CLOUD OF CLARITY

We are all looking for clarity in our lives. We want to know what we are meant to be doing, in both small and big ways. This level of knowing is attainable, provided we meet one important prerequisite: a willingness to do what is uncomfortable.

Many times we say we want to know what our next step is, but often we hope that step is relatively easy. This is why we are frequently unclear. The Light of the Creator only gives us something we truly desire. We can say day and night that we want clarity, but before we can ask for that, we must ask of ourselves, “If achieving my purpose requires going outside my comfort zone, am I still willing to do it?”

As we learn in Kabbalah, life is cause and effect. In this case, there is a distinct link between the willingness to do what is uncomfortable and the ability to receive clarity.
The system is set up so that we will only be shown what we are willing and desiring to do.

Is our mindset comfort first or purpose first? The place we are at in our minds will determine whether or not we achieve clarity.

One of the greatest examples of this is the story of the Israelites in the desert. The Bible says the Creator designated a cloud for them to follow. Every time it stopped, the people stopped. When it moved, they moved. Sometimes it stayed for months; other times it moved after one day.

Isn’t it great they had this physical indication of where they needed to go and what they needed to do? Yes, but the Kabbalists explain that the only reason they merited that was because they were excited and desired to go wherever they needed to go, whether it was comfortable or not.

Obviously, if they spent hours unpacking only to have to repack the next day, that was uncomfortable. But they wanted that direction. Foremost in their minds was achieving their purpose in life, and they knew without a doubt that the cloud was leading them in that direction. Their desire was what allowed the Creator to continue leading them.

We too can merit this type of clarity, provided we desire purpose over comfort. But as long as we choose the latter, we will remain in the dark.

This week focus on your priorities. Do you desire to be shown your purpose, regardless of whether or not it is something that is easy for you to do? When that is truly your mindset, you will gain clarity throughout your life. Desire purpose over comfort.

I often like to see things as equations, and to clarify this point, here is one I often think of:

PURPOSE > COMFORT = CLARITY

THINK OF OTHERS

When we have a lack or a need, and we focus on a friend who has the same need and pray for them, we will be answered and fulfilled first.

MOSES THE SHEPHERD

Every night when I put my daughter Miriam to sleep, she asks for a story. I told her this one a few nights ago. I’ve read it many times before, yet it impacted me in a way different than ever before.

The story is about the Baal Shem Tov, a great soul and righteous person, who was told through divine inspiration about a person whose spiritual work was greater than his. His name was Moses the Shepherd.

The great master was eager to meet this person, so he gathered a few students and mounted a carriage to the village, not too far away. As they arrived, they noticed Moses out in his field, surrounded by his flock. As his animals grazed, he turned up to heaven and shouted to God, “You’ve given me so many blessings in my life. I love you so much. I wish there was some way I could give back to you.”

Moses threw himself to his knees. “You know I am a simple person. I don’t know how to read or write. I can’t pray. I can’t study. I can’t teach,” he pleaded, “but I have a shepherd’s whistle and I know how to blow it! I hope you accept this action.”

He got up and began blowing his whistle with all his strength. After 45 minutes, Moses fell to the ground, exhausted. He lay there for a long time, and only after regaining his strength did he turn up to heaven and say, “I wish to serve you. You know I am a simple person, there’s not much I know how to do. But I do know how to dance! I hope that you accept this.”

And then Moses started dancing with all of his strength, literally for 30 minutes until he collapsed. Again, he lay there for awhile, regaining his stamina. Finally, he got up again and screamed, “I want to give you something, but there is nothing I have. But I do have a penny in my pocket! Please accept this from me.” He threw the penny up into the sky with all his strength, and out of nowhere a heavenly hand reached out to catch it.

The Baal Shem Tov turned to his students and smiled, “All my life I thought I knew what spiritual work was. Now I realize I haven’t even begun to understand.”

Very often we diminish our own self-worth by telling ourselves subconsciously, “I’m not there yet. Maybe in a year from now, after I’ve really worked on myself and grown, then my work will be important. But now what can I do that is great?”

This thought is from the negative side. As this story shows us, any person at any time can do the greatest of things, as long as he invests himself completely. Right now there is something we each could do that would be more powerful than anything the most righteous person could do, provided we invest all our effort into it. This week, push those doubts out of your minds and continue to train yourself to think, “I can do something great right now!”