By Shifra Hendrie
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 wetake for granted today?
With such instantaneous access to information and communication,we can do lots of things at once. Obviously, this means we canaccomplish much more in much less time. And this in turn leavesus with much more satisfaction and fulfillment, as well as moretime to enjoy it.
Right?
TECHNOLOGICAL MIRACLES – A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
These technological miracles have made things possible that werenever even imaginable before. But at the same time they havecreated an intense pressure to have more, do more and be more.
It used to be that we would compare ourselves to the Jones’s wholived down the block. The pressure of keeping up with theJones’s was stressful enough. Now we probably don’t even havethe time to get to know our neighbors the Jones’s, but we areaware of the Smiths who built that big, beautiful house with thepool a few blocks away. And we notice the mansions, theexpensive cars, the flashy careers, the personal trainers, theperfect bodies, unlined faces, fat wallets, flat stomachs andhot love lives of the people we see in the movies, ontelevision, in novels and magazines.
THE SLAVERY OF HAVING IT ALL
“YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!” they scream out at you – “ and if youdon’t, there’s something wrong with you and your life. Just buythis (gadget, car, self-help book…) and you’ll feel the way youlong to feel!”
“You can have it all – and you would if you just got off yourlazy incompetent, unlucky behind and do what it takes! Juststart this (business, diet, workout regimen) - and then yourlife 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 breakneckspeed 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 satisfiedwith where we are.
The unfortunate paradox is: the faster you run and the more youdo, the less satisfied you will probably be.
Here’s the secret: There’s nowhere to get. It doesn’t work thatway. Life doesn’t stand still and let us take shots at it untilwe 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 canaccomplish 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, wemust. 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, ourincreased 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 allthe magazines and movies – but even if you do manage to succeedin dieting and exercising yourself to perfection – an unlikelyprospect for most of us - you will inevitably age and lose theperfection you tried so hard to create.
You can work on making the right amount of money – and you mayor may not succeed. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with money,in and of itself. If used in the right ways, money can be awonderful thing. But interestingly, the people who enjoy themost money and ‘success’ – celebrities - often have the leastenduring satisfaction in life, as evidenced by their heavy druguse and high divorce rates.
You can work on acquiring the right house, sometimes a biggerone than you can afford, even though by the time you get it – ifyou ever do – your kids may be grown and it may be time todownsize; to get rid of all the stuff you’ve accumulated by thesweat of your brow.
Or, you can work on finding the perfect love – the kind you readabout in novels and see on film. The problem is that in reallife people aren’t always slick, polished, adoring, witty andimmortal. They get angry, pass gas, have bad breath, getwrinkles, 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 intothe Promised Land, there was a forty-year period where theJewish people wandered through the desert. That forty-yearperiod provided a necessary transition between slavery andfreedom, between exile and redemption.
In the desert there was nothing to eat. So, G-d provided aspecial food – manna – that fell from Heaven each day. Thepeople in the desert didn’t have to do anything to make themanna appear. All they had to do was go out to the field andcollect it.
And, no matter how much or how little a person picked up, whenhe got home, he always had exactly the right amount of manna tosatisfy him for that day. No more and no less.
The manna was miraculous. And, unlike many miracles, itsmiraculous nature was too obvious to mistake. Because it wasimpossible to collect too much or too little, it was glaringlyobvious to everyone that their survival was directly in thehands of Heaven.
True, each person had to do his part – to go out and collect hismanna for the day – but that was it.
FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM
Kabbalah explains that this miraculous way of being holds anessential message for us today.
We are living through the climax of history, a time predicted bythe prophets of long ago. During this time we, too, are making atransition between slavery and freedom, between exile andredemption. Our task is to reconnect with our Creator, our ownDivine essence, our authentic power and purpose, and each other.
Because of the unique nature of these times, you have access toan 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 tryingharder and running faster. Your soul’s self-expression cannot bebased on the illusion that your survival – and your success – isentirely up to you. No matter what the Jones’s or the Smithsbelieve, your freedom and fulfillment won’t come out of the madrush 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 formyself, what am I? And if not now, when? (Rabbi Hillel, Ethicsof the Fathers)
As human beings we have an innate drive to create, to makethings happen, to make a difference. You do that, in one way oranother, 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. Freefrom fat. Free from stress. But true freedom doesn’t come fromsomething outside of yourself. If you are depending on thatsomething to make you free, you’re already a slave.
True freedom comes from the inside – from a deep and powerfulconnection to who you truly are and why you’re here. From thatplace, connected to the Source, you can create things you neverthought possible. You can generate miracles in your own life andin the lives of others.
When you’re a slave you are dependent on other people andoutside circumstances for your well-being – for your verysurvival. You’re full of needs. Without having those needs metyou simply can’t be who you truly are. And since it’s impossibleto ‘have it all” - you remain a slave.
When you’re free, you may still want things. And you cancertainly strive to make things happen. But as a desire, not asa need. As an expression of who you authentically are.
Like the Jews in the desert, you will still have to go out tothe field each day to collect your portion of manna. But you cando it peacefully, happily, confidently, trustingly. Not like aslave. Like someone who’s free.
THE KEY TO FREEDOM
The key to freedom is to know that you are here on earth as asoul in a body. To know that you are here for a reason, with amission, a mission that can be carried out by you and you alone.And last but certainly not least, to know that G-d is lovinglysupervising every moment of your life, providing you with theprecise circumstances – both gifts and challenges – that willhelp 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 theperfect starting point for your soul’s self-expression. It’s anopportunity to create joy, power, love, connection, peace,trust, intimacy, generosity – or whatever it is that you cravewhen you’re authentically you.
And when you live life from that place of freedom – miraclesinevitably happen.
© 2005 Shifra Hendrie, www.KabbalahOfTransformation.com
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