No fair!
It is the battle cry of every child. But as we grow older we discover that life in not always fair. Some people just have it easier than others. And as we mature we learn to live with that reality.
The Baal HaTanya tells us that the same applies to ruchniyus. There are some people who do not have the same constant struggle as others do. Their inclination is to do what is right and they do not have the same nisyonos as the rest of us. He refers to such individuals as "tzaddikim." But they were not just born that way. Rather, they have successfully vanquished their yetzer hara. Normal people, who struggle with their ruchniyus, who have constant difficult tests, are "beinonim," the average ones.
If the yetzer hara surrenders and gives up the fight, you are a tzaddik; if he comes back for another round, you're a beinoni.
But do not think of a beinoni as a second-class citizen.
The Gemara tells us that the Amora, Rabbah, deemed himself a beinoni - this, despite the fact that he never stopped learning, so much so that the Malach HaMaves (Angel of Death) could not get to him when his time came. Tanya explains that Rabbah considered himself a beinoni because he felt that he, too, was constantly struggling with his yetzer hara. He may have defeated it every time, but the struggle persisted.
The Tanya continues:
The beinoni should not get frustrated with the continuous battling, but instead, he should celebrate his victories.
For when the verse states, Do not follow your hearts and eyes that lead you astray, who is it speaking to?
It speaks to one whose heart and eyes lead him astray and who is inclined to keep looking after inadvertently seeing. It is enjoining him to refrain from following this challenge. The verse is not even addressing the tzaddik.
When a beinoni who is confronted with a nisayon overcomes that challenge, he earns great reward, as the Gemara teaches, If one sits and does not perform a transgression, Heaven grants his reward as one who has actively performed a mitzvah.
Certainly, this statement does not refer to the tzaddik; it refers rather to the normal person who struggles with his yetzer and nevertheless does not succumb. Tanya thus writes:
"Do not be upset if you spend even your entire life doing battle, for perhaps you were created for this very purpose; this is your fate, to constantly struggle with and subdue the powers of Evil. For there are two ways of giving nachas to Hashem: one, that of the tzaddik who successfully vanquishes his yetzer hara and 'turns the bitter into sweet'; and the other, of the beinoni, who is in a never-ending war and continuously battles his strong yetzer hara and subjugates it."
He reads the struggles of the beinoni into a verse, that also holds out promise: Make yourself as if you are holy - fight and act as one who is, in fact, holy and separated from animal instincts - and then you will indeed become holy.
He concludes:
"Ultimately, Hashem will expel the inclination from your heart. Hashem will reward your effort and make your battle easier."