When You Run Out of Strength

A person advances when he is able to withstand two lines: the right and the left. Within the line that extends from above downward he feels down, disappointed, desperate, weak, and dejected. But in the line that extends from below upwards, everything is opposite. That is when we reach an analysis.

For example, I feel totally exhausted physically, mentally, and morally. I cannot organize my thinking, my consciousness is blurred, and nothing is of any importance. I want to forget it all and fall asleep so I won't feel anything.

However, ascending above this state for a moment, I assess it as a good state. There is a Psalm that reads, "For he who is dead is free." Now I am free of my egoism; it has died and does not demand anything from me.

If a bit more Light comes to me, then I understand the reason for this state, that it was sent to me by the Creator. He wants me to figure it out: Why do I need a desire that does not want anything and is unable to do anything? Why did He send it to me?

The Light illuminates my current state of downfall, revealing its causes, which in turn become the starting point for me to start growing anew. The sages said, "A righteous man rises in the place where egoism falls." My egoism falls, and a righteous man is born from it. In one line I see that I have fallen to the bottom, but in two lines I begin ascending.

The recession happens only for the sake of the Light's influence, so the Light would give me the second line to help me start thinking above the sensation I feel. It lifts me above the sensation of "sweet or bitter" to the analysis "true or false."

A person must always place himself beneath the Light so the Light would lift him above the sensation and show him the truth, the reason, the One who does it. Even an unclear sensation or knowledge of the reason, the Creator, the One who depicts the picture of the world inside me, changes my perception of the picture to its opposite. Then I am happy that the Creator gave me such a negative, lowly sensation. It is weakness that enables me to act.

Once I figure out the situation, I have a goal and a means. Having been awakened, I begin to get up.

From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/4/10, "What is the Help that One Should Ask of the Creator"

Teaching Children to Overcome Challenges

Question: When you work with kids, how can you tell that the approach you have chosen is correct?

Dr. Laitman's Answer: First of all, you have to make sure that the group of kids goes through all the states together. If common difficulties affect the group and envelop all the kids in the class, then the kids need some kind of an outlet such as sports. They need help to go through the difficult states more easily.

However, obviously it is inevitable that every new level will entail a jump of egoism and lack of understanding, followed by clarifications and achievement of greater understanding than before. Children should be taught to overcome states of obscurity in their feelings and mind.

One's soul never grows old, and a person as well as a child (who is also a person) never receives states where he doesn't have "the end of the rope" he can grab onto in order to climb out of any mess, descent, weakness, and fog. Together with all the things that seem like "objective reasons" for feeling bad, we always have the opportunity to ascend from this state. Children must be taught this technique. That is how we give them the instruments that enable them to make it through life.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/4/10, "The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings"