It's before Rosh Hashana. Can we completely change our ways? That is doubtful. But we CAN start with small steps. As Bardichev wrote on this thread called "Kabalos for the New Year":
LET'S MAKE A SMALL KABBALLA, BUT A HONEST KABBALLA
ONE THAT WILL BE A RED LINE IN THE SAND.
ONE THAT YOU CAN TELL HASHEM
"TATTEH IN HIMMEL, I WILL CHANGE !!!
YOU WILL SEE NEXT YEAR
I WILL NOT HAVE TO RE-VISIT THIS ISSUE"
LET THIS BE DONE AS A TZIBBUR.
CAN WE IMAGINE THE ZECHUS??!!!
Rav Pam zt"l used to tell people to make kabbolos that are doable and realistic, not those earth-shattering "let's change the whole world" stuff.
He said it's like you owe someone $10,000 and you cannot afford to pay it back, you simply do not have it. So you send in $100 every 2 weeks, consistently, and on time. This is very appreciated by the one who lends the money, if he is a decent person. He knows that this guy is struggling, he cannot pay the whole thing now, so he does his best and tries. And by giving the $100, he is telling the rich man, "look, I respect you, I thank you. If I could, I would give everything back now, I really would, but I can't. But you see that I seriously plan to pay back every single penny".
The same is with Hashem. We owe him an endless amount. But we can make a few small kabolos that we will keep. It could be small, like the $100, not the $10,000. And Hashem sees this and appreciates it. And he accepts this as true Teshuva. "Small steps", Rav Pam used to say, "small steps".
Each person can draw a red-line at the level that they're at. A few days ago we brought in the Chizuk e-mail (#579) how Uri had made himself a red-line of not being with anyone in real life. For his level, that was a big step.
Another person who kept having repeated falls, made himself a red line that no matter what, "NO porn". In other words, if he feels that he's falling - or gonna fall, he will not use stimulation to feed his addiction and lust. If he falls, it will only be with his mind. That's a good first step for someone who's just starting out. As someone responded:
That was my first step too, when I started out. And it helped a great deal. The images start getting blurry in your mind after a while, and you can't feed it with more..
And another person already committed on that thread, not to watch anything on YouTube anymore.
So what will your new RED LINE be this year? What will you come to Rosh Hashana with? Post it on the thread and inspire us all!