With everything we do we create a way of being. With every step we take we are either getting closer or farther from our destination. When we decide to do a positive thing over a negative we take a big step towards improving our lives. That time one would have spent doing something negative is now being invested into something positive. The aftereffects are also turned into rewards and strengths instead of into pains and weaknesses. Of course that it takes effort to choose something positive over something negative. The Torah says: 

Genesis 8:21 And the Lord smelled the pleasant aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, "I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done.

 Although it takes some effort, it can be overcome. There are many negative behaviors we all know how to overcome and this is another one. This idea by the Steipler helps. Right along with the effort you have to put in , you get rewards. The pain and effort you put into this is discounted from other pains in your life. If before you were pained by lack of self confidence, you are now much more confident. So all the effort is repaid fully. Where is the loss? 

What about this pleasure of mine at the end of a long hard day?  This pleasure of yours is but a cheap thrill that makes your life worse not better. It also leaves you open to further worsening, You want to escape from the hardships of life? Escape into Torah! 

Even so did the Holy One, blessed be He, speak unto Israel: ‘My children! I created the Evil Desire, but I [also] created the Torah, as its antidote; if you occupy yourselves with the Torah, you will not be delivered into his hand."

Hi - just want to say that the words 'every step we take counts' is vitally important! We need to tread in the right direction while we are still in a safe place to remain far from temptation:) I also liked the reference to 'cheap thrill' which is so true - the only thing that truly satisfy are first our loving relationship with Hashem and secondly our healthy connections with our fellow man (and women)! Baruch Hashem!

Completely agree with what you wrote, I try and say to myself the following each day:

"According to the Steipler Gaon, in the first volume of Krayna d igrisah, anyone who keeps away from these forbidden pleasures is promised to receive the pleasures from other areas of life instead, and it follows that those who accept upon themselves the suffering that breaking free entails, will save themselves much suffering in other areas of life.

Is everyone on this thread the same person?

Shlomo I had my suspicions about the first 2, but let's let sleeping dogs lie



fyi, this guy has a lot of threads where he's upsetting people, so I wrote a sharp reply to the first post (which the moderator removed), anonymous_14 came back and edited his post a few hours later. He knows people are upset and doesn't care