Is there a minimum age? I have a few candidates....

rabbi twerski says one can become addicted to ANYTHING - as long as it brings pleasure to that part of the brain.stop it early!! you DONT want to be like me - nearly 40 years of being chained - there's a shalsheles on vayismamah by LOT - he was chained to his possessions - he couldn't leave.

jack wrote on 14 Aug 2012 14:33:


And there's a shalsheles on "vaymo'en" (by Yosef Hatzadik) - saying "no" to lust, again and again, can also be habit forming.

MT

thanks for reminding US about that one! thanks MT

On Shalsheles:
http://theyeshiva.net/Article/View/115/How-to-Deal-with-Temptation-and-Addiction

Tnx for the link. ;D

I'll use it:

NO! NO! NO

I already use the positive one to fight procrastination. When I have something to do, I go:

I MUST, I MUST, I MUST.

There is something about it when said three times. We also say three times: holy, holy, holy.

today is the yahrtzeit of the man who was the beginning of impurity in america - elvis presley.even non-jews at that time said that what he was doing would be the ruin of america - and they were right. he was among the first ones, maybe THE first - to shed inhibitions.from there, there was only one way to go - down.and we have.did you watch the eyes of the maydelech when he performed? they were mezmerized, hypnotized, it was scary.but there is a bastion of hope - the Torah for those who are not addicted, GYE and all the other SA & SLA groups wround the world who are trying to fight addicitons.they key, i believe, is this: don't start!! even a small start at something addicitive will lead down a slippery slope.if we can stop our kids, or friends, or anybody from getting started in something that might become addictive, we have an abligation to at least try.hatzlacha to all, and myself, too!
jack

chevra, the 3rd day of elul is my 4th anniversary on GYE. i still feel that i need p** to live, even though r' guard tells me that's a lie.i stay clean nevertheless, because, well i dont know why i stay clean, but i do.but i still want it.will i ever be totally free? even of the desire for it? i wish i could stop suffering already.i know, it should be in my hands, but i have a powerful magnet inside me put there when i was a little kid.well, anyway, thanks to everybody and a guten chodesh!

mazel tov Jack on the 3.998 yr anniversary! (not sure about the math, maybe Gevura can calculatize it for me)

thanks for being an inspiration to me
have a sweet shabbos

ZS: your post touches me.thanks.we both help each other.this IS kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh. (or is it (Lazeh?)

3.99178082 ;D ;D


Mazal Tov Jack. KUTGW. Your ongoing perseverance is an inspiration to us newer folks. ( I'm here for only 1.07945205 years)


Gevura!

you know, a lot of it is habit.the hardest part is the beginning - that 90 days.and then some years after that.after that, the habit of abstaining starts getting ingrained in the mind.and then acting out becomes disgusting in our eyes - for example, i cant stand the thought of eating pizza - simply because i have not had pizza in over 3 months - 90 days! no other reason - it's just disgusting to me.ice cream also - now i love ice cream, but i haven;t had it in so long that i cant even get near it.but if i taste it, i'll get right back in.and that's the way addiction goes.i believe this is the poshat that if you leave torah & mitzvos, it leaves you, too - it walks in the other direction - away from the person that is leaving it.

today i'm starting my 5th year with GYE. my thoughts still go to places they shouldn't.my actions are clean, though.but i still think i'm a dry drunk.those thoughts still give me comfort.and i can't see a girl on the street without thinking of you-know-what.so, i'm still not where i want to be.i wish i could find comfort in what's really important in life, instead of having to revert to unholy thoughts.

you know, i'm always telling guard that i still have difficulties in this struggle. you know what he says? jack, we love you. he won't let me out of his grip.i am waiting for him to give up on me so i can go back to acting out.but he refuses to let go of me - how can i disappoint him? yes, he's very smart.

someone should start a thread called 'there are no reasons to stay clean'.because there aren't.are there reasons to observe the Torah? or do we do it because the Creator SAID to do it? is there a good reason not to murder my boss? no, i dont murder my boss because the Torah says 'thou shalt not murder'.period, the end.now, back to my learning.by the way, is posting here called bitul zman? nah, can't be.we have 2 things to do - learn & observe.either one we do is good.
jack