60 Seconds to Eternity | Rabbi Shlomo Landau

There was a Bochur in Lakewood who sadly had strayed from the path, and he found himself in a really bad situation. He wasn't Shomer Torah U’mitzvos anymore, and he was struggling in a lot of areas in his life. There was a wonderful fellow who kind of took him under his wing, and provided him with a job and befriended this Bochur who was struggling. One day, the boss says to the Bochur, You know, your Yetzer Hara has such a stronghold on you. It seems like you just do whatever you want, not what you need to do. And the Bochur sighed, and he says, ‘You know, he does, ‘and I don't even know where to start. I’m just - ‘I'm really far gone.’ And the boss, on a whim, says to him, I wonder if you tried the following strategy. Maybe it could help you regain control. The Bochur said, ‘I'm willing. I want this.’ He says, ‘Here's what I'm suggesting:’ Next time you're about to do something you shouldn't, I want you to take out your phone, and I want you to set a 60-second countdown timer and defer that pleasure, defer that Yetzer Hara, defer that need, just 60 seconds. And after 60 seconds, if you feel you need to do it well, go ahead. Are you willing to try that for a week? And the Bochur said, ‘If you think it could help, ‘I'm willing to try it.’ For a week, this boy set his timer whenever he remembered, and after the week, he came back to his boss and he says, I was successful. I was victorious most of the time. Once I was able to defer that 60 seconds, the Yetzer Hara wasn't so strong anymore. ‘All right,’ the boss said. ‘Are you ready for the next week?’ He says, ‘Yeah, what's now?’ He goes, ‘120 seconds.’ This Bochur built it up to 5 minutes and then to 10 minutes and the rest is history. What followed was Shemiras Shabbos, Tefillin, Shemiras Halashon, and so many amazing aspects of his life that he had totally walked away from. This is a very interesting strategy, which I think we could all try to implement when we're working on Shemiras Ha’einayim. Let's say we see something and we want to take a second look. Let's say we're about to be נכשל in Shemiras Ha’einayim, take out your phone and set a 60-second timer. And after 60 seconds, reassess. Chances are you'll be able to be עומד בניסיון. It's 60 seconds, but it's 60 seconds to eternity.