I find that being clean and sober makes it much easier for me to sleep peacefully and wake up rejuvenated. It's hard to put a price on a good night's sleep, which is very important for our physical and mental health. For that alone, it is well worth it for me to stay clean.
Falling in this area robs us of sleep in several ways. First we stay up half the night (or more) viewing pornography and otherwise giving into our y"h. Afterwards, we are feeling too stimulated and/or guilty to fall asleep.
A good night's sleep is just one of the many fringe benefits of sobriety.
Here's an idea: If confronted by the Y"H, politely explain that you don't have time at the moment, but that you would be willing to make an appointment. Take out your calendar and explain that you're all booked for today, but are available at, say 3:00 P.M. tomorrow (I say "tomorrow," because that's consistent with the concept of "one day at a time"). In the meantime, do what you can to strengthen yourself, including getting support from others on or off this forum. Make sure you are in a safe place at the designated time, and apologize profusely, but explain that you need to reschedule again... You get the picture!
I have my filter set to block Google Video and all such video search engines. Even though the filter limits all searches to "Safe-Search," there is no end to the Pritzus that would still be let through. On-line videos are just not for me at all, even for the kosher stuff. It's sort of like going to McDonald's to buy some kosher lettuce and tomatoes!
Yesterday I had to remove a dead bird from my basement. It was quite unpleasant and disgusting. But the feelings of unpleasantness and disgust were short-lived, and I "recovered" pretty quickly. Compare this to when we, chas veshalom, engage in disgusting behavior that affect our Neshama. In that case, the feelings of pain and disgust are much worse, and take much longer to go away. So next time anyone is tempted, just remember: you'd be far better off picking up a dead bird than giving into your temptation!
Note: This reminds me of a story I heard with one of the previous Karliner Rebbe's. He was once served an expensive dish of cooked pigeon. When he felt pulled after the desire, he stopped himself and began to think about all the places the bird hung out, in garbage, in excrement. And he thought about the things the bird ate, worms, insects, until the Rebbe began to gag and pushed away the plate.
I just wanted to share the news that I've decided to aim for a life of pleasure. The question is, how to achieve that? By giving into lust and inappropriate sexual desire? I know from experience that, after experiencing some brief pleasure, I am totally miserable when I do that, and it takes days just to BEGIN recovering.
So, whatever it means to live a life of pleasure, it will require me to stay clean and sober, one day at a time.
I just shared with Guard something remarkable. May 18, 2009, which was day #1 for me, was also the busiest day in the GYE forum history!
As it says: "Most Online Ever: 227 (May 18, 2009, 12:46:26 AM)"
"Fall today? NO WAY!"
"An alcoholic needs to avoid that first sip;
a sexaholic need to avoid that first slip!"