27 Januari 2023
Living Your Personal Egypt Every Day
The word Egypt/ Mitstrayim can be divided into: Mi (n) – Tsaryim – out of boundaries/ narrow straits. We all have our boundaries that limit us. Boundaries that prevent us from changing fixed habits and customs that we want (need) to carry out in order to apparently have a good day.
Taking a Cold Shower
I was reminded of this this week when we had a course on the fixed mindset. The course leader discussed that we like to keep ourselves to be friends and then choose pleasurable choices, even when we actually know that is not the healthiest or best choice. She gave the example of showering. Taking a cold shower seems to be very healthy, but often we prefer a hot shower.
This made me think of our animal souls. It wants everything to be as pleasant/material as possible, and certainly not cold showers (at least not mine). If you make the choice to take a cold shower anyway, you are definitely crossing a boundary.
And so it is with many things. We know very well that it is good for our Divine soul: to pray instead of watching that movie on Netflix, or to read Torah instead of that thriller, or to help the old neighbor mow grass instead of gaming. But we like to keep our animal soul as a friend, not realizing that we are then limiting our divine soul and not giving it the opportunity to develop and flourish.
We need to intellectually name what is better for us and learn to make choices that may feel less pleasant, learn to step beyond our limits of discomfort, in order to free our Divine soul from its animal needs.
Making choices every day that free us, rather than limit and bind us.
By Angelique Sijbolts
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