Steps Without Feet
July 24th – July 30th, 2005
An important lesson the universe wants to teach us this week is the power of vows.
A vow is any promise or commitment we make about something we want to accomplish. We can vow not to be reactive, lose weight, quit smoking, feed the homeless, exercise, etc.
Do you know what happens when we make a vow?
The Light wants to give us the ability to make whatever we promised happen, so it fills us with the right amount of Light necessary to fulfill our desire.
That’s why it feels so good the moment we decide to start something new. We feel energized because when we declare a desire, we create a vessel and the Light automatically fills it. But you know how it goes - we change our minds, we procrastinate, we don’t actually fulfill our vows. We think, ‘what does it matter if I break a vow – it’s only between me and myself. Who am I hurting?
You’ll be surprised to hear the answer.
The Zohar states the following law: when we separate from the Light, the Light has to withdraw as well. If we get Light from a vow, and then we don’t follow through with it, the Light has to go away. And when the Light withdraws, we don’t know where it will withdraw. If we get Light to start a relationship, but then we back out, the Light doesn’t necessarily withdraw from there. It might withdraw in another area of our life!
The kabbalists explain that the moment we tell someone, “I’ll meet you at the beach,” our footsteps are already there. If we do not make it to the beach, then we have left steps without feet. There is a space between the words and the effect, and that is where the negative force comes into our lives.
To protect ourselves from chaos, this week we have to manifest all those vows and plans we made that we never followed through with.
This is a pretty scary thought. But don’t stress too much. The Zohar assures us that although it isn’t possible to follow through on all those broken vows, we can keep the Light we’ve received by at least starting to follow through on some of the vows left uncompleted.
This week, pick one or more uncompleted vows you’ve made in the last six months and take the responsibility to do what you can to fulfill what you built your vessel to do.
And going forward, remember that it is easy to make promises but, “He who speaks, does not do and he who does, does not speak.”
All the Best,
Yehuda