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Mile Chai Jewish
Books and Judaica |
You
Can Never Know Ultimately
whatever happens to us is for our
good. The Talmud relates a story about
two people who wanted to travel by
boat. One broke his foot and was unable
to make the trip, while his friend
got on the boat. The one who missed
the boat cursed his misfortune. A
few days later, however, he heard
that the boat sank and all the passengers
drowned. He began to praise the Almighty
because he now realized his missing
the boat was the best thing that could
have happened to him.
A person should accept
suffering that befalls him, since
he cannot possibly know what good
will come as a consequence of this
ostensibly "negative" event.
(Orchos
Tzadikim, ch.9;
Rabbi Pliskin's Gateway to Happiness,
p.242)
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Accentuate The Positive
Consciously make an effort to fill your mind with
positive thoughts. Practice focusing on the hundreds of
positive aspects of your life. Be aware of your ability
to see, talk, walk, etc. Thoughts always keep
racing through your mind, so gently keep your focus on
all the positive details of your life. Realize that you
are the one who chooses what thoughts to dwell on.
Choose those thoughts which enhance your life.
(Rabbi
Pliskin's Gateway to Happiness, p.179) |
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Evaluate Situations
Positively Think of three situations where you had a
negative emotional reaction - even though objectively it
would have been possible to be positive. Think of
three situations where you had a positive emotional
reaction simply because you evaluated the situation as
positive - even though others might have evaluated it as
negative. (For a series of probing questions on this
topic, see
Rabbi Pliskin's "Gateway to Self Knowledge," p.226) |
Difficulties Increase Your Merit When
you are trying to do good deeds and
difficulties arise, realize that the
difficulties actually serve to increase
the merit of your good deeds.
(For a series of probing questions
on this topic,
see Rabbi Pliskin's "Gateway
to Self Knowledge," p.226)
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Judge Favors Favorably
Before asking someone for a favor, realize that he might
not grant you the favor. Although it is appropriate to
think of the best way to influence him to help you out,
accept him if he refuses. And even before you ask for
the favor, think how you can judge him positively if he
does not help you. [see
Mivchar Hapeninim - Shaar Hatikvah; Rabbi Pliskin's
Gateway to Happiness, p.209] |
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Focus On The Roses
"A person who gathers honey will not escape being stung
by bees. A person who gathers roses will not escape
being scratched by thorns." The positive things in
life also have negative aspects. Keep your focus on the
beautiful roses of the world, and the thorns will seem
trivial and inconsequential. (Keser
Chochmah 18:4; Rabbi Pliskin's Gateway to Happiness,
p.239) |
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The Talmud (Makkot 10b)
states that a person will be led on the path that he truly
wants to travel on.
What path is this for you? How far along this path will you
go? This depends on your enthusiasm and persistence. Right
this moment be resolved to become even more enthusiastic
about reaching your most important goals. (Or become more
enthusiastic about formulating your goals.) Be resolved
right now to persist along the path. Don't just sit down in
the middle of the road. Don't get sidetracked and wander to
the right or left. Persist. Keep going. Regardless of your
speed, when you persist you will eventually get there.
From Rabbi Pliskin's new book:
"Happiness: Formulas, Stories, and Insights" (p.72) |
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Jewish Books |
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