Daily Lift by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

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Keep Your Honor

Do not feel any less self-esteem or become upset if other people speak or act condescendingly to you. The Sages have said that the honored person is the one who honors others. The converse applies: Who is a lowly person? One who tries to lower others.

Being an honored person is dependent on your behavior towards others and not on other people's behavior toward you. Why feel any lack of self-worth just because someone acts disrespectfully to you? Keep focused on your behavior toward others. When someone does not treat you with respect, it is his problem - not yours.

pk

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Humility Comes From Gratitude

Awareness of your self-worth is not a contradiction to the obligation to be humble.

Only a fool is unaware of his positive accomplishments and abilities, and this is not humility. Humility is the internalization with every fiber of your body that everything - yes everything - you have is not your own. Rather, it is a gift from the Almighty who bestowed His kindness on you.

The more a person feels that what he has is a gift, the greater his humility.

pk

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Challenges Can Be Elevating

The more difficulty you encounter in fulfilling a good deed, the more joy you will feel - since this manifests a greater degree of elevation. A person's success is dependent on those good deeds that are difficult for him to do. A seemingly "minor" good deed performed with difficulty is actually much greater than many good deeds which are easy to perform (due to their being consistent with the person's nature).

When performing a good deed that is difficult for you to do, instead of thinking how awful it is, appreciate that the difficulty is what elevates you!

pk

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Arrogance Blocks Improvement

The Torah ideal is for us to have a positive self-image, while at the same time we must keep a distance from arrogance.

Think of a way that arrogance might prevent you from seeing your faults or mistakes. In order to overcome our faults and shortcomings, we first have to recognize them!

pk

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Don't Demand Perfection

In chapter 9 of the famous book of Jewish self-improvement, Orchos Tzadikim (15th century), we find the following formula for happiness: "If a person obtains all that he desires and nothing causing him sadness befalls him, he will constantly be happy. His face will shine, he will be physically healthy, and he will age slowly."

How can we reach this utopian state? First, refrain from desiring what is beyond your reach. The simpler your desires, the greater the chance you will be able to meet their requirements. Anything extra you obtain beyond these demands will give you increased happiness, so you have nothing to lose and much to gain by lowering your demands and expectations. This does not rule out striving for realistic goals, only that you give up your DEMANDS for things that you may not be able to obtain.

Secondly, do not allow common day-to-day occurrences to cause you sadness. (e.g. traffic, burnt toast, etc.) Master a perspective of life that will enable you to at least accept minor hardships without becoming sad.

pk

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The Power Of Autosuggestion

Utilize the power of autosuggestion for increasing your level of serenity. Autosuggestion must be worded positively. Repeat what you do want, not what you don't want. Therefore you say to yourself, "I am becoming more and more serene each and every day." Or even, "I am becoming more and more serene with each step that I take," when you are walking. You are not necessarily making a statement of present fact. You are telling your brain the messages that you want your brain to make your reality.

pk

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Patience is Based on Attitude

A teacher's patience with his students is based on his attitude toward them.

Rabbi Yaakov Neiman related that when he was a student in Europe before World War Two, he entered the home of his teacher Rabbi Moshe Rosenstein and observed that his teacher was testing a young child on what he had learned that week.

Rabbi Neiman asked him who the child was, and Rabbi Rosenstein whispered, "He's a child of the Almighty."

Noticing the puzzled look, Rabbi Rosenstein explained. "If I told you he is the son of this or that person, you would then feel that you know his identity. But the identity that an educator has to keep in mind is that all of his students are children of the Almighty."

When a teacher has this attitude, he will have the patience to educate each student at his own unique pace.

pk

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Put Troubles in Perspective

A great percentage of many people's suffering is based on illusion. People feel they have problems and difficulties, when in reality the problem exists solely in their minds.

When you have a problem, ask yourself, "How would I view this problem if someone else were in this situation? Would I consider this a valid problem or not?" This can help you gain a more objective perspective.

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Don't Compare Situations

Much of the suffering we experience in difficult life situations is because we compare the present situation with times when things were better. If we learn to deal with the situation as it is, we will find it much easier to tolerate. For this reason, people who were born into that situation and never experienced anything better find it quite easy to enjoy life the way it is.

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Let Shabbos Finish Your Work

The essence of Shabbos is peace of mind. Our attitude on Shabbos should be as if all the work we need to do has already been completed. If you need to travel or do any kind of work, on Shabbos you should try to feel as if you have reached your destination and every single job you have to take care of has already been completed.

All the laws of Shabbos serve as a recipe for attaining peace of mind. Not only are we to refrain from doing any form of work, but we are enjoined not to even discuss anything that has a connection with work.

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The Sanctity of Shabbos

In Judaism, Shabbos is a time to be especially careful not to become angry or to become involved in a quarrel. Quarrels spread like fire and destroy everything that is precious. The sanctity of Shabbos, if it is observed properly, enables people to feel a sense of unity. It promotes love and brotherhood. The sanctity of Shabbos can spread and enter the hearts of each individual and everyone can become as one.

If you haven't had an authentic Shabbos experience, write me and I'll recommend someone in your area to contact.

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Worry Knot

Worry destroys one's life.

A life filled with worry is a miserable existence. Regardless of how much good fortune you have, you will be oblivious to it if you fill your mind with worrisome thoughts.

You would hate someone for trying to destroy your life. With constant worry, you are destroying your own life.

Make it a top priority to change your thinking habits, to benefit you in many ways.

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Be Happy With Your Lot

Do not yearn for any other situation in the world besides the one you actually find yourself in.

A person who masters this skill will never be sad about his life situation. He accepts his present situation as his particular challenge in life -- even when he is unable to change it.

This attitude is usually not mastered just by reading about it. Consistently work on integrating it into your thoughts. The more you repeat this thought to yourself, the more it becomes part of your thinking.

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Accepting Gratitude

When someone expresses gratitude for something you have done, express your gratitude for that person's gratitude. By accepting that person's words of gratitude, you are making it more likely that this person will continue to express gratitude to others.

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Evaluate Your Present Course

Even if you have devoted a lot of time and effort to some project, if you know now that it is better to cancel it, do so. The fact that you have invested much energy is irrelevant. Deal only with the question: "Is this the right thing to do now?"

It is illogical to continue something just because you already started it. The matter has to be worthwhile in its own right. What was invested in the past is already over with, and need not tie you down to wasteful activities.

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Use Conceit To Drive You

The Chazon Ish once wrote to a close student who was very humble:

"It would be preferable if you had a bit of conceit. This would help you fight fatigue and laziness. Because you are so humble, you are only using your good inclination. It would be preferable if you would harness the energy of both your good and bad inclinations."

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Kindness Transforms You

Developing a love for kindness transforms your life, just as you transform the lives of others.

Kindness is one of the pillars of the world. Every act of kindness elevates your character and makes you a kinder person. And, as you continue to increase your love for kindness, you increase the amount of joy in your life.

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Turn Your Enemies Into Friends

The fool turns a friend into an enemy.

The wise person turns an enemy into a friend.

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Live Now

It is easy to build up in your imagination the amount of pleasure and happiness you will derive from future events. But by over-anxiously anticipating these future events, you lose your present moments. Frequently those future events turn out disappointing. You had exaggerated their value.

The way to make the most out of your life is to live every second as fully as possible. Regardless of your situation, you have the opportunity to utilize every moment for growth.

To someone who has adopted this attitude, it will not make a great difference how the exact details of life unfold. No matter how things turn out, he still has the opportunity to make it a growthful experience.

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All for the Best

Ultimately whatever happens to us is for our good. The Talmud relates a story about two people who wanted to travel by boat. One broke his foot and was unable to make the trip, while his friend got on the boat. The one who missed the boat cursed his misfortune. A few days later, however, he heard that the boat sank and all the passengers drowned. He began to praise the Almighty because he now realized his missing the boat was the best thing that could have happened to him.

A person should accept suffering that befalls him, since he cannot possibly know what good will come as a consequence of this ostensibly "negative" event.

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Anger Is Only For Show

Maimonides wrote that the correct path is "moderation in all character traits."

As regards to anger, he writes: "Do not be hot-tempered and easy to anger, nor like a corpse without feelings. Rather show anger only over important matters in order to prevent others from behaving wrongly on future occasions... Even when you have a practical, constructive reason for getting angry, only appear as if you are angry, but inwardly remain calm."

[nuff sed]

Yeah, lay it down, get a good night's sleep and pick it up in the morning! 'nuff sed

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Review What You Know

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (18th century Italy) writes in the introduction to his clasic work of Jewish ethics, "Path of the Just:"

"I did not write this book to teach people information they had not known previously. My intention was to remind them of knowledge they already possessed. As a matter of fact, you will find that most people already know the information that I have written. But to the degree that this knowledge is well-known and its truth self-evident, is the degree that people forget about these matters and are not consciously aware of them in their daily lives. Therefore, the benefit of reading such a book does not come from reading it just one time. You might find only a few bits of new information. You will derive benefit, however, from constant review. Keep reviewing ideas for self-improvement - even though on a certain level you already know them. When you constantly review important ideas, they will be at the forefront of your consciousness and you will thereby be able to apply them."

Today, think of some ideas, concepts, knowledge, or wisdom that you already know - but feel that you would gain from having at the forefront of your consciousness. Devise a plan to review that idea as frequently as you can.

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Mistakes Help you Grow

The only way to avoid all mistakes is by not doing anything. But then you won't accomplish anything either.

A popular saying is: "There is no one wiser than a person with experience." Learn from your mistakes. They are an integral part of your becoming an expert at helping yourself and others.

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Make the Most of Your Here And Now

Some people accomplish a great deal, yet they are unhappy because they keep thinking that "somewhere else" they might be able to accomplish more. They live their lives with the general feeling that whatever they are engaged in at the moment is nothing compared to what they might possibly do.

This feeling is a poison that destroys joy and happiness in life. While you should try to accomplish as much as you can, it is often an illusion that you are missing out by not being "somewhere else."