BS”D
The Secret of Getting Free
“The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get.” Anonymous
SO MUCH TO DO – SO LITTLE TIME
Cell phones. Email. Video conferencing. The World Wide Web.
A couple of decades ago, who could have imagined the world we
take for granted today?
With such instantaneous access to information and communication,
we can do lots of things at once. Obviously, this means we can
accomplish much more in much less time. And this in turn leaves
us with much more satisfaction and fulfillment, as well as more
time to enjoy it.
Right?
TECHNOLOGICAL MIRACLES – A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
These technological miracles have made things possible that were
never even imaginable before. But at the same time they have
created an intense pressure to have more, do more and be more.
It used to be that we would compare ourselves to the Jones’s who
lived down the block. The pressure of keeping up with the
Jones’s was stressful enough. Now we probably don’t even have
the time to get to know our neighbors the Jones’s, but we are
aware of the Smiths who built that big, beautiful house with the
pool a few blocks away. And we notice the mansions, the
expensive cars, the flashy careers, the personal trainers, the
perfect bodies, unlined faces, fat wallets, flat stomachs and
hot love lives of the people we see in the movies, on
television, in novels and magazines.
THE SLAVERY OF HAVING IT ALL
“YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!” they scream out at you – ” and if you
don’t, there’s something wrong with you and your life. Just buy
this (gadget, car, self-help book…) and you’ll feel the way you
long to feel!”
“You can have it all – and you would if you just got off your
lazy incompetent, unlucky behind and do what it takes! Just
start this (business, diet, workout regimen) – and then your
life will start being what it should be!”
Bombarded from every direction, we can hardly help but respond.
We try harder, run faster and work longer, racing at breakneck
speed like mad hamsters on the wheel from hell.
No one expects to keep running forever. We all intend to stop -
just as soon as we get where we’re going. When we’re satisfied
with where we are.
The unfortunate paradox is: the faster you run and the more you
do, the less satisfied you will probably be.
Here’s the secret: There’s nowhere to get. It doesn’t work that
way. Life doesn’t stand still and let us take shots at it until
we hit the bullseye and win the prize. Life is a moving target.
WE LIVE IN UNIQUE TIMES
We live in unique times – times in which we actually can
accomplish far more, in quantity and quality, than ever before.
This in itself is a wonderful thing.
So where are we going wrong?
We have begun to believe that because we can accomplish, we
must. That if something desirable exists, and we don’t have it,
we can’t be fulfilled. That if there’s some standard out there,
in whatever area of life, and we don’t meet it, we’ve failed.
So, first we have to accomplish it all, have it all, ‘make it’,
and then we can relax, kick back, and start to be ourselves.
Within this paradigm, instead of providing us with freedom, our
increased opportunities are turning us into slaves.
“HAVING IT ALL” IS NOT THE POINT
You can work on having the right body – the kind we see in all
the magazines and movies – but even if you do manage to succeed
in dieting and exercising yourself to perfection – an unlikely
prospect for most of us – you will inevitably age and lose the
perfection you tried so hard to create.
You can work on making the right amount of money – and you may
or may not succeed. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with money,
in and of itself. If used in the right ways, money can be a
wonderful thing. But interestingly, the people who enjoy the
most money and ‘success’ – celebrities – often have the least
enduring satisfaction in life, as evidenced by their heavy drug
use and high divorce rates.
You can work on acquiring the right house, sometimes a bigger
one than you can afford, even though by the time you get it – if
you ever do – your kids may be grown and it may be time to
downsize; to get rid of all the stuff you’ve accumulated by the
sweat of your brow.
Or, you can work on finding the perfect love – the kind you read
about in novels and see on film. The problem is that in real
life people aren’t always slick, polished, adoring, witty and
immortal. They get angry, pass gas, have bad breath, get
wrinkles, complain, bore us and get disillusioned with us, too.
THE SECRET OF FREEDOM: MANNA FROM HEAVEN
Between the liberation from slavery in Egypt and entering into
the Promised Land, there was a forty-year period where the
Jewish people wandered through the desert. That forty-year
period provided a necessary transition between slavery and
freedom, between exile and redemption.
In the desert there was nothing to eat. So, G-d provided a
special food – manna – that fell from Heaven each day. The
people in the desert didn’t have to do anything to make the
manna appear. All they had to do was go out to the field and
collect it.
And, no matter how much or how little a person picked up, when
he got home, he always had exactly the right amount of manna to
satisfy him for that day. No more and no less.
The manna was miraculous. And, unlike many miracles, its
miraculous nature was too obvious to mistake. Because it was
impossible to collect too much or too little, it was glaringly
obvious to everyone that their survival was directly in the
hands of Heaven.
True, each person had to do his part – to go out and collect his
manna for the day – but that was it.
FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM
Kabbalah explains that this miraculous way of being holds an
essential message for us today.
We are living through the climax of history, a time predicted by
the prophets of long ago. During this time we, too, are making a
transition between slavery and freedom, between exile and
redemption. Our task is to reconnect with our Creator, our own
Divine essence, our authentic power and purpose, and each other.
Because of the unique nature of these times, you have access to
an entirely new level of your soul and its innate powers -
powers like freedom, creativity, purpose, joy and fulfillment.
But paradoxically, these powers cannot be accessed by trying
harder and running faster. Your soul’s self-expression cannot be
based on the illusion that your survival – and your success – is
entirely up to you. No matter what the Jones’s or the Smiths
believe, your freedom and fulfillment won’t come out of the mad
rush to ‘have it all’.
DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE?
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for
myself, what am I? And if not now, when? (Rabbi Hillel, Ethics
of the Fathers)
As human beings we have an innate drive to create, to make
things happen, to make a difference. You do that, in one way or
another, with every action you take. The important question is:
Do you do it as a free person or as a slave?
We all want to be free. Free from debt. Free from worry. Free
from fat. Free from stress. But true freedom doesn’t come from
something outside of yourself. If you are depending on that
something to make you free, you’re already a slave.
True freedom comes from the inside – from a deep and powerful
connection to who you truly are and why you’re here. From that
place, connected to the Source, you can create things you never
thought possible. You can generate miracles in your own life and
in the lives of others.
When you’re a slave you are dependent on other people and
outside circumstances for your well-being – for your very
survival. You’re full of needs. Without having those needs met
you simply can’t be who you truly are. And since it’s impossible
to ‘have it all” – you remain a slave.
When you’re free, you may still want things. And you can
certainly strive to make things happen. But as a desire, not as
a need. As an expression of who you authentically are.
Like the Jews in the desert, you will still have to go out to
the field each day to collect your portion of manna. But you can
do it peacefully, happily, confidently, trustingly. Not like a
slave. Like someone who’s free.
THE KEY TO FREEDOM
The key to freedom is to know that you are here on earth as a
soul in a body. To know that you are here for a reason, with a
mission, a mission that can be carried out by you and you alone.
And last but certainly not least, to know that G-d is lovingly
supervising every moment of your life, providing you with the
precise circumstances – both gifts and challenges – that will
help you to fulfill that mission.
If you start from this premise, then nothing can ever be wrong.
Regardless of what your life looks like today, it’s simply the
perfect starting point for your soul’s self-expression. It’s an
opportunity to create joy, power, love, connection, peace,
trust, intimacy, generosity – or whatever it is that you crave
when you’re authentically you.
And when you live life from that place of freedom – miracles
inevitably happen.
© 2005 Shifra Hendrie, www.KabbalahOfTransformation.com
Shifra Hendrie
http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/the-secret-of-getting-free-2000.html
February 7th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
How do you get free webkinz secret codes that are unused?
February 7th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Buy a webkinz…
References :
February 7th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Impossible online. Just buy a webkinz. So if you buy one, you know what animal your adopting.
References :