As I have posted elsewhere on this site, I travel a lot for my job and when I travel is the most challenging time.
B"H I have been doing quite well for a while, but I have still been finding it a struggle to avoid the pool areas of the hotels I am staying at.
I am currently on a three day and two night trip to a Midwestern city. When I got to my hotel, it was not an issue to turn on the TV or got to inappropriate places on the Internet, but again it entered my mind that I should go down to the exercise room (which is near the pool). The justification was that:
1. My wife has been nudging me that I desperately need the exercise.
2. I am unfortunately aware that in most (but not all) cases, there is nothing to see in the pool/exercise area of the hotel.
However, I don't think it is good for me to take that risk, and B"H I can report that I overcame the temptation and I made do with some pushups and sit-ups in my room.
I am reporting this because I am happy and want to share my success, and there aren't many other people I can share it with.
More importantly, I am seeing many "newbies" on the forum lately that are skeptical/scared and can't imagine that they can overcome their Yetzer Hara in these areas. Therefore I am reporting that two years ago on this same trip I had big "fall". At that time, and I was despondent and couldn't imagine how I could ever overcome this problem. B"H almost since then, I have been able to avoid most problematic activities (in my case, without a 12 step group, though everyone is different) and as time goes on and I keep working, the front lines are moving further and further forward...
I know that I need to keep working and can't afford to ever become complacent. I also know that all of us can succeed. It might take time and the job never ends (but it can become a lot easier), but we can succeed.