Gold coins. Spiritually speaking, that's exactly what you receive every time you share. This isn't me talking, it's Rav Isaac Luria, the great 16th century kabbalist. He says if only we saw the richness of Light that's revealed every time we give of ourselves, we'd run around all day seeking sharing situations.

When was the last time you really shared? Today, when that little voice in your head whines, "what's in it for me?", answer back: GOLD! Share something - money, time, love — and know that every time you go against your nature and are genuine in your giving, you will receive the spiritual backing to manifest all of your dreams.

We each come to this world with a soul mission. However, most of us leave this world without ever having accomplished that mission.

We return back "upstairs" and realize we had our sights set on all the wrong things. If we are lucky, we get a chance to start over and come back again.

Why not get it right this time around? You don't want to go through the terrible two's again, do you? And puberty? I don't think so.

Why are you alive? What did your soul come here to do? These are worthy questions to ask of yourself today. Too bad we can't just Google what our life mission is. Maybe some day. But for now, the best way to find the answer is to ask the question. Ask enough times - and with intensity - and you will start seeing signs pointing you in the right direction.

Consider the light bulb in your ceiling. You flip a switch, and on it goes. But the light bulb is not the source of the light; the real source is an electric generator somewhere you can't even see. And there are rules around how much light can be emitted as well as when and why. The same is true with the Light of the Creator.

One of the common mistakes we all make is to confuse a person or thing with the Light. For instance, nothing feels as good as falling in love. So naturally we associate our girlfriend or boyfriend with those happy feelings and assume that person is the source of them. But it doesn't work that way. No other person can guarantee us the good feelings of love we are after. It's the way we act in relation to other people that brings the Light.

And that's what today is all about. Remembering that ultimately, your relationship to people and places is about your relationship to the Light of the Creator.

Reactive behavior creates intense sparks of Light but eventually leaves darkness in its wake.

Nestled within our reactive behavior is the desire for instant gratification. It offers a quick high that makes us feel alive and in control of our lives. We can become addicted to this feeling.

As we see in the case of a light bulb, when we resist reactive behavior, we generate Light. When we opt instead for instant gratification, we also create a very bright light. A direct connection occurs between our reactive desire (the negative pole) and the Light (the positive pole), producing a momentary flash of delight followed by darkness, because the bulb has burned itself out.

This is one of the unseen laws of the universe, not unlike gravity. If you jump out of a tall building, you will fall to the street below even if you are unaware of the existence of gravity. The same holds true of electricity. If you play with a live, high-voltage wire, you will get electrocuted even if you can't see the source of your demise.

Today, look into the areas of your life where you are sticking your finger in the socket. Ask yourself if the momentary jolts are worth all that pain.

If you connect directly with the Light without the careful use of restriction (the decision not to have immediate gratification), you will reenact what happened in the Endless World when the Light fed the Vessel (without fulfillment) and created Bread of Shame (if these terms are unfamiliar, I explain them in The Power of Kabbalah.)

If you satisfy your desire right away without first becoming the cause of your life, the experience will burn you out. But that immediate delight can be so seductive that we find ourselves engaging in the same behavior again and again and again.

Break an addictive pattern today. Or at least set the intention to do so. Remember the deal you struck with the Creator way back when.

In what relationships and behaviors are you creating Bread of Shame?

One illusion in life that gets us into lots of trouble is the feeling that there isn't enough good stuff to go around.

It's like watching your favorite dessert being sliced before your eyes and everyone reaching in for a big, thick piece, and it's still nowhere near your turn. You start thinking you're going to be left out, so you quickly come up with strategies to make sure you definitely get your share.

Most of our daily thoughts involve keeping someone else from getting theirs.

Now imagine the relief you'd feel if the waiter walked out of the kitchen carrying two more trays of dessert, fresh out of the oven, and announced that there were several more baking. You'd realize then that there was more than enough for everybody. And you'd realize that there was no need to expend all that energy on stressing over your slice, the size of it, the quality, the order in which you received it. You could have relaxed and just enjoyed yourself the whole time.

Keep working, moving forward, sharing and caring about the people who cross your path. You'll get your slice in due time. The harder you work for it, the tastier it'll be.

Before we can truly help others, we must first learn to help ourselves.

It's like the oxygen masks on an airplane. We are instructed to put on our own oxygen mask before assisting small children or others in need. The reason for this is that if you don't know how to help yourself, and are therefore not fully functioning, you will not be able to help anyone else. Without your own oxygen mask in place, you may pass out before safely securing someone else's. Then, clearly, you will have been of no help at all!

Today, make sure your needs are met. Not the superficial desires, but the deep yearnings of your soul. Get enough air in your lungs so you'll have that much more energy to truly help others.

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