Yehuda Berg’s Blog

We all get to those points in life where we are just so disgusted with ourselves. It feels like whatever we do is wrong, we’ll never be as good as so-and-so, life has passed us by, and I’m sure you can fill in a few examples of your own.

When we feel like this, down down down in the dumps, it’s important to find at least one thing that’s right inside. I know this is hard, just as you can’t tell a depressed person, snap out of it. But that’s what we do here in Kabbalah, we fight this internal battle against our own internal negative voice, what we call the Opponent. By giving ourselves positive messages, we can quiet that voice.

A great kabbalist wrote: when a father complains that his son has taken to evil ways, what should he do? Love him more than ever.

Today, love yourself more than ever.

Spiritual work doesn’t happen in a day, in a week, in a month. But eventually it penetrates, and you look back and say, wow, I really did change.

There is a story of one of the greatest sages of Kabbalah, Akiva, who at the age of forty was one of the most negative people around — until the day he fell for a woman who was very spiritual. But he thought, “I can’t change, so I’m never going to be good enough for her.” Although they were enjoying their time together, he was convinced there was no hope.

One day they walked by the bank of a river and saw a little stream passing through a big boulder. She said, “See that? Do you think the hole in that boulder, which allows the stream to pass through, happened in a day, a week, or even in a month? No, it happened drop by drop by drop, year after year, until eventually it created the hole through the boulder allowing the water to pass.”

Today, remember the three keys necessary to penetrate any boulder blocking your fufillment: patience, commitment and desire. As long as you are willing to bring these qualities into your daily spiritual process, you’re going to break through — sooner or later.

There is always an excuse to doubt something. Always. But if we wish to penetrate beneath the surface of people and situations, we need to see the good in everything before we doubt it.

Today, the minute you hear or think something bad about someone, first think of what could be good. Then begin to investigate and ask questions. Seeing the good brings Light to the situation, helping you to be more effective at dealing with the bad.