I only can speak for myself, I guess different people see things differently.
Anyhow, the handbooks, shiurim and chizuk emails were all very helpful for the first several months. As most people around here, I was probably addicted to the forum and the site. Eventually that all wore off as did my interest in posting and reading the relevant materials. But I must say that all the stuff offered here gave a new perspective on this whole battle. I began to understand what my triggers were and how to deal with them. Just having the support of the chevra was crucial during the first few months. Knowing that I had somewhere to turn was a life saver.
Thanks again to GYE!

Gesher,

if you stopped being involved with the forum after several months, what did keep you going? A sponsor? 12 steps?
Thanks,

KH

kidushashem wrote on 12 Feb 2012 23:01:

HKBH !
i wish that was genuine.
i know its true, but i would be lying to say that i really feel it.
i just spent those months applying what i learned here on gye.
it wasnt easy, but after consultations with several gye experts
it seemed that the steps were not necessary for me.
i will admit that shmiras einayim suddenly became much more difficult during that time.
more recently a disscusion with one of my rabbanim
helped deal with that aspect
more to come on that...

Today is exactly one year! (according to the english date)
Just thinking about the difference a year makes
Wow!
Retracing my steps over the past few days made me aware that it isnt one specific thing that helped. In fact many things that I tried in the past and didnt help then, now in combination with the other tools made a difference.
For example, Chazal tell us that HKBH made the Torah as a tavlin to the YH. ( not that mine needed any additional taste) How many times did i try to bury myself in learning hoping that it would make the YH go away. It didnt work. But once I was on GYE and had broken the YH's grip on me, i added an extra limud of my own daf yomi and that really helped.
Another example: The idea that "she's not for me!" never helped before. In fact even during the first three quarters of this year it didnt help. neither did "she's not my problem" although it is  a great line! Only recently after getting some guidance from a rav about redirecting our imagination, did I start to really apply these concepts. I realized that i could actually stop fantasizing and thinking about women by saying, " I choose to think about something else." (see my earlier post about the multi-movie theater) It suddenly dawned on me the absurdity of my imagination. The ladies werent interested in me, my imagination was creating these fantastic stories that were based on nothing. Unfortunately the surrounding society with its movies etc... has created all sorts of fantastic love stories that have no relevance to our reality. Now i couldnt break that before. I wouldnt have been able to hear it. But now i can.
I think that is one of the biggest benefits of this whole process, that I have taken back the steering wheel from the YH. He still fights for it and tries to distract me, but I maintain control. I believe Yosef HaTzaddik said it to me way back when and it really struck a chord. Until now our buttons were stuck, we couldnt push the right ones even if we wanted to. Baruch Hashem for GYE and for "unstucking" my buttons.

mazel tov GZM!!
hope your buttons stay unstuck היום ובכל יום
thanks for sharing the good stuff

yes, here here to unstuck buttons! WTG, KUTGW, and most importantly KOT!

thank you Zem and gibor
all the best to you as well.

So here we are getting on with life.
Im walking down the street and the YH says
so how long do you think you can keep this up?
I mean let's be honest here
you've been clean for quite a while but...
all good things must come to an end.
do you really believe that you've conquered this thing?
c'mon! who are you fooling?
so i think that we'll continue posting for a while.

what's interesting is that I started to see the small inroads that the YH makes
that if not recognized and stopped
can snowball (even if it didnt snow!) into a real problem
just two examples
1) Im going to sleep and my mind starts wandering
what would happen if chas v'chalila my wife passed away
who would i marry?
and the we are off to the races!
took the YH 0.2 seconds to get my mind in the wrong place.

and the whole concept is ridiculous
why should i think about that?
It's just his way of presenting a fantasy in a mutar way
you see technically it wouldnt be assur at that point
thats how he starts
we have to nip it in the bud and get our minds elsewhere

2) over the past year I've developed certain good habits in davening and learning
that unfortunately i was not keeping during my "state of lunacy"
These small things, saying all of korbanos (including eizehu mekomom) for example, reminded me of my accomplishments and inner resolve to stay on track.
I found that in the past several days, i started slacking off
this morning i decided to get back on track
I guess the idea is that if i fight Him in other realms it keeps me away from the really problematic battles.

food for thought

great and important ideas to keep in mind
thank you

Gesher Tzar Meod wrote on 21 Feb 2012 07:11:

can i get doubles?

Zem i thought of you today while driving
the radio guy (kol chai) was talking about how many horns giraffes have.
and i said hey! that's Zemmy!

WOW!
It's been a long time since i stayed up after 1 AM posting.
it's nice to be back
but I gotta get some sleep!

Gesher Tzar Meod wrote on 21 Feb 2012 22:38:

Was he talking about the possibility that the giraffe is the tachash?

TehillimZugger wrote on 22 Feb 2012 08:13:

honestly, I have no idea what they were talking about. I just heard something about giraffes and horns. But now thanks to you when I see tachash in the parsha I'll be thinking of Zemmy!

"wherever I go I'm reminded of GYE" 

truly honored  :-[

;D :D :D ;D

happy Adar!