well, i'm through the first day of the week and things went well today in virtually all respects. time management-wise, i got all of my (home)work done early on in the day so i had plenty of time to spend with my siblings and parents and to study torah. during shacharis, i managed to fight off thoughts of my Y"H, which i am sure was assisted by Hashem, because even i was surprised by my success. and i also ordered a mishnah set from artscroll (seder nezikin) so now i'll have the access to the sefarim that i havent had access to in the past.

i can only say thanks for stickin' with me. laila tov. 

Hey Shlomo,

You're doing great my friend. My only advice to you is to never be complacent. Don't think to yourself "now it's all different, now I've made it" because that's just a trick of the y"h to get you off-guard (no pun intended). As Chazal say we can't trust ourselves till the day we die.

The reason I say this to you in particular is because I've noticed a few times that when you start out you're extremely positive. It's a good thing to be positive but not at the expense of caution. Know that you may have a good day today but staying sober is not about just getting through the good days but the bad ones as well. They will come - whether it be because you find yourself with free time or are anxious or see a good looking girl or whatever - and you have to be prepared.

I hope that makes sense.

So now ask yourself, when one of the old triggers rears its ugly head, what will you do differently this time?

Well said, Halevi - I'm closing in on 90 days, and new situations come up, or the same old ones...I'm much, MUCH healthier than I was, but there are still tests. Always.

sorry if i came off as complacent or with an unchanged mindset. i'm just trying to focus on the positive more and stay b'simcha as much as possible but i definitely agree that i really need to look out for the "this time is different, i've really changed" mindset because its brought nothing but failure for me in the past, as i'm sure it has for others.

G-dwilling, i'll be able to fight each test as it comes and prevent as many of those tests as possible from turning up in the first place.

Dont worry you did not come off complacent at all!! He just wanted to give you a heads up.

And we are all so happy about you progress. Keep it going my friend!!

Like IT said.

Shlomo wrote on 09 Feb 2010 02:29:


Excellent...being positive is great, and very important...but remember that we will be faced with temptations, that we can overcome!

Go Shlomo Go!!

thanks for all the encouragement everyone!!  ;D

just to let you know, i was blessed with the arrival of artscroll's yad avraham mishna set (nezikin) in the mail today (the day before another snowstorm hits my area) and i finally have a new "project" to undertake and work my way through the entire seder.

and i'm happy to report no news and i'm working through day 3. once again, thanks for the chizuk!

That sounds like LOTS of good news! ;D

well, after a long day snowed in at my house with no power, i'm a pleasantly surprised with how things went today as a whole. aside from the obvious pleasure of having a snow day (and another one tomorrow, making this weekend a six day weekend  ), the lack of power forced me to stay away from wasting time on the internet.

and even though i had hours with nothing to do, not once did my y"h bother me. i can finally say that without a doubt that (at least with regard to shemiras einayim) Hashem will help you if you just ask and sincere effort is put forth. obviously there is still much work to be done and the battle will continue forever, but progress is being made.

and i also realized that in terms of receiving seder nezikin in the mail this week, its obviously hashgachah pratis that it came during parshas mishpatim, the week containing many of the laws in nezikin. oh Hashem, how you amaze me!

KOT!!

Yep - God is awesome ;D

What's truly amazing is when he shows us his awesomeness!

Rock on!

Shlomo your doing awesome!!! Awesome!!! Did you hear me??

AWESOME!!!

Do you hear me now??

hey guys,
even though i've made it this far, its been tough today, and the encouragement has really helped. i felt myself slipping earlier today and i took your advice, silentbattle, and experience a change of scenery in the form of going outside to build an igloo for fun. it staved off the hunger of my y"h up until now, i can only hope and work so that it lasts the night.

well, i'm ashamed to say, my struggle didnt last the night. fighting with my y"h literally all day but i couldn't keep the battle going forever. i know right now i need to move on and thats exactly what i'm going to do. since joining GUE about a month ago, i can go stretches of 5 or 6 days but then i fall. i just cant seem to break that first barrier.

does anybody have any tips on how to get through the first (week) or know of any threads that i could read?

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