Yehuda Berg’s Blog

Spiritual growth involves not only accepting our garbage, but our gifts as well.

The minute we start to see a little bad, we think it’s all bad. That’s the Opponent’s handiwork. It tells us, “Ah, you’re a compulsive giver, so it’s better if you didn’t give at all. Then you’d really be working on yourself.” The only thing that line of thinking accomplishes is it keeps you from your job - revealing Light.

The energy of Virgo is here to pilot us back towards our God-given gifts, to push us to really believe in them.

What’s your gift? Are you a good listener? A great motivator? A hard worker? Focus on one and allow it to come out today. Put the doubts on the shelf and trust yourself. Let the world see who you really are.

Do you do things to people that you know are damaging but you do them anyway? Do you beat yourself up afterwards with a chorus of “shoulds.” “I should treat my kids better”, “I should yell less at my employees”, “I should be more sensitive to people.”

The way to get over this hump is to follow the advice of the great 20th century Kabbalist Rav Ashlag:

We will only change a behavior when we become disgusted with it.

We can either wait for the state of disgust to come over us, or we can pro-actively seek it out. An exercise I do is I imagine myself on the receiving end of whatever I am dishing out. A taste of my own negative behavior is the best medicine.

Every time you begin “should-ing” yourself today, do this exercise. It works.

It’s easy to surround ourselves with people who are less spiritual, less confident, less happy than us because it makes us feel like we’re OK. But the Kabbalists stress the importance of being around people who make us grow.

Is there someone in your life whom you admire and strive to be like? When you look at this person, do you wish you embodied their characteristics and qualities?

Today, do what you can to emulate those qualities that you love.