Control

You don’t always have control over what happens, but you do have control over what you do with the experience.

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3 Stages of a Mitzvah

When one approaches a mitzvah, he must feel the greatest joy at the opportunity that he is offered with this mitzvah.

When completing the mitzvah, he should feel happiness at having achieved his goal.

But while he is actually doing the mitzvah, he must feel awe that is to be experienced by a mortal man while he is standing before a king. He must recognize that any wrong word or move could result in tragedy indeed! ~ R’ Shlomo Kluger zt”l

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Standing Still

As long as you’re holding on to where you were yesterday, you’re standing still. ~ The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l

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Yearning

We may have excuses for not be able to accomplish, but there is no excuse for not wishing we could.

Hashem is with us, escorts us, feels the challenges that we face, He knows what we are going through, He never forgets us, He loves us.

Life is a long and thrilling journey, whose destination is closeness to Hashem.

Defeats are designed to eradicate our egos, so that we begin to understand that everything is Hashem.

It is not that we need Hashem in our life – it is that Hashem is our life.

A soul is a melody and melodies are not comprised of high parts alone.

The accomplishment is not the purpose – the yearning is. ~ R’ Menachem Azolai as translated by Dov Elias

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Small Acts

Don’t despise small acts.

Nothing is small, because everything you do for Hashem and for other people is forever. ~ R’ Avigdor Miller zt”l

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The Void

My mission on this word is to recognize the void – inside and outside – and then fill it. ~ The Kotzker Rebbe zt”l

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Stressed?

You are too blessed to be stressed!

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The Same Problems

People were coming to the wise man, every time complaining about the same problems. One day he told them a joke and everyone roared in laughter. After a couple of minutes he told them the same joke and only a few of them smiled. When he told the same joke for the third time no one laughed anymore.

The wise man smiled and said:

“You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over. So why are you always crying about the same problem?”

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10 Steps to Greatness

Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, once delineated ten steps that should be practiced every day, and by doing so, it will lead one to reach greatness.

1) Say at least once, “I love you Hashem”.

2) Spend thirty seconds thinking about Olam Haba.

3) At least one time during the day, perhaps during meal times, acknowledge that your actions are L’Sheim Shamayim, that what you are doing is for the sake of Heaven.

4) In Birchos HaShachar, when saying the brachah of “Malbish Arumim”, that Hashem provides us with clothing, spend thirty seconds contemplating the great gift of garments, including the benefits of pockets, buttons, and shoelaces.

5) Spend one minute thinking over our actions that were done yesterday (Cheshbon HaNefesh, making an accounting of one’s deeds).

6) Sit down on the floor in privacy for one second to think about the loss of Yerushalayim, especially when reciting the words, “If I forget you, Yerushalayim…”

7) Do one act of kindness a day that no one, other than Hashem, knows about.

8) Encourage somebody- you will thereby be imitating Hashem, Who lifts up the humble.

9) Once a day, when looking at another person, think to yourself, “I’m seeing a Tzelem Elokim, someone who is made in the image of Hashem.”

10) Just like Hashem’s image shines on us, smile at others! Rav Miller recommended doing these exercises for thirty days, and advised, “If you feel a little tired out, take a break and come back slowly. To become great, you have to be extreme!” ~ Divrei Chizuk

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A Fresh Start

A true Ba’al Teshuvah – a master of personal change – is an entirely different human being from the individual who previously did the things they came to regret ~ Rambam – Hilchos Teshuva 2:4

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