Daily Lift by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

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Honor Others With Patience

The Jewish concept is that each individual is created in the image of the Creator. An honorable person is the one who honors others (Ethics of the Fathers 4:1). Being impatient with another human being has aspects of disrespect. Being patient makes you a more honorable person yourself, since your patience is an expression of your respect.

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Accepting Criticism

A person who is serious about self-improvement will be grateful to anyone who points out his faults! (Whereas a person who does not have a strong desire for self-improvement will deny that he has any faults - even those which are blatant.)

Utilize the criticism of others as an opportunity for introspection.

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Be Glad You Didn't

When people think about happiness, they usually think about being happy for positive things that occur. Rabbi Simcha Zissel of Kelm, (1824-1898) wrote to his students to appreciate what didn't happen. He commented on a puzzling custom that he saw. When a shirt would fall from a clothesline down into the dirt, some people would say, "I am grateful that I wasn't in that shirt." It sort of makes you want to smile, doesn't it?

He explained that people play games and listen to music in order to enjoy life. Developing the habit of being grateful for all the wrong things that didn't occur in your life will add to your daily dose of enjoyment.

When you learn to appreciate what didn't happen, it's mind- boggling how many bad things don't happen to you in one day. I've told some people to make a daily list of ten bad things that didn't happen to them. Some find this unpleasant. And for them there are other paths to appreciation.

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Seek and You Shall Find

Every person is obligated to love to do acts of kindness. But how can God legislate that we will "love" doing kindness?!

The concept of loving to do kindness means that it is not sufficient to wait until someone approaches you and asks you to help. Your love of kindness should be so strong that you actively seek out such opportunities.

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Peace Of Mind

Peace of mind is one of the greatest pleasures a person can have. Conversely, lack of peace of mind can make one's life constant torture.

A person who has mastered peace of mind has gained everything. To obtain peace of mind, you need to be at peace with your emotions and desires. And you need to be at peace with your Creator."

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Use Suffering As A Reminder

When some people suffer, they complain about their situation. At the opposite extreme are people who have developed a philosophical attitude toward suffering and do not even feel it. The proper Torah attitude is to utilize suffering as a reminder to improve oneself.

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Focus on the Task at Hand

Our attitude toward obligations should be that only one more day exists, that there is only one thing to accomplish, and you are the only one who can do it.

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Congratulate Beforehand

If you know that you will not be able to attend someone's "simcha" (wedding, bar-mitzvah, etc.), it is frequently preferable to wish a "mazel tov" beforehand rather than after. Otherwise the person might be more disappointed when you do not attend.

Although you might be able to correct matters for the future, you will not be able to rectify his hurt feelings in the past.

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See Beyond Your Pain

When someone insults you, try to find some good reason why he did it. Maybe he felt he had a right (or even an obligation) to say what he did.

It is difficult to find merit in your insulter, but it is a sign of greatness to be able to overcome negative feelings and judge him favorably.

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No Pain No Gain

Remember this fundamental principle of life:

Without hard work, you will not accomplish anything.

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Appreciate Your Brain

You are the owner of a magnificent brain. Wherever you go, your brain is always with you. You have a lightweight multi-million dollar valuable machine that you take with you at all times. You use this machine to study, to enjoy life, to relate with other people, to make money, to face tests and challenges. Your brain is powerful. If you are reading this, it is your brain that is enabling you to do so. Your brain receives images of the symbols that you are looking at and turns them into words and sentences. Because similar letters and words are stored in your brain's immense library, you are able to make sense of these words and can benefit from them.

The sheer number of pictures, knowledge, and information stored in your brain is awesome. When you think of how relatively small your brain is and what it has stored away in its cells, it is mind-boggling. Whenever you recognize someone it is because that person's picture is stored in your brain. If you recognize any scene, whether you saw it in person, or in a newspaper, book, or magazine, it is because there is a picture of that scene in your brain. This can include gigantic areas and a wide variety of places.

Some people tend to just complain when they can't remember something and take remembering for granted. A person who sincerely wants to master happiness will do just the opposite. Appreciating the power of your brain will give you thousands of joyous experiences.

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Renew Your Appreciation

Make it a daily practice to view the world as if you were created today. Mentally picture yourself coming into the world for the first time, and observe everything with a freshness. This exercise can transform the mundane into a thrilling experience.

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Prevent Unnecessary Sadness

Sadness is often the result of arrogance. When an arrogant person suffers misfortune, he says to himself, "These things should not be happening to a person like myself."

The humble person, however, calmly accepts whatever he is unable to change. Hence he is never needlessly sad.

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Be Serenely Unserene

Expecting to be unserene some of the time will make it easier for you to handle your unserene moments. And this will increase your moments of serenity. Have a calm and accepting attitude towards being in distressful states. The calmer you are, the lighter your burden.

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Prevent Negative Gossip

Gossip is a terribly destructive activity. The problem is, we usually don't mind as long as it's not being spoken about us!

If you ever hear someone needlessly relating negative information about another person, feel compassion for the person spoken against and ask the speaker to stop.

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Associate Apologizing With Pleasure

The only reason it is difficult to apologize is because one fears emotional pain.

So if you find it difficult to apologize to someone, visualize yourself apologizing and feeling good about the experience. By creating emotional pleasure for yourself as you apologize, you will motivate yourself to do the right thing.

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Find the Silver Lining

When things don't work out the way you wish, always look for some positive outcome to the situation working out the way it did.

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Correct Without Blaming

When you have a need to correct someone, be resolved not to do so in a blaming manner. The Torah obligates us not to embarrass another person even when we point out his faults and mistakes.

Before criticizing, view the situation from the other person's point of view. Then be careful to speak calmly and tactfully. Carefully edit what you say before you say it.

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Make It Interesting

A person who is able to find fascination in all aspects of living and gaining knowledge is fortunate.

Boredom is distressful.

What are the most monotonous tasks you have to do? There are always creative ways to make things more interesting. Recall some of the ways that you have used to make potentially boring tasks more interesting. Let this be a guide for the future.

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Apologizing Is Elevating

View apologizing as a sign of spiritual strength and emotional courage.

Today, think of someone you have not yet apologized to and apologize to them as soon as possible. Don't worry - whatever their reaction, you will grow from that experience.

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Restraint Is Uplifting

Every time you refrain from doing something wrong, you elevate yourself.

Feel the elevation. Become aware of every instance you restrain yourself from saying something that might hurt someone, or anytime you feel angry but are careful not to cause others pain.

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Value Your Clothing

When putting on clothing, give thought to all the benefits you gain from your clothing.

Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz related that he once borrowed woolen gloves on a freezing winter day. While he frequently took gloves for granted, on that occasion he greatly appreciated them. The gloves were not worth a large amount of money, but it was a tremendous relief to wear them. From this he gained an appreciation for all the wool he saw.

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Self-Talk of Persistence and Perseverance

Being persistent is the number one pattern that will enable you to create success in your life. When you persist and persevere until you reach your goal, you can accomplish so much more than if you give up when you are bored or when challenges arise.

One thing is true of everyone who has reached large goals. They all persisted until they succeeded. Many people start worthy projects, but they give up before they reach the goal that they set for themselves.

Self-talk is the source of someone's ability or failure to persist and persevere. What is the self-talk of persistence?

"I'll keep on going as long as it takes. What I'm working on is worth the investment of time and energy."

"As I build up the habit of persisting, I can accomplish many more things in my life. So it's not only the present project that I will be completing. Finishing this project will help me achieve in more and more ways."

"I feel great about being persistent. I am building my entire character in the process."

"I see the goal that I am striving for. I am enjoying every step along the way."

Always learn from your past successes. Think of instances when you persisted and were later glad that you did. What did you tell yourself to enable yourself to persist? Tell yourself similar things when you want to persist in the future.

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See Yourself Succeeding

Today, see yourself transforming difficulties into triumphs. The more difficult the situation, the greater the victory.

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Record Highlights in a Daily Joy Journal

The start of each day is a great time to condition your mind to be on the lookout for the most joyful, inspiring, and spiritual experiences of the day. At the start of each day we are given a body and a soul as a gift from our Creator. We can make many great choices and decisions.

Every single day of your life has its highlights. When we wake up in the morning and reflect on the joy of being alive, we can wonder with curiosity, "What will be the greatest highlights of my day today?"

One of the most effective ways to recall your daily moments of joy is to keep a daily joy journal.

Every day, write down at least a few of your joyful moments. These can be events and situations when you experienced high levels of joy or when you felt sparks of joy. If you do not record them in your journal, these joyful might be easily forgotten. Since you are focusing on creating joyful moments, you will notice them and remember them because you listed them in your joy journal.