Back to day 1... Its been an incredible roller coaster.. A powerful Tisha Beav, incredible Ellul, YN and Succos all to come crashing down and just before 90 days.. On Simchas Torah we sang Toras Hashem Temmimah.. I don't think its for nothing that it occured to me if you add the digits of the outer and inner letters of Temmima each one adds to 9.. 4+5 outside and 4+4+1 inside.. there is something special about this goal and in my case elusive for now. This is something i have not done in a few years, I keep getting close but never over the line. Not saying that this is the defining marker but its a powerful goal to achieve.
On the positive side I have had an incredible 85 days and grown so much. for most of this time this Inyan wasn't part of me at all. Yes i have slipped into it now thanks to the two hours i indulged yesterday but I can say with certainty that is not who I am. Mai Dehava Hava and i am moving on.
Looking back how did this happen.. its good to take a little introspection so here goes.. I had the most incredible ride and i felt so kadosh, always with the RB Shel Olam, I had a health scare which needed a procedure and i look back so blessed that i had it, I was so close to Hashem during this time. following this I had a small slip on day 85 (on my filtered computer my wife was out and even with minimal access i can still see some pictures/videos which even though are mild are so destructive - i need to figure blocking this out as well) and then thought i was clear but had a complete fall 8 days later on machine at my parents house (they were not in).. When i see how I was setup to fall by the YH i have to give him credit, how he got me home during the day and all the steps leading up to the fall - which i take full account of as my fault.. I am not one to preach and each one knows what is right for them, I have taken my own number of steps to ensure that on my day to day life i minimise all temptation, I have no smart phone and my internet is filtered (possibly needs slight tweak to tighten) and cuts out completely at midnight. I am not technical enough to know how to get around that so i know my home is secure. Its when i am outside of the home environment i can be more vulnerable. This is something i need to work on.
iyH I will continue to improve and reach my goal. I won't let this setback push me back. I know it can't, I have grown too much over these past few months. I am stunned by my failure but also doubly focussed on my desire to overcome this challenge..
I will never give up, we are all Oivdei Hashem in the fullest sense. We are His soilders, His army in this world. We are not allowed to roll over and give up, we get up again and keep going. That is possibly the essence of being a yid in todays world.
Wishing you all much Hatzlocha and Brocha in this Avodas Hakodesh.