Gevalt, Never Give Up

After writing the two previous posts, I was feeling a little low. Here I was calling myself a Breslover and on a list of 27 things that every Breslover should be doing I had already completely failed on two of them before I was even a third of the way down the list. Who was I fooling? Oy…..no…OY!!
To distract myself from feeling miserable I decided to go blog sufing. First I went to vist A Simple Jew who led me on to Mystical Paths which I followed to this:







Wow, this was rockin’. Emunah…..Faith…..I was up and dancing, I was singing along, I was re-energized and re-charged. And I recalled something that I had read in Meshivat Nefesh. On page 29, quoting from Likutey Moharan, Rabbenu said:

Use every ploy that you can think of to bring yourself to joy. Depression does tremendous damage. Make every effort to rid yourself of it completely. One way is to search within yourself for the “good points.” Another thing: remember the words of the morning blessing: “You did not make me a heathen.”

Rabbenu is saying that no matter how low you may have sunk or how great your sins, deep down inside there is still a good point from some mitzvah that you may have done, or if nothing else simply because you are still a Jew, and because of this one thing, Hashem still has great love for you, and this is a source of great joy.

Later on page 71, quoting from Likutey Halachot it says:

Always be joyful – even if you are poor and under pressure, even when your service of G-d and your prayers feel ragged. Always be content with your portion. Pay no attention at all to the rest of the world. It may seem to you that other people have an easy living and that their service of G-d, their learning, and their prayers are a thousand levels higher than your own, even though you never see them putting in the same effort and toil that you have to achieve your own low level. Pay no attention to thoughts like this. Be content with your portion and with every good “point” that is in you. Give thanks to G-d that he made you worthy of this. What do you care that your friend is greater and better than you? G-d is good to all.

Going back to A Day in the Life, I looked at step ten. Pray Shacharit, Hey, I do this already, WOO HOOO….maybe I’ve eaten already, and I’m unmikvahed, but I’m still davenning. Baruch Hashem, thank you Rabbenu, and thanks to A.S.J, Reb Nati and Akiva, and Avraham Abutbul and Rav Lazer Brody.