103. Despair - Daily Dose of Wisdom

Despair is the ultimate form of self-worship—the perception that you have the capacity to truly mess up, to take the world’s destiny out of its Creator’s hands and sabotage His plans.

Know that the world is in a constant state of elevation, rocketing upwards towards its ultimate wholeness at every moment. Every quivering of every leaf, every subtle breeze, every slightest motion of any particle of our universe is another move in that same direction. Even those events that seem to thrust downward are in truth only a part of the ascent—like the poise of an athlete before he leaps, the contraction of a spring before its energy is released.

There is not a thing you could do to halt that dynamic even for a moment. True, you must take responsibility for your deeds, and work hard, very hard, to clean up your own mess. But when all the dust settles, you are exactly in the space where you were meant to be: One step closer.

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Self-Destruction

Joy

Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. To order Rabbi Freeman’s book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.

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November 6, 2010

Okay, this is an interesting perspective. But what it assumes is that our goal in life is completely ego-less. That all we are to care about is ascent of the world as a whole - and not our individual lives.

Clearly, people's individual lives can and do get destroyed. If you want to tell people that this is no cause to despair because the world is going to continue to ascend despite their personal tragedy - then okay - fine.

But... maybe some people are not 100% altruistic and do care about their individual lives as well as the fate of the whole world.

March 14, 2005

Response to Bay City, Texas

The point here is not that we do not take responsibility, but that we can never despair.

Tzvi Freeman

March 13, 2005

Despair

It is true G-d makes the final decision in everything. However, we have the ability to try to change Hashem's mind. It is so easy to say "oh well, it's been ordained." I refuse to blame G-d, rather I blame myself for not trying a different way, getting other's help, etc., Then when all that can be done is done, I yield to the will of Hashem.

Anonymous
Bay City, Texas