I added a new column to the 90-day-chart called "The Cumulative Count Since Starting". From now on, if someone has a fall on his way to 90 days, although his 90 day count is reset, his cumulative count will still get the days he "earned" so far. This will help people internalize that when we fall on our journey, we didn't lose what we had gained! As "Hoping" recently said (and I think this is one of the best lines EVER written on this forum): "A fall while on the journey is worth more than a clean day when NOT".

I meanwhile put "N/A" in the column for everyone, but if you remember how many days you were clean before a fall, please send me an e-mail to wallofhonor@gmail.com and I will add it to your cumulative count.

This brilliant idea was sent to me by YosefYakov, one of the most inspiring warriors I have ever come accross. He is close to reaching 90 days himself, and we are getting excited to see the story he will post in honor of this momentous occasion. YosefYakov wrote me this idea recently as follows:

Last night while lying in bed I thought about something. As you know, the writings of the Aizal emphasize the fact that a mitzvah forms a bond between man and G-D, a bond that no matter what happens next, is ETERNAL. The connection made by a person a Hashem is permanent (this is one of the basis of the doctrine of gilgulim, when a person that needs to come back for a specific tikun does not have to start "from scratch" but all his prior mitzvos remain forever). In the spirit of his, I thought that perhaps the 90 day chart should maybe include something like a "cumulative count". When someone falls, while the regular day count is set back to zero, the cumulative day count stays at its count, and all new clean dates will the be added to it. This way, when someone falls, they should not feel discouraged that their previous avoda went to waste and that they have to constantly start from scratch without having nothing to show for it. Besides getting credit for past accomplishments, this would reflect more accurately what actually occurs "above".

We can't thank YosefYakov enough for this amazing idea, because I can already envision in my mind how many yidden this will help and encourage for years to come!!


P.S. Although YosefYakov gets the credit for this, "Ano-nymous" deserves some credit too, because when I told him about this great idea he wrote "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?"  ;D

Does the "The Cumulative Count Since Starting" column include or exclude days we acted out? In other words, is it counting only clean days, or the number of total days since we've started the battle? 

You're right Momo, I should change the name to "Cumulative Clean Days Since Starting" because it EXCLUDES days of acting out. The whole idea is to encourage people to have clean days, even if they just fell, or even if they think they'll fall again before hitting 90, 'cuz now they'll say to themselves, "hey, even if I don't hit 90 days, every clean day still counts for something!!". And even if they fall, they'll feel that the days they were clean didn't go to waste cuz it get's added to the culmutive count!

Thanks for pointing that out...

And by the way, this is not just a psychological game guys, this is the REAL TRUTH. Every clean day counts for a LOT. In the end, it is all these clean days - even if they're were many falls along the way - that will give you the strength (and divine merit) to break free FULLY!!

So Momo, how many clean days have you amassed since first joining the 90-day chart? I'll bet a lot. That's a LOT to be proud of!! As long as you're trying, even if you're falling, you're still in the GAME. And you aint out till 120!

bs"d

This is a wonderful idea!