Tag: R. Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern

True Greatness Is Knowing Where We Are

We all have those days where we feel we will never amount to what we wish we would become. We feel small, distant, lost. We don’t know how to find our way forward along the path to find our “greatness.” Instead, we spend so much energy and time seeing all the ways we haven’t reached our life goals.

One area I want to focus on is spiritual growth. In working on our spiritual goals, our spiritual growth, this inability to focus on where we are versus where we aren’t can make it feel like we aren’t having success. We feel distant from our desires to be more connected to our faith, our religion, our trust in Gd. But are we really so far away? Perhaps we aren’t distant but how we perceive things is what is leading to think we are distant. So much of growing along the path of life comes down to the mindset we bring to the moment. I think this is illustrated in the following teaching:

Someone asked the Rebbe Shlit”a how they should deal with their feelings of lack of success. They hear so much from the Rebbe about the high and lofty spiritual levels one should reach, but they feel so far from reaching any of this! The Rebbe answered that the Zohar HaKadosh says that “he who is small is great,” therefore, by a person simply acknowledging where they are truly holding i.e. that they are “small” and not yet on these high levels they learned about, they are showing that they are truly great.

Sea of Wisdom, Parshas Bo 5784 – R. Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern

When we embrace the notion that we aren’t there yet, not in a negative way, but in a growth mindset way, we change the paradigm. It is no longer that our distance from our desired goals is a sign of what we are lacking. Rather, our place now is our “greatness” and through this current greatness, we are on the path to higher levels of spiritual growth. 

Today, and everyday, when we take stock of where we are, not where we haven’t gotten to, I hope that we can see we are in the place of today’s greatness, knowing full well we want to journey further to tomorrow’s greatness. May we embrace where we are now and find the inspiration from this spot to move along the road of becoming more and more.

Looking for help in recognizing the greatness that is you? If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster spiritual and emotional growth and change. Schedule your appointment today here. For more information, please contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

The Path Reveals Itself Over Time

Wouldn’t it be great if we had the roadmap of life in front of us, knowing where we were supposed to go, when to make a turn and when to recognize we had fulfilled what it is we are here to fulfill? Life would be much simpler, though I would guess it would also become too boring. When everything is predictable, we tend to stop trying because we pretty much know the results. 

I am always thinking about the road I am traveling on, wondering if I have read the road signs along the way to know if my decisions were in line with how the story of my life is to play out. While at times I, and I assume most of us, have taken side roads and exit ramps to different areas, we inevitably seem to be drawn back to some sort of main path. Of course, we know what we want, or try to establish what we want, yet often what we want and what we live are not one and the same. Part of this is the reality of not just being on an individual road but a road with each other, reacting to the world around us. And part of this is because perhaps what we want is not our purpose, our reason for being. Recently, I came across an idea that has me reconsidering how we should be looking ahead on our personal roads.

There is an important, fundamental idea in avodas Hashem (serving Gd) that the tachlis, the ultimate purpose (of the world, and of a person in this world as well) is constantly hidden from a person. This is because a person should constantly yearn and long for the tachlis. The tachlis is never clearly revealed to a person; what is revealed is only the closest next level to a person ( that they need to and can reach). Similarly, at all times (through every particular detail of life a person goes through), only the next small step is revealed to a person. However, a person’s “next level,” the one in reach of him, is not revealed. Therefore, people are often confused about what the tachlis is, and aren’t clear as to what the ultimate level they need to achieve is. But, in reality, a person doesn’t need to know more than this – just knowing the next level they need to get to is enough for our avodah (following this is the closest one can get to the tachlis).

Sea of Wisdom, Parashat Va’Era 5784 – R. Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern

Faith (Emunah) is one of the most difficult things to cultivate and experience (I discuss some of this in a recent post). Faith is something we must actively work on and actively cultivate. We cannot just sit and wait. Part of this process is being open to recognizing that while we might not know where we are headed, we can see small glimmers of the road ahead. Faith is also realizing that we will only ever see small glimmers of the road ahead and that we must have the confidence to move forward nevertheless because the path will reveal itself over time. Faith is maintaining the hope we will be able to discern what we are seeing and know how best to approach the next stretch of road.  

Looking to start fresh? If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster a spiritual and emotional growth and change. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

The Importance and Power of the Desire for Success

I think most of us make the mistake of thinking that our emotions are things that just happen to us. We presume we just feel and that we have zero control over those feelings. And once we feel something, then that will be it, we won’t have to do things to build upon the feeling. 

When it comes to accomplishing the things we wish to accomplish, I often wonder if we are just waiting for the inspiration to push forward instead of taking the steps necessary to see our goals come to fruition. In reading a lot about goal setting and striving to become a better self, I have come to recognize that one of the biggest hurdles to success is fostering the will and desire to take on a new opportunity. While it is easy to say we want to succeed and we want to accomplish new things, very often it is merely us paying lip service and not taking action. Last Shabbat, I came across the following piece which speaks about the power of desiring to succeed as the first step to spiritual growth: 

The Power of Desire
Someone asked the Rebbe for financial advice. The Rebbe said: The most important thing a person has to have is a strong desire, whether it is a desire to open a business, to build something, to invent something. A person has to have a powerful desire for something, that is the first step. Once a person develops a strong desire for something physical, they should then transfer that desire into something spiritual, and something pertaining to their avodas Hashem, and then they will truly feel and understand what a strong desire is. With a strong enough desire, a person will succeed b’ezras Hashem in what they try to accomplish.
(Shabbos Parshas Vayechi 5784)

Sea of wisdom for Parashas Shemos 5784 – R. Yitchak Meir Morgenstern

We see that desire is not something we just claim to have but it is something we must actively cultivate and embrace. When we fully embrace the person we wish to become or the thing we truly wish to accomplish, then we will be on the road to success. The lack of a cultivated and focused desire to achieve something is often the barrier to reach the destination we have in mind and is the death of so many of our goals and resolutions. 

As we continue to evaluate the goals we have set for ourselves, we should take the time to first examine what it is we really wish to accomplish and see if the desire for success is truly there to be our guide along the way. Don’t be afraid if the desire that was is no longer present as it could be we either need to reinvest our energy into our wishes or perhaps we need to make changes to the goal we had in mind and the process of reaching that goal. 

In either case, may each of us find the willpower and passion to take our first steps to our desired goals for becoming the people we wish to become.

It’s a New Year and a new opportunity to start fresh. If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster a spiritual and emotional growth and change. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com