The Library

Read what this holy Jew posted on the forum (edited a bit for clarity):

As I require Internet access for my line of work, I had fallen into harmful patterns of not only porn usage, but also secular media and culture exposure. My rationalization for this was that I needed "something" to distract me from the travails and troubles of life. My method of relieving stress was to waste time on the Internet and specifically to watch movies. Weekends were generally the worst and I would tell my wife that I had work to do and would stay up until all hours of the night browsing the web, watching video clips on youtube and watching movies. For a long stretch of time, I was slipping virtually every weekend.

I knew that I needed to do something to break my dependence on the secular media, so close to 2 months ago I made a conscious decision to give up secular media almost completely. I resolved that over Sukkos I would strengthen myself in Torah and be'ezras Hashem, break my dependence on the media. Over Sukkos, I decided to take the Mesechta that I was learning the previously (I did not know Gemara well at all and was not really "Koveah Itim" properly) and really put in time. As a result of this commitment, I was able to spend most of the Yom Tov learning, and I had committed to myself to keep it going after the Yom Tov as well.

Following Yom Tov, I had a few minor slips when I was feeling down or frustrated. To my surprise however, I had little desire to listen to the radio, watch movies or follow sports, and was able to get back into my learning relatively quickly.

Baruch Hashem, I have found a new ta'am (taste) in my learning and I now turn to the Gemara instead of the Internet when I am bothered or frustrated. I no longer go online Saturday nights, but rather learn instead.

GYE Responds:

Happy indeed is he who finds ta'am in Torah to replace the empty and filthy time-wasting behaviors that the Yetzer Hara tries to convince us that we need! And what greater Teshuvah can their be than to replace these sinful ta'anugim with "Vihisaneg al Hashem"!

See this piece of Tehilim below (37) which contains two great secrets of how to break free of the Yetzer Hara's grasp.
1) Pasuk Daled: Replacing the forbidden pleasures with Spiritual pleasure.
2) Pasuk Gimmel and Hei: Trust in Hashem; "Let go and let G-d" (the core of the 12-Steps).

For more posts on the dangers of secular media, check out Chizuk e-mail #323 on this page (scroll down).

For those who must have open internet for their work, we highly suggest Accountability Software. See here for a few options.