Company of a Shaykh

In the weekly gathering of Molana Muhammed's islah of the nafs he narrated a situation that was very true and common. He said (to the nearest effect), "if a normal person is asked to join the company of a shaykh or spend time in his company he will most likely refuse because he will know deep down and that by spending time in the company of a shaykh will mean that he will have to give up the things his nafs love the most like singing, music, etc. However if this person was to spend time in the company of a shaykh he would realise that he wont have to give up any of his habits but instead, all his evil habits will leave him as he will just lose interest in them and this will all happen without him even noticing."

A person normally adopts the behaviour of his ustaadh and in some cases the student may even look like his own ustaadh or shaykh.
I personally would recommend every single muslim to enrol themselves at a madressah or some sort of course where a person is in the company of a religious scholar. Spending even just half an hour every other day in the presence of a scholar can help keep a person attached to the straight path and re-establish your connection with islam and more importantly, with Allah.

Priceless Prostration

“If someone spends his youth in the disobedience of Allah, and then repents when he is older, he will not be able to acquire the same closeness of Allah as that person who abstained from disobedience right from his youth.
Remember a hundred prostrations during one’s old age cannot equal one prostration during one’s youth.
However, if someone built a relationship with Allah from a young age, struggled against his nafs whilst he was young, and continued this endeavour until he became old, then his prostration in old age will be priceless.”

Taken from (http://shaykh.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/priceless-prostration/)