How often have you heard or used the word suddenly? Suddenly she broke up with me; suddenly the coach kicked me off the team; suddenly my mom moved out.

But how sudden is sudden? For instance, have you ever woken up to suddenly find a new tree in your backyard? Or to find that your hair had suddenly grown ten inches? Or that you suddenly lived in a new home? Not likely.

"Sudden" implies a sense of chaos, a sense that things happen to us, rather than the deeper truth that we happen to ourselves.

Happening to ourselves is a good thing. No one else is calling the shots. And while this introduces a whole lot of responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions, it also allows limitless possibilities.

We have already, perhaps unwittingly, shaped our past. And we have the power to shape our present and our future as well.

As you live today, keep this thought in mind: If something happens to me, I am locked in the physical. I am reacting. But if I am happening to me, good or bad, I am connecting with the spiritual. I am being proactive.

Don't expect to understand this completely now. This idea is a huge gold mine that will continue to yield riches as you explore it.

 

Some people don't ask for help from above because they don't think they know how. They feel foolish, inept.

The Maggid of Mezrich writes about this. He says that one who stumbles in prayer is "like a child who is very much loved by his parents. Even though he cannot speak well, his parents have great delight when he asks for something."

Today, feel certain in the fact that when you call out for help, you cries are being heard — and appreciated.

I hope I'm not the only one doing some writing. Journaling our thoughts, fears, desires, schemes, regrets, and fantasies is a powerful spiritual guide.

Are you up for a quick writing exercise today?

Make a list of your desires. Put down everything that comes to mind no matter how small or how foolish it may seem.

Just to get you started: I want to go skiing with my best friend this weekend, I want my sister to stop drugs, I want my children to stop fighting, I want to be a famous singer, I want to end world hunger, I want to save people's lives, I want to make so much money that my parents will never have to work again. You get the idea.

Just put that desire down on paper. When you've done that, write next to each desire how you think you might feel if you attained it. How might your life change?

Without knowing your true desires, you don't stand much of a chance of attaining them. So be honest!

Years ago in Queens, a student of my father was in a desperate financial situation. He hit rock bottom; creditors were lining up at his door and he could barely feed his family. He was frantic. My father, with his typical certainty and calm, told the man not to worry, "this is a good sign!"

When we hit rock bottom, though it's painful physically, it is also a breaking of klipot [shells of negativity] that create barriers between us and our true fulfillment. Of course, no one wants to be in this position - it hurts! But at the same time, we want to have the courage to accept it. The faster we admit that the pain has a purpose, the faster it will fill its purpose and subsequently go away.

Remember today that temporary pain prepares us to receive lasting fulfillment. Have the courage to fully experience your pain. You'll be surprised at the messages it can bring you.

Fears comes from our darker side, the aspect of ourselves that seeks to sabotage our best intentions. But they are not real, which is why we say fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.

The kabbalistic method for breaking the stranglehold our fears have on us is to tell all our crazy thoughts and obsessions to our teacher or a trusted friend. This is a wonderful remedy.

Today, share all those doubts that spring up in your mind and heart. Do not omit anything because of shame. Through getting these things off your chest, you can break the power of the evil urge so that it will not be able to influence you as much the next time.

Kabbalah recognizes there are two spheres affecting our lives: spiritual and physical.

Though the physical cuts us up and spits us out at times — or, conversely, cradles us in its hands and gives us everything beyond what we could think to ask for - let's remember, this is not our only realm.

By opening our mind to the spiritual alternative, we allow a transformation to occur, after which we begin to realize that the physical fades, the spiritual remains.

Keep an open mind today. OPENING THE MIND IS SPIRITUALITY!

Nothing is 100% black or white, right or wrong. good or bad.

When you look at reality and say, "I am right," you should always know that there is someone who will come along and say you are wrong. The problem of argument is not who is right or who is wrong — it is that you think that you are right and someone else is wrong!

Be open to another point of view today, even when you are 100% right.

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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