal as we thought it was.

#25
The Tzemach Tzedek said: 'Tracht Gut vet zein Gut' - 'Think good and it will be good'. We all know that on days that we wake up thinking of ourselves as a failure we are a lot more vulnerable to falls. So lets think positive and our chances of success will be - with Hashems help - so much greater.

#26
The Zohar explains our struggle with the Yetzer hara with an analogy. A king once wanted to see the loyalty of his son, so he paid a woman to try to seduce his son and see if he will fall for her. The Zohar adds a powerful idea, that in truth the women herself does not want the son to fall for her, she wants him to stay loyal to the king that hired her. So too says the Zohar, that in truth the yetzer hara himself really wants us to overcome him and not fall for him!

#27
'Tishuva' literally means - returning, going back to where we come from - and that is Hashem. So the idea of Tishuva is not to focus on the past, rather it is focusing on the future, how to improve our relationship with Hashem.

gyehelp2017 wrote on 18 Jul 2019 14:42:

Actually, teshuvah IS about focusing on the past; charatah and viduy (and to some extent  azivas hacheit)  are the prerequisites to kabbalah al ha'asid. Then one focuses on the future.

There are various definitions of teshuvah, gyehelp2017 is taking the chassidik approach that teshuvah means returning to hashem and simply stopping to do the aveirah, cordnoy is probably taking the more musar approach.

Shnitzel and kugel wrote on 18 Jul 2019 19:04:

I'm all for various approaches and for returnin' to Hashem; teshuvah, however, is clearly defined by the rishonim, and it is all about the past.

Is there an approach to focus on the future? Most certainly! And, as a matter of fact, it is what I have done and continue to do; it is my only (probably) way of survival. However, that is not teshuvah.

#28
Its not that we struggle with the bad part of ourselves, we struggle with something that is in essence 'not' really part of ourselves. So don't look down at yourself for having this struggle, it does not define your essence.

#29
Don't look at yourself as an individual fighter, while in truth each one of us is a soldier that is part of a big army, and we are all fighting together. Not only to win our own battle, but ultimately to win the war overall, with the coming of Moshiach.

#30
All the great previous generations did not bring Moshiach, so how will we as simple people accomplish that? But in truth, when everything is ready for a king and just the big jewel in his crown is missing, who will be the one to dig that up from the depth of the earth? Only the simple uneducated person will do that job. So yes! only we can bring the final jewel to the king of all kings.

#31
True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking less about yourself. So instead of only thinking about the good or bad of yourself, think also about how you can be of help for others.

#32
Most hardships in life is not about what happened, its how we accept what has happened. So no matter how bad your life may be, if you accept it positively, then most of your hardships will disappear.