Lazer Beams

Lean on Me

Hashem wants us to lean on Him only. Anything else we lean on, in the words of the prophet, is nothing more than a wobbly reed.

What does it mean to trust Hashem completely? It means that we sincerely believe that our salvation from any predicament is in Hashem's hands. It means that we lean on Hashem, and on Him only. So, when we lean on Hashem, we never fall and we're never disgraced. 

Here's an example: Suppose that you're a soldier in combat and that your best friend has just been wounded seriously. You have to rush him to a waiting evacuation helicopter otherwise he'll be in grave danger. Your friend can’t walk, so he must rely on you and three of your fellow crewmen to carry him on a stretcher to the chopper. You and your buddies know that if you let him go for even an instant, he'll fall; you therefore grip the stretcher tight, because you're fully aware that his life depends on the four of you.

Hashem is a million times more compassionate than we are. Imagine for a moment that if a person truthfully and innocently leans on Hashem because he or she doesn't have the strength to deal with whatever they have to, do you think for a moment that Hashem will let you go? Never! All we have to do is strengthen our simple and uncomplicated trust in Hashem, and bingo! We're home free, we never fall.

All for the Best

Sometimes difficult things happen in our lives. We have all kinds of questions, "Why me?" "Why do I deserve this?" Emuna tells us that it's all for the best; see for yourself in the following 2-minute clip:

Take that First Step

A group of friends once made a trip together. On the way to their destination, they saw someone standing with a backpack on a desert crossroads. Seven days later, on their way home, they encountered the same person with the backpack standing on the same desert crossroads in the hot sun. The group of friends asked the backpacker, "Why are you standing here?"

"I want to go to Jerusalem," responded the backpacker. "I'm waiting for a ride."

"How long have you been waiting?" they asked.

"More than a week," he answered.

They laughed. "Jerusalem's only a two-day walk from here. If you'd have started walking, you could have been there and back four times already!"

Many of us want to change, yet we expect it to happen automatically, with no effort on our part. Life doesn't work that way. An old Hebrew expression says, "Even a journey of a thousand kilometers begins with a first step."

Don't be afraid - go ahead and take that first step up your personal mountain. Step by step, you'll get to the top.

Happy With Yourself

People think that their happiness is dependant on outside stimuli. That's a big misconception. Happiness comes from within. First, you have to be happy with yourself, as you'll see in the 2-minute clip that follows:

Winners and Losers

>As long as you keep trying, you're never a loser. A winner is someone who never gives up, even when he loses. Above all, don't ever compromise on your dreams and aspirations. Share them with G-d in your daily conversations with Him. Don't delay talking to G-d, because the time will come when you regret that you didn't speak to Him more. 

Keep Smiling, Baby

You've already met Shmilly ("Chef Sam" Indig), one of my "adopted sons" in New York. Shmilly was born in a Chassidic house, took a spiritual slide, and then became a heroic self-made Jew. Not only that, but Shmilly is helping a lot of other off-the-track youth to find their way back to the real Yiddishkeit, the one with the smiles and the joy, and without the whips and the threats. Shmilly has an Adar message for us:

5 Steps to Success

Notice that you won't see highly successful people wasting their time on passive entertainment and pastimes (really, "pass the time"). Why? They have no time to waste. They're doers. That's why they're successful.

What's the difference between a champion and a couch potato? 

1. A champion sets goals.

2. A champion has a plan of action how to achieve his goals with daily work quotas that he demands from himself.

3. A champion perseveres and is not discouraged by temporary setbacks. He is dilligent and never lazy.

4. A champion is focused; he is constantly making progress along his chosen path; he shuns wasted effort on extraneous and inconsequential things.

5. A champion has no time to waste.

A couch potato has no goals and therefore no plan of action. He's discouraged by the slightest obstacle and can hardly get out of bed in the morning. In his laziness, he dreams of leisure. His mind is not focused and he has all the time in the world.

No matter who you are or what you do, whether you run a household or manage a business, apply the above five points to your life and with Hashem's help, success will shine on you too.