5 Minute Teaser Rabbi Twerski - Teshuvah Through Recovery

Hashem wants us to enjoy the world but he wants us to do the world as mentioned not as animals and that that's where the importance of character traits community but you can only do that because that calls for sacrifice to be real of selfishness causes could be giving up of oneself and this is where I learned so much from seeing people who were addicted to dangerous practices whether it was alcohol or drugs or sexual promiscuity or pornography or compulsive gambling and they were driven to it and they couldn't resist it and they went on with it for 10 years 10 years and 20 years and thirty years spending a life in it with motive and by if it feels good do it and don't think about the consequences and so I shall put me in the place where I was exposed to people who have lived destructive lives of self gratification destructive lives of simply following their animalistic desires and having nothing else in life other than pleasure and this was so that they brought ruination to themselves into their families and then something happened and have they changed remember I was before refer to the changes being a spiritual awakening what is a spiritual awakening in spiritual awakening is simply realizing I was not created to be a intelligent human animal I was created to serve Hashem and I see some people think oh of Rome Oviedo he his outstanding achievement was to teach people that there was one God because at that time the world was flooded with idolatry and they worshiped everything that they came into sight of it and this one safe house no that was not his main achievement because a person expect that God is there to serve Him and to give senator satisfied his wishes he said that's also idolatry whenever Allah when Allah said you were created to serve Hashem not that i chanted here to serve you and the service of hashem they're doing what a sham wants and sending herself aside that is what has enabled us to have the kind of mischievous nefesh the kind of self-sacrifice as individuals and as a nation that has brought us to this day and I've seen some people do that but why did they do it what stops an alcoholic after 30 years of drinking to give up you say yes maybe he has liver disease maybe he was arrested for drunk driving I've seen cases what that was not so I've seen cases were the only thing that happened was that the person came to a realization I am too good to let this happen to me there's a beautiful young man in Pittsburgh he's not young anymore he was young when I took him out of jail in then he was a young man now he is 44 years free of drugs and it's become a real Mensch sensitive ready to help anything everyone and some people have through the phenomenon of addiction they've learned some important lessons of life so it's one businessman was an alcoholic and he became sober and several years after he became sober some people have a conspiracy to do him in and they ruined him they made a bankrupt and I met him one day and he said to me you know I'm full of anger and full of bitterness about what they did to me but I will go to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous tonight and I'll try to drop off my anger and resentment because you see doctor if I hang on to my anger and resentment I will drink again this man realized a spiritual principle that hanging on the grudge someone else is absolutely foolishness it's like having it holding a grudge against someone one nail coholic said that's like swallowing poison and thinking it's going to kill the other guy and realizing these are destructive feelings hanging onto anger instead of getting rid of it is a self-destructive thing and we shouldn't realize ourselves that we are too good a people to let this happen to us and so you know I've written books about self-esteem how can a person possibly help self esteem if he doesn't think his life is worth anything someone has held so clearly if there's nothing worth dying for then there's nothing worth living for self-esteem is because I believe I have a function and what is my function well going through the myriad kind of activities of very life is a transient function but it's not an ultimate purpose there has to be some ultimate purpose that should give our lives value