Think good and it'll be good - September 13 2016

Over a century and a half ago, a man went to see his Rabbi, the Rebbe of Lubavitch, to ask for a blessing for a personal matter. The Rebbe answered him, 'Think good, and it'll be good'. 

Here we are, back in September, again. We're back to school, back to routine, back to stuff we've done so many times before. Yet people can be strange creatures, and very unpredictable at times. We can re-do experiences we've gone through many times in the past, and experience them in a totally different light. We can do something that has been done a hundred times before, and be thoroughly excited about it. Or vice versa.

You know the feeling. How often are you sitting at your desk, at your job, doing your daily routine, feeling so drab and stale? You watch a friend, colleague, or neighbor walk by, and think, 'If only I had what he had, then I'd be excited and happy. But I'm just stuck with myself'.

Then there are times when seemingly random bouts of positivity and rejuvenation strike. We'll get up one morning, and the very same thing we did yesterday will suddenly be filled with life and renewed energy. 

If that hasn't happened in a while, I think you're overdue for a trip to Chabad for a bit of Torah and Judaism!

All jokes aside, what's clear is that the human being experiences its surroundings on an entirely personal, individualistic level. What was boring yesterday is exciting today, what was easy yesterday is frustrating today. 

You see, the Torah tells us that God made the human being "in his image". What does that mean? God is completely self-sustaining. He's the ultimate source. No one made him, no one formed him and no one tells him what to do. He created the world and all that's in it, and gives life and sustenance to all his creations. God is the Creator.

Man too is a creator. God gave us that unique power to create our personal world, our own reality. We control what our lives, our very existences, look like. We might not be masters of the circumstances, but we're masters of the mindset. 

As we begin the new season. and approach the Jewish new year, it's a good time to remind ourselves just how much our perspective matters in life. Our reality is built primarily on our attitude. 

This is the meaning of 'Think good, and it'll be good'. The way things turn out very much depend on how we perceive them.

Rabbi Avrohom