In times of pressure and stress, we usually see what someone is made of, right? That's when we see someone's real temperament.

Now imagine being totally stressed out. Visualize yourself being pressured by an outside source; you've got a deadline coming up or your boyfriend is telling you everything that you do wrong. Watch the dialogue in your head. Are you listening to the voice of the Light ["this is happening for a positive reason"]...or are you listening to the voice of the Opponent ["life sucks"]?

If your buttons are being triggered and you are coming from a place of hopelessness, you're listening to the Opponent.

Today is your chance to break the pattern. What could you do differently when responding to this trigger?

"What a person does not do while he still has the power that the Creator has given him, he will not again have the opportunity of doing in the grave, for at that time he will no longer possess this power of choice and free will given to him."
-The Ramchal, 18th century kabbalist

Windows of opportunity are open all around us. But for how long?

Today, prioritize your life. Look at your day and see how much time you devote to the what really counts: serving others, sacrificing ego, and growing your connection to the Light. Stop pushing things off until tomorrow. There's no time like the present.

"Love or Need" has always been one of our most popular classes at The Kabbalah Centre. I think it's because many of us struggle with codependency and we're desperate for solutions on how to break this pattern. Needing someone else to make us feel whole is the worst feeling.

My mother and teacher Karen Berg writes,

"In a healthy relationship, you and your partner are interdependent. You are like the sun and the moon. The moon does not need the sun to rise, and the sun doesn't need the moon to set, but they do need each other to make the action happen in the universe."

You will have stronger, longer-lasting relationships if you are separate and self-sufficient in this way. Today, focus on giving yourself the love and approval you crave, so that you do not have to be reliant on others to give you their approval.

You will find that your journey through life with your current or future partner will be so much more beautiful.

Messages are now flying at us left and right. If we can only learn to drop the defensiveness, then we can make some real personal progress by letting in some great, accurate feedback on what we need to change.

The kabbalists teach that the best feedback comes from strangers, who have no emotional ties to us and therefore can clearly see what our issues are. Don't you find this to be true? I know in my own life it's usually easy to spot someone's garbage right away. It's the people I know best I sometimes know the least.

Keep your heart open today. Accept honest feedback from every direction. The potential for change is huge.

"You should judge your friend justly," it is written. This initially sounds like yet another spiritual lesson most of us have heard before. In reality there is a very important self-centered reason why we need to judge others justly.

A long time ago, in the Holy Temple, there was a mirror in which the spirituality of a person could be seen. Today, because the temple doesn't exist, every person is a mirror for others.

What you see in other people is really within you. When you judge something you don't like in another, you're basically pointing out your own bad points.

Today, every time a judgment enters your mind, ask yourself, "What is the Light showing me about myself now?" Asking the question will lead you to your answer. Once you have seen your own flaws, you'll immediately feel more mercy towards the other person — and yourself.

Why is it so difficult to receive a compliment? Why is it so difficult to open up and allow real love to come in?

Creating a circuitry of Light requires three things: giving, receiving, and restriction. Many of us have difficulty with the receiving part. We're so accustomed to not trusting anyone. We're so accustomed to going without and having people withhold from us. We expect disappointment; we always seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's become the human condition to spend our time waiting for that excitement and fulfillment to disappear.

Today, let your guard down. The Light is knocking, it wants to come in. Have some faith in people. Have some faith in yourself. Let the love in. Let the Light in.

Doesn't that feel good? 

Someone close to you is acting like a real jerk and you want to smash them. But you are a "spiritual" person, so you sit back and say with a nodding head, "Cause and effect - the Light will take care of him."

When we wish revenge for someone, or we're content because we know they'll get theirs in the end, we are acting as channels of judgment. And just as a cold cup containing red-hot coffee becomes scalding, we too take on the energy of judgment we wish upon others. No matter how perfect we think we are in comparison to that person, trust me, we've get our own negative files we'd rather not have the Light review.

That's why we always want to be on the side of mercy and in the frame of helping the situation, not contributing to the problem.

Today, focus on your ex-husband, your ex-employer, your ex-friend, or anyone you've been waiting for the Light to pounce on, and ask the Light to show them mercy. Believe me, you need it.
 

For more information please call 702.243.0559 or email lasvegas@kabbalah.com or stop by the Kabbalah Centre at 3824 S. Jones Blvd (between Spring Mountain & Flamingo).

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