Like so many of your members I have struggled with guarding my eyes. May Hashem bless you and may your work continue to bring Jews away from the horrors that lurk in the dark corners of this world.
B"H, I have been living free from these awful acts for over a full year. The methods I use to stay clean have evolved, as I've distanced myself from these ills, and opened up to Hashem. If it can help others, I'd like to list in bullet form everything I have done, and continue to do to stay clean, starting with the distant past, and going forward until today.
* Recognize the destructive forces in the world: People are happy to profit off the ills of society. Drug dealers, murderers for hire, casinos, and the porn industry are happy to make money off the suffering of another's soul.
* Recognize triggers: sadness and feelings of inadequacy would lead me to sin. After sinning, I would realize that the feelings of sadness and inadequacy were not true! They were simply a challenge to be overcome, but instead I would most often succumb to the urges.
* Recognize responsibility: as men, we are entrusted by Hashem with potential souls existing within us. This is a privilege, not a right, and we must treat this responsibility with the utmost care.
* Learn Torah: learning brings me closer to Hashem and farther from sin.
* Be careful where you put your hands: even in day-to-day interactions. A man's hands should be subservient to his neshama, not his yetzer Ha'ra.
* Daven three times a day, every day: we have an obligation to serve Hashem. Obligations to family, friends, Hashem, and work bring us closer to the truth of what is important.
* Exercise - Call this a theory of mine: Hashem gives us the energy of the souls that he entrusts to us. This energy is too much for any man, and we must find a way to release it. One of the healthiest ways to release it is by marital relations with one's wife. The most destructive way to release is through masturbation. Exercise, I believe, is a release of this power, this energy, as well. By running, lifting, and sweating, we expel excess energy that can bring us to sin. I would go as far as to say that a man's sweat is like a korban to Hashem. We release what Hashem gives us in a positive way. We thank Him for our physical health and ability to move around in this realm, and our sweat is a sign of our love.
* Healthy diet: eating well, and aspiring to purity in all aspects of life.
* Meditation: whether struggling or not, meditation is an amazing practice because it helps us find ourselves, our center, and our relationship with Hashem.
* Abstaining from sin is not enough. We are commanded to go beyond avoiding the negative, and to create, channel, and seek positive. Give tzedaka, help someone in need, visit the sick, comfort those in mourning. Life is so much broader than this particular sin/issue.
The beauty of life is there for us to discover. When trapped in a black cloud, man forgets about the gifts that Hashem bestows upon us. May we all find the righteous path that we all knew as children.
