I heard back then, I think in the name of R' Abramski zt'l, what I think might be the most important yesod in chizuk. He said that when a person is itching to say loshon horoh (it's easier to talk about that) and he holds back 1,2,3 times and then it just bursts out. He thinks "I blew it, I messed up, it was a waste of energy. But that's not the case at all. Because, (although he must do teshuva for the fall), for each "regah" that he overcame the urge, he will merit "Or haganuz sheain kul malach uberya yecholin leshaer" ("The hidden light of Hashem that no Malach or creation can fathom").
This idea was extremely relevant to me because the evil menuval would always say to me "you might as well give in now because you know that at the end I always win."
Someone once came to the "Steipler Gaon" to complain about this problem. So the Steipler asked him "Are there times that you're misgaber?" so he answered "usually I fail". So the Steipler asked again "And are there times that you're misgaber?" so he answered "Yes, but rarely" so the Steipler explained to him that the times that you fail are erasable, but every time you pass the test - it's a Kinyan that's yours to keep.
This the exact opposite of what the devious, sly menuval always tells us: that it's all worthless if we eventually fall. Don't believe him, it's a big lie.