Ten Minutes of Meaning (Part 181): Cast Your Lot on Hashem - Mesillas Yesharim

everyone please help yourself to some coffee and donuts welcome back to 10 minutes the meaning in just 10 minutes we can chart a course to a better version of ourselves thanks to ramjal and Mrs asharam very grateful to our Anonymous sponsor in memory of alter Ben Pinterest this morning is also sponsored by our beloved mascot family Israel also sponsored anonymously for a fortunately you should hear only basoros tova's good news they shall have a complete speedy and painless Refuge Lima we are on the 21st chapter of the Messiah has been talking to us how we become a khasid how do we become Pious how do we strive for greatness not just to be good how do we have spiritual ambition in our lives how do we not simply Coast but how do we actually achieve in a very very high way after defining what hasidus is and after setting the bar about where we can try to go now told us what gets in the way what are the obstacles and impediments what are the problems and he said number one are the Traders vidaigos fear worry anxiety actually writes that anxiety that that being anxious having fear not clinical anxiety which is diagnosed and of course needs intervention support treatment and is nobody's fault but we're just talking about a general nervousness about life he says is against talacha you wouldn't turn a light on on Shabbos and you wouldn't eat non-kosher and the person shouldn't worry because when you worry what you're essentially doing is knocking God out of the equation if you believe that everything happens happens for a reason and a purpose if you believe there's meaning and order if you believe that nothing is random or chance there isn't a bonus Shalom and he runs the world and then you say I take my initiative I make my best effort I do all that I can do and after that I let go and I let God but if I don't let go and I don't let God and I think I'm in charge I'm in control and I worry then I've essentially sidelined the almighty I've marginalized and that's and is Sir no less significant than driving on Shabbos eating has or cheating on taxes one of the big impediments to living a life of being a khasid is unnecessarily worrying now there's an element of worry that we can't help is an element of worry which is only natural but we were given we have free will and we have the ability to sit and to reflect and to meditate and to focus and to try to overcome that sense of anxiousness with a sense of emuna and to cast our lot on Hashem to say I know there's a reason I know there'll be meaning and purpose to what is happening right now so number one the biggest impediment is when we unnecessarily worry about things that are out of our control our worry never ever made anything better worry never ever improved anything especially worry about things that are entirely out of our control that's number one number two is left off that a good morning can't be found we can't live a life of piety and righteousness it can't be accosted if you're far Bisson and miserable negative complaining pessimistic you have to be happy because like us only wants to be around happy people he doesn't want to be around miserable negative complaining bitter angry resentful people I don't want to be around such a person and neither does and neither does Hashem the gone the Vilma gone right said that sadness and despondency and despair there's still they're a contradiction the ultimate impediment to prophecy why because the source of simcha is the citro de kadusha what makes a person happy but puts a smile on your face is the confidence that everything that's happening is for a reason that everything makes sense that everything comes together but there's a Clarity that is the source of simcha comes from a very holy naku the holy place so the opposite of it sadness comes from the yet Sahara sadness is the alter ego sadness is the voice of self-sabotage sadness is what tries to bring us down and despair give up become hopeless think that there is no purpose to this world so therefore we have to overcome that yet Sahara of of sadness the kosher cane and number three the third impediment to living a life of Christina this is the third impediment to being our best selves is over indulgence in this world and this worldly pleasures to be entirely immersed in indulged in compulsively running after hedonistic pleasures of this world you know we're made up of a body and a soul we're a nephish bahami we have the animal in us the animal Instinct and the animal impulse and then we have a look we have a Godly soul of discipline and dignity a Godly soul that yearns and strives and stretches for so much more and that's the battle that's going on inside us from the moment we woke up even a moment before you I did we come early or on time or late this morning to shul did we talk during diving did we resist that urge did we focus on concentrate or did our mind wander there are a million battles for breakfast which is healthy and natural and good for us are we going to eat something she's going to shorten our life when our kids didn't get up and get dressed to get out the door to school and the timeline that we wanted did we lose our cool and raise our voice did we calmly and very mindfully engage them in a way that was productive that's the battle from the moment we woke up in the first four seconds that you're awake you've already fought a bitter bitter battle snooze 17 times get out of bed make it or blow off we've battled from the moment we wake up so in that battle the more that we indulge the body the animal in US the harder it is to find the soul the more we starve the soul and feed the body the less vigorous the less healthy the Solas and the more that we take care of the body the body is able to enjoy the Beauty and the pleasures of this world but we never confuse who we are we know that we're not a body that has a soul we're a soul that is a body then the Soul can Thrive how can you live a righteous Pious life how can you be present and focused and mindful to always make the right decisions how could we be in control to the point that we have pride in what we've put out to the world if we give in to that physical Indulgence if we run after and pursue the pleasures of this world there are people who have this taiva for food we're going to talk about living with their Muna we're studying a new text starting this morning it's a beautiful safer talks about you see some people their whole life is defined by food you put a smorg in front of them nothing else matters they would trample their own grandmother to get to that smorg there are other people that money is all that matters it's a business opportunity opportunity to make money they're giving something away for free they would run over their own granddaughter in order to get that free thing to make a little bit more money not necessarily bad people but bad judgment because when your life is defined by pursuing something in the here and now it clouds judgment it absolutely clouds judgment and it clouds our priorities and it impacts our behavior and it's seduces and entices the heart to behave in not our best selves we can't live our best lives so what's the answer what's the antidote to these four things that he mentioned number one unnecessary worry about things you can't control number two sadness and Melancholy again not diagnosed that needs intervention and help but just a general allowing ourselves to be negative and bitter and pessimistic where we can control it number three over indulgence in this world in the Here and Now what can save us from all three the antidote to all three is paraphrasing Apothic into hillam you ever have a good friend you have a lot going on you're feeling overwhelmed and they say tell me unload on me it's okay unburden yourself tell me can necessarily solve everything but unburden yourself tell me confide in me unburdened unload on me so David Malik says paraphrasing says Ah Yeah don't be down don't despair don't be sad and don't give in to the physical indulgences and act like an animal just unburden yourself and me tell me your problems confide in me you can't be missing what Hashem is determined is what's right for us we try our hardest we take our initiative we do our best in every situation in every scenario to solve every problem or to lead our best lives but in the end whatever we have we have to filter and interpret through it's what we're meant to have it's from Hashem but what room is there for sadness after whatever happened is from Hashem then what room is there for sadness we're having a conversation with a rabbi several years ago where he suddenly lost his wife left him a widow widower with 11 children and he wrote just now wrote a book called why God how to believe in heaven when you feel like life is hell why God how is it you lose your loved one your your partner how where do you find Hashem so you could live a life of of of misery and pain which won't bring anyone back or make anything better or you can carry memory and feel the pain and grief but yet choose nonetheless choose to see Hashem and to feel Hashem and to cast your lot on Hashem Hashem is in several places that whatever we have and whatever happens in our life is by Design it's not by coincidence it's all from Hashem and it's what we're meant to have and therefore we may not be happy about it we may want more and we may try and take initiative to have more but ultimately we should feel and know that whatever happens and whatever we have is by Design and which was best for us whether we understand it in that moment or not and therefore we can make the choice we are empowered with a free will to make the choice of what kind of life we're going to live living with the moon at 8 45 tonight behind the beam as I mentioned if you've not joined our WhatsApp groups to be able to be alerted about the schedule links and bonus material if you do so Rabbi Efron goldberg.org WhatsApp until next time stay happy stay healthy and stay holy